Restaurant Review: Snaps American Bistro

Snaps American Bistro is a casual yet elegant restaurant located south of Sunrise Highway in Wantagh. Chef/owner Scott Bradley turns out a wide variety of dishes on a daily basis, with ever-changing specials and tasting menus.

A great deal of thought obviously goes into the preparation and presentation of each dish as creative garnishes include crispy prosciutto, a fried egg atop a burger, wasabi caviar. Nothing is ordinary here. The prix-fixe dinner, available daily at $28.95, includes appetizer or salad, entrée, and dessert and is a great value.

Our wonderful server named Stacey, patiently detailed each appetizer and was friendly, efficient, and helpful throughout the meal. The excellent sesame-encrusted chicken teriyaki crispy wontons were served in a kitschy Chinese takeout container. Inside were three greaseless crunchy fried wontons filled with tasty ground chicken and Asian spices, resting on a bed of soba noodles and greens in a Thai vinaigrette.

Next came butter-poached gnocchi in truffle parmesan sauce, delicate pockets of potato in a smooth, white, creamy cheese sauce. The Korean BBQ beef taco, served in a soft flour tortilla with red cabbage salad and hot sauce, was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, with a rich smoky flavor offset by the crunchy slaw. The braised short rib and bleu cheese quesadilla was another hit; the meat and cheese blending together in the perfect mix.

The green apple and arugula salad accompaniment added just the right note of tanginess. The favorite appetizer sampled was the lobster BLT slider, a generous portion of meaty lobster salad on a toasted potato bun that disappeared very quickly. The Caesar salad was somewhat overdressed, the leaves just a bit too limp. The plate was speckled with too much black pepper, which should be ground fresh at the table to the diner's taste.

Main courses sampled include hanger steak over a bed of creamed spinach. The steak was cooked perfectly and was tender and moist. The spinach was just the right consistency and a nice complement to the meat.

A real treat was the cone of hand-cut garlic fries, which were crisp, hot, and greaseless. The surf 'n turf burger, a huge 10 ounces of Angus beef, was cooked exactly to order, topped with crisp bacon, cheddar cheese, pickles, lettuce, and tomato. A bed of warm lobster salad, loaded with chunks of real lobster meat, crowned the burger, which was served on a bakery-quality buttered and toasted sesame seed bun. The burger was accompanied by a cone of truffle-oil-infused herbed fries, dusted with fresh parmesan cheese. Other burger choices include the popular new lobster mac 'n cheese burger, all with those addictive fries.

Snaps is also known for its tasting menus, which can be as few as three courses or as many as 14. The restaraunt places great emphasis on desserts with the signature campfire s'mores a fun choice. A Bunsen burner arrives with the requisite marshmallows, graham crackers, and a Hershey bar, which may make you feel like a kid again. That dessert was more fun in theory than in practice, though. As Stacey said, "I don't like to work for my dessert."

The dulce de leche sundae is a rich concoction of banana pudding, walnuts, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream with sweet caramel ice cream, the perfect ending to a great meal. Other dessert choices include crème brulee, molten chocolate cake with ice cream, a chocolate pecan bourbon tart, served warm, and a pumpkin donut bread pudding with pumpkinseed brittle. Gelato and sorbet are also available.

Snaps is open for dinner from 4 pm to closing Wednesday through Sunday; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Major credit cards are accepted and reservations recommended. Free parking is available on the premises.