Hartford Pic Of The Week: Price Gouging

Admidst the endless hang-wringing about snow removal, which replaced guns as everyone's most passionate cause de jour on the internet, the concept of price gouging was forgotten in the latest storm. Some fine Hartford entrpreneurs, located on the corner of Farmington and Evergreen took advantage of the situation and raised there gas prices accordingly last Thursday. While most station charged $3.89 for a gallon of regular, this fine Hartford business charged a robust $4.39. Fair play in a supply and demand market or unethical?

Carbone's & The South End: 20 Years Ago

Carbone's is one of the most famous restaurants in Hartford. Located in the South End on Franklin Ave, Carbone's is one of those places you hear about once being "the place to be in Hartford." As the stories go, in the halycon days, Carbone's was a place that top area power brokers and politicians could be found at. 

These days Carbone's remains, but the South End has undergone a profound change in the last quarter-century. The theories on the reasons for these changes are innummerable, and run a wide gamut, including the opening of the casinos in Connecticut. Whatever those reasons may be, we recently came across a 1992 Hartford Courant article in which many of the same questions that remain today existed 20 years ago. The text of the article from October 29, 1992.

We Like To Shop At The Dollar Store Shop

Hartford has lots of dollar stores. Lots and lots and lots of dollar stores. More often than not, when a new business comes to town, it seems to be a dollar store. These announcements are usually followed with the usual hand-wringing and kavetching wondering why Hartford can't get a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.

At Sad City, when life hands us a Hartford, we try to make lemonade because in the immortal words of Rick Pitino "Trader Joe's ain't walking through that door." We bet if we stopped worrying why West Hartford gets Whole Foods and we get dollar stores (is that really a difficult question to answer?) we can find some great bargains at dollar store.

Local Business: Freed McKeen LLC

It was only a matter of time before Sad City landed us in a lawyers' office. While spending time with lawyers isn't as scintillating as portrayed on television, we gladly accepted the invite from Ryan McKeen to visit his practice recently opened with partner Meghan Freed.

Beyond a cursory curiosity as to what lawyers were like and what they actually do all day, we were intrigued by the idea of checking out the space. Located street level in The Linden at 491 Main Street, Freed McKeen isn't the office building, industrial carpeted, fluorescent lit spot one would expect from a law firm. Instead it gives off the cozy feel of a Pier One catalog.

Sad City's Guide To Christmas Shopping

We are within two weeks of Christmas which is followed by the most miserable time of the year, commonly referred to as January and February. With only a few shopping days (we aren't sure how shopping days are calculated, nor do we care) left before Christmas, there's always Amazon.com but some insist on personally venturing into the commercial sector. That's cool, that's what we are here for.

We aren't going to get all super boring and tell you to get some gift cards to a local restaurant,  you aren't amoeba, you already know that. Nor are we going to lecture you on buying only "local only, organic only, no animals, no Republicans, no sugar, all natural" you aren't schoolchildren. What we do have is some fine Hartford area selections. Think of anything we missed? Leave it in the comments.

Without further ado, we bring you the Sad City Christmas Guide, the latest installment in the Sad City Guide series.

Barber Brings Bling to Hartford

A lot of time our friends will tell us "you have to try this fancy new barber in (Downtown/West Hartford)." Our reply is always the same, thanks but we're all set in that department. For about four years MC's Barbershop on Franklin Ave has been the official barber of Sad City.

Over the last year, MC has been telling us about being entering haircutting competitions and by the look of things, MC has been bringing some impressive hardware back to Hartford. With first place finishes in regional competitions, MC recently entered a large international competition in New York and finished in second place. The competition was also filmed as part of an upcoming documentary on barber competitions which we look forward to seeing MC in. We will keep you posted on details about the film as it gets close to release.

What To Do? Music at J.Rene Coffee

Sad City has been drinking J.Rene Coffee exclusively for a couple years now and well, if you're serious about coffee, this is where you should be drinking it too. While J.Rene has been roasting up the best coffee in the area for awhile, Jose Rene Martinez, the esteemed owner and roasting maestro, has taken a quantum leap forward and has opened hands down the best coffee shop in the area.

 Don't believe us?  Fair enough, we aren't coffee experts, but we know it's good. If you like coffee, check out J.Rene's for yourself.

Located at 320 Park Rd in West Hartford, J.Rene's offers superb coffee in a great atmosphere. One of the popular attractions at J.Rene's is live music on Friday nights. Tonight the shop is featuring InfiniTango, a band that alone has an interesting enough look and name to make us want to check them out. Eagle-eyed Sad City readers will also note the bands promo shots were taken in Hartford City Hall.

Local Business: Hartford Bicycle

While there's nothing new about the bicycle, Hartford Bicycle offers a unique take on the century old mode of transportation. With rising concerns over fuel costs and carbon footprints, bicycles are experience a renaissance in U.S. cities. Hartford Bicycle, located downtown at 75 Pratt St, meshes bicycling, art, and craftsmanship in restoring and customizing bicycles. Headed by Patrick Connolly, the seed for Hartford Bicycle was planted when Connolly was living in Boston (as seemingly all interesting Hartfordites do in their early 20's) when he started customizing his own bikes.

The Best I Ever Had......

During the late 90's, Hakaan and Pete Sopersata relentlessly cruised Hartford's in search of the perfect sandwich. From dive to deli to bistro, we found many quality sandwiches, yet we never did find a sandwich that we would crown Best In Hartford. Always a flaw was to be found, too much lettuce, too much sauce, sloppily construction, marginal bread. Always some detail was overlooked.

We never anointed a best sandwich, and while the best bread in the area today can be found at Hartford Baking Company, the best bread we ever had was discovered on this sandwich quest at the long defucnt Salvatore's on Wethersfield Ave.

Hartford's Best Sandwich (& Salad)?

Last week we mentioned Le Petit Chef as one of our favorite spots to grab lunch in Hartford. We've made a handful of visits to Le Petit over the last few months and we can say that it currently holds the title for serving the Best Sandwich In Hartford. Operated by a French gentleman who claims to have "never had McDonald's," Le Petit features an extensive sandwich menu and from our experience you can't go wrong with any. Two of our favorites have been a roast beef with brie and bacon (?!??!?!?) and roast chicken with avocado.

Bikes, Art, & Hockey, Oh My!

If you're looking for something to do this Friday evening there are a few cool events happening downtown. The Tavern Downtown will be showing the CT Whale playoff game against Norfolk at 7:30. The Whale scored a surprising 3-2 overtime victory in game one over a heavily favored Norfolk squad who entered the playoffs not having lost a game in nearly three months.

The Whale are now building a streak of their own as they sit at 4-0 in the playoffs. The Whale will be back in Hartford with 7 pm games both Sunday and Monday night at the XL Center. Purchase tickets for playoff hockey here.

A Look Back: Tastease

(Ed. Note: Last April we took our best intern to a journey to Tastease on the advice of our readers. We had some idea what we were in store for but kept where we were going for lunch secret from the intern. SInce the intern was used to dictating almost all terms of dining, etc., the secretive lunch was met with a healthy dose of skepticism to say the least. Tastease, being Tastease, overcame all doubts that we were capable of picking a decent lunch spot on our own and won the day as we enjoyed a couple Cuban sandwiches at the very tables that now have become a point of controversy leading to Tastease announcing they are closing at the end of June. 


Today we take a look back at that April 19, 2011 post and a listen back at Hakaan and Craig discussing Tastease on 106.9 WCCC back on April 20, 2011. Hakaan can be heard chatting about Hartford with Craig every Wednesday at about 9:20 PM on 106.9 WCCC.)

Sad City's Guide To Quick Downtown Lunch

You've just landed a job in downtown Hartford. Most likely you don't live downtown, Possibly you aren't familiar with your eating options at all. You've got one hour before you have to get back to ascending the career ladder, you don't want to waste it and have a crappy lunch, but at the same time, you can't afford to be gone too long lest your boss be checking in. So where do you go? Well head on over to the always handy Sad City Guide section of course. 


Without further ado and not to be confused with our previous Guide To Lunch published in a galaxy far, far away, we present the Sad City Guide To Quick Downtown Lunch!

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

After a most tepid and enjoyable winter, it is now May and even in New England we have reached a safe harbor from snow. After suffering through months of dark and cold, nothing is more welcome in Sad City than the break of spring. Our whole life one of the great markers of spring time has been the start of the baseball season. While that has been enhanced with the advent of the internet bringing the widespread popularity of fantasy baseball and Hakaan annually bludgeoning Jumper in their fantasy leagues, a local brewery has added another great spring time tradition.

What's the Point?

Our griping about the St. Patrick's Day Parade created an interesting discussion in the comments section of last week's post. While there was some nuance to each of the statements, they all seemed to break into two camps.

What did each side care about? Which side is right?

Sad City's Guide To West End Pizza

If there is one food in America that appeals to almost everyone across all ages, it's pizza. You'd be hard pressed to find a town, no matter how small, that didn't have at least one pizza place. Pizza also comes in a massive array of types, quality levels, sizes, and, often most importantly, toppings. While Hartford certainly doesn't have the pizza heritage of its sister city New Haven, it can certainly boast of its share of quality pizza joints. Seeing as how trying all of them, or anywhere even close to that would take forever, (not to mention drastic weight gain and the onset of diabetes) Sad City has decided to break down Hartford's pizza options by neighborhood.

Another El Mercado Gem

Last week when we wrote about our travels to Philly and the awesomeness of the Reading Terminal Market, we opined that every city should be so lucky to have such an incredible market. While it has been well documented that Sad City is a huge fan of El Mercado on Park Street, we aren't going to get all Hartford cheerleader silly and claim that El Mercado is anywhere on par with the Reading Terminal Market, but it's adding more great restaurants and is really a great place to get Latino food.

While most of our dining at El Mercado has been at the Mexican restaurant with the occasional stop at the Dominican restaurant, we had noticed that El Mercado has added a Peruvian and Columbian restaurant. This weekend we tried out the fairly new Peruvian restaurant Autentico Sabor Peruano (Authentic Peruvian Flavor). It's an impressive and varied menu but one item in particular made our decision a no-brainer; ceviche.

Open House Today At Greater Hartford Welcome Center

Can it be that bad if there's money for this billboard?

For those of us who don't wait for the last minute and simply order gifts off the internet, here's an idea that triples as a gift, support for the arts in our fine city, and a tax deduction! That's really a trifecta not found in many places. Today the Greater Hartford Arts Council will host a day-long festive  holiday party to celebrate the Greater Hartford Welcome Center and the Let*s GO Arts! Holiday Promotion. During the open house morning visitors can dine on cookies and other snacks while afternoon visitors can enjoy some free wine and cheese. Seriously, how does anyone turn down free wine and cheese? We plan to be all over the havarati and brie so be sure to get there before we devour it all.

Hartford Business: Del Norte Grocer

When we were going into the Pan De Oro chip factory a couple weeks ago, we noticed what appeared to be a Mexican Grocer at the end of the industrial park Pan De Oro is located in. Being in an industrial park, we first guessed it was a restaurant supply type store, selling products in bulk. After all, an industrial park next to train tracks didn't seem like the place where one would find a small grocer.

Inside The Pan De Oro Factory

Visiting the Pan De Oro chip factory on Main Street was something that had been on the Sad City agenda for quite a while but for whatever reason took a a while to get around to. When we finally visited last week, it was a what took so long moment. We made our way to the factory thinking we'd grab a bag of tortillas, chomp some down and write about the chips.

The factory is located in an industrial area of North Main Street. We weren't even sure if we were walking in the right door. When we first saw Rick Stevens he asked if he could help us. "We are looking for some chips."

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that not only were we in the right place, but when buying chips out of the factory they cost only $1 a bag. Can't beat that deal. Rick then asked how we found out about Pan De Oro. When we replied Twitter, he asked "great, did I follow you back, i always try to do that?"

 "Ummm, not sure, the account is Sad City Hartford."

"Oh ok! Would you like a tour of the factory?"

A tour of the factory? Yes, I think we would enjoy that very much.