Staten Island Restaurant Tour, Part XI: Canlon’s (Oakwood Heights)

It springs eternal.

When you set out to explore neighborhoods where you’ve never set foot, and to eat meals in restaurants equally unknown, expect setbacks. As I neared the midpoint of the Tour, the only setback up to that point had been in the first episode, when I trekked to Tottenville on the day after Labor Day, only to find all the restaurants were closed. My bad. My first visit to Oakwood Heights was similarly futile because I set out too late enjoy decent warmth and light. My bad again. There’s a distinction between dumb stuff you do to yourself and risks worth taking. My second visit to Oakwood Heights fell into the second category and was more of a success.

Through the glass, darkly.

It got off to a rocky start. Four different psychos enlivened my trip. A woman on the IRT (above) screamed “do you want to f*** me?” into my ear. An earnest and likeable young guy in the South Ferry terminal made a speech about the detrimental effects of social media (it is what you make of it, IMO). On the SI Railway, a skank with no teeth accosted me with “I’ve been up for two days,” a major conversation stopper. And in the ferry terminal on the SI side, what may have been a trans woman was loudly reciting various grievances. If they related to her trans experience, she has my full support, but I wish people would stop acting out in public. There’s a lot of free-floating anxiety out there. Maybe we need a mental health program with a man-on-the-moon level of commitment.

Good shooting light from the first trip, though it didn’t last.

On the first trip, the weather started out bright and darkened. On this return trip, it started out partly cloudy and clarified. By the time I got to Oakwood Heights, the bright blue skies that I regard as good omens were blazing with the clear light I needed for pictures. Most episodes of the Tour are based around a same-named train station and neighborhood. In this case, I debarked in Oakwood Heights, but then headed to Richmond to see Historic Richmond Town, with a stock of original and recreated buildings, some as old as the late 17th century, formed into what was once a small town cum farm complex.

On the way from Oakwood Heights to Richmond: “No trespassing. Welcome.”

Richmond is Staten Island’s county name as well as that of its oldest neighborhood. For non-NYC residents: The city consists of five counties, which we call boroughs. The Bronx and Queens have identical county and borough names, while the other three have dual names: Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. You might assume there are valid historical reasons for this, but really, we just do it to mess with you.

Welcome to Historic Richmond Town.

I knew that the complex would be closed for tours today. Still, I figured I’d be able to walk around, and was encouraged to find an open restroom at the Visitor Center. This made the rest of my strolling a lot more comfortable!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Old men gotta pee.

“Fine Groceries & Provisions” available here at the reconstructed General Store, which operated until 1926.

That little fella next door, at left, is the Print Shop.

And here’s the cafe, Main Street Coffee.

Presumably with outdoor dining when it’s not January.

The Church of St. Andrew lies on a peaceful hillside. Its newer parish house is across the street.

Historic residents of Historic Richmond Town at rest.

Here’s Dunn’s Mill, a recreation of one of the eleven mills that operated in early 19th century Staten Island.

Not so much the Old Mill as the Recreated Mill. But the feeling is there.

Perhaps I’ll get to Egger’s Ice Cream Shop in a future visit.

Opened just in 2018, one of three Egger’s locations.

Not everything was in a perfect state of repair. Note the ragged shingles. Hey, if you were born in the 17th or 18th centuries, you’d be showing your age too.

Limited resources and all that.

But the Tin Shop held its little head high.

Old Richmond Town’s tinsmiths use period materials and processes.

Yes, after all that, I did make it to a restaurant. Twice, in fact. Canlon’s was the Tour’s first Irish joint.

Love those martini glasses to the right of the door.

One enters past the bar, the social heart of the place. On first visit, the bar was full and the dining room empty. On second visit, there were more people in the dining room, mostly (seemingly) Irish folk in their seventies.

On first visit, most customers were at the bar.

The room is plain but not unadorned. The Xmas decs I recalled from the last week of December were still up when I revisited in the second week of January.

Austere bar & grill look, a place for serious eating and drinking.

Canlon’s lunch special is an excellent value, with soup, salad, entree, both veg and starch sides, and dessert for less than twenty bucks. On my first visit I had the crabmeat-stuffed sole with pasta. In retrospect, I might have hewed closer to the specialties of the house.

OK, let’s try again.

On my second visit I asked the server: “If you were me, would you go for the corned beef and cabbage or the lamb shank with mashed potatoes?” She recommended the latter.

It was hearty and primordial.

The bread basket included some tasty corn bread. Not the light yellow kind I’m used to, but a darker and presumably Irish version.

Did it get its color from brown sugar or molasses?

Apparently the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld has visited at some point.

He glared at me throughout the meal.

Nonetheless, I did get soup.

A nice thick tomato & rice.

Ice cream for a satisfying finish.

Peach at left, vanilla at right.

On the way out, next to the front door, good times were inscribed and celebrated.

What they said.

The youth of Staten Island, noisy today but well behaved as always, adorned the Oakwood Heights SIR station as I staggered onto the platform. They wore maroon school uniforms, possibly from a parochial school. Most were on the opposite platform, headed in the direction of Tottenville and the more affluent South Shore neighborhoods. Oakwood Heights is at the bottom end of the more economically mixed East Shore.

They were nice, as SI kids always are in my recent experience.

My trip home was on a relatively new ferry, the Michael H. Ollis, dedicated in 2022 to a staff sergeant killed in Iraq while shielding fellow soldiers from a suicide bomb.

A hero that floats.

The next episode of the Staten Island Restaurant Tour will take me to New Dorp, where I plan to tack in the other direction, to the east, back to the water, to visit New Dorp Beach. It is loaded with restaurants between the train station and the bay and I’ve spotted one I may not be able to resist. As this first episode of the New Year posts, I pray for warm weather so that you’ll see the next episode well before spring.

Previously on the Staten Island Restaurant Tour:

Part I: Angelina’s (Tottenville)

Part II: Fina’s Farmhouse (Arthur Kill)

Part III: Laila (Richmond Valley)

Part IV: Il Forno (Pleasant Plains)

Part V: Breaking Bread (Prince’s Bay)

Part VI: Woodrow Diner (Huguenot)

Part VII: Il Sogno (Annadale)

Part VIII: Riva (Eltingville)

Part IX: Marina Cafe (Great Kills)

Part X: Do Eat (Bay Terrace)

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