Italian - Don’t know.
Mexican - Taqueria on Mission Street behind Safeway or Tacos Moreno on Water St.
Seafood - Don’t know, but there’s lots down at the wharf.
American/Homestyle - 99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall.
Breakfast - Zachary’s
South American - Costa Brava
Pub - 99 Bottles or Rosie McCanns
Bistro - Cafe Gabriella or Bittersweet Cafe
Veggie - Asian Rose
Japanese - Shoguns or Mobo Sushi
Deli - Zoccoli’s
OK. It isn’t my town any more, but it was, and I still will drive several hours just to to get Italian food at Peppino’s in Greenville, SC.
It’s next door to an alternative porn shop. Last time we went there was a drug deal going on in the parking lot. But, oooooooohhhhhhhh, the food. ** [sub] 'scuse me, I need to be alone for a moment** [sub]
Oh no you won’t! Bar-B-Cutie is the world’s worst barbeque.
And for Mexican, I would say El Chico is a notch or 2 above Camino Real.
Hillsboro, VA (population 96): None. There are no restaurants.
Purcellville, VA (population 3500 and 12 miles away:
Italian:
Mario’s Italian Restaurant. Set up by a family who immigrated here from Naples. What the hell they were thinking I have no idea. But man, can they cook.
Mexican: None in town.
Seafood: None in town.
American: Fran’s Place. Diner type place named at a woman (Fran) who waited tables at another local restaurant for 30+ years. Great solid, greasy American food. Cheap, too.
That about runs us out of small town food places here.
And not a chain in the bunch.
Sacramento, CA
Aioli’s for Spanish food, tapas and such. Nice atmospheres, great service. There’s another tapas place about five blocks away (called Tapas creatively enough) where the waitstaff can hardly tear themselves away from each other, and if you walk in alone, they ignore you til you walk back out, or fetch the manager yourself. Plus the food there lately is subpar, but it’s the trendy place to go and their mojitos are really good.
Tower Cafe for global cuisine,e.g., Chile relleno, portobella tarts, jerk chicken, Florentine ravioli, the delicious list goes on and on. And it’s not one of those restaurants where you can only pick from two kinds of tea, if you’re into tea. The have the perfect liquid to complement anything you order, but it’s always busy when we go and kind of loud (happy people eating and talking–not obnoxious music). The waiters are great.
Thai Palace has good curries.
Pho Bac (Vietnamese)tons of good choices and the craziest drink list ever. Red bean drink? (coconut milk, red beans, and some kind of gelatiny noodly things) It’s good!
Celestine’s is great Carribean.
The Bonn Lair is a good neighborhood pub, but they took out the pool table, so if you want billiards you have to walk down the street to the SLimelight, which is kind of trendy. I still prefer the Bonn Lair, especially right after a football match–ooh, love those silky shorts and muscular thighs. Mmmm, bratwurst.
And Jamaica House is a great place to get goat.
Boulder, CO here.
Italian: I generally don’t think Italian when going out to eat, so by default - Salvaggio’s Deli. Carelli’s is good, too.
Mexican: Surprisingly, not much good Mexican in Boulder proper. For simple Mexican food, Santiago’s in Lafayette. For Mexican/Southwestern, it’s Zolo Grill.
Seafood: It’s noisy and crowded, but there’s really no competition here. Jax. (So, I like Dave Query)
American: Hmmm. Lucilles. I love Lucilles.
Austin, Texas.
Korean and Sushi- Korea House. Good, cheap sushi, amazing Bul Go Ki.
Mexican- La Margarita. Technically up in Round Rock. Best damn fajitas I’ve ever had.
Vietnamese- Kim Phung. Delicious, huge, cheap servings.
Minneapolis, MN.
Italian: Campiello, 1320 West Lake Street.
Nice atmosphere, service is a little snooty, but the food makes it worthwhile. Mmmmmm.
Mexican: I’ve studiously avoided all Mexican food since I moved here, since I used to work in a Mexican restaurant and got severely burnt out on it. So, I’ll recommend a Cuban restaurant instead:
Cafe Havana, 119 Washington Avenue North.
Excellent bar and food that’s smoky and spicy and all around satisfying. Love it.
Seafood: Fuji Ya, 600 West Lake Street.
Their sushi bar is phenomenal, and I was a regular there for as long as I could afford it. Personal financial constraints have meant I can only go there maybe once a month, and oh, but it hurts.
American/Homestyle: Little Jack’s Steak House, 201 Lowry Avenue NE.
Everything here is delicious, from the appetizers to the desserts. The decor is circa 1950, dark and cozy. It’s all good.
Central SC:
Italian: Stellini’s
Mexican: El Chico.
Seafood: Gilligan’s
American/Homestyle: Lizard’s Thicket, although a half-hour or so drive out of town can take you to the barbecue/buffet experience known as Shealy’s in the Leesville section of Batesburg-Leesville.
Del Mar, California (my winter house)
-
Epizoti’s–Southwestern cuisine
-
Cafe Pacifica–American, international cuisine
[sub]Disclaimer: I actually live in Blue Ash, but will include the whole greater metropolitan area in my response. Or not.[/sub]
Italian: Don’t know anymore, it’s change around a bit too much. There was a good place called “The Boot” in Covington, KY several years back, but it got cleared out for a fire or an office building. There are a few “newer” places that I haven’t really gotten around to try.
Seafood: I was raised in Florida, and hence have a problem with eating Seafood in the midwest. Uncle Yip’s, a Chinese Seafood place in nearby Evendale is supposed to be quite good, but Mrs. ShibbOleth didn’t take me along when they went.
Mexican: The best Mexican place I have found is a Taqueria in the outskirts of Louisville, only about 100 miles away. This is actually looking up for Cincinnati as we get more Mexican immigrants (finally). Amigos in Springdale (where I work) is decent. (My family is of Mexican descent, we hold Mexican food to a higher standard)
Thai: Don’t tell my friends, who own two of the more popular Thai restaurants in town, but the best one right now is Asiana, a little storefront place in Norwood.
Japanese: It’s been a while, but the last I checked it Jo An was the freshest and most authentic in the area. Which makes sense sit is located right next to Toyota’s North American headquarters, in Kentucky.
Haute Cuisine: Daveed’s in Mt. Adams is very nice, trendy and reasonably affordable. Everything was delicious, and better yet a friend paid for dinner.
Pub food: Watson’s Brewery (in Blue Ash) has very good food, but it is almost a bit too upscale to be considered good pub food.
Fort Worth, Texas
Italian - Zio’s Italian Kitchen
Mexican - Joe T. Garcia’s (hands down best refried beans I’ve ever had)
Seafood - Daddy Jack’s
American/Homestyle - Cotton Patch or Dixie House or Babe’s Chicken Dinners
Cincinnati, OH, part 2
Italian - mid-priced, “Bravo’s” in Montgomery. Deeee-lish. High-priced, “Barresi’s” in Deer Park. (Hope it’s still there.)
Mexican - “Amigo’s” in West Chester. They have an awesome Shrimp Diablo and the chef and waiters are actually Mexican.
Pub Food - BW3 for sloppy wings. McCauley’s Pub for pub food (smoke is complimentary).
Here in good old Covington, IN, we got two of the best steakhouses in the state. Beef House (#1) and Maple Corner. We also got Lindee’s, which is the local hangout. Then we got Benjamin’s and Vickery’s, two American Homestyle places. Then there’s Arby’s, Subway, and China Buffet. :rolleyes: A little much for a town of 2500. Don’t get me started on our 10 gas stations.
Akron, Ohio
Italian: Casa Mimi. Out of the way in a not great part of town, been there 30-40 years. When they are on, they are superb. Depends on which family member is cooking. When off, they are merely very good. But that beats most of the rest of the town.
Mexican: Azteca. Wow! We have gone from 1 Mex restaurant 10 years ago to 10 or more lately. I’ve tried them all. The best are mediocre. When Azteca opened two years ago, I ordered the chile con quesa with chorizo. Until then, chorizo never appeared on a Mexican menu in my town. They put on just enough to make the flavor just right.
Seafood: Ha! It is to laugh! I grew up in Arlington, VA. And there are NO CRABS except Chesapeake BAy Blue Crabs. Shib hit it. This is the MIdwest. YOu can fly it in, but it ain’t the same.
American Homestyle: Sam’s kitchen. We have homestyle cooking in town, but I just can’t get excited about what I do better at home.
Thai: Bangcock Gourmet. My old coin show circuit buddy came to town some years ago. We walked two blocks to my Thai reataurant. He and I had eaten in many ethnic restaurants in scores of US cities. He has been envious of me ever since. The best Thai in the US is, IMHO, Arun’s Thai in Chicago. My Bangcock is second. Come for a visit. It’s on me.
A couple more for seafood, Pappadeaux (their crawfish etouffee is just incredible) and Newports.
And for a simply incredible restaurant, Pappa’s Bros Steakhouse is on par with ANY restaurant in this country. Bring a FAT wallet though. They say the best things in life are free, but I guess that leaves the next best things in life to cost you dearly.
And I gotta wonder, was this just a sneaky way to find out where everyone is from? Well, at least I know there are two on here from Dallas now at least
**American: **The Friendly Duck. Sadly, its progenitor, the Spout ‘n’ Toad, was sold, then turned into a gay bar, then closed. But the Duck labors on.
**Breakfast: **The Sunriser. I have seen three (adult) people share one omelet, and still have leftovers.
**Italian: **Primo Grill. When the chef managed the upscale (for Tacoma) restaurant at the local Sheraton, he consistently won “best of . . .” awards.
**Mexican: **Mostly Tex-Mex, of which Moctezuma is probably the best.
**Seafood: **The Harbor Lights. Owned by the same family for over 50 years, then sold to a seafood chain that promised not to change it overmuch. So far, they’ve made good on the pledge.
[Digression]
LindyHopper, how can you purport to give a semi-complete rundown of Missoula establishments without mentioning The Oxford? Or haven’t you sampled its pleasures yet?
(On the other hand, the place isn’t easy to categorize–is “dive” on the list? Though it hasn’t been quite the same since they swept up the sawdust and let wimmen in . . .)
[/Digression]
Poogan’s Porch - seafood and southern cooking, one of those “where the locals go” kind of restaurants
Melvin’s - barbecue and (according to the SO) the best damn bacon double cheeseburgers in the world. (Oh, and Emeril thinks so, too.)
Mellow Mushroom - Ok, I’m biased. I work there. But we do have the best pizza in Charleston.
California Dreamin’ - An upscale version of Applebee’s, on the water.
La Hacienda - Taco Bell, but the food is so much better.
Alice’s Fine Foods - If you had a Southern black grandma that was the best cook in the world, she would own this restaurant.
Jestine’s Kitchen - Another fine Southern cooking establishment.
Jack’s Diner - Breakfast food, diner style, fast and cheap.
It’s impossible to pick the best restaurant in Charleston, as this is a huge tourist town. But if anyone ever needs recommendations, email me and I’ll give you the complete rundown.
JimSox5, forgive me my geographical ignorance, but where in the state is Covington, Indiana? (I’m looking for a good Arby’s 
)
BTW, on the barbecue in Nashville, I wouldn’t argue for Bar-B-Cutie. Some people swear by them though.
As for the people in Cincy, I used to live in Bellevue, and for Italian, I have to go with Pompilio’s in Newport. My favorite Italian resturant in the world.
In Lexinton, KY., go to Columbia’s Steakhouse. The special (tenderloin soaked in garlic butter), is spectacular.