Ok so this story is going to be about to be as bleak as the posts that I wrote about the food on the Royal Princess Alaska cruise last summer. If you’re one of those people who shy away from negativity, read no further. Today’s piece, A COVID-Cautious Evening in Hicksville LI, continues my summer series of drive-in movie venues with a review of ISH Events set up at the Broadway Commons Mall.
What was the Drive-In Like?
If I thought our last drive-in was bare boned, I don’t have the slightest idea how to describe this experience. Picture it: You are in the parking lot of a mall with Ikea and Macys as anchors. It is the area of the lot that you dread getting if you have to walk to the mall because it’s like a mile away from the shops. There are no vendors, no food trucks and no bathrooms (except two port-a-potties in the far corner. EW). There is an inflatable screen which seems very far away, and you are directed to park in every other space for social distancing purposes. Yup, that’s where we were.
It took us about 2 hours to get to Hicksville. We got there early, but we had to park in the way back of the lot because our car was too tall…never mind that those in front of us were sitting on their car roofs and blocking our view. Honey Boo-Boo’s mom and her friends were our neighbors. They felt it would be appropriate to park their lawn chairs in front of our car and block our doors with their oversized coolers…UGH!
While we waited for the main event, a DJ from local radio station KJoy 93 MC’d a trivia game. We couldn’t hear him, so we couldn’t participate. The movie today was Space Jam, which Alex really enjoyed. All Renato had to say was “meh”. Nina felt there was “too much sports” and I agreed with her.
What about dinner?
There was a BOGO special deal at the pizza place, but they didn’t deliver to the car. We decided instead to go to the closest restaurant, On the border, which turned out to be a huge chain restaurant.
We couldn’t find anyone to help us by the door so we stepped in. There we found a Cheesecake Factory-like crowd jammed into the entry. Long Island restaurants are permitted to have inside dining. The place was really loud with music blasting, and pretty packed. The tables were socially distanced, but there were people at the bar. I am absolutely not comfortable with that, so we grabbed a table on the sidewalk.
They came with our chips and guacamole really quickly. We scarfed them down because of hunger, not taste. The guac was bland, too chunky and featured pieces of avocado skin. The chips were an odd texture and seriously lacked salt, and the salsa was super spicy. The side plates that accompanied the food were soaking wet and dirty. Gross. Our main courses looked okay, but really were not. We all agreed on a rating of 3 out of 10 for the food…9 out of 10 for service though.
What’s the bottom line?
Well, it was a good thing this wasn’t our first drive-in movie or else we never would’ve attended a second. The dinner and drive-in set up for our COVID-Cautious Evening in Hicksville Long Island was a BUST ☹️.
