The Top Two Restaurants in your town to eat at?

[INTELBYTES]

In Austin, I would have to say Threadgills, which serves "homestyle" cooking, and the Curra's which is Yuccatan style mexican food.

[GOPisEvil]

1. EXCELLENT CHOICES!!!!!

:thumbsup:

Since you picked two good ones here in Austin, I will add Guero's, President Clinton's favorite restaurant here, Mexican cuisine. In addition, Upper Crust Bakery. The best desserts ever, along with really good sandwiches and soups. Oh, awesome breakfast pastries, too. :9

[INTELBYTES]

30. kick

[MrSlayer]

2. Le Bec Fin is a 5 star but I wouldn't eat there.

Crappy French food, bleh. Old Original Bookbinder's is a great seafood place, an American classic. Philly is one of the best cities in the world to dine in.

[eyesroll]

3. Hm. Tough one.

Sanford (www.sanfordrestaurant.com) in Milwaukee. Absurdly expensive but worth it. Multi-course tasting menus.

I'd probably rate L'Etoile in Madison second. Focus on seasonal and local ingredients, organic when possible. (www.letoile-restaurant.com) I have recently become a farmers' market/seasonal food follower, so this fits perfectly.

I've only been to each of these restaurants once, I should add.

For a more "regular" place, I enjoy Coquette Cafe (www.coquettecafe.com). French bistro.

I'm a food snob, what can I say?

[Whitacre D_WI]

7. L'Etoile isn't in Milwaukee, Stacie.

Dreamdance is.

[private_ryan]

29. I HATE tasting menus

I want one or two things that I like, and get filled with it...

[Sandpiper]

4. In San Diego

I like The Butcher Shop, a high end steakhouse, and Anthony's Fish Grotto, a local favorite.

I haven't lived here that long though, so there are lots of places I still have to try.

[lazarus]

10. Also in San Diego

I'd recommend D.Z. Akin's, a fantastic deli, and Croce's, down in the Gaslamp district. At DZ Akin's, I recommend the pastrami, tongue, and corned beef on rye. Yum.

At Croce's, the wild mushroom risotto is sublime. And the sesame-crusted seared tuna is exceptional. I dunno what that sauce is they're using for the tuna, but it's fantastic. Perfect.

My dad took Haele and me to eat there the night before our wedding. Had a glass of 150 year old cognac. Wow.

For Ethiopian cuisine, I recommend Awash, which I think is on El Cajon Blvd. Very good food.

Those are our three favourite places to eat.

[ohiosmith]

5. Le Cirque at Bellagios and AJ's at The Hard Rock Hotel

[bigwillq]

6. I can't say just my town because

It's a toss up between Duchess (fast food) and A pizza place. Not a lot of picking going on here. But in New Haven (about 10 mins, away)
I like Roomba (It's a mix of cuban, mexican, carribean food). Tasty.

[BrotherBuzz]

8. I guess Bud's Bar and Grill and Dawson's Cigar Store

Dawson's for breakfast and Bud's for dinner...Lunch is a toss up. Hey, I live in a small town.A

[sweettater]

9. Mc Donalds and Burger King

[INTELBYTES]

18. You must live in the Dairy Queen town.

[Philosophy]

11. Larry's Real Pit Bar-B-Q

There's two of them here in one town of 20000. Their logo is a pig sitting at a table eating a slab of pork ribs.

[INTELBYTES]

19. Didn't they have a show on the Food Channel that highlighted that place?

[Insider]

12. La Cucina & MacGregor's

La Cucina for authentic italian (must have Crostacce)

MacGregor's is the traditional bar & grill with good burgers, steaks, chops and "the best crab cakes in maryland" (NOT)

edit:
oh, this is havre de grace, md "the city by the bay" (www.hdgtourism.com)

[TrogL]

13. Black Gold Inn

there is no second choice

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. Harrison AR

has Neighbor's Mill, with 'handcrafted' breads, homemade soups, and stuff from the Ozark Mt. Smokehouse.

Diamond Head has great Chinese food-really exceptional for this area.


For Springfield MO, the only place to go is King of India, which has the best Indian food in the country-even better than some places in India!


For political action, there's the Ozark Cafe in Jasper AR. Jazzper, a trio, does a gig every Saturday, then passes the hat, the proceeds going to various local causes. Most folks from there took part in our demonstrations last year, and the cafe was open for us to get drinks and go to the bathroom. Oh, and the food is fresh, the salads real(no iceberg lettuce in sight)

[supernova]

15. Top 2?!

Well for the uber-fine-dining experience there's Second Empire in Raleigh. Complete with so many waitstaff it's a challenge diving up the tip.

For hip, modern Southern cuisine it's Magnolia Grill in Durham. The owner-chefs are authors of the cookbook "Not Afraid of Flavor."

For down home cookery is the legendary Momma Dip's in Chapel Hill. Best fried chicken and hush puppies anywhere. Momma Dip herself has several cookbooks out.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

16. There's too many to choose from in Boston

do you mean top two RATED restaurants? Top two people's choice restaurants? Or my favorite top two?

In Cambridge (my little city-which is like Boston's Left bank) East Coast Grill and Rialto are wonderful restaurants. Both have James Beard award chefs who've written cookbooks. Chris Schlesigner-owner/chef of the East Coast Grill-has authored some great cookbooks on grilling. The food there is very spicy. Rialto is a classy, special occasion restaurant. Jody Adams has written cookbooks and she is widely seen on PBS and the Food Network.

Our favorite is Chez Henri which has Cuban/French fusion food-and GREAT drinks. It's usually pretty crowded. Another one we frequent is Central Kitchen (eclectic food), the Blue Room (great brunch), the Harvest (New England traditional/gourmet).

And that's not even ALL the great, award-winning restaurants in Cambridge. In Boston there are too many to mention! :-)

[Caution]

40. I'll second rialto and the blue room's brunch for Cambridge

YUM!

In Boston my favorites are Radius and Troquet. Other greats are Mantra, Mistral and Finale (Finale specializes in desert....veryyyyyy yummy).

I actually live in Salem, MA and the two best restaurants are easily The Grapevine and Strega.

[flamingyouth]

17. It's hard in Seattle - there are lots of places

... Would you be looking for "atmosphere and local culture"? Or just good food? It really depends here.

For the first two, I think you can't go wrong with Ray's Boathouse and Rover's. Both are very nice and quite expensive, but you will really be treated right and you will have a great meal. I could also highly recommend any of Tom Douglas' places, especially the Dahlia Lounge (I had a few iffy meals at Etta's Seafood recently - can't give that my full plug - and I've never eaten at the Palace Kitchen, although I've heard it's good).

There are many other amazing places here. I also love Cascadia, Flying Fish, Brasa, Zoe, even El Gaucho. I could probably go on and on. I'm forgetting even more good ones now that I'm writing it.

For great cheap take out eats, I highly recommend the Seattle Deli down in Little Saigon, on 12th and Jackson, across from the Malay Satay Hut, another high recommendation. Both places (you can eat in at the latter, although it's nothing to write home about in terms of atmosphere) have great food. Seattle Deli has awesome banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches on fresh baguettes with veggies and jalapenos. Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking of them.

[Robb]

20. Top two?!?

Don't you mean "the other two"?

I'm such a hick.... anyhow. I could tell you that I won't eat at three of the four, because I worked for an obsessively clean chef at the fourth, and the health inspector lady, having nothing to do when she came by, would have a glass of wine. And dish dirt on the other restaurants. :wow:

Oy. The stories....

[mykpart]

21. Well, I'm in a VERY small Texas town,

so the top restaurants are Judy's Homestyle Cafe and Bubba's Barbecue.

[Beaker]

22. Midori & Charlie Trotter's.

chicago.

[Dees]

23. Frescos and Billy's Subs and Pizza...OC, MD....n/t

.

[aQuArius]

24. Red, Hot & Blue and Christina's

Red, Hot & Blue is Memphis style barbeque and Christina's is great Mexican. Gee, now I'm hungry....

[Abaques]

25. In Minneapolis...

I would say Pizza Luce and Pepito's.

[Shananigans]

37. Also in Minneapolis...

I'd say Park Tavern (they have the...I mean THE BEST Spinach and Artichoke dip) and of course, Pizza Luce.

[DEM FAN]

26. In My Area The Two Best Are. Booth's Bowery And Deck Down Under.

You Cannot Go Wrong With Either One. :-)

[BigMcLargehuge]

27. in Derry, NH where I live

JCs Pizza owned by a really nice Lebanese family who remember their customers by name and give the kids free ice cream. Their pizza and middle eastern food is both awesome and inexpensive.

The Pinkerton Tavern: yankee food, but they have a great cook.

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. Crikey, that's tough - Le Cirque 2000 and Le Barnedaine?

Myabe Tavern on the Green and Lutece? Danielle's and Del Frisco's?

I mean, God, how do you pick the top 2 in this town? Maybe the top 30, which are gonna far outclass just about every other city's top 100.

Perhaps we could go with the top NYC restaurants in the level between top 200-250, and then it would be some fairer competition compared to other city's top 2. :-)

(please note, I suck at French, and I'm sure I've spelled the French ones incorrectly)

(and lest ye all think I be an obnoxious snob ridiculing your hometowns, please note that I am from a large WI town, and I am, in this, totally ridiculing my hometown's lack of decent restaurants, which is surprising since there are smaller towns in WI that have better restaurants than my hometown, but for some reason, my hometown, except for a couple really good Chinese places, is all national chain shitholes).

[jimbo fett]

31. Amerigo's and Las Palmas in Nashville.

[terrya]

32. Charlie Trotter's in Chicago.

Not sure about the other one.

[Bertha Venation]

33. La Plata, MD: The Crossing at Casey Jones

Springfield, VA: Mike's American Grill

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

34. In Rio:

Kotobuki and La Nonna. You may have some difficulty guessing what kind of food they serve in each one. :evilgrin:

SInce I'm kind of a prole, there may be lots of trendy restaurants trendy Cariocas will name instead. Well, screw them. I like to eat like a king, and I like GOOD food. They're affordable too.

Edit: I made the "killing move" on my wife at La Nonna -- oddly, it was called "Il Nonno" back then.

[supernova]

38. It had a sex change?

:D

[chenGOD]

35. Here in Seoul?

My god, there must be a million restaurants here.

I dunno, but about 2 years ago this Thai restaurant called "Khaosan" opened up and it's damned tasty.

"Le Petit France" is quite good as well, serving French food (who would've thunk it?)


But really, I just prefer to eat Korean food. Soooo good, and super cheap to.

[kodi]

36. waffle house, northbound I-85, waffle house, southbound I-85

it's a small town.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

39. Alfredo's and Java's...

Alfredo's is a Mexican place. It's ok. It's not my favorite, but they do have good enchiladas. Java's is a little bistro that serves wonderful Italian food, and a little seafood. It's a great atmosphere. The lady that originally owned it created all the paintings and decorated it. Of course that was a long time ago, and it seems to never change. THey also have a nice little coffee house feel in the afternoon. Other than that you have to go to Oklahoma City to eat at some great places.
Duckie