CobbleHill's Profile
- mh
- 2002
- Brooklyn
- Cobble Hill
- Rental
- Consultant
- Male
- 34
Author's Comments
CobbleHill wrote a review about Casa Rosa on November 16, 2009 3:13 PM
I likely would have not related this, had I not seen another post commenting on 'resentful' service. Thank you for indulging a quick story.
To start: Portions are big. Food is good. Basic red sauce in heaping portions and complementary brushetta on the tables to start. You get your money's worth here. I used to dine there regularly there alone. Have brought family to dinner there. Have joined a friend and his family for dinner there. For a time, it was my go-to Italian. Fragoli is nice, but the food at Casa Rosa speaks to me more and I was dining there long before Fragoli existed.
Walking by one day I noticed a huge 'For Sale (or could have been 'For Rent') sign on the face of the building. Whatever it was, my immediate thought was 'oh no! They're leaving.. or going out of business.' The man (who I assume to be the owner, who I've seen operating in the restaurant dozens of times) and a waitress happened to be standing outside. I approached. "You guys aren't moving are you?" I asked, with concern in my voice. "No, why would you say that?" "Oh, I just saw the sign and thought maybe you were moving." The "No" answer wasn't particularly inviting, so I felt more compelled to say "I'm glad, because this is my favorite restaurant in the neighborhood."
"I've never seen you in here" says the waitress, in a tone somewhere between accusation and resentment... Whatever it was, it made me feel like I was lying about this for some reason...
Well what can you say to that?
I'd be lying if I said I haven't been back. I enjoy the food. But maybe the place wouldn't be half or more empty every time I went in if they decided to embrace rather than push away people that look like they weren't born in the neighborhood.
CobbleHill wrote a review about Apartment 138 on October 13, 2009 2:29 PM
I've eaten here once and was pretty disappointed. The atmosphere towards the back of the restaurant was nice on a winter night, but the sliders were weak. What troubles me most about Apartment 138 is the smell. I walk by this restaurant at least twice a day, and it smells on the street. Having worked in a restaurant before, I recognize the smell as an uncleaned or unemptied grease-trap. It's disgusting and it smells Every Day. I can only imagine what their kitchen looks like if this degree of obviously unsanitary conditions doesn't move them to action. For this reason, I'll never set foot in this place again.
CobbleHill wrote a review about Apartment 138 on October 13, 2009 2:28 PM
I've eaten here once and was pretty disappointed. The atmosphere towards the back of the restaurant was nice no a winter night, but the sliders were weak. What troubles me most about Apartment 138 is the smell. I walk by this restaurant at least twice a day, and it smells on the street. Having worked in a restaurant before, I recognize the smell as an uncleaned or unempty grease-trap. It's disgusting and it smells Every Day. I can only imagine what their kitchen looks like if this degree of obviously unsanitary conditions doesn't move them to action. For this reason, I'll never set foot in this place again.
A possible effective and relatively inexpensive solution would be to add a series of plastic posts at about waist height the length of the already existing painted line which separates the pedestrian and bike lanes. Set about a foot away from each other, these plastic posts would 'give' in the event a biker was forced into them, but would result in less serious injury than a more substantial barrier. It would not marginalize the space on either side. Surely the odd tourist would 'jump' the barrier to get their photo, but it would cut down on it significantly just by adding a clear division.
Besides the practical implication of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges opening into two different parts of the city, the ride across the Brooklyn Bridge is like no other. Bikers should be allowed this right, just as pedestrians have it. And there can and should be a safer way for everyone to coexist.
Posted by: CobbleHill at September 29, 2009 5:55 PM in response to Bikes and Bodies on the Brooklyn Bridge

Whoa... easy on the 'DoBro' usage. Let's nip this one in the bud now. Downtown might be a Metrotech Ratnerized wasteland, but let's not to try cute-ify Downtown Brooklyn by coining another horrible jammed prefix amalgam fer chrissakes..
Posted by: CobbleHill at November 19, 2009 9:40 AM in response to Commercial Klutch: November Edition