Where: Holiday Snack Bar, Long Beach Island, NJ
What: The Double Cheeseburger
Build: Two, 2 oz (?) burger patties, raw white onion, dill pickles, classic soft burger bun.
Comment: Ever pass by your high school or a pizza joint where you used to hang out in your teens? Sometimes you find yourself at a place in life that you haven't been to in a long, long time - a place that is so full of warm and fuzzy memories that you hardly notice that your surroundings have declined to ruin over the years. You just keep rewinding those great memories in your head and pay no attention to the reality of what time has done to the place. I believe this is what's going on at the Holiday Snack Bar, and I believe this is the "only" reason they are still in business. If not for the fond memories of it's patrons, the sharing of nostalgic stories, the unchanged decor, I could not see how the HSB could stay open another season.
No staff member was over 20 yrs old and all were completely disinterested in what they were doing. The grill man (boy), the waitress, the prep and bus boys all were visibly bored out of their minds and it was reflected in both service and food quality. What could have been a great old fashioned burger joint meal turned into a really bad lunch. Horribly slow wait service, burger meat cooked to oblivion, cheap frozen french fries, condiments (raw onions) that smelled like they had been left over from the previous day, all added up to a big ZERO for us. I had such high hopes of reminiscing of when I used to take my wife here for lunch in the early 1980's, but unfortunately, the old HSB is no more. But this disappointing trip to the HSB goes much deeper than just seeing an old favorite burger joint on the slide; for me, the young disinterested staff members are further confirmation of the decline of the American way of life.
I'm all about Mom & Pop joints succeeding, especially in these tough times, but honestly HSB, you need to serve good food or close your doors - your customers deserve better.
The Holiday Snack Bar gets a 2.5/10
CRAP - FAIL.
Comment: Ever pass by your high school or a pizza joint where you used to hang out in your teens? Sometimes you find yourself at a place in life that you haven't been to in a long, long time - a place that is so full of warm and fuzzy memories that you hardly notice that your surroundings have declined to ruin over the years. You just keep rewinding those great memories in your head and pay no attention to the reality of what time has done to the place. I believe this is what's going on at the Holiday Snack Bar, and I believe this is the "only" reason they are still in business. If not for the fond memories of it's patrons, the sharing of nostalgic stories, the unchanged decor, I could not see how the HSB could stay open another season.
No staff member was over 20 yrs old and all were completely disinterested in what they were doing. The grill man (boy), the waitress, the prep and bus boys all were visibly bored out of their minds and it was reflected in both service and food quality. What could have been a great old fashioned burger joint meal turned into a really bad lunch. Horribly slow wait service, burger meat cooked to oblivion, cheap frozen french fries, condiments (raw onions) that smelled like they had been left over from the previous day, all added up to a big ZERO for us. I had such high hopes of reminiscing of when I used to take my wife here for lunch in the early 1980's, but unfortunately, the old HSB is no more. But this disappointing trip to the HSB goes much deeper than just seeing an old favorite burger joint on the slide; for me, the young disinterested staff members are further confirmation of the decline of the American way of life.
I'm all about Mom & Pop joints succeeding, especially in these tough times, but honestly HSB, you need to serve good food or close your doors - your customers deserve better.
The Holiday Snack Bar gets a 2.5/10
CRAP - FAIL.
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