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Restaurant Recommendations by City

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:49 pm
by [Syl]
Virginia Beach, VA:

Mi Hogar. Probably the only really good mexican food I've found on the east coast. Cheap. And you can usually hear the chef in back singing in spanish. I recommend the mole.

Augusta, GA

T-Bonz. Best steak in town several years running. My recommendation is... um, the steak.

San Angelo, TX

Mejor Que Nada. Nice little cantina. Well, not exactly little. The place can get pretty rowdy. The food's good. And it's San Angelo, so... not like there's much choice.

Reno, NV:

Rickshaw Paddy's. Talking about this place in the 'Tank inspired this thread. It's an asian (or pan-asian) bistro with a little Irish flavor (that might be an oxymoron ;)). Far better than PF Chang's, IMO. My recommendation is the chicken adobo.

The Nugget Diner. Forget In n' Out. Go there for the Awful Awful. Go hungry, but you're still taking some with you.
Incidentally, speed is another thing the diner is known for. Casino employees can order a meal and eat it at the Nugget on a 20-minute break.

The Awful Awful lives up to its name. It's awfully big, awfully good and best of all (for college kids anyway) awfully cheap.

The burger comes with all the trimmings: lettuce, tomato, onion, cheeses and thousand island dressing all on an onion bun.

When you order the half-pound of cow they throw it on the grill, flames shooting up like Old Faithful. Once cooked to your desired level of doneness, it's trimmed and set before you. The burger is juicy, very tasty and costs about the same as the flavorless flatty-patties you'll find at those cheesy, chain locales.

The fries are served in a basket, but it might as well be a feeding trough. They look like they weigh more than a half pound, and there is easily enough food for two people. The fries are seasoned with (Lawry's) Seasoning Salt and parsley flakes, but don't try this at home because it won't be the same.

The meal changes in at $3.50--a real good, real cheap meal. For fries alone, the a-la-carte menu lists them for $1.95.
Monterey, CA

Papa Chano's. They have ginormous, delicious burritos. If you eat there for lunch, be sure to set aside some personal time later in the afternoon.

Or if you're downtown during the farmer's market (Tuesday afternoons, IIRC), everything's good.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:05 pm
by Menolly
Hey, welcome Syl! I'm not sure if I've ever seen you here in The Galley before. At least, not since I started hosting.

Nice idea for a thread. Not really sure if anyone would care about restaurants in Gator Town though, and my recommendations for southeast Florida are at least a decade old. Who knows if the places I would recommend are still open?

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:14 pm
by dlbpharmd
Memphis, TN - not sure if they're still open, since it's been 5 years since we lived there, but Anna's Steakhouse had the best steak around, the potato bread was awesome, and every dessert home made from Anna's grandmother's recipes.....it was by far our favorite restaurant. If you want some good fried chicken, Gus's Chicken can't be beat. GQ Magazine once listed Gus's as one of the top 10 places in the world to fly to for a meal.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:10 pm
by [Syl]
Heh. I stop by here occasionally. In fact, I have a chili thread (I think) that probably needs revisiting.

And considering the vast amount of cooking shows I watch on TV (Top Chef, The Next Food Network Star, and, shamefully, Hell's Kitchen), I could probably fill up a few pages with that.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:26 pm
by O-gon-cho
*sigh*

I miss cable t.v. pretty much only for the foodie shows. The PBS shows are great, but they're only on once a week.

No matter...the Watch and Pantheon have pretty much filled that gap now. ;)

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:35 pm
by [Syl]
Hell's Kitchen is on Fox, so you don't need cable. Of course, it's not really about the food (about the only thing you can learn from watching it is what over or undercooked risotto looks like. And even then, I couldn't tell you what it looks like when done right. Seriously, what's with all the risotto?), so... The others I download.

Oh, and I think all or most of the recipes on Top Chef are available on line. Probably at bravo.com somewhere.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:45 pm
by O-gon-cho
I wish could watch cooking shows via the net or download. But dial-up prevents both. :(

And, while I love perusing recipes, I would much rather see them being made first.

...and I despise Gordon Ramsey...

*shudder*

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:07 pm
by Damelon
Chicago, IL -

Roditys - Best Greek restaurant in Chicago's Greektown. The place where the local Greeks eat. If your adventurous, try the stewed octopus - it tastes like chicken.

Sturgeon Bay, WI

Nightingale Supper Club - Best Lake Perch fish fry I ever had.

Las Vegas, NV

Binion's Ranch; Binion's Casino - On the 24th floor of the casino, it has an outstanding view of Las Vegas, and an outstanding strip steak.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:16 pm
by sgt.null
Houston

greek : Niko Niko's
www.nikonikos.com/

our favorite restaurant in Houston.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:28 pm
by [Syl]

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:32 pm
by Damelon
The scores got worse on reinspections that the restaurant requested themselves?

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:49 pm
by [Syl]
Crazy, ain't it? I always wondered about the restaurants in VA that had high scores but still looked scuzzy. And when I moved to NC, I found it even more pronounced (I've eaten at many a Waffle House, but never that one, thankfully). I'd see places with a score in the 90s and think that any of my previous bosses would've fired me if I left the place looking like that at the end of the night, much less while people were actually eating there.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:48 pm
by Damelon
I occasionally go to a place that scored 100 - they posted it up on the wall. I thought the inspector must have been in a hurry to go someplace else that day, it is no way near clean.

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:01 pm
by danlo
Never eat at the Applebees in Flemington NJ ack, ack, ack!

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:20 pm
by Damelon
This is becoming the "Don't eat here" thread. :P