Staten Island Restaurant Tour, Part IX: Marina Cafe (Great Kills)
“Great Kills: eat, shop, explore,” said this mural near the Great Kills station on the Staten Island Railway. OMG, how did they know I was coming?
Great Kills is at the top end of Staten Island’s South Shore, and at the bottom end of the East Shore — the borders are unofficial and ambiguous. Due east is Great Kills Harbor, with a marina, restaurants, and Great Kills Park hooking around. It seemed like a magnificent eat-and-walk opportunity for this episode of the Staten Island Restaurant Tour.
On the way from the Great Kills station on the Staten Island Railway, I passed the Knights of Columbus HQ. This is a Catholic fraternal organization that helps the needy, both within and outside their membership. And they have a cool logo. The anchor foreshadows the aquatic motif of this episode, which took me to the Marina Cafe Restaurant & Tiki Bar.
Here’s the Great Kills Moravian Church. Moravia is part of the Czech Republic.
A French explorer dubbed the area La Grand Kills, using the Dutch word for little stream. My walk down Hillside Terrace took me across a marshy stream, presumably one of the Kills, though it looked like a murky skeeter breeder. This attractive home is red, leaning slightly toward salmon.
Later Great Kills became known as Clarendon, after a British governor, before reverting to a version of its original name. This house is a pale olive green. So we have red and green for the Xmas season!
Speaking of colors, Staten Islanders endow “bluebelts,” anteing up to maintain the natural beauty of their neighborhoods. In a previous episode I encountered one dedicated to a departed family dog. Here is one dedicated to a guy named Wepdog. The John Lennon quote, “All You Need Is Love,” just about broke my heart. I was filled with gratitude for having reached my mid-sixties and being able to explore other people’s neighborhoods.
In only a few minutes I reached Great Kills Harbor, where Great Kills Park wraps around with a spit of land that almost kisses the neighborhood’s waterside restaurant district (see map further down).
The restaurant must be near here!
And here we are.
The outdoor dining area, enclosed by trees, looked inviting. Outdoor dining areas became popular in the other four boroughs during the covid pandemic, constructively repurposing curbside space. But here in suburban Staten Island, where there is more space, they are more expansive, roomy, inviting places to hang out with friends and fam.
The Tiki Bar is not ticky-tacky. The color scheme is dark, soothing, sexy. I wasn’t here for a drink but I can see the attraction of chatting up someone here over a martini.
Once again the sunlight was shining in the wrong direction for an effective panorama of the dining room. But the space was, well, spacious, suffused with cheer-inducing light — and either quite popular on a Tuesday afternoon, or hosting some kind of event, judging from the gift baggies on that center table.
The bathroom included a small waiting area. Presumably so that you could wait for the single-person men’s or ladies’ room while checking yourself out in that classy mirror. I took a great selfie in the mirror, but I’m trying to stay undercover for the duration of the Tour.
The $22 prix fixe menu included soup or salad appetizer and a variety of seafood and Italian entrees. I’m finding that most restaurants in Staten Island are Italian to some degree, even the seafood joints or diners.
I decided to go for short ribs with what the online menu described as butternut squash risotto but it was lemon mashed potatoes on the day I was there, with “frizzled” onions and horseradish crème fraîche.
It took only a little nudge of the fork to separate the tender, juicy flakes of rich brown braised beef. The kitchen was busy that day but it didn’t stint on the flavor. The modest lunch portion was an unbeatable value and it really hit the spot.
After lunch I was in the mood for a walk through Great Kills Park, which might have enabled me to circle around in front of the marina and grab a shot of the restaurant’s other side. However, pedestrian approaches to the park from the marina were fenced off. I guess if I lived in the nice houses along Mansion Avenue, I wouldn’t want drunken louts traipsing past my little yard along the bay. I hope to try Great Kills Park again from the next neighborhood north on the Tour, Bay Terrace.
I zigzagged through Bay Terrace en route to its SIR stop. The architecture wasn’t as ambitious as I’ve become accustomed to in the South Shore nabes. But it had its own subtle allure, was blessedly quiet, and in mid-December was full of Xmas cheer, including the largest transparent holiday lights I’ve ever seen.
In lieu of the scenic walk I’d like to have taken, I did get plenty of shots of the marina. Here’s the Richmond County Yacht Club.
A friend tells me this is the only decent harbor for recreational boats on the island. He’s been here on OPB (other people’s boats).
Yup, it is just lovely here, among all the pleasure craft.
Their noble prows prod the imagination while their slender masts pierce the sky.
This one in distinctive beige and aquamarine was especially pleasing to the eye.
Many boats were bundled up for the winter. You wouldn’t want to venture into the bay with a bitter wind in your face.
There must be a signage company or painting contractor that specializes in this particular waving-flag mural because it is all over the island.
And with this last Great Kills Harbor panorama, we bid farewell to Great Kills.
Entered from the Great Kills station, exited from the Bay Terrace station.
With the next episode, the Tour will enter the East Shore at its southern end, Bay Terrace. See you then!
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)
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