BJ's Restaurant

I was in Beacon for wedding and decided to stop at BJ's for lunch after reading all of the excellent (but not deserved) Yelp reviews.  First of all, walk in the door, and you are transported to a diner straight out of 1976.  This could be overlooked and even considered charming if the food had lived up to expectations.  

I ordered the chicken and waffles.  About 5 minutes after placing my order, the waiter came back to the table and informed me that my chicken would be chicken wings, as they were apparently out of any other chicken parts.  I didn't want chicken wings, but when I told him that, I was told that they had already been thrown into the fryer.  Oh, my apologies, I guess I'll just eat them, then...which is exactly what I did.

The waffle was nothing to write home about, either, and it was served with Aunt Jemima maple flavored syrup.  Ew.

Overall, despite my failed chicken and waffles, the other food was good enough (not memorable enough for me to remember what it was for the purpose of this review) but heavy.  

If you're looking for a light lunch, this is not your spot in Beacon.

This was one of the best dinners out I've had in a long time.  My fiance and I noticed the sign that said "oxtails" and decided to try the place - and we were SO glad we did!  We each ordered the oxtails with mac & cheese and collard greens, and a bowl of lima bean soup.

The oxtails were AMAZING - the meat fell right off the bone and melted like butter in my mouth.  Good mac & cheese, too; it turned out they'd run out of collards so we had green beans instead, but those were tasty as well - and now we'll just have to make our way back there to try the greens ;)   I'd never had lima bean soup before but theirs made me want to try my hand at it - it was the perfect fix at the end of a windy day with lots of walking around, and the cornbread that came with it was fantastic.

There were a lot of different pies which we unfortunately didn't have the time (or stomach space!) to try, but now that's just another reason to go back.  An added bonus was the stock of really good bottled cream soda, root beer, and similar. The relaxed atmosphere and friendly service on top of the awesome food made for a truly pleasant dinner to cap off the weekend :)

This spot has been around for many, many years.  The food is extremely good.  I haven't been disappointed by anything I've had here.   The fried chicken is on point.  Sometimes, I go the grits, eggs and sausage route and it's all good.  Collard Greens are good but the main thing is that none of the food is too salty.  That has been a common problem with soul food restaurants in general...too much salt in the food.  That's why my brothers and sisters have blood pressure issues.  The Hudson Valley needs more soul food establishments, pronto!  There's got to be more than BJs or your black friend's house to get premium soul food. So you might as well go to a place that has good home-style food and reasonable prices, BJs son!!