Two new eateries up and running in Canton
Who in their right mind would want to open a restaurant in these questionable economic times?
Many months in the making, two new restaurants have opened in downtown Canton, Hot Tamale and The Club.
Hot Tamale is a casual eatery on Main Street that offers Tex-Mex food. The location formerly housed a gift shop called The Gallery.
The Club is just around the corner on Court Street in a stately 19th-century building, a location best remembered for the restaurant The Glass Onion.
We visited both for lunch recently. Hot Tamale's menu is the same for lunch and dinner. The Club's menu is also the same for both, with the addition of a half-dozen casual dinner entrées in the evening.
Here's our report.
HOT TAMALE
67 MAIN ST.
CANTON, NY
386-3333
WWW.YOURHOTTAMALE.COM
It's a cool new eatery open for business in Canton, and it's hot.
Hot Tamale opened several weeks ago. It's all about Tex-Mex cuisine: burritos, tacos, quesadillas and more.
Canton native Marc Morley has returned to his roots after spending several years in New York City working in the banking industry. He's never been in the restaurant business before, but admits to doing lots of research before opening his eatery.
Tantalizing aromas hit you upon entering. The walls are a feast for the eyes, painted bright shades of green, red and yellow. The place is clean, bright and inviting.
There's seating for about 40, and it's lucky we got there just before the noon rush. Within 10 minutes, every table was occupied and customers were lined up at the counter.
The counter is much like a production line that you see at a Subway or a Jrecks. You place your order at one end and follow the "cooks" down the line as he or she creates your lunch.
There's seasoned chicken, pork, steak and ground beef. Shredded cheese, rice and beans, salsa and pico de gallo. Lettuce, onions, jalapenos and olives. Refried beans, guacamole and sour cream.
It's all fresh looking, all nicely displayed.
Tacos were good. They come in threes — we got one of each, chicken, pork and ground beef. The flour tortillas are quickly steamed and filled to order. You get to choose your own "stuff" to customize your meal.
We got a side of guacamole to jazz things up, not very garlicky or otherwise seasoned, more like avocado puree.
The chicken quesadilla was nicely grilled and quite tasty with meat, cheese, lettuce and onions, sour cream and salsa on the side. A good-sized portion, too.
The pork burrito was filled with properly cooked rice and flavorful beans and a multitude of fresh filling options. Chipotle Tabasco sauce is standard on every table if you want to kick it up a little. More serious Sriracha chili sauce is available behind the counter.
We also ordered tamales, done up with an eye to being quite genuine: shredded pork with real masa inside real cornhusks.
Lunch for three came to $31.
For being open such a short period of time, the staff really had it together. They worked quietly and efficiently behind the line, cranking out simple and approachable Tex-Mex cuisine.
Hot Tamale is open seven days a week beginning at 11 a.m. From Sunday through Wednesday they're open till 11 p.m., Thursday through Saturday till 2:30 a.m.
THE CLUB
25 COURT ST.
CANTON, NY
714-3333
The big, historic building is lovely, inside and out. Years ago, it was home to an exclusive men's club called the Canton Club. In recent years, it has been through various restaurant incarnations.
Local restaurateur Rick Cassara (Tick Tock, Phoebe's) is in charge now. He's filling a niche, serving middle-of-the-road "straight forward American food," not unlike an Applebees or a Bennigans.
There's standard prefrozen and deep-fried chicken wings, chicken tenders and coconut shrimp, if that's what you want. Nachos and pepperoni sticks, too.
Or get a little more adventurous with made-to-order wraps, sandwiches, sliders, fresh salads or pressed paninis.
We began our visit to The Club with Southwest spring rolls ($6.95), actually an egg roll wrapper filled with onion, sweet peppers, black beans, corn, melted cheese and bits of grilled chicken. Even though our server made a special trip to the kitchen to confirm that they were made on-site, they looked suspiciously prefab.
Nonetheless, they were a tasty treat, served with "ranchero dipping sauce," a pinkish version of ranch dressing, doctored up with chopped veggies, served on a bed of tired greens.
Another out-of-the-ordinary appetizer was lobster mac and cheese ($8.95), a generous portion made with large spiral pasta and a sauce of mild cheddar. Rather than the Ritz cracker topping described on the menu, it arrived topped with melted mozzarella.
The menu also said it was served in a puff pasty bowl, which turned out to be just a square of puff pastry, squashed down under the weight of the generous portion. A few small pieces of lobster provided a nice variation on a theme.
Mediterranean salad ($8.95) with chicken consisted of sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, small pieces of canned artichoke, sliced red onions and feta cheese over the same greens served with the egg rolls, crisped up with the addition of some fresh romaine.
Balsamic dressing specified in the menu looked and tasted more like plain old Italian. The previously cooked sliced grilled chicken was a good portion size for a lunch salad.
Reuben sandwich ($7.25) was classic with plenty of sliced corned beef, gooey melted Swiss, tangy sauerkraut along with 1000 Islands dressing tucked in between two slices of buttery grilled rye bread instead of thick cut marbled rye stated in the menu.
Sweet potato fries and creamy cole slaw were nice accompaniments, although the slaw lacked the sweet and sour punch that would have made it memorable.
Grilled vegetable and mozzarella panini ($7.50) was toasty on the outside with plenty of marinated eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red onion along with roasted red pepper mayo inside. They didn't skimp on the fresh mozzarella, either.
We enjoyed the side of tangy salsa, fresh tasting with a bit of subtle heat.
Desserts are made by Birchland Farms, a local baker. We tried the turtle cheesecake and carrot cake, both good products, priced at $5.95 each.
The cheesecake was topped with crushed pecans and chocolate fudge, drizzled with chocolate syrup and finished with aerosol whipped cream. The carrot cake was three layers high, nicely spiced and chock full of walnuts and what we believe was pineapple, and frosted with cream cheese icing.
Service was friendly and accommodating. Our server had good basic serving skills, remembering who ordered what and checking back in regularly.
Lunch for three came to $59 before tip.
The Club is open seven days a week, serving food from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. A full bar is open till the wee hours. There are beer and drink specials each night from 9 p.m. to midnight. Don't forget your I.D.
