The post on the best/worst chain made me curious. Recently, on another board, I mentioned that I’d been in Tucson last week. I was presented with a number of places I should have eaten, but didn’t because I didn’t know about them. I travel quite a bit, and next time want to know ahead of time.
I am not talking chains here, just local fine dining.
In your town, what dining establishment should a visitor NOT fail to visit.
Here in Spokane, you should not leave town without trying Milford’s Fish House, a world-class place with first rate seafood. For steaks there is Wolffy’s Old West Steak House. There are many other fine restaurants here–you won’t go hungry.
Best restaurant in my small town is El Rancho Grande, by far. Best Mexican food and best service.
A few weeks ago, we placed an order to go and when my husband got home he noticed that one quesadilla was missing. Since it’s only a few miles from our house, he called them and told them that it was missing and he was coming back to get it.
At first, they offered to BRING IT TO US at home!! My husband said that wasn’t neccesary and drove to pick it up. The manager met him out in the parking lot, apologized profusely and handed him a huge sack of food “for our troubles”.
He had given us 3 more dinners and 2 desserts, free of charge. And that was just for 1 missing quesadilla. I can’t even imagine what they would do in the case of a really botched order.
There are a lot of choices in Houston, but I’ll single out a few favorites.
For fine dining in the European style, we have a bed and breakfast right around the corner from me, La Colombe D’Or at 3410 Montrose. Expect to spend ~$200 for dinner for two, but you won’t be complaining. Gotta have the escargot. Yum.
Just down the street at 4704 Montrose is the Sierra Grill. The cuisine is less traditional, but the wine selection is phenomenal. Not quite as pricey as La Colombe D’Or, but hardly cheap.
For a just plain great steak house, The Hofbrau at 1803 Shepherd is excellent, and not too expensive. Great steaks, a full bar and you’ll feel secure - cops love this place. Another establishment that does great steaks and seafood is The Stables, with two locations, 3734 Westheimer and 7325 South Main (I prefer the Westheimer location).
If you are ever in Nashville and want to indulge in genuine local color, the Loveless Cafe is located at the very Northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is not a place that you would think of stopping unless you’ve heard about it from someone. Dinky looking place. But they are known for the breakfasts that they serve all day. They are especially known for their country ham, all you can eat biscuits, sorghum, homemade preserves and all that goes with it. When Paul McCartney was living about forty miles out of town, he would eat there. Lots of celebs do. (Martha Stewart said it was the best breakfast she had ever had.) The Loveless Cafe also catered an Inaugural breakfast for Clinton and Gore. Wear your furs or your overalls or both. But on weekends, you’d better make reservations.
From my rather carnivorous perspective, the best restaurant in Dallas is Fogo de Chao. I suspect this is where naughty vegans go when they die. It’s the only place in which I’ve ever waved away an offer of prime ribs and said, “Thanks, but I’m waiting for something better to come along.” You don’t actually order a specific meal; you take a seat, order drinks and whatnot, and turn over a little marker. When the marker is green, a steady stream of servers will come by your table with a variety of meats straight from the grill–chicken, grilled pork wrapped in bacon, filet mignon, to name a few–and offer them to you. This continues until you flip the marker to red, at which point they route around you while you stuff yourself. When you’re ready for more, you just flip the marker again.
Dinner for two will run $100-$150, depending on how thoroughly you sample the wines, and on whether you actually manage to find room for creme brulee or mango ice cream.
When i was in Ames, Iowa, *fluiddruid recommended Hickory park- which was interesting, because she’s a vegetarian. I went twice. It was quite good.
I’m in Toronto, Land Of A Thousand Restaurants, so I can’t give you a best, just some suggestions. Pho Hung, Feathers brewpub, anywhere in Greektown (almost) especially Athens bakery for pastry, La Paloma gelateria, Amato’s pizza…
I suggest visiting chowhound, and posting on their message boards. The boards are regional, and you can probably get a reply within a day or so on all the best local places.
Indian: Bombay Gardens. It’s a fairly small hole-in-the-wall place with an understated elegance. The food has been excellent everytime I’ve been there. Most dishes are under $15 but when you order a little of this and gotta try that, well it can add up. Definitely worth the price.
Italian: Perrone’s Italian Kitchen, on Ryder’s Lane, off of Rte. 1. Very casual, BYOB. A friend and I were just there tonight, enjoying the broiled seafood. Meals vary in price (there’s also take-out), but you can eat a $20 meal in paint-spattered clothes (as we did) without anyone looking askew. Parking is extremely limited. Nice house, good music.
Though Austin does have all the usual disrespected chains, it also has a large number of wonderful, locally owned and operated restaurants in many different styles.
The most highly touted in most circles is one called Hudson’s On the Bend, which offers a lot of exotic/wild game dishes in addition to more conventional gourmet standards. If you were to ask the local restaurant critics to name the best local restaurant, I suspect they’d steer you to Hudson’s.
Another highly rated one is Zoot, a delightfully eclectic “New American” restaurant (whatever that means).
But my local favorites are a pair of “clones” (that is, different restaurants operated by the same owners): Mirabelle and the Castle Hill Cafe.
In Chicago, the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building is not to be missed. The food and service are great, but the atmosphere can’t be beat. Hold out for a window table facing south, it’s worth it. The ladies room even has huge panoramic windows, but sadly the men’s does not. I always take friends visiting the city there first for great night views of the skyline.
If you just want to drink, there is a lounge on the 96th floor.
Mulligan’s Pub. Good ribs, fine steaks, and a vegetarian menu. Plenty of brass and hardwood, old fashioned bar signs, and a giant glass tit.
The Sparta. Small place famous for garlic marinated steaks, one of the few places you can get langastinos.
Grinders Above and Beyond. Great sandwiches, covered in mayo and homemade dressing. A good selection of homemade soups, they usually have 4 or 5 different soups per day. Best of all, homemade desserts. They feature a pie that has a walnut crust, and an eclair cake.
Queen of Sheba - wonderful Ethiopian
Thai Taste - it’s in a huge pink tile building…very atmospheric, with high ceilings
Khalachandji’s - vegetarian buffet in a Krishna temple. Always wonderful
Gloria’s - Salvadoran
Cafe Brazil - Eclectic…kick ass grilled cheese, omlettes, chips and salsa, veggie crepes with tomatilla, rosemary potatos
Deep Sushi - The dragon lady roll is concentrated wasabi, hot mustard, chili sauce, and jalapenos…eating it, it’s like someone put on an iron glove, reached into your mouth and grabbed your heart…but if you’re into that sort of thing, it’s great
In Texarkana (like any of you are ever going to stop here) the two best are Zapada’s Grill for Cajun-influenced Tex-Mex (Crawfish enchiladas) and Alfredo’s for New-York styled Italian (the owner is a NYC native).
In the Sancha neighborhood of Tokyo, there’s a great Chinese restaurant called Wan Dzu Ji. Tiny little place with bar-style seating right in front of the chefs, and the Szechuan-style dishes have a blend of spices that are making me sweat just thinking about them.
I live in London, tricky. The top restaurant? Probably impossible to select one but for two completely different experiences try:
Gordon Ramsay at Claridges - £480 for a meal for four. Simply stunning. Michelin starred (2 or 3?) chef’s cheaper restaurant.
Lahore’s Kebab House, Whitechapel - £8-10 per head. IMHO the best curry house in London. Frequented by Pakistani mini-cab drivers and City brokers. The tandoori chicken and lamb kebabs are unbelievable.
Depends on what you’re looking for as to where one goes in the city I’ve heard say has the higest per capita resturants in the nation. (You Know the rumor mill)
If you want expensive but good grub, check out Alexanders’ over on Talmadge Ave. It runs along side the Westfield (Natch the Franklin Park) Mall. Expect to spend about $80 a person sans wines.
If you want tasty grub at a great price, I say go with * The Old Spaghetti Warehouse* It’s downtown and obviously Italian, but the atmosphere is funky and the salad/bread is endless. The house dressing is to die for. Cost is about $30 per person again, sans wines.
Now if you want AMOUNTS at a great price. Nowhere to go but Nicks’ on Reynolds near the Southwyck (That’s the Section 8 Mall) The fare is typical diner off the grill. The prices are about $10 and up, but the serving sizes are killer. I’ve seen very few folks walk out of this place who can actually eat everything they put in front of you. Expect to trake a Doggy bag home from here.
The best Bar food in town can be aquired at The Tropics It’s on Sylvania Ave.(Across the street from the X rated theatre) Get a “Porgy Meets Bess” Your arteries will hate you, but your tastebuds will love you (Vgans need not apply) The Wet Burrito is pretty good too. Spend about $15 a person and the Better Waitress in the place will make a good wine selection for you.
I love the Salt Lick so much. It is the place I go on my birthday every year. It is the place that I am willing to wait for an hour to eat (no others). It is the place that I take out-of-town guests who have an interest in one of the following subjects:
Barbeque
The Texas Hill Counrty
Perfectly smoked meats
The best barbeque sauce in the world
Family-style dining
Home-made cobbler