Best cities for dining?

[emrr]

I smell a road trip in my future....

[producer4000]

Here's an unusual one.. best sushi/sashimi I had was in a small hole in the wall restaurant in Orlando, Fla ?

Maybe not so unusual. My best sushi/sashimi was at Shodan in Montreal back in April. Very little French or English spoken there, but there was no need for talking. The food tasted as good as it looked. We were the only ones in the restaurant at 5:00 pm. Service was polite. We sat at the Sushi bar and watched these guys prepare the meal with care and skill. I'll go there every single time I go to Montreal from now on.

Well, perhaps JR.'s may be a little unusual. I guess my point is, Florida for all it's tourism and commerce should be outta sight, but often is not. I've spent enough time there to have some good meals. Mostly, it was average. I'm glad when people have really good experiences in small, out-of-the-way type places. It makes me feel like some people still care about what they do for a living.

Let's all try to remember or take a note of where you've been so we can direct each other as we travel. Life is too short to eat lousy food.
Or drink lousy beer.

[JR.]

The best cities for dining?

Consider Tempe, Arizona....

http://www.heartattackgrill.com/

Profiled on this morning's CBS Sunday Morning with Bill Geist having the "quadruple bypass."

I like the side "dishes" but those burgers are just wrong..

JR

[mediatechnology]

Don't forget the french fries cooked in lard, the Jolt Cola (hard to find here) and unfiltered cigarettes. My Dad smoked Lucky Strikes.

When you finish the meal, they'll gladly have the nursing staff roll you out in a wheelchair.

[mediatechnology]

I smell a road trip in my future....

Doug, stop by Texas on your way through and pick me up.

[emrr]

will do!

[mediatechnology]

Cedar Hill Texas.

The Ranch Steakhouse finally got their website happening. This place is awesome. In fact, we ate there just last night.

http://www.ranchsteakhouse.net/index.html

[skipwave]

I've only traveled to a few US cities, but my girlfriend is a diligent foodie. She reads up on the local standouts and plans our trip around them. I don't mind.

SF is pretty amazing. My favorite:

Farmer Brown: http://www.farmerbrownsf.com/


Hometown (Chicago) favorites:

The Publican: http://thepublicanrestaurant.com/

Lula Cafe: http://www.lulacafe.com/

Brasserie Jo: http://www.brasseriejo.com


Weirdly enough..... Juicy Lucy's in Glenwood Springs, CO: http://www.juicylucyssteakhouse.com/


I was broke in Seattle, so dined on scraps. Too young in Orlando. L.A. didn't try anything exceptional, but I didn't get to the spots friends rave about. I'm heading back in a few weeks to set things right.

[mediatechnology]

I went straight to the Jucy Lucy's site. Very nice. This caught my eye:

Elk in Fillo on Bordelaise Sauce with spinach, pinenuts, mushrooms and goat cheese.

They don't have that at Safeway

Add this one to your Dallas lists:

http://www.eatzis.com/

I've been buying (raw) Prime-graded beef at Eatzis and it's awesome as well as takeout sandwiches and sides. Prime's running about $20-24/lb there. This food is exceptionally clean, unique, and well-prepared.

We've found that the chain restaurants are in a race to the bottom trying to meet a $6.95-$15.95 price-point. Food quality sucks now at the last two places we would still frequent: Outback and Chili's. Outback served me an unrecognizeable cut of meat (To Go) that was so highly-seasoned I woke up dehydrated and ill. An e-mail to corporate resulted in a call from the manager who explained that "the cut of meat you ordered was one we used to throw away." "Our R&D labs figured out a way to serve it." I thanked him for his honesty. I took me awhile to figure out why everytime I ate at Chili's I would wake up with unquencable thirst. Then it occured to me that their meats are so cheap they're saturated in salt and phosphates. I've given up on all of them.

Instead we go to the Ranch in Cedar Hill where it's a lot more expensive but a far greater value.

http://www.ranchsteakhouse.net/

[JR.]

I saw a news item that because of the current economy, prime grade beef is in surplus since it is not being all gobbled up by restaurants, so more is available through consumer channels (for now).

JR