# What is the best restaurant you've eaten at?



## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

What is the best restaurant you've ever eaten at? What did you eat there? In a somewhat related question, has anyone here ever eaten at the French Laundry in Yountville CA?


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Wow...I have eaten at so many places...this is really hard. Still, I think maybe the best dinner I ever had was at the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in St. Louis. Great food and it was the first really fancy restaurant my dad took me to. It was so good, but sadly not there anymore.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

balaspa said:


> Wow...I have eaten at so many places...this is really hard. Still, I think maybe the best dinner I ever had was at the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in St. Louis. Great food and it was the first really fancy restaurant my dad took me to. It was so good, but sadly not there anymore.


lucky you, it's all over the place Bryan!
http://www.ruthschris.com/Restaurant-Locations/

as for best restaurant I have eaten at, it depends on the type of food. For great Chinese food, I like a couple of places in San Francisco; For sushi, no one beats this little mom & pop place I ate at in Japan, for a great steakhouse, Saltgrass is good, Texas de Brazil is to DIE FOR.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I can't think of one that stands noticeably above all the others. I remember an amazing prime rib at a restaurant in Ft. Wayne, IN, many years ago, since which no other prime rib has made that grade. I had some great meals at Braddock's Tavern in Mt. Holly (I think?), NJ. One of the favorite things I had there was an incredible game pie, believe it or not. There was a restaurant in Newport, RI, that had a scrumptious mud pie for dessert, and I went back a few times on subsequent business trips for it. There was the non-touristy, family-run Mexican place I discovered in San Diego, CA, while there for two weeks on a business trip, and which I revisited several times during that stay. There was a restaurant in Ontario that I remember fondly mainly for its gorgeous view of the Niagara Gorge (and a pretty darned good ham steak with grilled pineapple). Then there is any place in Florida where you can get a real, home-made Key Lime pie.


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## portlandrocks (Jul 18, 2013)

This is easy. 

Before I became a full-time writer I worked in kitchens for almost 10 years (started when I was 15). 

I have in fact eaten at Thomas Keller's French Laundry - it was 4 years ago. A few chef buddies and I quit our jobs (which isn't unusual in that line of work) and we did a sort of "bucket list" tour around the west coast eating at all the best restaurants we could afford - and some we couldn't (like the Laundry). We slept in National Parks and cheap hotels and took the train to save money. The coolest part was at some of the places we told the staff where we had just worked and we got to hop into a bunch of the kitchens. 

Sadly, Thomas Keller wasn't a kitchen I got to see. 

My favorite restaurant of all time though is Lola in Seattle. 

Tom Douglas is a master and I just love him as a person and as a chef. If you know a lot about the culinary world then you can guesstimate my opinion of the Laundry by the fact that old man Tom Douglas is my flavor fave.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

portlandrocks said:


> This is easy.
> 
> Before I became a full-time writer I worked in kitchens for almost 10 years (started when I was 15).
> 
> ...


I can count ANY of Tom Douglas' restaurants on my favorite list. Then there is POK POK in Portland (and now NYC)......die for those wings!


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## William Peter Grasso (May 1, 2011)

The one that stands out in my mind was in the hills outside Rome, Italy. My crew dined there one night during a layover many years ago.
It was one of those places a transient would never know about unless someone more savvy took you there. In this case, our station manager whisked us straight from the airport ramp to a late supper. It was one of those places where the headwaiter informed _you_ what you were going to eat, in a friendly and charming manner that made you feel grateful and special just to be there (and yes, he told us in English, too). The room was full of apparently well-heeled locals having one hell of a good time.
They served one dish a night, and that night's offering was pizza. Not just any pizza: this was prepared in the Italian way, with a thin, crispy, marvelously tasty crust, delicious sauce like my grandmother used to make, fresh mozzarella like I'd never tasted before....I could go on, but you get the picture.
If only I could remember the name of the place...but like I said, it was many years ago (circa 1990), so it may not be there anymore.
The memory alone is making me hungry...
WPG


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

For many years my hang-out was Puleo's Two on 45th Street next to the Imperial Theater.  Some of the best lamb I ever had, and just about every pasta dish was excellent.

Most fun sushi I ever had was, like BT's a tiny mom and pop place my friend and I wandered into in Kyoto.  Don't think too many other American's had wandered there.

A friend upstate and I used to go to a restaurant in Tonawanda (or maybe Noth Tonawanda) that had the BEST prime rib I've ever had.  Unfortunately, the name has left me.

Had great Malaysian food in Amsterdam.  Had AWFUL Thai (or was it Indian) food in Paris.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

When I lived in Chicago - there was a wonderful  little restaurant called The Bakery.   The Chef - Louis Szathmary (who wrote multiple cookbooks) was amazing.. he would come out to talk to everyone.   And we brought our own wine.    I used to get their Beef Wellington and for desert - it was always Cherries Jubilee.    Not sure if it is still there - I know he passed quite awhile ago.


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## Edward Lake (Mar 11, 2012)

I have a weakness for BBQ ribs. Famous Dave's is a BBQ joint in my hometown of Minneapolis Minnesota. Best ribs I ever had. 

I would always order the ribs with mac & cheese. 

*Insert Homer Simpson drool*


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

There is a Korean restaurant in NYC called Hangawi (http://www.hangawirestaurant.com/), with food so good it is a spiritual experience. You walk in off of the busy, crowded NY streets to absolute silence and peace. You remove your shoes and pad over to your little table on the floor. You sit on satin cushions as you peruse a menu of food you've never even heard of before. The waitstaff kneel as they serve you your food. And the food. Oh the food! Flavors! Colors! Textures! You eat for three hours and leave feeling almost high on the tastes! You could dance, it makes you feel so good. I can't even do it justice. I've never had a meal like Hangawi before or since.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I have been trying to decide how to respond to this thread and I can't come up with a definitive answer.

I don't know if it was the best restaurant in which I have ever eaten, but one of the most memorable meals I ever had was in the Shangri-La in Brisbane, Australia.  Fabulous seafood, the absolute BEST chardonnay (Shadowfax Vineyards, can't get it here)  I have ever had - but a lot of it was due to the atmosphere.  We were with wonderful friends,  sugarcane fields were being burnt and we were watching the flames on the mountainside as it was after dark, spent 3-4 hours talking, eating, drinking, talking, eating, drinking, talking...

Otherwise there are some hole-in-the-wall places that I can't tell you the name of - a sushi place in Seattle, an Indian restaurant in London, a shack in Jamaica...


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

I don't know enough to say which one is "best," but all things considered my all-time favorite is The Hallelujah (Chinese) in Morgantown, WV.  I wonder if it's still there.

Best name?  A local suschi joint called "Tokyo Tasty."


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I've eaten at lots of very good restaurants over the years. One that stands out is a place called _La Forge de Pont d'Oye_ (The Smithy of Pont d'Oye) in a tiny village in South Belgium near the Luxembourg border. We found it quite by accident following a roadsign and it was excellent, but also very pricey. Belgium is a great place for eating in general with lots of wonderful restaurants. There is also a very good restaurant called La Sirena in Antwerp. No idea if it still exists.

Another restaurant I have very fond memories of is _Homard d'Or_ (Golden Lobster), a great seafood restaurant near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It didn't look like much on the outside, just a container set onto a pontoon floating in a harbour, but the food was wonderful. I don't think it exists anymore.

Another long gone favourite was a place called only "the Tibetan restaurant", a hole in the wall place just off Leicester Square in London. There were only a handful of tables and it was run by three elderly Tibetan ex-pats and the food was absolutely unique. I always went there, whenever I was in London, but the place has been gone for a couple of years now.


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## portlandrocks (Jul 18, 2013)

Jane917 said:


> I can count ANY of Tom Douglas' restaurants on my favorite list. Then there is POK POK in Portland (and now NYC)......die for those wings!


Andy Ricker just operates on a completely different level than the rest of humanity. I worked for a time at Ping (his other Portland restaurant) when it first opened and the guy is just a master.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

telracs said:


> For many years my hang-out was Puleo's Two on 45th Street next to the Imperial Theater. Some of the best lamb I ever had, and just about every pasta dish was excellent.


I ate there once in 2005 when my brother and his wife were in town and my other brother came in to join us for dinner there. It was very good and everyone at our table enjoyed it. Too bad it closed. It had been there for many years. It was way out of my budget as a place to go often.

I can't pick one favorite. There were some excellent ones in Paris (French food, of course).

I love having all the places on 9th Ave. in the 50's nearby. I go back to Georgio's Country Grill on 9th and 53rd a lot, more often for take out and sometimes for delivery where I work at night. Their chicken parm is better than what I've had in most Italian restaurants. They have large portions of good comfort food.


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## William Peter Grasso (May 1, 2011)

CoraBuhlert said:


> Belgium is a great place for eating in general with lots of wonderful restaurants.


Wow, Cora...you just triggered another European memory for me.
My crew flew out of Brussels for a brief period in the early '90s. One night, we dined in a restaurant on Grote Markt that featured mussels. Most of the crew (18 in total) ordered them. When the first 5-gallon pail, full of the steaming bivalves, was placed on the table, we assumed that was for all of us--and it would have been more than adequate.
But more pails arrived--one for each person who ordered mussels as their main course--delivered by a parade of waiters.
When they were done, there must have been 100 pounds or more of mussels sitting on the table.
To cap it off, they dragged out a 35-gallon drum for the empty shells.
None of us could come even close to finishing their pail.
A side note: one of our flight attendants ordered French fries. She was told, "They are Belgian fries."
WPG


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Were you at the street near the Grote Markt, where there's one restaurant next to the other and all of them wonderful?

The rule of thumb that I know for cooking them at home is 1 kg of mussels per person, though restaurants often use more. I've done the monster portion of mussels thing as well, though not in Brussels but in a small town called Fillipinen near the Dutch/Belgian border, which is famous for its mussels. It's delicious (and very rich in proteins), but not something I can eat all the time.  

Regarding the fries, apparently it was the Belgians rather than the French who originated them, so they get understandably stinky when their contribution to culinary history is attributed to their neighbours. As for Belgian fries, they're always excellent, no matter whether you eat them at a small hole in the wall place or a fine restaurant.


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## William Peter Grasso (May 1, 2011)

CoraBuhlert said:


> Were you at the street near the Grote Markt, where there's one restaurant next to the other and all of them wonderful?


When I was writing my original post, I checked a schematic of Grote Markt and surrounding streets. I believe the place we dined was near the southeast corner of the plaza. Anything more specific than that would be a guess...it's been too long.

As to the fries origin, we learned that later back at our hotel. The bartender cracked up when our flight attendant told her story; he then explained it all to the dumb Americans. 
WPG


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I'm pretty sure the street I meant is called Kaasmarkt. Either that or Grasmarkt.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

portlandrocks said:


> Tom Douglas is a master and I just love him as a person and as a chef. If you know a lot about the culinary world then you can guesstimate my opinion of the Laundry by the fact that old man Tom Douglas is my flavor fave.


I'll put Tom Douglas on my list. As far as the Laundry, is a dinner there worth the $270 they charge?


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

Myles Pizza Pub in Bowling Green, Ohio. Best Pizza I've ever had.


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## Lee44 (Sep 9, 2012)

Lawry's The Prime Rib Beverly Hills - mouthwatering delectable prime rib


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

For pizza, Freddie's Pizzeria in Long Branch, NJ.  Haven't been there in years though.  It is often discussed in the facebook Long Branch forums (LB is my hometown).  Tuzzio's and Nunzio's in Long Branch are also very good for all kinds of Italian food.


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## hamerfan (Apr 24, 2011)

For pizza, Pizza Olympia in Anchorage, AK.
For seafood, Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach, CA. 
For service at a fancy place, American Restaurant in Kansas City, MO.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I'm an Olive Garden guy. Totally, totally love their lasagna. It's really the only thing I get when we go there.


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## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

Christopher Bunn said:


> I'll put Tom Douglas on my list. As far as the Laundry, is a dinner there worth the $270 they charge?


Depends if you have $270 per person to throw at it and not care. I've had dinner at TK's NYC restaurant Per Se (pricier) and it was very good and I wasn't paying. If you've never had that style of food, ambiance, and service then it is an experience maybe 50 restaurants can match. Then it really depends on what your expectations are and why you want to blow that much money when there are literally tons of restaurants putting out great food for less. Do you want formal dining? Synchronized service?

I'd been in the high-end restaurant biz for years. Met many of the people in that world and I'd have to say Julia Child was my favorite--fun, down to earth, and utterly unpretentious. Rare in that biz. If you're in Napa there are skads of great restaurants to choose from. Check the DiRona listings and James Beard, Michelin, etc for up and coming chefs and restaurants. That's what I would do.

I would not spend $270 at the French Laundry or $300 at Per Se. But that's just me. I know some who would jump at the chance. There is also the Meadowbrook. Heard good things about Bouchon, La Toque, Redd, and Terra.

Just don't know what you're looking for or why? Many great chefs out there most have never heard of.

edit: Best restaurant is too difficult for me. Probably Le Bernadin or Masa in NYC.


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## Tatiana (Aug 20, 2010)

Aldo's in Little Italy in Baltimore (on High Street).  For me, the best Italian food I've ever eaten (and that's saying something since my mother's family is Italian and great cooks).


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## kdawna (Feb 16, 2009)

Monteray Bay restaurant in Pittsburgh! PA
They have fresh seafood and awesome desserts with a great view of the three rivers and Heinz Field.


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## P.C. (Peter) Anders (Feb 6, 2013)

Probably Le Chantilly in Manhattan?

The creme brulee lived up to its promise.

But really, the food was better at a restaurant in Canton, China (before it changed its name)--I forget the name of the restaurant.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Like Sean Sweeney I'm an Olive Garden kinda guy. But for mussels, Buca di Beppo has the best I've ever tasted. Best roast suckling pig - Botin's in Madrid, hands down.


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## Mel Odious (Feb 29, 2012)

TWErvin2 said:


> Myles Pizza Pub in Bowling Green, Ohio. Best Pizza I've ever had.


I once made a four-hour round trip for two large loaded pies. We weighed them out at seven pounds apiece .

Myles and a six-pack of cream soda got me past a bunch of deadlines.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

The Caxton Grill in London, UK.
http://www.caxtongrill.co.uk/
It is attached to the St. Ermin's Hotel in Westminster.
http://www.sterminshotel.co.uk/
Near New Scotland Yard, actually.

St Ermin's is built upon the site of a 15th century chapel dedicated to St. Ermin.








Neat place. My new firm, when I traveled to "interview" for the position, put me up at the St. Ermin's. And I got the chance to sample the Caxton Grill. The kind of place where you wait in the Caxton Bar while your table is made ready. There is a bread person to make sure that you have bread and butter. Food is great.

just sayin....


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