# What is the best restaurant in your city? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917 "2013-04-05T13:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/1 "2013-04-05T13:43:01Z")
Define best however you want to. If you live some place like NYC, well, just post whatever you feel. šŸ™‚ Here in Gainesville, Florida, Iā€™d say the ā€œbestā€ is [The Paramount Grill](http://www.paramountgrill.com/index.html). I like to go here and order things I donā€™t really like, because this chef somehow always makes everything taste wonderful. Good service too. This is as close to fine dining as weā€™ve found in North Florida. I also like [Bahn Thai](http://www.yelp.com/biz/bahn-thai-gainesville). I will be the first to admit itā€™s ancient and a little weird (maybe I should say ā€œquaintā€). Itā€™s also very quiet, almost unnervingly so. But Iā€™ve enjoyed everything Iā€™ve ever eaten there, and the portions are so big I always take some home. They have a picture of Michael J. Fox and Woody Harrelson eating there, which must have been back when they were filming _Doc Hollywood_. Maybe MJF will come back someday. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/2 "2013-04-05T13:51:32Z")
Carlā€™s Jr. I live in a really small town. šŸ˜ƒ Lacking fine dining establishments, Iā€™ll offer up one of the local Thai places: [Thai Chili](http://www.yelp.com/biz/thai-chili-calimesa). If the OP will allow ā€œwithin 10 miles of homeā€ to count as ā€œin your city,ā€ then it would have to be [Citrone](http://citronerestaurant.com/). Nice enough place, but not up to the standards the wife and I have come to enjoy by the better places in Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/3 "2013-04-05T14:29:20Z")
In DC, people seem to be giving that honor to CityZen, although I havenā€™t eaten there yet. My favorite place in DC right now is probably Chez Billy, but mostly for its bar. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/4 "2013-04-05T14:33:43Z")
I canā€™t afford to eat there more than once every 2 or 3 years, but Iā€™d nominate the Driskill Grill as the best restaurant in Austin, TX. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/5 "2013-04-05T14:54:51Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I canā€™t afford to eat there more than once every 2 or 3 years, but Iā€™d nominate the Driskill Grill as the best restaurant in Austin, TX. This is why Iā€™m poor. Seriously. My credit is shit, my savings are nilā€™ and I live week to week. But I canā€™t imagine only going out to eat once every two or three years. I justā€¦I just donā€™t have the discipline, but I admire your style, because all the people I know who are very well off and have a nice car and clean credit and a nice home all seem to think a lot more like you than they do like me. Anyway, I donā€™t know what is considered the best restaurant in Rochester, NY, but I do know that my favorite is Tapas. They have a live band and a great atmosphere and the best pasta and seafood ever. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/6 "2013-04-05T15:18:12Z")
My house. I live in a small town, and though there are restaurants I go to, in general, even a halfway-decent cook can outdo all of them. Around here, you donā€™t go out to eat to be wowed by the food; you go out because you donā€™t feel like cooking, you want to get out of the house, or you feel social. The food is uniformly OK, occasionally bad, and very, very occasionally worth the price. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/7 "2013-04-05T15:28:49Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > My house. > > I live in a small town, and though there are restaurants I go to, in general, even a halfway-decent cook can outdo all of them. Around here, you donā€™t go out to eat to be wowed by the food; you go out because you donā€™t feel like cooking, you want to get out of the house, or you feel social. The food is uniformly OK, occasionally bad, and very, very occasionally worth the price. Yeah, but pasties can only be so good and after a while, they get pretty boring. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/8 "2013-04-05T16:15:59Z")
I live in a very, very small town, but the best would be [1481 Grille](http://www.1481grille.com/#!/splash). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/9 "2013-04-05T16:20:18Z")
Impossible to say in Portland. It would have to be by cuisine, and even then. . . ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/10 "2013-04-05T16:38:14Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > This is why Iā€™m poor. Seriously. My credit is shit, my savings are nilā€™ and I live week to week. But I canā€™t imagine only going out to eat once every two or three years. I justā€¦I just donā€™t have the discipline, but I admire your style, because all the people I know who are very well off and have a nice car and clean credit and a nice home all seem to think a lot more like you than they do like me. No need to congratulate me on my alleged discipline! I DO eat out regularly- just at places a LOT less expensive than the Driskill Grill. Last time I took my wife there, dinner for two ran us over two hundred bucks. Weā€™re not in a position to do that very often. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/11 "2013-04-05T16:44:19Z")
Like **Chefguy** says about Portland, Boulder is such a foodie town that itā€™s hard to narrow it down. But, overall, our favorite ā€œdate nightā€ restaurant here is [Pizzeria Basta](http://pizzeriabasta.com/). The roast half-chicken is the best chicken Iā€™ve eaten in my life, bar none. Wood-fired pizzas and desserts are also wonderful. There are fancier and more expensive restaurants in Boulder, and there are places with better cocktail menus or nicer locations, but this is where I send people who love to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/12 "2013-04-05T16:47:36Z")
Last time Emeril came to Austin, he had a choice of many, many swanky places to eat. He skipped town and chowed down at a [nice place](http://www.bordeauxs.net/emeril.htm) in our little town. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/13 "2013-04-05T16:57:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Carlā€™s Jr. > > I live in a really small town. šŸ˜ƒ Two run-down dinery kind of places and a Dunkinā€™ Donuts. We have to go a full town over to get a McDā€™s and a Carlā€™s Jr. We briefly had a very upscale restaurant that failed to attract an international following and serially honked off the locals who tried it. The owners had watched too many shows about obnoxious asshole chefs and failed to learn how to deliver an edible dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/14 "2013-04-05T19:34:25Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > In DC, people seem to be giving that honor to CityZen, although I havenā€™t eaten there yet. > My favorite place in DC right now is probably Chez Billy, but mostly for its bar. A note: Cityzen is located in the Mandarin Oriental. The ā€œEmpress Loungeā€ bar in that hotel is also quite nice. It is _not_ the best bar in DC - I can think of better cocktails, swankier digs, better music, etc. - but the Empress does a lot of things well, and has respectable jazz vocalists on Friday and Saturday nights. Drinks are pricey, but no more so than any other high-end cocktail bar, and itā€™s a pretty good date night place. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/15 "2013-04-05T19:37:08Z")
We have a rather large number of very good restaurants in Sacramento, but my top choice is [Biba](http://www.biba-restaurant.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/16 "2013-04-05T19:45:06Z")
We live in a small town that has an assortment of fast food and a family-style buffet place, blech. Then they repealed prohibition. Then we got a swanky new gastropub. Then the owners opened a microbrewery across the street. So thatā€™s definitely the best place in town now. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/17 "2013-04-05T21:06:28Z")
Small town. I can choose from McDonaldā€™s, Subway, Arbyā€™s, a Chinese buffet, and a pizza place or two. As other posters have said, you donā€™t go out to dine; you go out because you donā€™t want to cook. There are some nice, real restaurants about 45 miles away, though. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/18 "2013-04-05T21:20:50Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > We have a rather large number of very good restaurants in Sacramento, but my top choice is [Biba](http://www.biba-restaurant.com/). Sacramento and outlying areas have always been poor in decent, independent restaurants that survived. I lost count of excellent places that went under to to make room (or market share) for a Macaroni Grill, Outback, Olive Garden or even Mortonā€™s. Seems like if they donā€™t have roots in the 1970s or earlier, theyā€™re easily swept away by the flood tide of chain customers. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/19 "2013-04-05T22:01:37Z")
There are tons of excellent restaurants in the ā€œValley of the Sun.ā€ Picking the best one is an impossible task. That said, [Cafe Monarch](http://www.yelp.com/biz/caf%C3%A9-monarch-scottsdale-4) is one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917/20 "2013-04-05T22:25:38Z")
For such a small city, Cincinnati has quite a lot of really good fine dining places. Jean Robertā€™s Table, The Orchids at Palm Court, Boca, the Ruby steakhouses, Nicolaā€™s, Cumin, etc etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-restaurant-in-your-city/654917.md?page=2)