AOL's City's Best Guide to New York gave top honors to Randazzo's Clam Bar (2023 Emmon's Ave.) in its seafood category.

The neighborhood staple beat out such elite eateries as Le Bernardin and the Aquagrill in Manhattan, as well as other sea critter cookers around the city. Around since the 1920s, Randazzo's is a relic of a waterfront that was once lined with world-class seafood restaurants, so if you haven't already, make sure you hit it up at least once before it's turned into a condo.

AOL City's Best wrote:

Since 1920, this unpretentious clam bar has been dishing up fresh seafood raw, fried or cooked under its famous spicy tomato sauce. The giant plate of lobster pasta -- chunks of pinky-white sweet meat, royal-red sauce and slithering noodles -- can feed two people for less than $20. Beloved by locals, Randazzo's even has a to-go window facing busy Emmons Ave. Order a half-dozen raw clams or oysters -- plucked from the avalanche of shaved ice and pried open before your eyes -- and eat them on the canal's pedestrian bridge. Hearty chowders and fried calamari pile on the flavor, while the old-school Brooklyn-ese waitstaff piles on the other kind of flavor. Are you still in NYC? Yes. Are you still in the 21st century? No way.

[Via SB/PB Civic Association]

(Photo courtesy of GerritsenBeach.net)

If you were to ask Bay residents what the most scuzzy, shady and nefarious business on the waterfront was, I'm sure more than a fair share would point their fingers to the Windjammer Motor Inn on 3206 Emmons Ave. The hideous motel has garnered quite a reputation over the years, with accusations of activities including prostitution and peeping toms (or peeping pigs, in some cases). On the suggestion of a friend, I decided to look up some of the online reviews of this hell hole, and the results were beyond hilarious. Below is the best of those reviews.

Top awards go to this romantic chump on Yelp.com:

For an all too brief moment of rekindled passion, I delved into the wondrous caverns of your nether region, and dug deep to unearth the core of divine ecstasy itself. It had been three months since you left. On this night, you showed up at my door, speaking the language of aged scotch and false promises. I was only too happy to accomodate your deceitful ways.

You escaped into the unforgiving chill of a bitter cold Sheepshead Bay night. Leaving me to foot the bill for the room while you did god knows what with god knows who. Through a thinly layered wall next to my bed, I could hear a Russian prostitute bark commands at a john. Darkness swallowed the last remaining light of dusk, and engulfed my room in lonely shadows. I dug my feet into the orange shag carpet and smiled. This was the breakthrough we were looking for.

One day...soon, we shall jam in the wind once more.

TripAdvisor.com users definitely advise to stay away:

Title: "A Turkish prison would have been better!"
This is the biggest turd hole on the planet. When I opened the door, I knew I was in trouble, there was previous biologicals all over . I slept with my cloths on on towels. I turned the tv. on and it was stuck on channel 33, free porn, usually that would not be all that bad, but in this instance I was so mortified that even that repulsed me. And speaking of thin walls, I had a wake up call with a very loud women at 3 am if you know what I mean. Save your money and sleep in the alley, there will be less germs! I almost forgot the hairy mold growing in the shower.

Title: "Nasty, Dirty, Stinks, No Privacy"
it would have been much better if I did spend my night in my car. I would not let my neighbor's dog spend the night there even if his life was in danger. The place has a funky smell, the carpet is horrible, the guest would be better off sleeping on the street pavement instead of sleeping on the bed they have for them.

While consensus with the above was found nearly everwhere, one Yahoo! user did feel the urge to speak up and defend Skankville Inn the Windjammer:

hotel with hourly rates: After reading the other remarks I had to comment. What else do you expect from a place that offers hourly rates. Yes it a hole in the wall, and yes its flithy, and yes there are a lot of degerates hanging out in front. But this is the clientale that they cater to. I have used this hotels for quickies with my boyfriend on several occassions - you can't beat paying $50 for 4 hours.

Did I say defend? I guess that's what that was.

We noted a few weeks ago that renovation of the Lundy's space is underway; now we're happy to bring you confirmation of the new tenant.

And the business that will be operating in the iconic building is... [cue drumroll]... Cherry Hill Gourmet Market, a local food market with a storefront currently on 2278 86th St, between Bay 32st street and 23rd Ave. in Bensonhurst/Bath Beach. It is expected that Cherry Hill-Lundy's will open its doors in the next 2 to 3 months.

(Cherry Hill Market in Bensonhurst/Bath Beach)

Read on after the jump to see some of the business' plans for the space, as well as reviews of its current storefront.

Read more »

I was passing by Lundy's the other day and noticed the door open with some work going on inside. I snapped a few shots, including the work permits confirming that the new businesses will be a "retailed food establishment with a restaurant", which is line with speculation that an Outback Steakhouse and Whole Foods-type market will take the place of the historic restaurant. The permits are for plumbing and new mechanical work, as well as new walls.

Less than two weeks after crowning Garden Bay Café the neighborhood's top dog in food inspection violation points, a new contender has swept in, stealing the title. La Sorrentina 11 Pizzeria, at 1652 Sheepshead Bay Road, took the prize with 45 violation points, a narrow 4-point margin from the neighborhood's now-second-place Garden Bay. But unlike the Armenian gastro-wrecked-omy destination, La Sorrentina's victorious failure came on its follow up visit.

Read on after the jump to see its nine violations, as well as how it compares to its inspection just under a month ago. Also see a restaurant that received an honorable mention for an astounding 60 violation points, but was disqualified from receiving the Bite's title of "...Ewww."

Read more »

Brooklyn's oldest bicycle shop, Roy's Sheepshead Cycle, was aflame at 4:00 a.m. today, with a fire that started in the shop's mechanical repair area. Located at 2679 Coney Island Ave. the store has been a community fixture since its establishment in 1931. Luckily, the fire did not hinder the shop's ability to serve the neighborhood: despite the fire, the store remains open, and though the service area (located in a garage towards the back of the establishment) has been shut down, Roy's mechanics packed up and moved into an empty storefront two doors down, according to Ilya Nikhamin, who works in sales. Nikhamin added that he expects the store to be "fully operational - 100%" within two weeks. Fire marshals have not yet discovered the cause of the fire.

-Thanks to "local broker" for the tip.