Top 10 Favorite Restaurants

[bedstuy]

Is Uncle Jack's better than Peter Lugars? I've never been to Uncle Jack's but I love Peter Lugars and try to go every time I'm in New York.

Have you been to Keens?  That's definitely my favorite in NYC.

Never been to Keens. Looks like there's a new place I need to try when I go back next month.

I assume Keens and Uncle Jacks are more diverse than Peter Lugers. I always order the same thing at Peter Lugers when I go, but it's always worth the trip to Brooklyn.

Keens has a really nice mutton chop which they're known for, but I usually get the porterhouse.

If you're visiting NYC though, I would check out Momofuku Noodle Bar.  You can get a halfway decent steak most places in America, but Momofuku is special.  Their pork bun is one of the best single bites of food in NYC.

[DemPGH]

Can't list 10, but a few spots come to mind:

Romeo's Pizzeria and Mediterranean Kitchen in Indiana, PA. Always insanely busy when I've been there, but it's worth the wait. Good Mediterranean for around here.

Chovy's! up on I-79 is a good little spot that you can kind of melt into. Nice wine list.

Country Club type place called the Gallery Grille. The wine list isn't lengthy, but they have a few good ones. Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region is the best! Good salmon.

People I know have taken me to a few good local spots in the 'Burgh, but I don't recall the names.

I try to stay out of chains. Eating out is eating out, otherwise I like to cook myself.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Is Uncle Jack's better than Peter Lugars? I've never been to Uncle Jack's but I love Peter Lugars and try to go every time I'm in New York.

Have you been to Keens?  That's definitely my favorite in NYC.

Never been to Keens. Looks like there's a new place I need to try when I go back next month.

I assume Keens and Uncle Jacks are more diverse than Peter Lugers. I always order the same thing at Peter Lugers when I go, but it's always worth the trip to Brooklyn.

Keens has a really nice mutton chop which they're known for, but I usually get the porterhouse.

If you're visiting NYC though, I would check out Momofuku Noodle Bar.  You can get a halfway decent steak most places in America, but Momofuku is special.  Their pork bun is one of the best single bites of food in NYC.

Thanks for the suggestion! I have heard of Momofuku, I think Chef Chang was up for a James Beard at one point. Normally when I go for asian, it's either in china town, TAO, or indian chinese in queens (my best friend who lives in Washington Heights is of Pakistani descent), but I'll add that to my list for the next time I'm there.

Keens looks delicious too, very different concept over Peter Lugers, but I like different. Their mutton chop looks wonderful.

[bedstuy]

Is Uncle Jack's better than Peter Lugars? I've never been to Uncle Jack's but I love Peter Lugars and try to go every time I'm in New York.

Have you been to Keens?  That's definitely my favorite in NYC.

Never been to Keens. Looks like there's a new place I need to try when I go back next month.

I assume Keens and Uncle Jacks are more diverse than Peter Lugers. I always order the same thing at Peter Lugers when I go, but it's always worth the trip to Brooklyn.

Keens has a really nice mutton chop which they're known for, but I usually get the porterhouse.

If you're visiting NYC though, I would check out Momofuku Noodle Bar.  You can get a halfway decent steak most places in America, but Momofuku is special.  Their pork bun is one of the best single bites of food in NYC.

Thanks for the suggestion! I have heard of Momofuku, I think Chef Chang was up for a James Beard at one point. Normally when I go for asian, it's either in china town, TAO, or indian chinese in queens (my best friend who lives in Washington Heights is of Pakistani descent), but I'll add that to my list for the next time I'm there.

Keens looks delicious too, very different concept over Peter Lugers, but I like different. Their mutton chop looks wonderful.

Yeah, Momofuku is a pretty famous restaurant and the main guy is a celebrity chef.  Their fancier restaurant, Momofuku Ko, is a two Michelin Star place I think.  Ko might actually be my favorite of the various versions of Momofuku, although $125 per person is kind of steep. 

If you're on a budget, Noodle bar is pretty reasonable though and definitely get the pork bun and chilled spicy noodles if you like spicy food.  Their chilled spicy noodles basically melt your face off with flavor.

[memphis]

I have a hard time accepting, though not believing, that people spend $100+/person on food. That's incredibly wasteful.

[bedstuy]

I have a hard time accepting that people spend $100+/person on food. That's incredibly wasteful.

It's a special occasion.  People spend $100 per person on concert or sports tickets all the time.  If your thing is food instead, why not go to an expensive restaurant every now and then.  Plus, I would rather waste money on a great restaurant than go to some gross chain restaurant that costs $25 per person.

[Badger]

Is there a link between fundamentalist Christianity and a preference for generic chain restaurants?

There's a link between religiousness and living in rural, non-cosmopolitan areas; and there's also a link between living in rural, non-cosmopolitan areas and preferring generic chain restaurants because that's often genuinely the best* option when you're far away from the density, wealth, and ethnic diversity which are all-too-often prerequisites for good local food.

*or at least safest, or possibly even only  

But a local restaurant could theoretically still serve delicious "home cooking" or "American" fare without getting too cosmopolitan. I say "could theoretically" as from my time in rural Ohio I found that one couldn't get a good meal at any local restaurant better than the "you want fries with that?" level. I'm no snob who can't enjoy Denny's or the like, but when there was NOTHING better than that available without driving at least 30-60 minutes in any direction, it gets kinda depressing.

Or, if you've grown up used to that, I guess you get used to mediocre food being "okay" since there's no competition. So I think I just answered my own question.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I have a hard time accepting that people spend $100+/person on food. That's incredibly wasteful.

It's a special occasion.  People spend $100 per person on concert or sports tickets all the time.  If your thing is food instead, why not go to an expensive restaurant every now and then.  Plus, I would rather waste money on a great restaurant than go to some gross chain restaurant that costs $25 per person.

Yes, it's not like I spend $100 on food regularly, but for a special occasion, spending $100 a person isn't unheard of, especially if you include wine/alcohol. It's much better than spending $25 at a chain restaurants, and most chains aren't any cheaper than non-chains aside from the super fine dining/Michelin places.

It really all depends on how you view food. If you just view it as something you need to survive, you wouldn't understand what its like to try new things or have an experience in a restaurant instead of just a meal. Food/culinary is an art.

[J-Mann]

Jeff Brown -- several are eagerly awaiting your reply to this thread.

As for $100+ per-person dinners ... they are exceptionally unnecessary, and while I feel guilty after eating one, I treat it as an event and an experience to be enjoyed, not just a typical sustenance-oriented meal.

I think just three of my top 10 were $100+ per person.

[Lief 🗽]

I don't really know how to rank them, but these are the ones I could think of after giving it some thought.

Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap, Berlin, Germany
Kreuz Market, Lockhart TX
Shake Shack, New York NY
Sticky Rice, Washington DC
Amsterdam Falafelshop, Washington DC
Warique, New York NY
Adrienne's Pizza Bar, New York NY
Trading Post, New York NY
Yechon, Annandale VA
Fonda San Miguel, Austin TX

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

This is hard, because every time I go out for food, it's usually an excuse to sample a new place.  I'll just use this opportunity to say that BarleyMash in San Diego...



...awesome!  Simply fantastic, especially their breakfast items, which are to die for if you are an East coast NFL fan out west and catching a 10am start time.