Review: Liehs & Steigerwald

Name: Liehs & Steigerwald
Address: 1857 Grand Blvd, Syracuse, NY
Phone: (315) 474-2171
Neighborhood: Northside
Website: www.liehsandsteigerwald.com
Category: Butcher, German market
Business Hours: Tuesday-Friday 7 AM to 6 PM, Saturday 7 AM to 5 PM
Parking: Private lot, on-street
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Delivery: Yes (regionally)

I have somewhat of an affinity to Syracuse's Northside. More specifically, to any shops or restaurants remotely relating to anything German in the neighborhood. My great-grandparents came over from Germany in the late 1800's and settled into Syracuse at the Butternut Street area around Schiller Park. Every generation since then has had someone either live or been born in Syracuse. And given the location and odds, I'm quite certain that one of my family members along the way at least once visited this family-owned and operated, German meat market.

German markets are few and far between these days. You can still spot hints of them around the city (Karcher's Meat Market comes to mind - a painted sign still exists on the side of the red building at 420 Butternut St, now Viet Ny Grocery). In early 2009, the neighborhood's heritage took a hit with the closing of Weber's Restaurant & Haus of Reubens, a longtime German restaurant and bar on Danforth Street. But despite the dwindling number of German shops, bakeries, and other establishments remaining in the neighborhood, Liehs & Steigerwald has stood strong and true to its roots since 1936, all operating out of the little house on Grant Boulevard.

Walking in, your first impression of Liehs & Steigerwald should be the amazing smell. Wafting around in the air are hints of garlic, fresh cut and cured meats of all assortments, and ingredients from their bratwursts and other homemade meats such as horseradish, bacon, cheeses, and hot peppers, to name a few. The smell alone from this place has to be one of the best in the city.

Inside there's a few display cases showcasing the non-pre packaged and fresh daily cut meats like beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, and veal, cheeses (domestic and imported), Plainville and Boar's Head cold cuts, and homemade ones like blood tongue, German bologna, pressed ham, Polish ham, gelbwurst, roast beef, roast pork, and pastrami. For such a small store, there's a lot of interesting things on the shelves and counters too: chocolates, homemade horseradishes, dumpling mixes, German pastries, Underberg, Maggi, spice rubs, and even chopping blocks and cutlery.

And I haven't even mentioned the other specialty items here - all of which are homemade and contain no artificial flavors or preservatives: gravies, pierogies, German potato salad, sauerbraten, pickled eggs, cabbage rolls, beans, soups, hot dogs, coneys, kielbasa, bologna, liverwurst, sausages, chorizo, pickles, loafs, cutlets, spiedies, pork bones for flavoring, ribs, burgers, and 18 different kinds of bratwurst.

Exhale... A lot going on.

Behind one of the counters is an overhead chalkboard with some of the daily specials and pricing. Service was very helpful and best of all patient on this not-too-busy Saturday afternoon.

The order...

Bratwursts (2 jalapeno, 2 sun dried tomato chicken): $7.79
Pickle: $1.69
Jar of hot horseradish mustard: $4.99
Total money spent with tax: $15.90

Since this isn't a restaurant, I'll have to do the review a little differently than normal. Later that night I decided to make two bratwurst sandwiches. I grilled up the brats to get them brown, sauteed some onions, added some canned saurkraut (don't kill me, at least it was from Wisconsin!) and then simmered it all in some water and a little beer. Since I knew I was doing a review, I didn't add that much beer because I didn't want to distract from the flavor of the bratwurst by adding too much.

4 plump brats. Wrapped in parchment paper, the sign of a real butcher.

Shown here with L&S's Hot Horseradish Mustard.

You'll have to take your guess as to which is which because I can't remember. I think the jalapeno ones more tan.

A local lager like Utica Club may have been more appropriate, but Molson was all that I had in my fridge. And next time on the way back home, I'll stop by DiLauro's Bakery for rolls and skip the grocery store brand.

Noticeable after the first bite was the overwhelming fume of horseradish that was sent into my sinuses. If you love horseradish or very spicy mustard, you may be in heaven. I loved the fresh taste, classic flavor, and bright yellow color of L&S's mustard but I had to switch over to my refrigerated Hofmann brand because the horseradish was just way too spicy. My face was on fire, basically. If it's any consolation, I still have it. Again, great flavor and I even use it on sandwiches every once in a while (Boar's Head ham, provilone, Harrison Bakery rye bread, and this all go amazing together). I just add the horseradish parts VERY sparingly. I'm talking pinky nail size. I can only imagine what the Xtra Hot style is like.

For the bratwursts, I wasn't too crazy about the sun dried tomato and chicken one as I thought it was a tad dry and a little bland. I would've liked a little more tomato presence in it. The jalapeno was awesome: juicy meat, a very fresh taste, not overly spicy but enough to know that it's jalapeno, and encased a nice snappy skin.

Lastly, a great, classic dill pickle: large size, clean, fresh, and very crisp. Without diminishing how good this was, it had a similar flavor to the Claussen store brand but without the unnecessary preservatives.

Other notes...

- Liehs & Steigerwald has an "at your door" program for delivery to select cities in Central New York where they can not only deliver meats, but their Hot and Eat Meals as well. Check the website for more details.

- They also offer knife sharpening here.

All and all, it's a great store, with great history, great meat, outstanding selection, and friendly service. It might even be a hidden gem to pick up things for tailgating. I'll have to check out some of the other bratwursts, hot dogs, cuts of meat, and the chicken wing bratwurst (yes, you read that correctly), which is supposed to be very good - complete with blue cheese inside. Though I found their keilbasa a bit tough and gritty when I had it after my visit last year, I also had the pierogies which were awesome and the jar of hot pickles which were amazing (I didn't see them on the shelves this time around).

That all being said, it's not a bad place for basic grocery shopping either. There's a lot you could fill your fridge and freezer with here. I'll hold off on the elite 5-star rating as I'd like to try some other things. For now, let's settle with 4.5. And if you have any suggestions on what else is good here, let me know in the comments section.

My rating of Liehs & Steigerwald:

Review: Ponchito's Taqueria

Name: Ponchito's Taqueria
Address: 3800 New Court Ave, Syracuse, NY
Neighborhood: Northside (Lyncourt)
Website: www.ponchitostaqueria.com
Menu: View Menu
Cuisine: Mexican, Latin American
Restaurant Hours: Monday-Wednesday 7 AM to 9 PM, Thursday 7 AM to 11 PM, Friday 7 AM to 3 AM, Saturday Noon to 3 AM
Parking: Private Lot
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Take-Out: Yes
Delivery: Yes

Opened in February of 2007, Ponchito's Taqueria is a family owned and operated Mexican-style roadside eatery that has been serving up huge burritos to Syracusans for a couple of years now. The location is a bit out on the outskirts of the city. Unless I'm mistaken, Ponchito's is technically outside of the Syracuse limits and more specifically in Lyncourt, but for the sake of the blog, I'm including it because it's practically right on the edge (similar situation to Eva's).

OK. Let's be honest - the place is a hole in the wall. A crappy TV hovers over the seating area playing reruns of Seinfeld as you walk in and take in the surroundings. The interior is small, dingy, and fluorescent lights line the ceiling. Honestly, I'm reminded of Joe's office from Joe Versus The Volcano. It's a plastic forks and paper plates joint with cafeteria-style ordering so don't expect to be led to a table that receives waiter service. It's primarily take-out oriented, but there are some tables if you decide to eat-in.

The counter area gives you a good impression of what kind of fillings there are. The meat is fresh here and never frozen. And some of it, like the braised pork, is simmered in a beer broth - which makes the whole place smell so good as you make up your mind on what to order on the board behind the counter.

The menu is pretty cool - you have your standard offerings like burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, and then unique things like gringos and platos. These are all made to order and can come with a choice of ground beef "just like your mom's", carnitas, steak, chicken, or grilled vegetables. And if you have the craving in the morning on your way to work, Ponchito's also offers breakfast burritos (like a chorizo-egg burrito).

The order...

Steak Burrito: $7
Chicken Taco: $4.15
Small Pappas Fritas: $1
Jarritos Fruit Punch: $1.57
Total Money Spent with Tax & Tip: $14.82

Pictured above is a chile-rubbed steak burrito with rice, beans, cheese, salsa, guacamole, and hot sauce in a flour tortilla.

It was a tasty burrito and an insanely large portion size for being just a "regular" but I thought there was way too much meat inside and not enough beans, salsa, sauce, guacamole, etc... Not that all the ingredients have to be perfectly proportioned or anything, but this was close to 80% meat and 20% fillings. This has happened on several occasions, so I suppose if you prefer burritos this way, you may love them here. That all being said, the steak was good: Chile rubbed and very tender and juicy, but also a little salty and greasy. The other ingredients were good - the salsa tasted fresh and the guacamole was good and creamy. But again, I just wish there were more of them as I think it would have balanced out everything a bit better. The meat was just a bit overbearing. (Is that blasphemous?).

I really liked the taco: shredded, marinated, and roasted chicken, pico de gallo, hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, and pickled jalapenos all in a hot, corn tortilla. This was great. Also, props for having corn tortillas.

The pappas fritas were interesting (essentially, potato chips). I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered them, but I liked them - fresh, warm, crispy, with just a little bit of salt. It was a really nice accompaniment to the burrito and taco.

All of this was washed down with a fruit punch Jarritos (Mexican pure-sugar cane soda) and it was awesome. I know Ponchito's doesn't necessarily make these, but they get serious props for selling them. It's a not too carbonated soda and just a nice, sweet, subtle and fruity thirst-quencher to the meal.

I don't know why we don't make good soda here in the States. Seems like Coke, Pepsi, and other sodas taste so much better when they come from Mexico and are served in glass bottles. Probably the sugar. But I digress...

A few other things of note...

- Service was so-so. Seems like every review I read online raves about the friendly service, but I just haven't found that. Not that they're rude or anything. They seem nice, but it just seems to come off as semi-oblivious as to what's going on and a tad out-of-touch with trying to make food for the customer. A good example: I was asked three times what kind of beans I wanted. Honestly, it's not really a big deal. Maybe it's just a fluke thing or I'm unlucky on my visits or something.

- You'll probably receive your food in a paper bag, but no worries as they have napkins, forks, and paper plates along the side of the counter.

- If you plan on going to this place during the late hours, they sometimes have run out of meat options by then. (Though, that's good news because that means business is good!).

- Although the tacos and burritos are cheap to start off, they can get a little pricey if you keep adding toppings.

- I love the wall-mounted bottle cap opener at the counter that you have to use to open soda bottles.

- There's various hot sauces scattered around on the tables if you feel like kicking your food up a notch or two.

I suppose f I had to change a few things about this place, it would be....

- You can't see the ingredients / condiments, nor can you see your food being made, as everything sans meat is hidden behind the counter. I tend to be partial to seeing my food being made when it comes to things like sandwiches, salads, burritos, etc... I think it also helps the customer to be a bit more informed of what's going in, how much of each ingredient is going in, and what kind of options there are.

- I understand it's a road-side taqueria and not fine-dining, but I think the interior could use a good cleaning. It's just a really dingy atmosphere. I have no problem eating in a run-down place, but it just struck me as a bit TOO run-down here if you catch my drift.

- Going along with the being-able-to-see-your-ingredients-theme, I feel like they should offer a couple of additional salsas - and maybe even various kinds of guacamole. I mean, yes, it's a small place that primarily focuses on quick, down-home style food, but maybe adding a few more creative toppings could really propel this place a bit further.

Overall, I liked it here - don't let my low rating fool you. It's a great place to stop in for lunch if you are craving large portions and meaty burritos. Ponchito's does get deductions for an awkward interior, being located in the middle of nowhere, and I think it could use some work in making the customer feeling a bit more comfortable and in-tune with what's going on with their order. But gets points for a nice menu, good Mexican and Latin American style food, large portions, and being a good lunch and late-night eats destination.

My rating of Ponchito's Taqueria: