My new LJ project : Travel guru
Nation wide restaurants:
Melting Pot - AWESOME and so much fun! The pacific rim platter for two is to die for.
PF Chang - Delicious! Get the lettuce wraps and peach sake, pretty much everything is tasty
Chipotle - The meat is a bit salty, and everything is packed with cilantro, but if you like that combo, this is the place for you!
Burrito Loco - BBQ chicken burritos, YUM!
Cheesecake Factory - Artichoke omlette!!! Way spicy bloody marys though
Buca's - Always get one dish less than the waiter tells you. I would recommend always getting the garlic bread (no cheese) and the gargonzola salad.
Applebees - Kind of going down hill, but great variety of food
Rock Bottom - Great BLTs
Hard Rock Cafe - Not as awesome as everyone makes it out to be - but their zingy mac n' cheese is pretty good.
Noodles - Best mac n' cheese and pesto noodles ever though they've revised their pricing so it isn't an awesome deal anymore
LA
Koo Koo Roo - GROSS
In N' Out - Cheap, delicious, and freshly shipped ingredients everyday. A must.
The tea room at the Huntington library and botanical gardens - A bit pricy but oh so chic and fun :) a must for any LA visit
Portland:
Fife - WAY pricy so I just got the salads which were tasty but, between the two of them, tasted the same
Manzata - Get the Dead Guy beer
Gustav's - Get the German sampler, it's the best deal and very authentic. Don't forget to get a beer!
Portland City Grill - 30th floor of the US bank building. Gorgeous view and the food is wicked cheap! I would recommend the crab/shrimp bruschetta and the chive burger - both fantastic deals. Also, the BEST martinis in portland! Take that, Saucebox!
Sharis - GROSS
Noah's Bagels - Tasty, but pretty much like every other bagel place. I would recommend the chocolate chip bagel with maple-walnut-raisin cream cheese
Tom's Pancake House - AWESOME
Jone's cupcakes on 10th - MUCH more creative cupcakes than Saint Cupcake - must try these! The Key lime pie was my fave.
Saint Cupcake - Not the most creative cupcakes, but still tasty. Do NOT get the red velvet, it tastes like buttery food coloring
Saucebox - WAY pricy food, but if you like 100 variations of martinis with their hand made infused vodka, then go for it
Masu Sushi - Meh, their caterpillar (named something else but I can't remember what) was pretty tasty. The free and endless edamame was nice too
Voodoo Doughnut - Try anything with dirt (oreos) and the custard filled ones are also a big win
Still have to go to these places, but I've heard good things:
Desert:
Alma chocolate
Bakery Bar
Binh Minh Bakery and deli
Blue Moon cafe
criollo bakery
Bumblekiss
Sahagun
pix patisserie
Food:
Trust, a lounge
Virginia Cafe/Bar
Cafe Castagna
Acme
Autentica
Ciao vito
Fat city cafe
Foxfire teas
Good taste restaurant
Nostrana
pok pok
sohbet
tabor
valentine's
bar patiche/champis
blue gardenia
helser's on alberta
por que no?
tastebud farm
Chicago:
Ed Debevic's - A MUST! If they have banana pie, get some for me
Minneapolis:
Pizza Luce - AWESOME If you like BBQ sauce on your pizza, get the rustler, it's the bomb. If you're going solo, the muffliata is delicious and huge!
Triple Rock Social Club - Everything is amazing and unique, a gem hidden in MN
Loring Pasta Bar - Meh, good coffee though!
Solera - Summer happy hour from 11-1, way cheap white or red sangria, half price tapas, lots of fun to try new things!
Zeno - $3 martinis and b1g1 apps from 3-7 EVERYDAY
The Band Box - Pretty chill, just so-so though
Al's - AWESOME try the wheat pancakes and well, anything on the menu. The summer specials are a great deal too
Maria's - AWESOME Plantain pancakes are my fave. corn pancakes are my second choice, after that I think the sandwiches are a pretty good deal
Chino Latino - Pretty trendy - happy hours are a good deal cheap house wine, for the 4 different kinds of tacos, get one of each and also try the french toast of the dead
The King and Thai - Meh
Chevy's - Get the guac, everything else is just so-so
Origami - Great if you split a bottle of wine, everything else will fall into place
Uptown diner - large portions but still a bit overpriced. The blackened fish with breakfast deal is the best thing to get here.
SOHO cafe - Giant, quick food, pretty decent
Fuji Ya - Terrific happy hour on Sundays
Still have these places to check out:
Azia
Palomino
Chang Mai Thai
The restaurant in the Walker Art Museum
Milwaukee:
Spyhouse - AMAZING more for the ambiance than the food, but that's still great too. A MUST if traveling to MKE
Kopps - Also a must! The BEST burger and custard IN THE WORLD
Cosi - The only sit-down-with-waitress Cosi that I'm aware of (which makes it WORLDS better than the other ones) Try any coffee and you'll be very pleased with the gigantic mug they give you. Other than that, the smores are the only other thing worth while on the menu
That's all for now, maybe I'll add some sight-seeing ventures too, but there's definitely more to come!!!
Melting Pot - AWESOME and so much fun! The pacific rim platter for two is to die for.
PF Chang - Delicious! Get the lettuce wraps and peach sake, pretty much everything is tasty
Chipotle - The meat is a bit salty, and everything is packed with cilantro, but if you like that combo, this is the place for you!
Burrito Loco - BBQ chicken burritos, YUM!
Cheesecake Factory - Artichoke omlette!!! Way spicy bloody marys though
Buca's - Always get one dish less than the waiter tells you. I would recommend always getting the garlic bread (no cheese) and the gargonzola salad.
Applebees - Kind of going down hill, but great variety of food
Rock Bottom - Great BLTs
Hard Rock Cafe - Not as awesome as everyone makes it out to be - but their zingy mac n' cheese is pretty good.
Noodles - Best mac n' cheese and pesto noodles ever though they've revised their pricing so it isn't an awesome deal anymore
LA
Koo Koo Roo - GROSS
In N' Out - Cheap, delicious, and freshly shipped ingredients everyday. A must.
The tea room at the Huntington library and botanical gardens - A bit pricy but oh so chic and fun :) a must for any LA visit
Portland:
Fife - WAY pricy so I just got the salads which were tasty but, between the two of them, tasted the same
Manzata - Get the Dead Guy beer
Gustav's - Get the German sampler, it's the best deal and very authentic. Don't forget to get a beer!
Portland City Grill - 30th floor of the US bank building. Gorgeous view and the food is wicked cheap! I would recommend the crab/shrimp bruschetta and the chive burger - both fantastic deals. Also, the BEST martinis in portland! Take that, Saucebox!
Sharis - GROSS
Noah's Bagels - Tasty, but pretty much like every other bagel place. I would recommend the chocolate chip bagel with maple-walnut-raisin cream cheese
Tom's Pancake House - AWESOME
Jone's cupcakes on 10th - MUCH more creative cupcakes than Saint Cupcake - must try these! The Key lime pie was my fave.
Saint Cupcake - Not the most creative cupcakes, but still tasty. Do NOT get the red velvet, it tastes like buttery food coloring
Saucebox - WAY pricy food, but if you like 100 variations of martinis with their hand made infused vodka, then go for it
Masu Sushi - Meh, their caterpillar (named something else but I can't remember what) was pretty tasty. The free and endless edamame was nice too
Voodoo Doughnut - Try anything with dirt (oreos) and the custard filled ones are also a big win
Still have to go to these places, but I've heard good things:
Desert:
Alma chocolate
Bakery Bar
Binh Minh Bakery and deli
Blue Moon cafe
criollo bakery
Bumblekiss
Sahagun
pix patisserie
Food:
Trust, a lounge
Virginia Cafe/Bar
Cafe Castagna
Acme
Autentica
Ciao vito
Fat city cafe
Foxfire teas
Good taste restaurant
Nostrana
pok pok
sohbet
tabor
valentine's
bar patiche/champis
blue gardenia
helser's on alberta
por que no?
tastebud farm
Chicago:
Ed Debevic's - A MUST! If they have banana pie, get some for me
Minneapolis:
Pizza Luce - AWESOME If you like BBQ sauce on your pizza, get the rustler, it's the bomb. If you're going solo, the muffliata is delicious and huge!
Triple Rock Social Club - Everything is amazing and unique, a gem hidden in MN
Loring Pasta Bar - Meh, good coffee though!
Solera - Summer happy hour from 11-1, way cheap white or red sangria, half price tapas, lots of fun to try new things!
Zeno - $3 martinis and b1g1 apps from 3-7 EVERYDAY
The Band Box - Pretty chill, just so-so though
Al's - AWESOME try the wheat pancakes and well, anything on the menu. The summer specials are a great deal too
Maria's - AWESOME Plantain pancakes are my fave. corn pancakes are my second choice, after that I think the sandwiches are a pretty good deal
Chino Latino - Pretty trendy - happy hours are a good deal cheap house wine, for the 4 different kinds of tacos, get one of each and also try the french toast of the dead
The King and Thai - Meh
Chevy's - Get the guac, everything else is just so-so
Origami - Great if you split a bottle of wine, everything else will fall into place
Uptown diner - large portions but still a bit overpriced. The blackened fish with breakfast deal is the best thing to get here.
SOHO cafe - Giant, quick food, pretty decent
Fuji Ya - Terrific happy hour on Sundays
Still have these places to check out:
Azia
Palomino
Chang Mai Thai
The restaurant in the Walker Art Museum
Milwaukee:
Spyhouse - AMAZING more for the ambiance than the food, but that's still great too. A MUST if traveling to MKE
Kopps - Also a must! The BEST burger and custard IN THE WORLD
Cosi - The only sit-down-with-waitress Cosi that I'm aware of (which makes it WORLDS better than the other ones) Try any coffee and you'll be very pleased with the gigantic mug they give you. Other than that, the smores are the only other thing worth while on the menu
That's all for now, maybe I'll add some sight-seeing ventures too, but there's definitely more to come!!!