What's your favorite restaurant and meal?

[surgtech1956]

With the holiday season we're all probably eating out more and eating too much junk(especially at work). What's your favorite restaurant and when you eat at home what's your favorite meal to have?

We don't eat out that often, its usually one of the chains, like Applebees or Binnegans, fast food is Taco Bell, Culver's or Qdoba. Probably my favorite meal at home is homemade mac & cheese, fresh or frozen green beans and meatloaf. For an ethnic food is probably chinese, then italian.

[LBTC]

At a restaurant: Thai We have a very nice, family owned Thai place here in our small town, that is very yummy and equal to or better than some of the well known Thai places in Vancouver, BC

With the restrictions in my current diet, there are lots of foods I like, but the ones I used to LOVE are off limits. I really like my lightly curried non-dairy broccoli cream soup. :o

I haven't eaten fast food in probably 20 years, and we always prefer to find the instdependent interesting restaurant rather than go to a big corporate place. Luckily we have quite a few to choose from here. Yay!

Hugs and Holiday butterflies,
~T~

[Eden]

We have a standing Friday date for Sushi at Hana on Broadway here in Seattle. We sit at the bar and we don't order - we just let what comes, come - yummy, yummy. One of the chefs from there opened up his own place last year that is fantastic too. (Shun - across from the U Village). I'm not big on fast food - if we do have some, its usually Taco del Mar, though now there is a Chipotle in the area which is good too. I also love Pho, which I guess is technically a fast food.

At home I like to do veggie stir fry or curry.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

No question in my mind....DH and I traditionally bike or walk down into town for our Sat and Sunday breakfasts at Ralph's Pretty Good Cafe. I love the croissants, the French toast w/bacon, and the big lattes. :p After breakfast, we either do a bike ride or a 3.5 mile walk before heading home.
Here's Ralph (who moonlights as an actor as well):
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4929&d=1195939055

[snapdragen]

My favorite place in town is called Paragon. We usually eat in the bar rather than a full meal. A few of the offerings they have are Mushroom Cigars with Porcini Aioli, Hummus Flatbread with bell pepper, ricotta, onions and lemon aioli, garlic fries, mac & cheese ! They also infuse their own vodkas --- mmmmmmmm.

At home I like to make a Lime Marinated Salmon, it's so easy and tastes so good.

[KnottedYet]

MMMMMmmmm... Tom Kha Khai...

If I go out its usually Thai or Mexican, sometimes sushi or Hawaiian BBQ or Greek.

[Trek420]

Favorite dives in random order:

Sauls in Berkeley - www.saulsdeli.com

New York style deli food, made a friend who's a Boston native weep for joy and nostalgia. Great service.

Lois the Pie Queen in Oakland - Southern and soul food with an undetectably lighter style. You'll never know it's good for you ;) Inexpensive and berry good. Have some pie.

Blackberry Bistro also Oakland - same as above, pricey, worth it, sit outside and people on a nice day. Breakfast, brunch only.

Cambodiana also Berkeley, Cambodian food of course and best lamb chops anywhere!

Gary Chu's in Santa Rosa. - exceptional Chinese food, reasonable yet can be too beautiful to eat.

Lynns I think the name is in Cambria - ollaliberry pies, pancakes...

For burgers I like Vals on A' st in Hayward - great real ice cream shakes, pizza from Bronco Billy's either location, ice cream Fentons creations are bigger than your head.

I do not eat at chains often yet sometimes crave an I-hop meal. When traveling I enjoy spotting independent restaurants and saying "this looks good" and I'm good at finding them.

I look for places that look clean, some people smiling inside, local plates on the cars, local produces or dishes - have the fry bread in the southwest or the lobster in Maine and of course if there are bikes outside. :p When it comes to choosing a place to eat I follow what Mae West said "when choosing between two evils I always pick the one I have not tried before"

[li10up]

My DH and I have two standing dates a week. Tuesday lunches are Chinese food and Friday dinners are Mexican. Hmmm....maybe that has something to do with not being able to lose weight. :o

[divingbiker]

My favorite restaurant is Mandalay, a Burmese restaurant in Silver Spring, MD. Just went there tonight, in fact. My favorite meal is a papaya salad and sour mustard with tofu, but I've never had a bad meal there.

At home, I like spaghetti squash with fake meatballs and Barilla green-and-black-olive sauce doctored with mushrooms and peppers, or brown rice with fake chicken, baby bok choy, onions, and enoki mushrooms (if I'm feeling energetic.)

Around here, we've got every ethnic food imaginable, and my neighbor and I rotate among them every weekend--Thai, Salvadoran, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian, Burmese, Indonesian, Indian...the list is endless, and they're all delicious.

I never eat fast food, mostly because they don't have vegan options. Except Chipotle, which I love.

[Running Mommy]

Around here I LOVE wildflower bakery/cafe. YUMM!Fab butternut squash ravioli's and chinese chicken salads. But I have to stay away because their bakery items are to DIE for! The chocolate chip scone and carrot cake are my two favorites.
Otherwise good BBQ would be what I want. I can never pass up good que.
BUT, I would have to go to Alabama (paging silver family) to have Jim and Nicks. Again- my sweet tooth always has room for lemon ice box pie. Have mercy!!

My other faves are in nor cal. Chunk cripsy chicken in a ginger garlic sauce at a certain place in Santa Rosa is my all time fave.
My other fave up there is Langleys on the Green in Windsor. That used to be our "date night special place" when we lived up there.

Oh and one last fave... REAL sourdough bread. The kind from San Francsico. Actually franco american out of Petaluma is the stuff! I can eat the entire loaf with either some butter or good olive oil... BOY HOWDY!

[7rider]

DH and I just got back from a favorite sushi spot, where we had yellowtail cheek, salmon, spicy tuna rolls, and all our usual faves.
Like DivingBiker, I also like Mandalay in Silver Spring (my co-workers took me there for my b'day this past September). Indian is a frequent fave, too. There's a new Ethiopian place that just opened in Silver Spring, and that was really good. No utensils...eat with the "spongy bread". :p
I grew up eating at Italian restaurants, but strangely, when DH and I go out, we usually opt for the more...well, exotic. But Japanese and Indian top the lists. However, if given the opportunity, I never fail to pass up eggplant parm! :D
Oh...and I do try to avoid chains (aka "factory food") and fast food places.

[Pax]

Milos - Fancy (for these parts) local place. Amazing scallops over wild mushroom risotto.


Apple Dumplin' - Local down home place. Meatloaf, smashed taters, and green beans...pure comfort food.


Fiesta Cafe - Local Mexican place. Cheese enchiladas, beans, guacamole, and draft Dos Equis.

[Trek420]

Oh and one last fave... REAL sourdough bread. The kind from San Francsico. Actually franco american out of Petaluma is the stuff! I can eat the entire loaf with either some butter or good olive oil... BOY HOWDY!

Yes, we have great sour dough bread here. RM, next time you're in the Bay Area take a trip south to the little town of Pescadero. Not only some great cycling but

www.duartestavern.com

Among other yummy things they make an artichoke soup that is to die for, have some crusty sour dough bread with it .... yum.

[kelownagirl]

Big Mac, Large Fries, and a Chocolate Shake.

Just kidding!!! :p


Lobster, pretty well anywhere. Also the crab ravioli at the Wild Apple Grill. And pretty well anything on the menu at the Minstrel Cafe where I got married last spring. Yeah, I know, you've never heard of any of these restaurants... :)

[Trek420]

Yeah, I know, you've never heard of any of these restaurants... :)

Yeah, but I like that. Keep those reviews coming in. :D

[OakLeaf]

Mmmmmm, too many choices for restaurant meal.

Whole Cuban-style fried fish at the Spanish River Grille, New Smyrna Beach, is right up there.

Just about anything on the menu at Dragonfly in Columbus.

I wish I remembered the name of the little hole-in-the-wall in Chicago where I first experienced Thai food in '83. It probably isn't even there any more. The proprietors had only been in the US for six months, and I thought I'd died and gone to food heaven.

Home meals? Am I taking a lot of trouble, or doing something pretty quick? If I've got the time and energy to mess around with phyllo, it's spanakopita, hands down. For an easy meal, Phillipine mongo - whole unpeeled mung beans with spinach, tomatoes and lime juice, served over rice. Hah, spinach in both. Yummy!

[Eden]

For an easy meal, Phillipine mongo - whole unpeeled mung beans with spinach, tomatoes and lime juice, served over rice. Hah, spinach in both. Yummy!

ooooooohhhh recipe? please! please!

[Fredwina]

really, really bad...
I like Steak N' Shake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_N_Shake)
The good news: I;m 2,00 miles away form the nearest location.
The bad news: in 3 weeks, I'll only be 7 miles:rolleyes:

[shootingstar]

..Now where shall we start:D

We like well-executed ethnic food...and it doesn't have to be expensive. I prefer to order dishes/meals that I don't /seldom prepare myself (and I do cook 60% Asian-style meals).

So there are some favourite sushi restaurants. But one of them is actually a family-run Japanese grocery store where many Japanese-Canadians flock themselves. A good sign. They make fresh, diverse and well-priced sushi, sashimi, donurbi, etc. So we buy several packs and settle for 85 cent tofu miso soup bowl. :)

I like genuine Italian (not just pizza please), Thai, Middle Eastern, Greek and East-West fusion that's imaginative and has the right ying-yang feel in taste. To me, raw bok choy is crossing the line..is just dumb..and puzzling to anyone raised on Asian cuisine.

My partner comes from a family line of German pastry cooks...Black Forest Region. There's still a family inn-restaurant there. so I have adopted his strong preference for gourmet style cakes/tortes and flans. Ganache in downtown Vancouver is a upscale place near us where a French-trained pastry chef has lovely little cakes that are imaginative and well-executed. Also Thomas Haas in North Vancouver has excellent desserts. The guy is German and formally trained /from Black Forest Region.

You have to understand my partner's mother baked for family dinners, multi-layer light, flavourful mocha tortes, linzertortes (real German recipes call for aging which deepens the flavour), etc. Recipes that are very difficult to find in English language. We prefer to honour the memory of her cooking/baking... buying quality baking.

At home, favourite meals include:

something strudel done with bought phyllo --escargots, mushrooms, garlic and onions is delish. so is pear with ginger root, cinnamon, aniseed and honey in phyllo. :) :)

*Seared bison marinated in maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, with. With roasted beets on side. (roasted with star anise, very easy to make). Sauteed asparagus in onion, garlic and abit of soy sauce. With wild rice. Glass of merlot wine. We've had variations of this meal several times a yr.

*I make homemade foaccacia 3 ways --1. sundried tomato, basil, onion and garlic 2. black olives, rosemary, onion and garlic 3. fresh grapes with grated ginger root, crushed aniseed, cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg and laced with honey. Fresh cut figs is nice too. Or add bits of goat cheese 5 min. before baking is done. :rolleyes: ;) :) :) :)

*Chicken breast with thyme, mustad yogurt sauce over rice or egg noodles

*Or just a lovely squash-apple/pear soup that my partner loves to make. He makes excellent carrot soup variations also. His specialties....

*And I always love to make a steamed fresh salmon fillet with some ginger root, green onion, abit of oil and soy. Sometimes put in rehydrated ****ake mushroom slices. Rice and sauteed/steamed veggies on side.

A steamed meat dish, done Chinese style, is actually a comfort, home food to me. It is a childhood , easy (and yes, healthy) type of cooking to me.

My idea of a LAZY meal at homeis: buckwheat noodles cooked for only 5 min. Drain and flavour with some sunflower oil and abit of soy. :) Or rice from rice cooker where a CHinese sausage was cooked in plus egg white thrown into cooking rice...to naturally cook. Just easy, lazy cooking...

[KnottedYet]

ooooooohhhh recipe? please! please!

Ooooh, Oakleaf, I want the recipe too! Please, please, pretty please post it for us?

[Trek420]

Shootingstar, there used to be a North Coast Native American restaraunt in Vancouver. I remember it from my college days. I think it was called Muc Muc? Smoked salmon, venison dishes, steamed fiddlehead ferns (steamed in clam broth), cedar infused teas ..... the setting felt/looked like a long house.

Is it still there?

[Velobambina]

The Lebanese Taverna, Arlington, VA. I love the Fatteh Bel Djaje--it's also good w/lamb instead of chicken. The Lebanese Taverna Market--not a formal restaurant but you can get a lot of stuff from the menu there--is a couple blocks from my house.

Five Guys -- double cheeseburger or the Italian Store in Arlington for an authentic "hoagie." Smoked moz w/sweet peppers, lettuce, and tomato! (they call them subs but anyone who lived in Penna knows that they are hoagies)

Fast food favorite meal---Wendy's chili and a FROSTY.

[smilingcat]

hmm someone mention whole fried fish Cuban style??? That is gooodd... And fried plantain. I would like to have that again but its pretty pricey around here.

I don't know why it is, but non-chain restaurants around here have terrible service. Well most restaurants around here have horrible service.

We like a local chain called Wahoo's. A Baja styled fish taco. Grilled or blackened albacore taco with black beans and rice. Costs about $4.00 and with drinks, two of us can have a decent meal for about $12.00. pretty healthy eat too.

I love to cook and bake so its not that big of a deal to have a really nice meal at home. Oh I did stint as a cook in NYC. It helps. and it costs $ instead of $$$$ :D

my favorite dish? well I'm a foodie so anything well executed yumm... :D
chinese: sizziling rice soup, birds nest soup, braised whole bass...
thai: Tom Ka kai (soup), clear noddle salad, ...
Mexican: Good tamales, occasional Albadingas (sp) (soup), lots of seafood.
Sorry but tacos, burritos, and like are not really quintisential mexican.

Spanish: tapas of all sort, Paella yummmm....
Morrocoan: Good couscous with real lamb Tajine. Bacclava...
Italian: what's not to like?
French: diddo.
German: Good honest Schnizzle with good Sourkraut any variety wold do.
simple but delish Sausage and cabbage with dry Riesling.
oh and all those wonderful pastries. Tis the season for Kugelhof(sp)
Sorry to the Finn's but I will pass on Aquavee and Ludafesk(sp) that gellied fish dish.

ooo and sorry to Brits for that eel in aspic.

Irish: ooo love the corned beef with cabbage... quitinsential Irish dish.

smilingcat

[Starfish]

Any excellent Italian meal with a great red wine is usually tops on my list.

But, every once in awhile, I get a craving for a great rare roast beef with home-style yorkshire pudding...the way my mom used to make it in the big pan. Then, lots of potatoes, with the blood from the roast spooned over the top. Mmmmmm......

[OakLeaf]

ooooooohhhh recipe? please! please!

Phillipine Mongo (adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking)

2 medium onions
7 cloves garlic
1 c whole unpeeled (green) mung beans
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb tomatoes, chopped (or one 12-oz can or home-canned pint)
1 large bunch spinach leaves and roots (opt.), separated and well washed
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp lime juice
1 lime, cut in wedges
1/4 c fruity extra virgin olive oil

Pick over and wash mung beans. Chop onions and mince garlic. Heat olive oil in a 4-6 qt pressure cooker. Add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add onions and saute until transparent. Add beans and boiling water to cover. Seal pressure cooker, bring to high pressure and cook 10-12 minutes, then release pressure using a quick-release method. Check beans for doneness; they should be tender and slightly mushy. If beans are not done, replace (but do not lock) lid and continue to cook until soft. Add tomatoes, spinach and lime juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach leaves are wilted and stems are soft but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Serve over rice. Pass lime wedges and fruity olive oil on the side.

That's how I usually make this dish. The original recipe calls for cooking the mung beans on the stovetop first (speed-soaked or soaked overnight, then simmer in plain water for 1-1/2 hrs). Then saute the garlic and onions, add fresh tomatoes and fry just until they start to catch, then add the cooked beans and the remaining ingredients.

If you don't usually cook beans in the pressure cooker but want to start, Lorna Sass has a couple of great cookbooks with detailed instructions and cooking times for soaked and unsoaked beans. Most important: always add oil to the cooking water, to cut down on foaming.

Enjoy!

[shootingstar]

Shootingstar, there used to be a North Coast Native American restaraunt in Vancouver. I remember it from my college days. I think it was called Muc Muc? Smoked salmon, venison dishes, steamed fiddlehead ferns (steamed in clam broth), cedar infused teas ..... the setting felt/looked like a long house.

Is it still there?

You must be referring to Liligut Restaurant down by English Bay near Stanley Park. They have just released an aboriginal contemporary cookbook:
http://www.wherepeoplefeast.com/

I haven't eaten at the restaurant myself. Home aboriginal cooking seems plain to me....but locally there aren't strong spices/herbs grown here.

I assumed that fiddleheads tended to be more from Ontario and Maritime provinces...I lived in southern Ontario and did look forward to making steamed fiddleheads. However gotta do it right or it tastes wrong (ie. soapy).

I always die for beautifully thinly sliced cold smoked salmon. I find the hot smoked salmon abit heavy and oilier.

At home we do make a smoked trout sushi.

_____________________________________________________________
I probably sound foodie-like....but honest, I was raised on home-cooked, everyday Chinese peasant dishes -- in Canada where I was born and raised. Same world as most of you in this forum, but a different interpretation of food everyday ie.:

*steamed chicken slices with tiger lily buds, ginger root, onion, sh*ttake mushrooms, a jot of soy sauce and jot of oil.
*many light vegetable broths or chicken broth with all sorts of Chinese veggies thrown in ie. Mustard greens, gai lan, Shanghai bok choy, watercress, spinach, etc. My mother was BIG on nutritious broth soups for us, as on add-on to a dinner.
*ginseng with certain Chinese herbs soup....for cold mouth sores, or if a child felt "off".
*homemade air-dried Chinese pork slices with soy, onion, etc. I helped my mother hang the pieces of meat or with marinating process. A winter task...
*white rice 4-5 times wk. as a child/teenager. I never had brown rice until university years. No, never Uncle Ben's. I learned to cook rice with a plain stainless steel pot...it's not difficult. But rice cookers just make it easier now and brainless.


Tonight will just throw together local spotted fresh shrimp in stir-fry with red peppers, bok choy, onion, garlic and ginger. Over Chinese wheat linguine or white rice.

I bought shrimp yesterday so they must be used. Tomorrow for dinner, it's sauteed smoked mussels from can with chopped tomatoes, onions thyme and garlic mixed with linguine. will put a dab of Malaysia chili paste (sambal) at beginning in frying pan oil, to add a zip to dish. :D

Once there's a recipe we like, we try to memorize it and it gets changed/transformed in different ways. Thankfully my partner likes to whip up some great, sometimes impressively gourmet meals off the top of his head.
__________________________________________________________

Some chain restaurants are fine....Boston Pizza or in Seattle there's Il Fornello where they make a terrific Sabayon....this sort of creamy liqueur dessert mixture. Just heavenly. :)

So when we are on cycling trips... we do hope for reasonable restaurants /places with some choice. Truly....it's understanding cooking techniques, knowing how to showcase natural flavours of ingredients and having fun/interest in food.

Honest, I'm not keen on tuna casserole unless there's no other choice.

[elk]

I SO miss North End Pizza....or Pino's on Beacon St in Boston...a real Italian big droopy thin crust pizzeria peetz...

But here we have Burgerville...free range antibiotic free beef, local produce....and I love a Tillamook Cheesburger, a Mocha Perk smoothie and some Yukon gold fries......

But I try to keep it to a minimum...:D

[redrhodie]

you guys are killing me.

[Trek420]

But here we have Burgerville...free range antibiotic free beef, local produce....and I love a Tillamook Cheesburger, a Mocha Perk smoothie and some Yukon gold fries......

But I try to keep it to a minimum...:D

Sounds a little like this joint. Now this is road food anytime I'm going from Sacramento to the Bay Area or vice versa.

http://daviswiki.org/Redrum_Burger

[elk]

Sounds a little like this joint. Now this is road food anytime I'm going from Sacramento to the Bay Area or vice versa.

http://daviswiki.org/Redrum_Burger

yum...I might have to forgo my ethics to eat there..(I like BV because it respects its food sources...:) ....but its oso hard to resist that road food!!!

[Trek420]

yum...I might have to forgo my ethics to eat there..(I like BV because it respects its food sources...:) ....but its oso hard to resist that road food!!!

Redrum burger has the best turkey burger I've ever had. They get the spices juuust right. You can get a whole wheat buns and while I usually go the whole wheat route their "normal" buns are good. Their milk shakes are the best with all the standard shakes like coffee, chocolate, real espresso in the cappucino shakes or mocha. But look for seasonal options; strawberry, blackberry, peach whatever's in season.

I haven't asked if their food is local, organic etc. Since they are in California Central Valley in Davis which is an agricultural college (Go Aggies!) and Davis was voted one of the most bike friendly cities in the US of A .... odds are good the tomato on your burger is fresh. :D

[Tuckervill]

Y'all are torturing me! Our small city has plenty of restaurants, if you like Mexican food. And since we're in a "dry" county, we have to drive to Oklahoma to get a margarita!

I did try the little Thai place recently, but even their spring rolls were deep fried.

Any other kind of restaurant is available, but you have to drive 30 miles. We're getting a Zaxby's Chicken, but that's all fried and I don't eat it.

Karen

[Running Mommy]

They still have "dry" counties?? REALLY????? :confused:

WOW...:rolleyes:

[Trek420]

Y'all are torturing me!

We're so sorry :p :cool: Move here? Or visit?

[Tuckervill]

There are a few left. But, our county, home of Wal-Mart HQ and therefore many, many transplants from other parts of the country/world, is only pseudo-dry. We have what you call "private clubs" which are really just regular restaurants, like Outback and Boston's, with member register books that you should sign when you come in. If the local municipality doesn't forbid it (mine does) they can operate and serve liquor by the drink. Bentonville and Rogers, AR are blessed to have the cosmopolitan population drawn by high-tech Wal-Mart jobs, and therefore their city councils can't get away with voting to keep the dens-of-inequity out.

Our little city is dominated by a private Christian university, and an unofficial sign at the town line proclaims "Welcome to God's Country, Where Jesus Christ is Lord" ikidyounot. So, the county may go wet some day, but Siloam Springs--NEVER.

The irony--Oklahoma just recently made tattoo shops legal in OK...before that, our uber-conservative border town has always had the tattoo parlors, and OK had the casino and the liquor! The casino is expanding and there will be Siloam Springs homes literally in the shadow of the hotel. The liquor store is quite literally on the state line, and you wouldn't know you'd left the whole state if you didn't know better.

Regardless, I love it here, and my little house.
Karen

[Tuckervill]

We're so sorry :p :cool: Move here? Or visit?

I try to get away as often as I can!!! I hit both Portlands this year. Caribbean next month. :)

Karen

[ummbnb]

We eat out waaaaay too much. But food...and wine :D ....are really are favorite things to spend money on. We rarely eat at chains, preferring to eat locally. A friend of ours is the food critic for our local Village Voice publication so we often get the inside word on where to go from him....and on occassion get to dine out on the paper for a review. That's the BEST! Nothing like ordering darned near everything on the menu and then disecting it bite by bite.

[Meaux]

In no particular order (this is only my hometown restaurants):

-El Rey-tasty Cuban Mexican food. The plantains are to die for.
-Cafe Montrose-Belgian food. I need to go back, I think I might appreciate it more now that I'm cycling. :)
-Barnaby's-really good fresh cooking, and they're very animal friendly (Barnaby is the owner's childhood English sheepdog!)
-Mission Burrito-like Chipotle, but with fresher ingredients
-Tookie's-it's in a far suburb or Houston, but I swear they have the best burgers and onion rings.
-Chuy's-fantastic Tex Mex. It's rumored to be one of Lance Armstrong's favorite restaurants.
-Mai's-Vietnamese and Chinese foods. It's open until 2 AM on the weekends.

There are so many more, but it would get out of control if I put more thought into it.

[Bruno28]

http://www.macsween.co.uk/index.asp

Oh, c'mon - what did you expect from me?:rolleyes:

I like Thai and Italian if I'm eating out but haggis, neeps and tatties is to die for. Vegetarian option available - although it does kind of miss the point.

[Thorn]

I did try vegetarian haggis while in Scotland--it was an interesting nutloaf. But I love this line from the web site you've listed:


We think the Macsween vegetarian haggis is particularly delicious served with roast meat

uh....if you think vegetarian haggis misses the point, doesn't serving it with meat really miss the point? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Bruno28]

LOL

We don't really recognise vegetarians in Scotland:rolleyes:

[Fredwina]

There are a few left. But, our county, home of Wal-Mart HQ and therefore many, many transplants from other parts of the country/world, is only pseudo-dry. We have what you call "private clubs" which are really just regular restaurants, like Outback and Boston's, with member register books that you should sign when you come in. ...
Reminds of when I lived in Dallas(actually Garland) about 20 years ago. My uncle was a member of the Pizza Hut club!:) Only there, you had to show your membership card.

[Brandi]

MMMMMmmmm... Tom Kha Khai...

If I go out its usually Thai or Mexican, sometimes sushi or Hawaiian BBQ or Greek.
Oh I just had that the other night right after we went and beowolf and we were waiting for our little home town christmas parade to start. it was super chilly out so I added some hot pepper to it. MMMMMMMMM so yummy! Add a little rice to it and you really got something!
But my favorite at home meal would be hmmmmm let's see probably teriyaki pork chops with sticky rice and a big side of fresh farm picked broccoli with a pinch of lemon juice on top (of the broccoli that is). But when we are in our home town and we go out we go to this little sushi place that is sooooooo yummy we pine for it when we are on the road. And no other sushi place we ever go to seems to come close to this place for us. We always go sometime the week before christmas to give me a break in the kitchen. I do a lot of cooking and baking. I just feel so good after we eat a meal there!

[Tuckervill]

Reminds of when I lived in Dallas(actually Garland) about 20 years ago. My uncle was a member of the Pizza Hut club!:) Only there, you had to show your membership card.

It is such a charade. I don't know who in the world signs those books...we've never signed one, but there are signatures on it. Back in the '80s, when I just was getting legal to drink, I remember there always being cover charges ("membership fees"), too. I'm sure the state taxed those cover charges--but I think just to be like the restaurant in the next town over, some restaurants built the "fee" into their cost of business, and it be came common practice.

But what a charade! ah don't get me started on the small mindedness of my little town, which will likely rally the churchgoers to defeat the wet proposition if it ever gets on the ballot.

Karen

[Fredwina]

FWIW, Liquor laws are what I've found that vary the most from state to state
PA : no grocery store sales of any liquor - only at state shops . The minimum quantity of beer you can buy is a case unless you go to a tavern -see link (http://techpolicy.typepad.com/tpp/2004/03/yuengling_prote.html)
VA: gorcery store can sell Beer and Wine, but "hard" liquor is sold by the state.
Also remember when I was a teen, and the drinking age in MO was 21 , but 18 in IL. Going across the river bridge late at night, there was usually two or three cop cars sitting on either side waiting for drunk drivers.

[OakLeaf]

My favorite is North Carolina, where you can drink at a bar on Sundays but you can't buy package beer. I call it the law that says if you want to drink, you must drive. :(

[northstar]

In Minneapolis proper, these would be my picks:

Matt's Bar for their famous Jucy Lucy burger and fries
Psycho Suzi's motor lounge for their Heart Attack on a Plate pizza and their tots
Pepitos in South Mpls for their tacos and margaritas
Brasa for southwestern/carribean food

Gosh, I wish my class weren't coming in...I'd be able to list a whole bunch more.

[Blueberry]

My favorite is North Carolina, where you can drink at a bar on Sundays but you can't buy package beer. I call it the law that says if you want to drink, you must drive. :(

'Round this part of NC, you can buy beer and wine, just not before noon on Sunday. Yeah - we're backwards. We still have lots of dry counties too. Thankfully none where I live.

Beer, wine and fortified wine (e.g. sherry) are sold in grocery stores. Other, hard stuff is only sold by the State. We did *finally* pass a law that lets us now have the higher alcohol content beers. Some of those are yummy!

CA

[Running Mommy]

There are a few left. But, our county, home of Wal-Mart HQ and therefore many, many transplants from other parts of the country/world, is only pseudo-dry. We have what you call "private clubs" which are really just regular restaurants, like Outback and Boston's, with member register books that you should sign when you come in. If the local municipality doesn't forbid it (mine does) they can operate and serve liquor by the drink. Bentonville and Rogers, AR are blessed to have the cosmopolitan population drawn by high-tech Wal-Mart jobs, and therefore their city councils can't get away with voting to keep the dens-of-inequity out.

Karen

Hey I've been to Bentonville! I was even an invited guest at Helen Waltons home. Pretty home. A creek crosses under the house- literally. A Frank Lloyd Wright home if I recall.
I worked for the mart for a few years back in the early 90's. When Sam was alive (he died while I worked there). Different place back then that's for sure! Back then they proudly proclaimed how much of the store had items made in the USA. HA! Now it's all China... sigh...

[Tuckervill]

You know what's awesome about that? I've never known ANYONE who's been to Mr. Sam's house! You'd think that 6 degrees thing wouldn't have to stretch so far across the country, huh?

It could also be that everyone who was Mr. Sam's contemporary is also mega-rich, too, because they got in on the "ground floor", and I just don't run in their circles. lol.

Karen

[carpaltunnel]

Nettie's Mexican Restaurant in Bellevue, Nebraska, yum. (You can't tell where Omaha ends and Belluevue begins.)

A family owned place in what used to be a filling station/cafe combo building from the 1950's. Nettie passed away a couple years ago but worked late into her 80's there, as did her boyfriend. Pictures of Nettie and all the generations of Escamillas all over the walls. Also pictures Nettie with some world famous people who find theirway to her when they are in town for a concert or game.

These days her daughter Cathy and her family continue to put out the same high quality food. I always get the potato and pea enchilada plate, smothered with lettuce and tomato. DH always orders the beef enchilada plate. They remember their regular customers. Everything is made from scratch including salsa, chili, and menudo. The chili is painfully hot with a wonderful flavor. We get a cup and spoon it judiciously over our enchiladas.

You come in the door, work your way to the cash register, put in your name, then stand in line until a table is ready. Or sit at the bar if there's room . A very basic looking place that people flock to for the great food. You're more likely to see well known Omaha faces there than about any place else.

[OakLeaf]

'Round this part of NC, you can buy beer and wine, just not before noon on Sunday.

Hmmmm, must be Virginia then. Sorry for the slander :o