La Mexicana Grocery

Location: Schenectady, NY                                            Type of food: Mexican

So I'm branching out even further than New Jersey and New York City/Long Island. This time, I've moved up north. No wisecracks about the weather please. Yes, I've gone completely the other way from Los Angeles to Upstate New York. And of course, coming from Los Angeles, I will always crave good Mexican. Now, considering there is a term "grocery" attached to this place, one would wonder what am I recommending. Well, if you want to buy some groceries, you can certainly do that too. They have Inca Kola, which is always great. BUT, I digress. Attached to the grocery store is a dine-in restaurant; you don't have to walk through the grocery store to get there either - they have their own door. Tacos are the authentic small corn tortilla ones at $2.50 a pop. I absolutely love their tostadas and my husband has tried their menudo too! If you are craving Mexican food, this is the place to go! Though I'm no expert, I have eaten tacos in Los Cabos, Ensenada, and of course, Los Angeles, so I'm always craving real tacos - not those flour tortilla shredded lettuce and cheese tacos. This place is pretty fast, ALWAYS satisfies, and they make one awesome margarita (it's really huge for lightweights like me; I have to share.....don't laugh). As a bonus, they have lots of different flavored Jarritos and usually at least one great agua fresca!!! I'm salivating.... I'll see you there. ;) Rating: 4.5 loaves

PJ Sushi

Location: Fort Lee, NJ                                              Type of food: Sushi

So I'm branching out, now that I'm no longer based on Long Island. This sushi place has been one of our favorite places to go even when we were living on Long Island; we discovered it on Yelp one day craving sushi on the way to New Jersey.  It had good reviews so we checked it out. We've been fans ever since. It's a low-key sushi place with no table service. You order at the counter and sit down; they'll bring it to you but everything is in disposable containers. No matter. The price is great and so is the taste. My husband and I order extra miso soup, a soda or something else, and we always come away spending about $20 for the both of us. And we're always full and satisfied! Their lunch specials are great but even if you miss those, no worries. Prices are always reasonable. We went with my brother-in-law and his wife one evening and ordered one of those huge platters with sushi and sashimi; it was plenty for the four of us. I'm looking forward to going again soon. Rating: 4.5 loaves