Written by Karen Talbot   

Dec. 17, 2014: This review is dedicated to all of us who, especially during the busy holiday season, are looking for some good takeout food dinner suggestions in our area.

John Byrne's SF Express, Scarborough Fair Catering: 82 Kraft Avenue in Bronxville, 914-337-2735

I visited this small place on a late Monday afternoon at which time they had the following entrees for takeout: beef stew, baked spiral ham, chicken and root vegetable stew, grilled salmon, grilled chicken, chicken pot pie, and shepherd's pot pie (made with beef). The entrees were priced from $10.99 to $12.99 per pound. The pot pies were $6.99 each and would feed two people. Accompaniments were wild rice, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and garlic broccoli, which were priced from $6.99 to $10.99 per pound. A daily soup choice is $4.00 per person, and for dessert, large chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies were $1.50 each. They also had small banana, chocolate, and cranberry orange breads for $5.00 or $6.00. John also runs a successful full-time catering business for dinner parties or special events.

The Pondfield Café: 3 Pondfield Road West, Bronxville, 914-337-5221 (Open for dinner to dine in or takeout only on Thursday night.)

The Pondfield Café has been owned and run by Kenny Pugliese for over 15 years, serving breakfast and lunch. It does such a brisk business on weekends that it has to use a signup sheet to seat diners. Thursday nights at 5:30 pm they open for dinner and always offer meatloaf or roast chicken with mashed potatoes and carrots. The dinner might also have linguine with shrimp and broccoli, grilled shell steak, shrimp scampi, chicken stroganoff, homemade stuffed shells, shrimp or chicken française, and chicken scarpariello. Entrees are priced from $10.95 to $18.95 and are just plain good comfort food. The desserts are homemade by Cindy Bothwell of What's For Dessert and might include sweet potato pie or chocolate cake with banana filling and whipped cream frosting at $4.95 per slice.

Highridge Fishery: Highridge Plaza at 1791 Central Park Avenue in Yonkers, 914-337-3775

My nomination for one of the best seafood stores in our area! Every day they have delicious prepared entrees of salmon teriyaki, sole francese, linguine with white clam sauce, fried shrimp or flounder, and poached salmon with dill sauce. Every Thursday they have seafood paella, which is priced at $8.00 per pint or double that for a quart. The fish is $9.00 to $9.75 per serving piece and the fried shrimp is $16.00 per pound. Their peeled cooked shrimp for shrimp cocktail is $25.00 per pound, pricey but well worth it. Frank Siragusa built this fish store in 1979 and sold it in 1994 and then reclaimed it as the owner again five years ago.

Takeout Pizza Places include:

Il Bacio Trattoria at 1 Park Place in Bronxville, 914-337-4100

Gino's Pizzeria at 50 Pondfield Road West in Bronxville, 914-961-2241

Pepe's Pizza (worth a detour) at 1955 Central Park Avenue, across from Yonkers Honda, 914-961-8284

Other Takeout Suggestions:

Stew Leonard's at 1 Stew Leonard Drive in Yonkers, 914-375-4700

Whole Foods Market at 1 Ridge Hill at Ridge Hill Blvd. in Yonkers, 914-378-8090

Hunan III (Chinese) at 6 Cedar Street in Bronxville, 914-779-8334

Spice Village (Indian) at 8 Columbus Avenue in Tuckahoe, 914-779-5400

Eliá Taverna (Greek) at 502 New Rochelle Road in Bronxville, 914-663-4976

Other local restaurants to consider for takeout include Underhills Crossing, Sammy's, Scalini, Rosie's, and Kraft Bistro.

Bon appétit.

Photo by Karen Talbot