Curious about the hoopla and tempted by a coupon for a dozen free eggs, I braved rush hour traffic on Central Avenue to check out the new ShopRite in the Midway Shopping Center in Scarsdale. I arrived at dusk and was greeted with pandemonium in the parking lot with parking attendants swirling flashlights in an attempt to direct the traffic.
Perhaps it was just the perils of opening week, but the traffic situation wasn’t much better inside the store where meandering shoppers jammed the aisles with their carts, making it difficult to navigate this massive space. In fact, the store is so large that customers are handed a store map at the entrance to help them find what they’re seeking in Shop Rite’s 19 aisles.
The store rivals Stew Leonard’s in size and has many intriguing features. Similar to the new Fairway, ShopRite includes a café at the 
entrance where you can enjoy a deli sandwich or store-made sushi while watching TV on a large flat screen monitor. Other special features include a fresh bakery counter, a florist, a fresh seafood counter, impressive gourmet cheeses and butchers who promise to cut custom meat orders. They also offer custom catering where you can order platters of appetizers, entrees, sushi, deli, fruit, cheese, desserts and more. There’s so much to see that you could easily get dazzled and forget why you came in the first place.
The produce department is large and well stocked. While turning the corner from the veggies I ran into the store’s nutritionist, Jessica Lee Atland who is available for free individual and family nutritional counseling. Atland is a registered dietician and was handing out a monthly schedule of nutritional classes, cooking demos and events, including a presentation to the Woodlands Middle School, a workshop on Body Mass Index (BMI), a session on vitamins and a fruit and vegetable scavenger hunt for the kids.
In the aisles beyond there were groceries, paper goods, supplies, dairy, cosmetics and you-name-it, all
in plentiful supply. Scores of store employees were also blocking traffic, continually stocking the shelves as throngs of customers emptied them. There were towers of specials and discounted items, and sign-up tables where you could instantaneously enroll for the ShopRite Price Plus club. For those looking for organic products, I noted that organic milk was stocked at a very competitive price.
If you don’t care to brave the store at all, you can shop online at home at www.shoprite.com and have your groceries delivered for $6.95. If you spend, $10 or more, the shopping is free, and for orders under $100, a $10 fee applies.
The new ShopRite will undoubtedly have an impact on business in our area. A&P stores filed for bankruptcy in White Plains in December and though the A&P on Central Avenue remains open, it will clearly face a challenge from ShopRite which is a mere two minute drive south. Stew Leonard’s, Morton Williams and Pathmark may also feel the impact of this new giant entry to the local market. ShopRite also opened another 59,000 square foot market in City Center in White Plains this month, and their two new locations bring more choices for area shoppers and more jobs to Westchester.
Visit the two new stores and let us know what you think in the comments sections below.
ShopRite
955 Central Avenue
Scarsdale, New York 10583
(914) 874 2973
www.shoprite.com
Open seven days a week: 6 am to 2 am
If you’re looking for a light snack or dinner after a movie at City Center in White Plains we also can recommend an unassuming White Plains spot. Though it’s another franchise, you might enjoy Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza on Main Street, heading toward North Broadway. The atmosphere is very casual and while the pizza is nothing special (I prefer the thinner crust variety), the fantastic wings are the reason to go! They are cooked in the pizza oven (so you feel a little less guilty since they’re not fried) and they are smothered with grilled onions. After eating them there one night, we also got them for take-out and they were equally delicious. Not your typical wings, but worth a try! 
sale the day we visited was Hampshire pork, crown rib of pork, stuffed leg of lamb Hudson Valley grass-fed beef and rotisserie Cobb Cobb chickens from Lancaster, PA. Also available are meats cut to order with no upcharge for custom requests.
Juliano treated us to tastes of a few of the antipasti that were available to go including an insalata de ceci, which was a mixture of chick pea and black olive, eggplant caponata and roasted spaghetti squash with braised red onion, pine nuts and raisins. Likewise, the cheese counter was impressive and the expert behind the counter was ready to advise and provide samples. A dairy case held many exotic international treats making it easy to assemble your own Mediterranean picnic and settle in at the communal tables in front of the store. 
Hurricane Grill and Wings has opened on Central Avenue – bringing some Florida sunshine up north. Located next to Pastinas, in a double storefront that was once home to Mitty’s Steakhouse, the space has been beautifully renovated to create an airy beachfront surrounded by an aquatic mural and surfboards. Guests dine under palapas or in high-backed private booths, and though games are being shown on large screen televisions, the space is quiet enough to converse at your table.
glass and an impressive selection of beers, including pale ales on tap, domestic, imports and microbrews --all served in tall chilled glasses. The menu warrants a full read – as Hurricane offers wings in 30 flavors in addition to a lengthy list of entrees and salads.
Hurricane boasts that burgers are made from 100% Angus beef and the cheeseburger we tried was indeed tasty. Burgers come with your choice of natural cut fries, homemade kettle chips or Hurricane slaw … again requiring some thought. We decided to ask for an order of garlic and Parmesan fries which were bathed in garlic herb butter and grated Parmesan and could have been a meal alone. Also on the menu are quesadillas, and mahi-mahi fish tacos as well as grilled steak and Philly Cheesesteak.
reasonable to outrageous. But don’t despair. While your kids chow down on wings and fries, the diet conscious can choose from the Hurricane Red Rock Chicken Salad with ancho chile lime sauce, tomato salsa, shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese and crisp tortillas, the Grilled Chicken Caesar, Grilled Mahi-Mahi Baja Taco Salad, Honey Pecan Chopped Chicken Salad, or the Churrasco Steak salad.
There is good reason why Restaurant North is one of the most difficult places to get a reservation in all of Westchester. Lucky enough to score a table for a recent ladies lunch, the five month old, shining star of an eatery delivered in every regard.
carnivores and vegetarians alike. They even had a gluten- free selection and an economical prix fixe ($25 for a 3 course lunch). The lamb orrechiette, wild mushroom flatbread and perfectly cooked goat cheese omelet were all a hit as were the heirloom beet salad and tuna tartare. At a neighboring table a diner ordered the Bubba’s burger served on a golden brioche with tasty-looking cottage fries. Though full from our own ample servings, some at our table were salivating. Each dish was beautifully presented and plentiful.
Both the lunch and dinner menus change frequently making this a number one choice year round and worth the “reservation dance.”
