Wheat vs. White at Schnack
I know I post quite frequently about Schnack, but it is part of my life--and a frequent part at that. When I go to Schnack, it is not for a particularly healthy meal. Granted, you could eat healthily there if you wanted to, but that seems to defeat the purpose of the Schnack. And so I usually indulge in onion rings and french fries and have never been afraid of licking the Schnack sauce off the plate. What I find peculiar, however, is the move toward the whole wheat bun. It is the appearance (and taste) of healthiness where I did not want it. When I make sandwiches at home, it is true, I usually use whole wheat bread. And sometimes I buy whole wheat pita for variety. However, when I have my two mini burgers, as I did last night, I can't help but thinking that there's something about wheat that's just not right.
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The wheat buns are a little bit of a let down. Eating a schnackie is one of those few occasions where american cheese and white bread go hand in hand.
During our absolutely unhealthy dinner last night, the last thing I thought about was the whole wheat bun (I didn't even notice, to be honest), rather that our cheap Schnack outing for 4 was not so cheap anymore... $61!!!! and we only got 2 beers. ANOTHER reason to not go there anymore (no matter what quality beef they use, how time consuming their potato slicing is, and how much my husband/friends force me to eat there!)
Despite Moishy's laundry list of reasons to not go, I am still very much looking forward to an introduction to the Schnack experience in April!
Oh yeah, you better watch out when your cheap'n'cheerful starts automatically slipping you the whole wheat bread. Raised prices are next, and then one day you'll go in and there'll be new furniture and smaller side dishes... happens every time!
Besides that, if they MUST improve on something, what've they got against rye bread? Whole wheat is for guilty consciences, you know, a bit of self-punishment.
Last time I went to Schnack I got so carried away I had chili fries for desert. I felt happy but sick to my stomach when I left. I'll be back though; it was a very pleasant sickness to my stomach.
And if I see a wheat bun on my plate I will not be at all happy. Wheat? Christ, get a grip.
15.25 per person may be a lot to spend for dinner at a hot dog stand, a pizzeria, KFC, maybe even a diner or some such place, but at Schnack? That's not really all that much, sorry to say, even for Hipsters on a budget. Give me a break.
And get rid of the whole wheat buns, H-bomb.
Humm, I could go for a rye burger bun as an option. 'cept, I think they call those things patty melts... Humm.. A Waffel House / Schnack mash-up! Harry should investigate scattered, smothered, and covered hash browns.
the first time i had the wheat buns, i thought they must have ran out of the white buns. unfortunately, this is the new standard. yea, raising the prices sucks. they have gradually been doing this every year. the last time i went the beer was served in plastic cups, like what they uses for the kiddie drinks.
service at schnack wasnt always terrible. there used to be a guy in there on the weekends who was about 6'5" and always wore a bandana. great waiter, my girlfriend loved him. havent seen him for a while, hope harry didnt fire him...
Maybe the Beer Float on Cool in Your Code went to Harry's head. My husband and I used to frequent the place but I find everything exorbitant since they upped the prices. our last meal (2 adults + 2 kids) including the tip was $70 (no beer either). Way too much. Nothing wrong with a $70 meal but not at a place where specials include PBR nights. The thing we loved about the place was the greasy food at good prices. If I'm going to pay that much for a meal, there are a lot of other places I'll go first. $11.25 for the quad combo will keep me going elsewhere. Harry's stchick was fun and cheap...even the name Schnack says that.
The higher prices haven't stopped me from going to Schnack, but I've quit going as often. Each time I've been in there lately, there appear to be far less people than I remember seeing before.
i remember when the wheat bun made it's first appearance months ago during the summer. i caught up with harry at his new joint by the water taxi in long island city and he said it was a problem with his distributer. apparently they just weren't making enough of the white buns, so it was a coin toss on which you'd get. the toughest part was trying to get them down during the eating contest he had at the screening of hamburger america. i love harry and schnackies, but ever since the wheat has been around in full force and the prices jumped, i haven't made it back to schnack. even to see the wonderfully sweet waitress who was always there since the early days.
to the dennis who didn't notice the difference, you're out of your mind. it's like saying you ordered a guinness and didn't notice when you were served a pabst. a pabst that cost $8. sorry, but i'm totally bummed when good things turn...
What on earth are you talking about?
Very healthy discussion here.
RE: "the buns"; the whole wheat are the only ones they are making in that size. I don't like it but I have little choice.
I think we still have a lot of value. For our Combos we used to give 8 oz of beer, now it's a full pint. The switch to whole wheat buns had nothing to do w/ the price increase and happened in the summer.
We have no intention of making the dishes smaller. W/ the new prices many of the dishes are actually larger, or use more "meat" like the Cubano, BLT, and the Mac N Cheese dishes.
Are we more expensive now? yes. We had three choices, move to Manhattan, close or raise prices. Someone said we had been raising prices every year, not true. We did tweak a few prices and at one point lowered the cost of the hot dogs. The menu change from Dec '05 was our 1st wholesale revision of the menu.
time to find a new bakery?
no, time to find a new burger joint.
wheat buns? give me a break.
what were the other two options? manhattan or close? hmmmm.... why not out-source? Schnack vendors?
The Man sounds greedy to me.
No, he sounds like a business man trying to provide a service, pay wages to those who work for him, pay expenses and, if he's lucky, make a profit.
Next time you ask your boss for a raise or raise your rate to your clients (or whatever) so that you can make a better living for you and your family, ask yourself: does that make you greedy?
Here's Harry, he pioneers into a shit neighborhood, opens a great restaurant, brings people to the neighborhood, other services decide that they too can make it in that hood, businesses open, buildings go up, and pretty soon the landlords (living in Staten Island) raise the rents. Prices go up.
So now Harry is paying Manhattan rents, but he's still charging West Carroll Garden's prices. Either he raises the prices on the menu, closes or he moves to Manhattan and charges Manhattan prices and doesn't have to deal with a bunch of crybabies.
No, you give ME a break.
Thanks for the open discussion.
I would like to know how you out-source burgers? Have them made in China? Eat them in India?
Harry, I'm just curious why you're sticking to the same bun vendor if they're not providing product you or your customers want? Really, I think that might be my only gripe.
I worked at a Taqueria back in school. Our place was known for awesome 3lbs burritos. You could live off one for days. We had this vendor that made special 14" tortillas. At one point they decided to stop supporting us. There were other vendors out there making much better 12" tortillas, so we decided to go with one of them in the long run.
Sure, raising the prices sucks. It doesn't effect me that much. For some people it might.
don't they get the buns at caputo's? everytime i go to caputo's (to get buns for my home-made burgers), they have a ton of white buns!
lest harry should have to deal with a bunch of crybabies, schnack's price jump has prompted me to look for other reasonably-priced places. when one has kids to feed, one can't help being price sensitive. worse, all-american hubby has got to have his regular fare of artery-clogging burger and fries. boerum hill food company sells burgers with fries for 8.75. i don't think saul bolton can do anything wrong with his burgers. cafe on clinton, though it's a bit of a trek, and hill diner (8.25 with fries) both serve good if not better burgers. little bistro, in spite of being all organic and/or free-range and having an ex-nobu cook, serves the best burger at schnack prices minus server attitude.
the lady server at schnack who has been there for ages can be really abrasive at times to customers. i miss the mohawk kid. he was awfully kind but a terrible, terrible server.
All the servers I've dealt with at Schanck lately have been nice and very helpful. Previously, I had servers that might be considered total basket cases, but never one that was outright rude.
generally, the place has friendly staff. however, harry's most competent server has a tendency to be defensive for no reason...which isn't good in the business she's in. last time it was quite bad (though i still tipped her 20% having sworn to always tip high as a result of having supported myself as a waitress in nyc, whew!) that the kids told me to write the owner. i guess she was just having a bad hair day which was not the first time. i do like the rest of the staff very much which was why we used to go there 2-3 times a week until...
West Carroll Gardens prices?
How does that compare to Columbia Heights prices? Or Red Hook prices? Or Columbia Waterfront prices? Bouillabaisse charges those.
Ho Chi Minh had fewer names than that street.
West Carroll Columbia Red Heights Garden Hook Waterfront!
I loved schnacks, but the wheat buns really do hurt the burgers.
It is pretty silly to think that it is not a big deal.
Its like having low fat ice-cream, non-alcoholic beer, sugar-free gum - there is a huge difference. It is the difference between going all the way to Red Hook or finding a place that knows why they are good doesn't skimp.
West Carroll Columbia Red Heights Garden Hook Waterfront!
Posted by: Dennis | Mar 7, 2006 2:51:07 PM
nice...it just flows off the tip of your tongue.
PS - I still do love schnack
We call it Red Hook. Early on we talked to Caputos about making the Single bun but it wasn't really a good fit for them. We have talked to Baked about doing some speciality buns and we have a biscuit that we deep fry and sell w/ a single burger that is currently on special.
I'll make a renewed effort to get a new bun!
Sounds like my fav. Schnack Ad.. Tiny Buns & Big Buns, either way our patties are just 1.5 oz.
White buns are back.