Good, but not well-known, restaurants in your city

[lindsaybluth]

@Tanaqui

And Brillobox has a vegetarian dinner for $5 every Sunday that has been really tasty every time I’ve gone. You have to put up with a lot of hipsters and loud music, admittedly, but last time I went there I had this really delicious Israeli dish made with tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and soft-boiled eggs, eaten with pita bread–sounds weird, but was really good.

Bahahaha I’ve been meaning to try that, but never got around to it - on account of being surrounded by hipsters! But if it’s THAT good, well, I gotta go. If you’re looking for hipsters, look no further than the Lava Lounge in the Southside. Monday nights are $1 meatball or veggie subs & $1.50 PBR. I haven’t had the veggie, but the meatball isn’t bad. They also have this weirdly good lemonade-rum drink for $3 all the time, if, you know, you don’t drink PBR :).

ETA: I, uh, have a bit of a food problem. Pittsburgh dopers, if you become a Facebook “fan” of Mercurio’s gelato in Shadyside, you get a free cup on Fridays till it closes late October. Also, the Pitt News food edition of last week (probably still on stands) has a coupon on page 21 for 1 Free Inside-Out roll at Nakama in the Southside. Buy one signature (9-$14 roll) and get one Inside Out roll.

[Chefguy]

Portland, OR

Mio Sushi in seven Portland locations (one just opened in my 'hood). I don’t eat raw fish, but the other food served there is delicious, especially the bento boxes with tempura and other treats.

[lindsaybluth]

kayaker, Anne Neville, there’s a coupon for Abay today on those coupon-a-day sites. Buy it for $15, get $30 worth of food. Here ya go!

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@MTCicero

Cincinnati, Oh:

Camp Washington Chili - When one is in the Queen City, one must sample the dish she’s best known for: Cincinnati-style chili. There are lots and lots (and lots) of places in the area in which to do so, the two most prominent being local chains Skyline and Gold Star. But the best place to get it, IME, is at Camp Washington chili. Here you can get a five way and a couple cheese coneys, but you can also get a double decker sandwich and be served breakfast with one of Cincy’s other famous contributions to the culinary landscape, goetta. (Blue Ash Chili is also quite good, but its premises have been sullied by a visit from this guy, so they automatically lose.)

And when you’re in Cincinnati and you have a hankerin’ for ice cream, you must absolutely try… Aglamesis Brothers. I mean, sure, Graeter’s is quite good, but Aglamesis is better, and is not endorsed by Oprah, which can only be a good thing.

Cincinnati has a ridiculous amount of high-end restaurants for a city its size.

Just off the top of my head there’s:

Daveed’s @ 934
Jean Robert’s Table
Boca
Nada
Orchids at Palm Court
The Palace
All the Jeff Ruby ventures
Nicola’s
Prima Vista
Slim’s
Ambar India
Riverside Korean (Covington, KY)
The Montgomery Inn
Cactus Pear
Trio

And many, many more I am sure I’m forgetting. Great restaurant city, Cincinnati.

And those of you whom have never tried goetta…you ain’t livin’ until you have!

[Mr.Excellent]

Chez Manelle, in Arlington - hole in the wall with very good, cheap Tunisian food. http://www.yelp.com/biz/chez-manelle-arlington

[MTCicero]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

<snip>
The Montgomery Inn

As long as we can agree that what’s served there isn’t actually barbecue…

@FoieGrasIsEvil

Cactus Pear

It’s all right. The salsa is good, but I don’t like the fact that you have to pay for the chips and salsa. But that’s a personal hang-up of mine. The food is decent, if a bit pricey, especially considering you can get far more authentic, and better, Mexican food in the greater Cincy area, and at a fraction of the cost, by driving to Taqueria Mercado. (Of course, you have to pay for the chips and salsa here, too, but the food is so danged good and cheap, you barely notice. But fine dining this place is not.)

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@MTCicero

@FoieGrasIsEvil

<snip>
The Montgomery Inn

As long as we can agree that what’s served there isn’t actually barbecue…

@FoieGrasIsEvil

Cactus Pear

It’s all right. The salsa is good, but I don’t like the fact that you have to pay for the chips and salsa. But that’s a personal hang-up of mine. The food is decent, if a bit pricey, especially considering you can get far more authentic, and better, Mexican food in the greater Cincy area, and at a fraction of the cost, by driving to Taqueria Mercado. (Of course, you have to pay for the chips and salsa here, too, but the food is so danged good and cheap, you barely notice. But fine dining this place is not.)

Oh, I agree about the Montgomery Inn, all right. That’s not bar-b-q sauce, that’s brown sugar and molasses water ruining an otherwise perfectly good rack of ribs!

I haven’t tried Tacqueria Mercado but if you’re ever down this way anytime soon and have a hankering for some really good authentic Mexican food, you have to try La Mexicana in Newport KY, on Monmouth street. Their taco birria is to die for. Goat meat tacos, that’s right, don’t ask where the goats came from, just eat it!

Cincinnati CityBeat

[MTCicero]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

I haven’t tried Tacqueria Mercado but if you’re ever down this way anytime soon and have a hankering for some really good authentic Mexican food, you have to try La Mexicana in Newport KY, on Monmouth street. Their taco birria is to die for. Goat meat tacos, that’s right, don’t ask where the goats came from, just eat it!

Cincinnati CityBeat

I’ve heard good stuff about La Mexicana, and I’d like to try it. It’s just that it’s rare that I’m ever that far south. Another place I’d like to try is Bard’s Burgers in Covington (they have some to-die-for looking poutine), but again, I’m almost never in that area.

If you ever venture north of Cincy, you really should try either Milton’s Donuts (my personal favorite) or Central Pastry if you want good doughnuts.

[villa]

@Krokodil

Alexandria, VA

Union Street Annex and O’Donnel’s Pub, both near the intersection of King and Union streets near the waterfront. In an Old Town teeming with neighborhood pubs and Irish bars, these two stand out as being the real deal. A little pricey, both of these places will impress a first date. Union Street makes the finest brunch and best Bloody Mary in town; O’Donnel’s has fixtures from actual Dublin pubs and a very edgy, modern menu. Both have extensive beer menus, but I give Union Street the edge for a line of local microbrews. Honorable mentions also go out to The PX, a retro speakeasy above Eamon’s Fish and Chips (the bartender is a consummate showman) and Rusticano’s, at the northern tip of Old Town, the most futuristic restaurant in the state!

You mean Rustico, not Rusticano, I think.

[Roderick_Femm]

San Francisco, CA:

Some of my favorite unsung places are on Valencia between 16th St. and 20th St.

Limon
We Be Sushi
Luna Park
Cha-Ya

And about a million others in the neighborhood, on Valencia, on the side (numbered) streets, or nearby streets like Sanchez. This area is like the Village in NYC, full of small ethnic or otherwise interesting eateries at reasonable prices.
Roddy

[villa]

Other good Alexandria/Arlington eateries, not necessarily well known.

Evening Star Cafe
Vermillion
Talullah
Tandoori Nights

And, the best of them all…

Ray’s the Steaks (and a shout out to Ray’s Hellburger too). The quality of Morton’s for 1/3 of the price, a wonderful wine list, and less stuffy. I can recommend it now they are bigger and take reservations - before I never told anyone about it because it was too crowded already.

[DCnDC]

Ooh Ray’s. Have never been the RtS but have been to Ray’s the Classics many times. Haven’t been there for a while, but you used to be able to get a Hell burger at the bar. Great place.

And when I used to work in Arlington I was right across the street from Super Pollo. I used to get lunch there every day. It was no El Pollo Rico as far as the chicken went, but they had much better sides and gave you HUGE portions of them.

[Stan_Shmenge]

Los Angeles:

Mariella’s Tacos: About four blocks west of Vermont on 3rd. Probably the best taco stand in the whole metro area, but aside from people from the local hood and some office workers from nearby Wilshire, not known or mentioned by the foodie cognoscenti. It puts “King Taco” to shame.

Don Felix: Not far from Mariella’s, at Virgil and Beverly. Awesome Peruvian food. I have never seen it written up anywhere and the customers are all pretty much Peruvian nationals. We had some Peruvian girls working at a place I used to work, and they had that stuff in for lunch one time. “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT! I MUST KNOW!”

I will think of some other places and post back.

[Drain_Bead]

Columbus, Ohio:

Black Creek Bistro – focused on local and organic ingredients, with most of the veggies grown on the owner’s small farm.

Jeni’s – She’s winning so many national awards that soon she won’t qualify for this thread. Best ice cream you’ll ever have. Exotic flavors, also focusing on local ingredients (She buys all her cream from a local organic dairy). The signature flavor is Salty Caramel, and her Cherry Lambic Sorbet is the award-winner.

Thai Orchid – Delicious Thai food in the middle of strip mall hell.

Kihachi – Awesome, authentic Japanese food (gingko nuts, tuna cheek) in another strip mall hell just down the street from the Thai place. Recently featured on Bourdain, so may have lost the “not famous” distinction.

[lindsaybluth]

Pittsburgh dopers, I went to that taco stand in Brookline.

It was some amazing stuff. Handmade, fresh corn tortillas. Haven’t had those outside of LA. You get two, and a HUGE pile of meat on top. I had steak (they had run out of chicken) and the condiments are phenomenal. $2 apiece. Great pureed avocado dip, a few salsas, and plain chopped raw onions and tomatoes. Next time I’ll divide the meat between the two tortillas to make two tacos out of one, so I can load up on condiments more. It’s a bit unwieldy, all the meat.

The prices at The Green Mango went up (I was there last night); now it’s roughly $10-13/entree (the online menu is not updated). Still great food, and no corkage fee.

[Cisco]

Phoenix, AZ

Chino Bandido. (North Phoenix). Chinese-Mexican-Jamaican food. No, I don’t mean they serve Chinese food, Mexican food, and Jamaican food. I mean they serve Chinese-Mexican-Jamaican food. It’s amazing.

Los Dos Molinos. (South Phoenix). Amazing homemade New Mexican food. One cook, three hour wait, but so worth it. I was introduced to this place shortly after moving here by our late friend Padeye.

Gil’s Taste of Taos. (North Phoenix). New Mexican food, not quite as good as Los Dos Molinos, but cheaper, no wait, better salsas, and you can get a milkshake here, which goes really well with spicy food.

Pizzeria Bianco. (Central Phoenix). The best pizza in the world. Eating here is a religious experience. Stretches the definition of “not well-known” a bit, because foodies all over the country, and probably internationally, know about it, but a surprising number of residents I talk to have never heard of it.

Los Reyes De La Torta. (North/Central Phoenix). Great AUTHENTIC Mexican food. Every Mexican place claims to be “authentic” but 99% of them are full of shit. This place is the real deal. Tortas, corn tortillas, aguas frescas, veggies other than lettuce and tomato on your plate, and a staff and clientele that, for the most part, doesn’t speak English. (Don’t let that dissuade you from going-- they know enough to take your order.) Great food.

Pepe’s Taco Villa. (North/Central Phoenix). Family-owned, in business for over 30 years. Best mole poblano in town.

Charlotte, NC

When I was growing up in Charlotte, a good friend lived within walking distance of this absolute dump called The Penguin. We went there all the time because they had pretty decent burgers, awesome fried pickles, and wouldn’t card us for beer. It was always a ghost town. On my last few visits home I tried to go there and they kept telling me it was an hour wait for a table. I couldn’t figure out wtf had happened here, but eventually someone told me that it had been on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

[devilsknew]

I’d just like to pimp Bangkok Cafe/Grocery in Northwood, Ohio. A coupla miles from Toledo. Some of the best, most authentic Thai/Laotian food around. Delicious.

[drachillix]

Fresno, CA

Santa Fe Basque: not much atmosphere but fabulous food at reasonable prices.

Zipangu: Damn good sushi bar plus teppanyaki with all kinds of exotic meats available (buffalo, alligator, ostrich, etc).

Mikes Pizza: Yes they make pizza, but are a damn good italian place across the board. They have 2 stores here.

[lindsaybluth]

Forgot one for Pittsburghers - CC’s Homemade Foods in Mt Lebanon, right on Washington Road. It’s a breakfast and lunch joint with cheap tablecloths and quick service. For $3.50 you get 2 eggs any way, 2 slices of toast and a pile of homefries. Cheapest and tastiest breakfast in the city. The french toast meal is $6-7 and is fantastic as well. I’ve never had the lunch sandwiches, but the soups are amazing.

ETA: The potato pancakes are to-die-for. Especially since Kazansky’s closed down, I don’t know where else to get 'em! Oh, and the bagels. Someone else makes them for them, and if you ask who, you’ll be met with a sneer. Get a cinnamon raisin one.

I’ve been to this joint no less than 25 times in the past 2 years and I have no idea about the reviewer saying food wasn’t fresh. It’s made from scratch in front of you.

[salinqmind]

Syracuse, NY and surrounding area. Avicolli’s Italian Restaurant seems to be just another red-sauce and pizza place, but they have divine food, a real step up. Shrimp, clams, scallops, and maybe calamari, sauteed in olive oil, garlic, white wine, and served with a marinara sauce, side order of garlic cheese bread - Omnomnom! (Hey, that’s exotic for Central NY.)…Bianchi’s Pizza Pad, looks like a typical filthy little hole in the wall, bestest, cheesiest, hand made, most toppings-est, yummy pizza ever, and a whole separate catering menu is available…The Lunchbox, a tiny non-descript diner in the middle of downtown used to sell a fried egg sandwich for 90 cents. Cheese and ketchup optional, white, rye, or whole wheat. I suppose it’s long gone, though, along with the rest of downtown.