There is a small privately owned chain of BBQ restaurants that started in Charleston, SC, and has since branched out to TN and north Florida and (I think) NC and KY.
They are called Sticky Fingers, and I would crawl across a field of broken glass for a plate of their ribs.
They have four kinds, wet, dry, Carolina Sweet and Jack Daniels whiskey. We’re talking shake the rib and the meat falls of the bone good.
Yummmmm…it’s the only thing I miss from SC.
I just realized this sounds a bit like a commercial. FTR, I am in no way affiliated with the aforementioned restaurant (although you can drown me in their BBQ and I would die happy)
Having been to the Channel Islands, Italy and France in the last year and a half, I’ve been to some fine eating establishments. Truth is that there are many here in the states, and to me that is the fun of it all; trying to find that next great place to eat.
When I get to go down to Maryland, if in Baltimore I try and stop by Alonzo’s for the world’s bets hamburger.
In the DC area, I like Silver Diner, Chicken Out ( a rotisserrie type place that has fabulous hot chicken open faced sandwiches), Red, Hot & Blue, which has great BBQ sandwiches, and Hard Times Cafe, which has great chili, no it has the world’s best chili.
Yas, a Persian restaurant opposite the Olympia exhibition hall in west London. There’s a more upmarket branch by Hyde Park, but at the Hammersmith Road one you can watch the bread being baked in a clay oven.
in Waco, TX of all places there is a fantastic Mexican joint right by the Baylor campus named Lupita’s. Also, in Union Square, NYC there is a trendy little pseudo-Vietnamese noodle house called Republic. (Similar to Wagamama’s for you London Dopers)
Also – I’m a fan of the J.D. Wetherspoon pubs in the UK! Good food & drink for fair prices. And totally cool ambience. Walls covered with books in Edinburgh.
Oliveto at Market Hall in Oakland. The chef is Paul Bertolli; Alice Waters’ chef du cuisine for many years. He’s fanatical about authenticity (it’s Italian food).
He makes his own salumi (cold cuts). He grinds his own polenta. He makes his own wild boar proscuitto and balsamic vinegar. He spit-roasts pork and lamb right out front where you can see it. He has special dinners on a regular basis, olive oil, tomatoes, pork. I try to make his truffle and wild mushroom dinner every year as it’s around my birthday.
I love this restaurant, and I worship Chef Bertolli. I very rarely eat fine-dining style anywhere else. Yow!
Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Birmingham. Terrific food, nice atmosphere, and they always time the meal just right so that you’re not just getting started on the appetizer when the entree arrives.
It is a small French bistro in, of all places, La Junta, Colorado called Cafe Gran’mere. I have been around the world and this little cafe in a working class town of 6,000 people has some of the best food I have ever eaten.
The chef (Paris trained) claims he looked all around the world for the geographic location with the best food being grown or produced and he came up with the Lower Arkansas River Valley of Colorado. I don’t know about that, but I do know that he consistently produces some of the best food I have ever eaten. It is a tiny place with only six or seven tables but that is generally enough because the locals don’t really understand a non-fast food or a non-grilled steak place.
If you are ever in La Junta on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday (heaven only knows why, it is near nothing), stop by and tell the chef that TV sent you and expect a treat.
When I lived in Tokyo (this was almost 9 years ago, in the Nakano area), there was a tiny restaurant/bar called Antigua. Seated about 10 people, and one guy did all the cooking, table-waiting, bar-tending, etc. He had lived in South America, and served mostly Argentine dishes. Crowded, smoky, walls covered with posters of Hendrix and Clapton and Janis Joplin, and old, loud rock and roll played all the time. Anyone know if it’s still there? It’s only a 2-hour flight from here; I just may drop by again one day.
Minerva’s in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota. You can get a really good steak, but they offer all kinds of other things as well. I had my first taste of chocolate mousse there. Very good food - can’t recommend it enough.
From years back, Lucy’s in Roswell, New Mexico (if it hasn’t been beamed up). A small Mexican restaurant run by a mother and daughter who know how to balance the courses. Exquisite dining!
Pancer’s Deli in Toronto, Ontario. The best pastrami in the universe (incluing Montreal). Pity I’m a veggie.
Sven and Ole’s Pizza in Grand Marais, Minnesota. No other pizza like it.
Harvey’s, throughout Canada, simply because they have the only decent veggie burger on the market.
It is a small, Mom and Pop (I think) restaurant and bar called The Elmton, They have the best broasted chicken and are the only place around here with real red coloured cherry soda.
George’s, on Stephens Lane in Bar Harbor, Maine. Just off Main Street; turn right just past the bank and head for the shore.
Opened over 25 years ago by some Greek guy from NYC named George. Elegant dining room[s], great bar (your best chance for a great martini north of Boston), wonderful menu and wine list.
Don’t miss the lobster strudel…phyllo pastry wrapped around fresh crustacean, feta, scallions, garlic, dill, and some other good stuff…
(let me apologize in advance for the content of that link. I think George composes all his own advertising copy. He cooks better than he writes, trust me)
I still mourn the passing of the Derby East on Route 66; it was destroyed and replaced with a Walgreen’s. :mad:
Anyhow, they had terrific soups and salads there, the best cheese bread this side of the Clearman’s North Woods Inn, and some spectacular entrees. The champagne brunch buffet wasn’t too shabby either.
As for what’s still here, well, the aforementioned NW Inn; Burger Continental in Pasadena (Middle Eastern and other delights, and sometimes a belly dancer); and Spaghetti Eddie’s for Italian specialties.
– but I do have MANY 
And totally cool ambience. Walls covered with books in Edinburgh.