Drive time
Boca Bistro, Why Not Burger offer pleasing options
Exploring pleasing pair of curbside pickup dining options.
The restaurant landscape is looking as sparse as the spindly tree I wrestled out the door last week. The usual DMS and emails asking for restaurant advice have me pondering current COVID-19 closures, those hibernating until spring and the range of special-order options to go. It’s a hurdle for a restaurant column when the places I’d like to send you may or may not be open when we go to print. But I’ve got you. Ongoing uncertainty is putting restaurant creativity front and center: Facing unpredictable numbers for indoor dining, restaurants are doubling efforts in combo meals on set days of the week. And often at a brilliant price.
This week’s curbside dinners to go were a Food Crazy Box from Boca Bistro in Saratoga Springs and a weekend-only burger takeout/delivery business called Why Not Burger, operating out of the shiny new digs of The Crisp Cannoli bakery in East Greenbush.
No loyal Beastie Boys fan could pass up the opportunity to order Boca Bistro’s Ramen and Stealin’ Box even if ramen from a tapas restaurant has an odd ring. Boca, Forno Bistro and Chianti Ristorante, all part of DZ Restaurants group, have been bringing comic relief to social media this winter with their series of Food Crazy Takeout Boxes for two at a killer $25 price.
In December, Forno’s chef, Matt Richardson, was Photoshopped as Santa on a vintage album cover titled “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Tacos,” promising holiday classics like volcano burritos, chicken quesadillas and fiesta potatoes. Soon after, the Boca team turned out in full circus attire encouraging customers to “Step right up, step right up … for the greatest Food Box on Earth,” packed with corn dogs, fried pickles, kettle corn, fries and sugary fried dough. I tried to get in on the act, but it was sold out.
You have to pay attention and plan a week ahead. Boca Bistro’s pre-order Food Crazy Boxes are available for Sunday/ Monday pickup, and Forno’s for Wednesday and Thursday. Boca’s campy TV game show presentation for its “Breakfast for Dinner” is a recurring Thursday night feature.
Those bored of cabin fever will understand my willingness to drive 40 minute for takeout. The Ramen & Stealin’ box was as much about tapping into the staff humor as the prospect of unpacking a mystery box. On Facebook, staff set the box contents to the Beastie Boys’ “Rhymin and Stealin’” lyrics, so we could expect: 3-hour Tokyo broth with an 8-minute egg And the box serves 2, we ain’t pullin’ your leg We got spicy edamame, but we spoke too soon
It’s got pork fried rice and crab rangoon. Verdict: A secure quart container was brimming with a lightly aromatic dashi stock, although the submerged noodles got a little soft on the commute home. A perfect jammy egg seemed more 6 minutes than 8, but in a “kit for two” we’d have liked both halves of it. Classic pork fried rice hit the spot, and edamame with sauteed red pepper was a simple hit. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the four-leafclover-shaped crab rangoons stayed crisp.
We added the optional $15 batched cocktail, choosing an admirably off-sweet white sangria, plus two a-la-carte desserts. A chocolate-cherry sliced “salami” came with rosemary biscotti and brandy-soaked cherries. Fried churros sweated enough in transit to warrant a blast in a hot oven to be crispy enough to dunk in the chocolate sauce.
Details: Boca Bistro, 384 Broadway, Saratoga Springs; 518-682-2800 or bocabistro.com. DZ Food Crazy Boxes are available on set nights (see Facebook or Instagram). Full menu available for dine in, takeout or curbside pickup.
I’ve had an eye on the gargantuan creations of Why Not Burger since it opened last fall as a delivery-only ghost kitchen grafted onto the daytime operations of
The Crisp Cannoli cafe in East Greenbush. After a brief holiday break, it’s back up and running on Friday and Saturday nights for delivery within a 7-mile radius and the new option to order and dine inside. This is a good idea, since coffee can offset the chance of a heart attack.
Verdict: Why Not Burger combines nostalgia for Mcdonald’s originals, like the old-school hot apple hand pie, with some of the madness that sent Elvis to his death. Think battered and deep-fried Oreos, giant portions of curly fries and waffle-cut sweet-potato fries doused in sugar. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but fries do not need sugar.
The burgers are a massive, beefy, leaky, tasty trip and a test of engineering. Foilwrapped but barely contained, The Whole Shebang stacks two smashed half-pound burgers in classic Big Mac format with Why Not special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, all in a sesame-seed bun desperately undersized for the job, like a paper plate instead of a parachute. The Consigliere is topped with thickly breaded fried green tomatoes and spicy sriracha mayo, and The Sunnyside Up in a pretzel bun is the food-lover’s Jenga. Requiring two hands, every bite risks collapse as guacamole, salsa and the yolk of a fried egg gush over your hands. Providing you aren’t eating in public — which you probably aren’t — it’s guaranteed to get you filthy.
It was unclear that burgers come with curly fries so we over-ordered by adding fries ($5). Their web technology is a little tricky: You’ll find the menu via The Crisp Cannoli ordering page, but Why Not burgers isn’t visible to order until they open at 4 p.m. You can’t currently specify a pickup time, nor are you given an estimate after ordering, so you’ll have to call to see when it might be ready. And you’ll only know if you’re within delivery range if you first chose delivery. Despite those minor glitches, ordering Why Not Burgers over a corporate chain is a fun way to support a local bakery and order up an Elvis-sized weekend treat.
Details: Why Not Burgers (The Crisp Cannoli Bakery), 1 Springhurst Drive, East Greenbush. 518-949-2641 or whynotburgers.com. Why Not Burgers has limited hours: 4 to 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday only. Dine in, curbside pickup and delivery within 7 miles.