SACKETS HARBOR — Downtown Sackets Harbor is a quaint little village, really just one street lined with great restaurants and boutiques.
Call it restaurant row, if you will, with well-established eateries like Tin Pan Galley, Sackets Harbor Brewing Co. and Good Fellos brick oven pizza and wine bar.
Right in the middle of all this is a cute little place called Karen's Kafé and Bistro, a relative newcomer. You can't miss it — a freestanding yellow building with a large stone terrace in front, bright red umbrellas over the tables and colorful flowers all around.
The weather was threatening the night we were there, so we ate inside. It's small, with pinkish-colored walls, lots of Tiffany-style lamps and seating for 16 or so — right next to an ice cream cooler filled with Karen's homemade ice cream and her spotless stainless steel open kitchen.
The menu is upscale diner with a hip twist. Karen Bendix is famous for her cheesesteaks — choose from over a dozen, including Swiss, Thousand Island, vegetarian, Reuben and blue cheese. Get a basic beef burger, or turkey burger or garden burger. Or go trendy with a grilled panini sandwich. Or try some barbecue chicken, beef or pork.
Lots of "homemade" on the menu: homemade tartar sauce, homemade red sauce, homemade slaw, homemade salad dressings, homemade gravy, homemade barbecue beans and homemade raspberry sauce.
We began with a half basket of sweet potato fries ($3.75) and a full portion of "garlic NYC style" Caesar salad ($6.95) for three of us to share.
The fries were great — light and airy and not overdone like many we've had. They're no doubt a commercial product, but Karen obviously uses fresh oil that makes them crispy and not greasy.
The Caesar was a huge portion with enough garlic to ward off vampires for years to come. There was nothing subtle about the bite of the garlic or the bite of the cheese, which tasted more like sharp Romano than the usual Parmesan.
This could warrant a box of Altoids in your pocket if you plan to be in close proximity to any human beings the next day.
We got an appetizer portion of crab cakes ($7.95). They appeared a little too perfectly shaped to be homemade, but we certainly enjoyed them, especially with Karen's zippy homemade tartar sauce. You can get a "bistro dinner" portion for $11.95 that includes fries and homemade slaw or pasta salad.
I love a good chicken salad. There's a chicken salad sandwich on the menu ($5.95) as well as a chicken salad plate ($7.95). I just wanted a taste, and Kate, our waitress, was nice enough to bring me a small side portion. It was perfect — all real chicken meat (not chopped up luncheon meat like some places use) with good quality mayo and some diced celery.
For many years, Karen operated a similar restaurant in New Jersey, where she garnered a reputation for good food, especially her versions of the Philly cheesesteak.
We tried two from her extensive list: provolone cheesesteak ($9.95 large, $5.50 small), with provolone cheese, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, onions and red sauce, and Thousand Island ($10.95 large, $6.50 small), with Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing, peppers, onions and red sauce.
We watched Karen at the grill, fashionably dressed in her red Crocs, hair pulled back with a matching red bow. She sautéed the veggies effortlessly, assembled them over a grilled hamburger bun (unusual, I know, for a cheesesteak, but these are served open-faced, and somehow it works) put the dressing, sauce and cheese on top and gave them a quick broil.
Sometimes a Philly can be so greasy, you just can't finish it all. Karen's were relatively grease-free, and you could taste and enjoy each component of the cheesesteak.
Ribs are popular these days, and I don't really know why. Eating ribs seems like a lot of work with very little reward. And finding good ribs where the meat literally falls off the bones is a bit of a challenge, too.
Such was the case with Karen's half rack of pork barbecue ribs ($12.95). It took a lot of effort to rip the meat from the bones, the barbecue sauce was just OK, and you're left with more bones on your plate than meat you've consumed. The beans were very good and worked like they're supposed to.
Karen's homemade ice cream was a must. Maple walnut was very good, but the raspberry cheesecake ($4.95) was excellent — cheesecake topped with Karen's own raspberry sauce and whipped cream. Three of us devoured it in seconds.
She also offers white chocolate mousse pie, homemade "million dollar" pie (walnuts, oatmeal, granola and brown sugar, topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce), and the "oxymoron special," iced hot chocolate whipped into a light desert drink topped with whipped cream.
Lots of food for three guys came to $66 before tip.
The beer list features 1812 from the Sackets Harbor Brewing Co. around the corner, Yuengling, raspberry by Michelob and New Castle Honey Brown, in addition to all the standards. Wines are nothing special.
Kate did a great job waiting on us and answering all our food questions, especially because she's new to the waitress game. Karen also came out from the kitchen and spent time chatting with customers.
Karen's is a good, laid back, informal place to stop for a bite to eat, or a cold beer on the terrace, or just an ice cream cone, smoothie or shake on a hot summer afternoon in downtown Sackets Harbor.
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
Karen's Kafé & Bistro
214 West Main St.
Sackets Harbor, N.Y.
Casual dining on the stone terrace or indoors along Sackets Harbor's "restaurant row."
OPEN from 11 a.m. daily
Sweet potato fries were great. Caesar salad is loaded with garlic. Lots of homemade stuff, including ice cream. Karen is known for her Philly cheesesteaks and has 13 to choose from. Don't bother with the ribs. Cheesecake with raspberry sauce is a good bet.
RATING: 3 and 1/2 forks
