A pleasant surprise

[Ed62]

My wife and I rarely eat out. It seems that when we do, unless we go to a nice steakhouse, we wind up saying we'll never go back to that restaurant, either because the food was not good or it was way overpriced.

Today, we were out, and lunchtime slipped up on us. My wife spotted a Mexican restaurant, and asked if I wanted to try it. I said yes, even though my expectations were not high. WOW! A great lunch for under $20.00!! This has not been the norm, and it was refreshing to find a good meal at a reasonable price. How are the restaurants in your area?

Ed

[cabinetman]

If you've ever been to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami Beach, you would eat all your meals out. Anything you could ever want is here. It's typical of a high tourism location.
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[crokett]

Around here the restaurants are mostly good and generally reasonably priced. I've been down here 15 years and IMO the restaurants have gotten better in that time. My Dad thinks it was all the yankees moving here who are used to good restaurants up north.

[gsmittle]

St. Louis has TONS of good restaurants, from hole-in-the-wall lunch spots to >$100 a person ultra-luxe places. Guess which ones I frequent?

The Hill has a bunch of really good Italian, and there are Mexican and Chinese places everywhere. Also some of the finest BBQ in the world, even if the rest of the world doesn't know what a pork steak is. Or toasted ravioli.

g.

[Richard in Smithville]

We have a few good places around here. I mentioned one in my "lunch" post. Most of the good places are smaller places that you wouldn't give them a second look unless you knew of their reputation.

[herb fellows]

Living in NY, we have about 64,000 to choose from. Virtually anything in any price category.

[jackellis]

We have good restaurants and mediocre ones up here at Lake Tahoe. My wife's rule is that she won't eat anyplace that can't improve on a meal she could prepare herself, so meals out tend to be spendy unless I'm by myself. Before we moved, we would consistently eat at a Thai place that had very good, reasonably-priced food. Up here, our favorites have great food and great service.

[herb fellows]

If you've ever been to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami Beach, you would eat all your meals out. Anything you could ever want is here. It's typical of a high tourism location.
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We visit friends in Hallandale every year. We have gone to a dozen restaurants in the surrounding areas and never hit a bad one! Most were exceptional.

[unknown poster]

I love to try new food and so I'm often going to new restaurants. I hate to waste my time or money so I usually research restaurants before I try them.

There are several online restaurant review sites that can save you some wasted restaurant experiences. I like www.urbanspoon.com and www.yelp.com, but there are others.

Also check out your local newspaper's restaurant critic. Around here if they give a good review I wait a weekend because the place will be packed the weekend the review comes out. The local critic takes her job seriously, and has managed to stay anonymous so no one knows when she's dining.

[billwmeyer]

We have very good restaurants here in Southeast Kansas. Here is a sample:

http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/cuisineresults.php?id=177

We also have Jim's Steakhouse that has been an icon here since at least the 50's. A great Mexican Restaurant, and an authintic Italian Restaurant. Nearby is a great German Restaurant too. No wonder I am overweight!

Bill

[Pappy]

Best Mex-Tex I have ever eaten in is at Mamacita's. It's a small 'chain' in several of the towns in the area. Everything is fresh from the flour tortillas to the hot sauces. (BTW: Sam, they are now selling 'Mamatamba' at the register...Just need to check postal regs to make sure it doesn't violate any laws!)

Texas Red's is in an old cotton gin and does a steak the way it was meant to be.

New Braunsfel is an old German settlement and has several restaurants with good German cuisine.

Gruene (green) is a artsy tourist trap town but is home to the Grist Mill, an historic restaurant buuilt on the Guadalupe River. Visit Gruene on a Friday or Saturday and plan to follow dinner with a visit to Gruene Hall, one of the oldest dance halls in Texas.

[cabinetman]

We visit friends in Hallandale every year. We have gone to a dozen restaurants in the surrounding areas and never hit a bad one! Most were exceptional.

Hallendale is a highly populated area for the retired. Gotta treat them right. Quite a few have "early bird specials", which become a stand in line event.
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