Restauriffic

My poor stomach is crying out for decent eats. In honor of my constantly rumbling innards, I have decided to do a post wherein I list all of my favorite restaurants, grouped by city/area and ethnicity/genre. They are not in any order of preference. And I try to avoid chains at all costs, but there are a few exceptions.

Chicago (home, sweet home):
Mexican (fast): Tacos Erendira beef tacos --theyre really good
Mexican (sit-down): Nuevo Léon -- pork tamales and carne asada steak
Italian: Bertucci's -- lasagna
Asian (sit-down, includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean): Chai Tung -- crab rangoon, chicken fried rice, chicken teriyaki, sashimi, mongolian beef, duck
Chinese (take-out): The Great Hunan -- sweet and sour chicken, fried rice
Greek: Rodity's (it was hard to choose!) --saganaki, Roditis wine, roast lamb, rice, rosemary potatoes, baklava, spanakopita
German: Schnitzelplatz (Berghoff gets honorable mention for longevity and excellent lemon meringue pie dessert) -- Wienerschnitzel
Steak: Eli's -- prime rib or filet mignon...do not let the waiter be a snob to you
Pizza (deep-dish): Giordano's --plain cheese.
Pizza (regular but NOT thin-crust): Ricobene's before owners changed -- plain cheese
Indian: The Viceroy --it's buffet-style and they don't label the food items. But it's yummy.
Chicken: White Fence Farm --corn fritters, all white meat
Hot dogs: Nicky's, man. Or that other place on 35th nearer to Halsted. Murray's, is it called? --hot dog, only rule being DO NOT put ketchup on it. That's rule #1 in Chicago.
Argentinian: Fogo de Chao -- meat.
Breakfast: Le Peep -- any of the skillets or breakfast sandwiches. any smoothie, and/or a peach bellini
Seafood: McCormick & Schmick --swordfish, clam chowder
Dessert: Mario's Italian Ice --plain lemon, watermelon or blue raspberries. and don't forget the lupini beans!
Janky: The New Archview --your basic 2-eggs-any-style breakfast

Bay Area:
Breakfast: Joao's --see The New Archview
Smoothie: The Juice Society (wtf is its name now, though?) --strawberry/banana
Dessert: Yumi Yogurt --i was depressed that day and don't remember what flavor I ordered
Mexican (fast): Henry's --Nachos grande--pollo con frijoles negres y pico de gallo
Chinese (reg): China Stix --the salt and pepper spareribs are especially tasty
Chinese (seafood): Someplace at that big Chinese plaza area in Milpitas. It was all in Chinese...
Italian: Mio Vicino --cheese ravioli
Thai: Thai Pepper vegetarian pad thai and thai ice cream for dessert
other: La Fondue --the dinner for 2. start with the Cajun cheese mix. Then get among other things buffalo, filet mignon, swordfish, and duck. Do the milk chocolate dessert.
...the rest is all chains.

Los Angeles area:
Indian: Jaipur --Butter chicken and plain naan. Nuff said. If you must eat something other than that, try the Chicken Tikka Masala or Chicken Makhni
Italian: Italian Express (OLIVE GARDEN IS NOT ITALIAN, SHILPA!!!!!) the cheese buns, the cheese pizza
Mexican (fast): Baja Bud's -- 2 beef tacos (stop laughing) with cheese and cilantro and pico de gallo, or chicken nachos a la Henry's (see above)
Mexican (sit-down): Don Antonio's or La Cabana --cheese enchiladas and pork tamales
Thai: Tongdang Thai Kitchen --chicken pad thai, chicken fried rice
Chinese (reg., sit-down): the only place I've been to, VIP Harbor Seafood --uh. same old.
Chinese (dim sum): I don't know; I think it was all written in Chinese. Again the only dim sum I've ever had, sadly, so there isn't much basis for comparison here. --i have no idea what any of that stuff was. But it was good.
Burgers (fast): In-N-Out --double-double with cheese. eat it PLAIN, damn you!!!
Burgers (sit-down): Barney's.--a bacon cheeseburger. and get curly fries.
Greek: Delphi, the only place. And it was decent. --see Rodity's above.
Sushi: CA Roll Factory --CHUPA CABRE. and whitefish tempura. and miso soup. and the Erin Roll. Priscilla says the shrimp tempura is good, too.
Argentinian: Gaucho Grill (YES, I'm aware it's a chain) Chimichurri sauce. it doesn't matter what you eat as the entree, cuz the chimichurri sauce is why you come. but for lunch i recommend the chicken provolone sandwich, and the salmon for dinner.
Dessert (cold): Diddy Riese or Mashti Malone's -- any type of ice cream sandwich. it's all good.
Dessert (not cold): Sprinkles Cupcakes -- RED VELVET

Toronto:
Austrian/Slovenian: The Linden Leaf --get the Wienerschnitzel
Pizza: Pizza Pizza (not to be confused with Little Caesar--this pizza is to die for.) --plain cheese or pepperoni
Chinese (buffet): The Mandarin --everything here is great, even the non-Chinese food. Be sure not to miss the lobster ice cream
Seafood: This fish-n-chips place near the lake mmmm
Chicken: St. Hubert's -- all white meat.

Fargo-Moorhead: --this is slightly tongue-in-cheek, but all true
Mexican (sit-down): Mexican Village --get your basic 2-taco and tamale combo
Mexican (fast): Taco John's --the ole's and cheese (basically hash browsdrenched in nacho cheese)
Chinese: This place in Duluth. I KNOW Duluth is not close to F-M, but it's the best I can do. --my first-ever Chinese food experience, so I had to include it. I ate the chicken fried rice and the sweet and sour chicken.
Dessert: Dairy Queen --Cotton Candy Blizzard
Italian: Grandma's (it's the name of the place) --lasagna
Norwegian: Sons of Norway (you can get lutefisk, lefse and rummegrot)
Seafood: Red Lobster the fried seafood platter, and the Lobsterita. and the cheesy biscuits.
Pizza: Dwayne's (salty and oh-so-delicious. just prepare for immense heartburn later) --cheese. pepperoni ok too.
Burgers: Burger Time --your basic burger and fries. PLAIN!!

Minneapolis Area:
Steak: Murray's Steakhouse fliet mignon
5-star: Goodfellows -- buffalo carpaccio, pork medallions with mini yukon gold potatoes
Seafood: Kincaid's --salmon
Chinese (sit-down or takeout): Fong's --whatever, it's Chinese takeout.
Burgers: This sports bar-y place in Bloomington --again, the plain cheeseburger.

Bemidji-Walker-Cass Lake-Nisswa area:
General fine dining: The Boulders --get the crab dip to start, and some wild rice soup, and then a steak or some walleye if you want something lighter
Native American (Ojibway): The Northern Lights Casino --wild rice soup and fry bread
Steak: The Goose Crossing -- NY strip steak with garlic mashed potatoes, and the Bailey's Irish Creme torte for dessert
Italian: Tutto Bene. Enough said. --anything, really, but I personally love the cheese ravioli with a strawberry Italian soda to drink, and the fruit ices for dessert.
Chinese: Great Wall Buffet --mmm
Pizza: Chippewa Paws --plain cheese
Mexican (tacos only): Pike Hole Taco Night --appetizers you must always getcheese sticks and onion rings. get a large soft shell taco for the main course; you will not go home hungry. if you can stuff it in, finish with a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone.
Mozzarella sticks and onion rings: Pike Hole (all the time)
Pizza: Dave's (quite possibly the best pizza ever, even beating out the ones in Chicago) --just go nuts. it's awesome.
Dessert: the Bemidji Dairy Queen, and Teal's donuts (fresh) --get a cherry or grape Star Kiss at DQ, and the plain donuts at Teal's.

York (England):
Fish and chips: Stuart's of Druffield --haddock and chips. cod is more expensive and as far as i can tell there's no difference in taste.
Sandwich: The York Hog Roast --the pork sandwich on while with "everything" which means applesauce and stuffing. And make sure to get some crackling, too.
(these two things are about the only food-related things I will miss about England.)


OTHER NEWS: it was sunny and warm yesterday, and it is sunny and warm today. that means mateja is happy!