Steph C.
Yelp
I went to a wedding in the Catskills recently, where everything is apparently very spread out, and rented a house in lovely Palenville with my husband and a dozen of our friends. We found very quickly that there weren't many places to eat in Palenville--the restaurant by our house was only open between 5 and 9:30, no help for a large group in search of a place to get lunch. We were happy find Circle W, which despite its generic convenience store-sounding name was a hipster-as-fuck general store with a cafe.
It was a charming, quaint little place, most of it devoted to aisles of merchandise. There were practical items like toiletries and snack foods, as well as a wide range of gift stuff--books on Palenville and the Catskills, unique toys and ceramics. Everything was expensive and curated, boutique shit only. We were thinking of buying some shampoo here, but that plan went out the window when we saw the selection. Not the most functional general store, I guess, but with a definite vision and a strong commitment to that vision.
The back of Circle W was devoted to the cafe, where we ordered sandwiches over a deli counter from a chalkboard menu. Service was kind of whatever. The cashier insisted on taking our order all at once--there were like ten of us, with at least 5 or 6 checks--and it took something like 45 minutes for most of our sandwiches to get made. (Two came out immediately, and it later turned out that they'd been for another party, but no one figured this out until it became clear that the rest of our lunches were in limbo. I hope those other people got their sandwiches in good time.) My husband and I had errands to run before the wedding that afternoon, and that unexpected delay put a real rush on our day.
The food was good, though, and we had a great time eating on the attached patio. I got the Helena panino, a hearty sandwich with Genoa salami, provolone, marinated artichoke hearts, and roasted red peppers on ciabatta. It was very tasty, with good ingredients and a lot of nice flavors and textures. I also got a side of macaroni salad, which was on point, creamy with a pleasant bite. With some Kettle chips--we shared several bags, and did you know dijon Kettle chips are amazing?--this made a solid, satisfying meal.
I'd recommend Circle W for lunch if you're in Palenville. It's a cute place, and the food is much better than necessary, given the competition. The long wait was a pain in the ass, but it all worked out and my meal was more noteworthy than expected.