Kingston's Best - in your opinion. (Wilkes-Barre, Back Mountain: Valentine's day, salon, home)

[sheena12]

As I await my move with bated breath I am curious to know what my new town has to offer-
Best dog groomer sitter
Best hair dresser
Best stores
Best restaurants
Best place to shop for food
Best boutiques, spas , bookstores , antiques , furniture etc.
Also how is the public library? Looks nice from the outside.
Thanks for your input and all the Welcomes!
~ Sheena

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by sheena12

As I await my move with bated breath I am curious to know what my new town has to offer-
Best dog groomer sitter I think EnyaGirl actually has a side business doing this out in the Back Mountain, which isn't far from Kingston. You may wish to send her a DM if she doesn't come poking along to address this directly.
Best hair dresser I would recommend Sa-Ka-Ri Salon in the old brick warehouse building in Forty Fort, along the Cross-Valley (Route 309).
Best stores I always wanted to stop into Mattern's along Market Street to see what they had to offer. They seem to have some nice home accents. The United Penn Plaza, down along Wyoming Avenue near the Edwardsville border, has some good upscale boutiques.
Best restaurants Kingston has a ton of restaurants. I'm a fan of Theo's Metro along Mercer Street for Greek (housed in an old popcorn factory), Kazimi, which is along Schuyler Avenue, for some more high-range dining, The Bake House, in the United Penn Plaza, for some great baked goods, Dagwood's, along Market Street, for some delicious, large, (and cheap) subs, and there are some others as well. I know some rave over Sizzle Pi for pizza, but I've never been a fan. I also always really liked the Pierce Street Deli.
Best place to shop for food Wegman's---in Wilkes-Barre Township near the arena. Kingston, to my knowledge, only has Thomas's Market, and then just over the border in Edwardsville you have a Redner's Warehouse Market and a Price Chopper. Goldstein's Deli at Pierce & Rutter is a good place to stop in from time to time.
Best boutiques, spas , bookstores , antiques , furniture etc. See above references.
Also how is the public library? Looks nice from the outside. The Hoyt Library was heavily-damaged during the Valentine's Day 2007 Blizzard. Casino money is going to pay to give it a great overhaul. I've heard nothing but great things about it.
Thanks for your input and all the Welcomes! I hope you enjoy Kingston!
~ Sheena

[theatergypsy]

Sheena, you're going to find yourself swooning over the outrageous number of places to shop or be entertained in the AREA...While Kingston does have much to offer, the surroundings (10-15 mins) offer a smorgasbrod of opportunities...Truly something for everyone...And a traffic jam here is having to wait for the second green light LOL...Good luck...

[EnyaGirl]

Thank you for the plug ScranBarre Info sent in DM (and yes, Kingston is in my "radius")

[W-B proud]

Kazimi's on Schyler Ave is a great restaraunt. Theo's Metro on Mercer has great Greek/Meditrannian food, and it's a neat place because it is an old popcorn factory turned restaraunt. For shopping you have the West Side Mall with Price Chopper as the anchor store, a Blockbuster Video, Lowes home Improvement ect. Across the street you have the Gateway shpping center, which has The Grotto for pizza, a great Chinesse Buffett, a Planet fitness, just a whole bunch of stores without the inconvenience that the mall area up in W-B township offers. Up the road a little bit you have the Mark II Plaza with a K-mart, Redner's, Long John Silver's ect. I like Gerrity's down the "Ave." going towards forty fort for food shopping, they have great prices especially on thier produce and veggies. Back toward's Market street is the United Penn Plaza with more high end stores like Talbot's, The Bakeshop, a new Bistro ect. and then all up and down Market st., Wyoming Ave, and even Pierce Street to an extent, are a plethora of different stores, hair dressers, pet groomers, vets, shoe stores, designer stores ect. For Pizza, Tommy's Pizza on the corner of Market and Rutter is good. Sizzle Pie on Pierce st is pretty good square pizza. I do most of my shopping on the west side, rather then W-B (where I live), because there isn't have the traffic or inconveniece. Kingston is a great place with all the conveniences of local city, plus you have Kirby Park, Nesbitt Park, and are in walking distance to downtown Wilkes-Barre. I have always enjoyed walking over Market st Bridge to Kirby Park, walking along the dyke, taking a nature walk along the river on the Olmstead trail in Kirby park. Now with the River Common complete, you can walk over Market street bridge, walk the river Common in W-B, walk back over Pierce street bridge, then walk the river dyke back over to Market street (good jog, or walk, or bike ride) I think you'll like Kingston alot.

[sheena12]

With a workout like that - over the bridge and back - I may be able to forgo gym membership! :-)
We've been to Theo's for a celebratory luncheon and were pleased with both the food and the funky - loftish atmosphere. Found a pet sitter in Enyagirl and I took a look at the website for Sa-Ka-Ri Salon, Scran-Barre and now THATS WHAT I'M Talkin' about. Looks very sophisticated at a fraction of NYC prices!
Best thing - so much is walkable in Kingston.
Thanks to everyone for your ideas!
I look forward to getting involved with Animal Welfare groups and volunteering at church so I will be offering something back to Kingston!

[sheena12]

Oh wait gotta ask - best pizza???
(you can take the girl off LI ....)
I like thin pizza that is NOT greasy or slimey.
Which places get your vote - and why?
Bagels were very good at that upscale bread place near Talbots BTW.

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Oh wait gotta ask - best pizza???
(you can take the girl off LI ....)
I like thin pizza that is NOT greasy or slimey.
Which places get your vote - and why?
Bagels were very good at that upscale bread place near Talbots BTW.

Love that place! (though the name is escaping me right now). If you like chocolate, you must try their chocolate croissants. TO DIE FOR

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by sheena12

I look forward to getting involved with Animal Welfare groups

That's wonderful!!! We'll talk when you get here, and I can tell you about a couple that I'm involved with

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by EnyaGirl

Love that place! (though the name is escaping me right now). If you like chocolate, you must try their chocolate croissants. TO DIE FOR

That would be the Bake House. Working at Lowe's, practically next-door, did have some advantages!