Top 5 Places for Hand and On-The-Go Food in Syracuse

Sometimes food doesn't always come accompanied with forks, spoons, or chopsticks. Occasionally, you have to enjoy it without the utensils. The following is a list of some of the best hand and on-the-go food found in the city.

"Pineapple Express" from Darwin

1) Milkshakes @ Strong Hearts Cafe: 719 E Genesee St, Syracuse, NY
Arguably some of the best and sweetest milkshakes you'll ever have, Strong Hearts Cafe serves up some delicious shake concoctions such as blueberry, peach cobbler, dreamsicle, vanilla espresso, pina colada, and my personal favorite, Oreo cookies and cream. Best of all? The shakes are entirely vegan. Shame on you, Strong Hearts for being so good and yet so deceiving. [link] [map]

2) Ice Cream @ Gannon's Isle: 1525 Valley Dr, Syracuse, NY
Gannon's Isle as been offering some of the tastiest ice cream options in Syracuse since 1982. They constantly rotate over 200 ice cream flavors, some of which include Rocky Mountain Raspberry (white chocolate ice cream with raspberry and dotted chocolate almond pieces), Hidden Secret (chocolate ice cream with Gertrude Hawk candies), and Creme Brulee (French Vanilla ice cream with caramel ripple and chocolate covered carmel cups). All homemade, airy, and incredibly rich (due to their slightly higher butterfat content as compared to most other brands). Whether it's 91 degrees outside or -1, it's never a bad time for delicious and homemade ice cream. Also, check out some great pictures and information about Gannon's on Syracuse Guru. [link] [map]

3) Sandwiches @ Darwin: 211 N Clinton St, Syracuse, NY
Though my praise has been high as of late, I can't say enough how wonderful it is to have a high quality sandwich shop in Downtown. Darwin's weekly and ever evolving menu features their Midnight Train to Georgia (roast beef with melted swiss), a muffuletta (a New Orleans classic), Ships Passing In The Night (a veggie option with mozzarella, portabellos, red onions, tomatoes, spinach, basil, and creamy balsamic dressing), and of course the one that I'm partial to, the NYC Lobster Roll, which is one of the biggest and tastiest lobster rolls you'll find anywhere. [link] [map]

4) Coffee @ Cafe Kubal: 3501 James St, Syracuse, NY
To some, coffee is food. Here, whether it's a nutty and sweet espresso or a rich macchiato or latte, it's brewed, pressed, roasted and ground daily and some of the best in the city. Aromatic and flavorful, you'll find influences from Latin America, Africa, and Indonesia, to name a few. You can also order in bulk online. A 12 ounce bag will run you about $12, but well worth it when it's all roasted, packaged, and shipped fresh. [link] [map]

5) Burritos @ Ponchito's Taqueria: 3800 New Court Ave, Syracuse, NY
In what may resemble a small baby wrapped in a flour tortilla rather than a made-to-order burrito, Ponchito's near Eastwood serves up some incredibly huge and tasty burritos - which are great for on-the-go eating. In the location and style of a Mexican roadside stand, customers can fill their burritos with not only beans, cheese, salsas, hot sauces, sour cream, and guacamole, but main ingredients like ground beef, carnitas (seasoned pork in beer broth), marinated and roasted chicken, chile rubbed steak, or grilled veggies. And don't miss their other newer location in the Valley at 401 W Seneca Turnpike at the former Bill's Inn location. [link] [map]

Honorable Mention Hot dogs @ Alliance Bank Stadium: 1 Tex Simone Dr, Syracuse, NY
Doubtful one can imagine a more picturesque late summer evening than one spent at the ball game enjoying a Hofmann hot dog. You can get them anywhere you say? Why is the baseball stadium on this list? Because they're grilled on the spot and even better than most dogs you'll find at the Major League level. Not only are they incredibly fresh and clean-tasting, but you'll find they have no preservatives and come packed inside an unbelievable crispy and snappy casing (A bold statement, but I'd even argue that the hot dogs are better here than they are from Heid's). If you're not a native Syracusan, give the coney a try - essentially a white hot dog made with veal and pork and is slightly more spicy to its red counterpart. Throw some yellow mustard, chopped onions, and pickle relish on there and you're good to go. But don't be fooled: they also sell the steamed-ish packaged hot dogs at the stadium at various locations too, so make sure you go to the actual grilling station found along the 3rd base side. Unfortunately, baseball does not run year-round, so in the fall and winter, you'll have to settle for a Dome Dog. Which are good mind you, but just not the same. [link] [map]

Review: Strong Hearts Cafe

Name: Strong Hearts Cafe
Address: 719 E Genesee St Syracuse, NY
Neighborhood: Near Eastside
Website: www.strongheartscafe.com
Menu: View Menu
Cuisine: Vegan, Cafe
Restaurant Hours: Monday 8 AM - 6 PM, Tuesday to Thursday 8 AM - 12 AM, Friday 8 AM - 2 AM, Saturday 10 AM - 2 AM, Sunday 10 AM - 12 AM
Parking: On-Street
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Take-Out: Yes
Delivery: No

For the record, I am not Vegan. I love chicken. And cheese. And shrimp. There are just too many foods out there that I would never want to not eat ever again. However, I do respect the choice and the right to do so. To each his own, as they say. While I've known about Veganism for a while, my first true experience with it wasn't until last year with a piece of wedding cake. I suppose up until then, I had always thought that Vegans would never be able to eat certain things. The little things. Like ice cream or buttered popcorn. But that's not the case at all. You can essentially make and eat a lot of really creative things within Veganism that are not only good, but good for you and everything around you. Personally, I understand the logic, but I suppose I just haven't been interested in making any kind of self-fulfilling or moral jump to Veganism. But who knows where the road leads. Right now, I like steak too much to be able to give it up forever.

At any rate, Strong Hearts would be my first real run-in with a Vegan restaurant. The location is nice: right in the up-and-coming-soon-to-be-connective-corridor East Genesee Street district. The building itself looks like an old-school library or school. Through the entrance, you'll see a massage studio on your left and Strong Hearts on the right. Go right (unless you're feeling up for a massage).

The interior is colorful, cozy, and hip (almost what you'd expect from your cliche, collegetown coffee house or cafe of sorts) complete with indie music on the speakers, organic hoodies for sale hanging from the ceiling, and Vegan cookbooks and local Veganism happenings along the front counter. It's a cool and laid-back kind of vibe inside and took me back a little bit to my college years in Ithaca.

The menu is really nice here. When available, Strong Hearts uses fresh, organic and local produce and it's really cool to see what kind of foods are on the menu: breakfast (like tofu scrambles, sausages, pancakes, and waffles) which is served all day, sandwiches, salads, coffees, teas, and milkshakes. The milkshake menu is really creative with a lot of fun and interesting names and combinations of flavors going on.

The order...

Small Chicken Caesar Salad: $3.50
BLT: $5.50
John Brown Deluxe Milkshake: $5
Total Money Spent with Tax & Tip: $18.50

So I had actually asked for the "Citrus Salad" and was brought a "Chicken Caesar Salad" (does Citrus sound anything like Chicken Caesar?). I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to re-ordering so I decided not to make a big deal about it. More often than not I always order a Caesar salad if given the option anyways, so I figured I'd try it out. The salad was sub-par though and the layering was a bit strange as well. It was essentially a small bowl of lettuce, with a few cherry tomatoes, covered in a huge layer of faux-chicken. I wasn't too keen on the imitation chicken either. For what it's worth, it was my first experience with anything of the sort so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it, but it's an odd texture and consistency to get used to (I'm assuming it was some concoction of tofu or soy). The croutons were really good - crunchy and soft and I believe they are made from the same bread that they use on their sandwiches. The dressing was nice, almost like a Thai peanut sauce. It was a bit nutty. Overall though, nothing really resembled that this was a chicken Caesar salad to me - it was missing a white-esque dressing and something cheese-like to act as the Parmesan. They probably could have gotten away with some of the similar ingredients that are in their BLT (vegan cheese and a vegan mayo - maybe mixed with lemon juice?). The rest of the ingredients tasted fresh, so I wouldn't rule out any of their other salads, I just wouldn't order this again.

The BLT was really good - crispy soy bacon, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, vegan mayo and Teese vegan cheese on grilled white bread. Everything was fresh and I was really surprised with how similar the soy bacon was to real bacon. It was not as greasy and a bit less chewy than real bacon, but you could have fooled me. It was a good sandwich. I'd get it again. My only small issue was that it seemed like it should've had a garnish of some kind.

Pictured above is the John Brown Deluxe Milkshake (with Oreos and cream).

OMG. So tasty. Not only was this the best non-milkshake that I've ever had, but it was also the best milkshake that I've ever had. I mean, I'm sure if you add Oreo cookies to anything, it will taste better, but this milkshake was awesome. Sweet, creamy, sugary and absolutely delicious. I can't believe somebody can make a shake this good without a dairy product.

Other notes about Strong Hearts....

- Friday nights are pizza night (from 6 PM to 2 AM)

- They offer free Wi-Fi

- All of the take-out food packaging is 100% biodegradable and compostable

I feel like it's tough to make an objective review of a Vegan eatery by someone who is a non-Vegan. The food was good and the milkshake was amazing, but some of it (most notably the meat) tasted off. I suppose anything that's made to act like real meat isn't going to taste the same in some way. And I'm sure that's the non-Vegan voice in me. The food combinations and menu offerings are very creative, original, and in some cases, superb. And I can understand how Vegan restaurants might have a finite audience to cater towards, as it can be an uphill battle for them to broaden their audience. I suppose if I was Vegan, I would rate this place higher and come here more often - seeing as how there are currently very little Vegan options in Syracuse. Objectively speaking, it was a good meal and better than what I had expected. Though I'm not a 100% convert quite yet, you can label me convinced that Vegan meals are almost deceivingly good. I would return for a milkshake (without a doubt) and to test out pizza night or maybe some breakfast options. All and all, I liked it here. It's a smart place with a good vibe that serves convincingly tasty offerings.

My rating of Strong Hearts Cafe: