Where To Get Cheap Eats Near Shea and Yankee Stadium

Take me out to the ballgame—but feed me right

Comments (0) By Sarah DiGregorio Tuesday, May 13 2008

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Just around the corner, El Molino Rojo II traffics in cuchifritos, Puerto Rican fried snacks. The takeout window displays a cratered, bubbly tumble of chicharron. Then there are piles of various crispy fried balls of starch and meat. There are spheres of fried potato, cassava, and plantain. There are beef and chicken patties as big and flat as a slice of pizza, basically fried dough with a bubble of spiced meat to one side. These things have their charms, but they are extraordinarily oily—so much so that the grease slicks your hand while eating them. If you've had a few beers, though, all bets are off; they might seem like manna from heaven.

Inside El Molino Rojo, there's a lunch counter and a few tables. It's Norman Rockwell meets Bronx Puerto Rican. Spanish conversation bubbles convivially around the room, and the gruff ladies behind the counter wear hairnets. Here you can get a good mofongo, the Puerto Rican green-plantain mash, with chicken, shrimp, or ribs on the side. The special gets you a yellow starchy dome of mofongo, two fried pork ribs, salad, and a cup of savory beef gravy. Spoon the gravy into the mofongo and the dome crumbles apart, bits of garlicky plantain studded with crunchy pork cracklings.

Ryan Snook

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Feeding Tree

892 Gerard Ave.
Bronx, NY 10452

Category: Restaurant > Caribbean

Region: Bronx

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If curried goat or mofongo isn't your thing, there's always the Press Café. The small panini bar is only open during home games, starting about two hours before game time. The evening of a recent Red Sox–Yankees match, the crowd overflowed onto the sidewalk, guys in button-downs drinking from red plastic cups. It looks like a frat party, but this is definitely the only place in the area where you can get Belgian ale or a German wheat beer. The paninis are simple, featuring cheese, greens, and cured meats. They're served on good, toasty bread, but the fillings are sadly skimpy.

Robert Hyman, the owner and bartender, is also a full-time sixth-grade teacher in Hackensack. He's handsome in a thick-jawed, Brendan Fraser way. Robert, who actually prefers Bud Light to Schneider Weisse, inherited Press Café from his friend. What happened to his friend? "He got married," said Robert. Pour one out for the fallen.