NSFW The Restaurant Thread

Amstel

The Hoarse Whisperer
Jul 12, 2009
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you're a whore, but in a good way. Kindof.
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Not sure if there's anything like this, but I went out to dinner last night w/the fam & took them to Topo Gigio near Lincoln Park in Chicago.

Great Italian restaurant. It's rare when I really really enjoy a restaurant, & last night I had blast.

lobster/shrimp/scallop fettuccine special for me, & my mom & daughter both got tortellini with pancetta and mushrooms. all of the food was amazing. I love menus where each item sounds better than the one before it.

Tiramisu & spumoni for dessert.

lotsa vino.


Does anyone else do nice dinners out during the holidays?
 
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For the actual holiday itself, we tend to cook in the home. The days leading and following, we usually end up going to Carsonie's for (italian food), and China Dynasty (for Greek food) with other places in between
 
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I love trying new restaurants; surprisingly, Tampa is full of awesome places to eat.
It really is, but I cannot find a decent Mexican/TexMex dive to save my life. Red Mesa Cantina is excellent, but it isn't a cheap hole-in-the-wall, y'know? I want a decent place where a white guy won't be my waiter
 
You want decent Mexican, but you want cheap hole-in-the-wall?

in kansas city there's a ton of fantastic cheap hole in the wall texmex places. i've found some decent ones around st louis too, i just assumed those were common everywhere.

actually i dont think i've ever been to an expensive mexican place (outside of chains).
 
There was/is a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Chicago called Mi Tierra. Went there on an adventure one night with a friend and we were the only gringos there. Thank god my friend spoke Spanish and that he actually liked me and preserved what I wanted :lol:

First and still best horchata I've had in my life.
 
There was/is a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Chicago called Mi Tierra. Went there on an adventure one night with a friend and we were the only gringos there. Thank god my friend spoke Spanish and that he actually liked me and preserved what I wanted :lol:

First and still best horchata I've had in my life.
Apparently it's permanently closed now :p (at least according to yelp)
 
we went to a bunch of mexican places in north chicago that our local mexican coworker directed us too. the criteria was accepts amex (our company cards), sold alchohol, and didn't itemize the receipt so the company had no idea what we had. :lol:

we had a $25 dinner allowance and it went really really far in those places, and all were decent.
 
we went to a bunch of mexican places in north chicago that our local mexican coworker directed us too. the criteria was accepts amex (our company cards), sold alchohol, and didn't itemize the receipt so the company had no idea what we had. :lol:

we had a $25 dinner allowance and it went really really far in those places, and all were decent.
Next time GO TO PILSEN
 
i go to buffalo grove and skokie a few times a year. usually take the train down to wrigglyville or something.

what's in pilsen?
All of the classy Mexicans and their dining establishments.

Buuuut if you're in Wrigleyville check out the small restaurants near the Clark and Belmont intersection. There's fantastic sushi, Thai, and Vietnamese to be had there.
 
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It really is, but I cannot find a decent Mexican/TexMex dive to save my life. Red Mesa Cantina is excellent, but it isn't a cheap hole-in-the-wall, y'know? I want a decent place where a white guy won't be my waiter
I like Margaritas on Davis Islands and Casa Tina in Dunedin. My husband is very picky about Mexican food (from southern California lol) and turns his nose up at most of it though. He also will eat certain Taco Bus food.
 
according to yelp

I'm starting to use yelp if I'm not in my neighborhood & want a small (non chain) restaurant. I was about 30 miles north in a little town, stopped for gas, & me and my date decide to grab a bite to eat. We spent 10 minutes clicking through yelp & got a mom&pop mexican restaurant that was fabulous. There's no way we would have found it as it wasn't right on the road running through town. We were several blocks off the main drag. I had some ceviche tostada dinner that was amazing. she had shredded beef tacos that she really liked too.

Anyway, our criteria was as many great reviews as possible (I think this one had over 50 with 4.6 avg stars) and reviews that didn't all have the same sentence structure.
 
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I'm starting to use yelp if I'm not in my neighborhood & want a small (non chain) restaurant. I was about 30 miles north in a little town, stopped for gas, & me and my date decide to grab a bite to eat. We spent 10 minutes clicking through yelp & got a mom&pop mexican restaurant that was fabulous. There's no way we would have found it as it wasn't right on the road running through town. We were several blocks off the main drag. I had some ceviche tostada dinner that was amazing. she had shredded beef tacos that she really liked too.

Anyway, our criteria was as many great reviews as possible (I think this one had over 50 with 4.6 avg stars) and reviews that didn't all have the same sentence structure.
Zomato (used to be urbanspoon) is also good for that
 
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I like Margaritas on Davis Islands and Casa Tina in Dunedin. My husband is very picky about Mexican food (from southern California lol) and turns his nose up at most of it though. He also will eat certain Taco Bus food.
Both of those are a little far for us. We tend to stick to the Brandon/Riverview area
 
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