ew York Lunch serves burgers with a punch
by Karl Benacci
features co-editor
Not long ago, I had the opportu
nity to dine at New York Lunch,
which is located at 922 East Avenue.
Upon entering the restaurant, I no
ticed that it looked like a simple
diner, with some stools near the
counter, and various seats through
out the restaurant. There were also
various newspaper clippings framed
on the wall, which were interesting
to read, for they revealed various
stories from Erie's rich history.
My party and I were seated in a
booth, where we contemplated what
we wanted to eat. Okay, I will ad
mit, I have been to New York Lunch
before, and I knew exactly what to
order. I ordered greek burgers,
trench tries, and a vanilla milkshake,
for this is what I always order, when
I go to New York Lunch.
As always, my order didn't take
very long. It took approximately ten
Traveling man Ali Ellis
makes a stop at Behrend
by Kristin Grudowski
staff writer
Ali Ellis is a Barbados native
and a seventh semester biology
major, who joined the Behrend
community this past fall. Before
attending school here, he went to
college at the University of the
West Indies in Barbados. I was
intrigued as to why Ellis would
leave a place where the lowest
temperature all year is around 75
degrees, as we all sit here and
question why we are still layer
ing our clothes in April.
"The name Erie intrigued me,"
Ellis said. " It has a dictionary
meaning. There is something
about Erie that says home to me."
Behrend attracted Ellis mostly
because of its size, but attending
Penn State had always been a
dream that he wanted to pursue.
"I have wanted to go to Penn
State since I was twelve years
old. My mother thinks that this
is a miracle," Ellis said. He con
tinued, "She pushed very hard for
me to be here right now."
Ellis's home country is about
the same size as Erie. Fortu-
nately, many people were more
than willing to help make him
feel at home here. In particular,
Jane Brady, Donna Shirley and
Jan Caiffie aided Ellis in explor
ing all his options, e-mailing him
regularly while he was still in
Barbados.
"They helped me with my aca
demic concerns and even helped
me to locate an apartment and
furnish it," Ellis said. "They
went above and beyond the call
of duty and I was overwhelmed
with their hospitality."
Others also assisted in Ellis's
adjustment to the U.S.
"My uncle bought me a bunch
of sweaters to help battle the bliz
zards of Erie," Ellis said. His
aunt Eleanor Hackett was also
, very instrumental with helping
him to adjust to his new home.
minutes for our meals to be served,
which is relatively speedy to say the
How do New York Lunch's Greek
Burgers taste? Well, they're the best
Greek Burgers that I have ever had.
The taste of their Greek Burgers is
so unique that words cannot explain
them, however, saying that they're
mouth-watering is an under state
ment.
The french fries and vanilla
milkshake also tasted good, which
made the meal a wonderful experi
ence. But best of all was the price;
the cost of my meal was under $7.
1 would highly recommend New
York Lunch for anyone who enjoys
excellent food. New York Lunch
also has locations on 1005 Parade
Street and 1525 Peninsula Drive
(However the food at the Peninsula
Drive location is not nearly as good
as the food at the other two New
York Lunch locations).
I give New York Lunch **** stars.
s a mome
"She lives in New York, so she
is like my mom here," he said. Al
though this has been Ellis's most
permanent stay in the States, he
has been visiting the U.S. every
other year for vacations since he
was a child.
"I have been to New York many
times and Boston as well," he
said. "Anyone who knows me
knows that I love to travel."
Ellis said that America and Bar
bados aren't as different as one
might think.
"We have American clothing
and fast food, but at the same
time, Barbados has different
forms of certain American at-
goy exc
tributes," he said.
Even with all of the similarities,
there are still things that Ellis
misses about Barbados.
miss my 6-year-old cousin
Kay and my dogs. I miss the
beaches and surfing too," he said.
After being reminded that Erie
too has beaches, he laughed, as if
to say that Lake Eric and the Car
ibbean Ocean do not offer the same
benefits.
Ellis's future plans include
medical school, so that he can
someday be an optometrist.
"I want to attend Hershey Medi
cal School (also a Penn State
school) because it has been a life
NMENMEiM!WM
w York Lunch, 100
long dream for me," he said.
Ellis also has family members
who have endured the education
involved in becoming a doctor.
"My uncle, Harold Harvey, is
a doctor at the school, and my
cousin, William Havery, is about
to graduate from Hershey."
In Ellis's free time, he likes to
run, play soccer, travel, tell jokes
and meet people. He also spends
time working at the campus li
brary. Ellis plans to be involved
in with a biology internship this
summer and enjoy Erie's
beaches as often as possible.
st Avenue
PHOTO BY BECKY WEINDORF
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ROAD TRIP RECIPE:
Pringles, Italian bread,
shopping cart, and
Matchbox Twenty
Destination: Pittsburgh, PA
Matchbox Twenty Concert
It's been a Mad Season here in
Erie this winter. So, my friends and
1 decided to head for the South
during Spring Break. Okay, so it
wasn't Cancun or Florida. It was
Pittsburgh, PA. But hey, a wise
person once told me, "Ainslie, it's
not where you are that matters; it's
who you are with."
For our road trip, we went to see
Matchbox Twenty in concert with
Everclear and Lifehouse. Our
group of four left sunny Erie (yes
it actually was sunny that day) in
two cars. We stopped at the local
UniMart for some snacks, as all of
us had just come from a long hard,
day of work and were starving. But
of course, the Uni Mart did not
have much to choose from.
Deanna, decided to make a loaf of
Italian bread and some Pringles her
dinner. After this we began our
little voyage. Rob Thomas, here
we come!
Upon our arrival at the Mellon,
our group played childish games
along the highway, including
calling each other's cell phones and
saying, "Tag! You're it!" By the
way, did I mention we are all above
the age of 10?
Soon we arrived at the Mellon.
We ran to find our seats, but made
a pit stop for some beer and the
ever-so-popular restrooms. I could
hear the only song I know,
"Hanging by a Moment" by
Lifehouse playing as I waited in the
long bathroom line. By the way,
why is it that girls have to wait in
such long lines for the restroom?
Anyway, we managed to find our
seats just as Everclear approached
the stage. Although I have never
been an Everclear fan, I was very
impressed with their performance.
They pulled people onto the stage
to dance with them, including a guy
from Turkey who claimed to be the
band's #1 fan.
Matchbox Twenty rocked the
stage with songs from both their hit
albums. For those of you who have
not heard the new CD, I suggest
you run right out and get it! Rob
Thomas stole our hearts with "Rest
Stop, " a song about being dumped
by Ainslie Ulmer,
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2001
PHOTO BY NEIL MAKADIA
by the woman you love at a rest
stop in the middle of nowhere.
"1 would never do that to you
Rob!" I wanted to yell. And while
we are on the subject: Ladies, Rob
Thomas is extremely hot in
person! I must admit that this
concert was possibly the best I
have ever seen.
After the concert, our
rambunctious group decided to hit
the bars of Pittsburgh. Of course,
none of us knew where they were
or how to get there, so we had to
make a few pit stops to talk to the
locals. They were rather helpful I
must ad. We paid a total of $5 to
park for a bar we "talked about
going into" and never did. Hey,
that's ok. I didn't need that $5 any
way. After all, we were not going
to starve. Deanna's bread was
there for dinner and for breakfast
the next morning. Thanks D.
Finally, we arrived at a place
appropriately called "Bar
Pittsburgh." I think everyone,
Pittsburgh native or not, has heard
of this place. As we approached the
door, my eyes widened. Honestly,
I felt like I was in a scene from
Coyote Ugly. A guy's dream, a
girl's nightmare. Beautiful girls
were on the bar dancing. I
practically had to pick my guy
friend's jaw up off of the floor. We
managed to be entertained though
and had a great time.
As we made the long trek back
to the car, one of my friends found
an abandoned shopping cart and
offered free rides to all of us who
wore those shoes that "are so cute
with this outfit, but kill my feet."
At 2 a.m., this was hysterical to our
tired little group.
We arrived safely to our sleep
station for the night at about "3
a.m. " Unfortunately for me, I had
to wake up only three hours later
to drive back to Erie for my job. It
was a "Long Day" jam packed
with lots of fun and friends. The
concert was awesome and I had a
good time. What more is there to
life besides Rob Thomas, Italian
bread, and your best friends?
comba 08