T Raveret

Awesome recommendations, Thank you!! ( and I'll keep checking back) We are looking downtown but would travel if reasonably accessible using public transportation or a cab. There is an "atmospheric river" hitting Vancouver this week and we will be ready for rain but try not to let that prevent us from checking out some cool places. Choppinos was on my radar already so that looks like a likely dinner I love a good Chopipino and OssoBucco as well!! For Indian some of the recent reviews for Vij's on tripadvisor were a bit concerning (but the lamb lolipop sounds amazing). Someone had suggested Tasty Indian Bistro in Yaletown. The Spicy 6 recommendation looks really good as well ( thank you Faux Pas for all the links!!). The Acorn sounds really interesting and amazingly creative but I'm not sure i will be able to convince my wife but if I can we may give that a try. So many choices here !!!! thanks again!

Taking the Train across Canada in in early November. We love french food and culture but open to other cuisines as well and have 1 night in Montreal and 4 nights in Quebec. Looking for some recommendations of restaurants for lunch and dinner and perhaps some amazing patisserie or anything else you think we should look to try. Thanks

Looking for a couple of suggestions for good choices for two dinners and two lunches in Vancouver. We are spending a couple of days there next week before taking the train to Montreal and then Quebec. We love Indian cuisine also enjoy seafood and really are open to all cuisines. Doesn't need to be fancy but if its something special we should try we are open . Thanks

We are spending 4 nights in New York April 9-13th and are trying to find some good and fun food but not totally blow the budget. We love french, Will definately go to Jean Georges and maybe Nougatine for lunch as we did wehn we were last in new york as lunch seems to be a great value. We are adventerous and willing to try different cuisines. Looking for a Steak recommendation. I'd love to blow the bank on Peter Luger but the wife doesent like Dry aged meat as much as I. I know I left this pretty open but are there great values to be had on decent food in New York? thanks for sharing!!

Sadly Sunday night i had a touch of food poisining from a family picnic and had to send the wife and daughter on their own...they insisted on just walking and found a Mexican small plate dining that suited their needs but wasn't astounding...oh well another trip !! I do get down that way a fair bit and appreciate all the input!! What a divergent opinion on Bob Chin's never ate there had friends who loved it and have been tempted to try. We have a Mitchells in Milwaukee and I may have to try that but I'm usually so anti chain that it could keep me out of both places!! lol Again appreciate all the input as we get down to this area for different things occasionally....really sad to hear that Bistro Campange has gone downhill as I have very fond memories of it.

will definately consider south of addison and leaning away from sushi or bistro campoagne...she loves mexican and asked possibly for a seafood place (but really need moderately priced as the tickets were alot a we need to keep it within reason. Thanks!

Not from Chicago driving down from Milwaukee to take our 25 year old daughter for her birthday to see Paul McCartney at Wrigley field and looking for suggestions of nice places open on Monday for an early dinner around 5'ish. Made reservations at Bistro Campagne which is only a couple miles away and we've eaten there but it was 3-4 years ago and were vary happy but wondering if anyone has some nice north side favorites we should consider? Shes pretty open minded when it comes to food so were open to just about anything but don't want it to get much above 25/30 for an entree. Don't necessarily want to drive all the way downtown if we don't need to but will consider all options.. Wanted to take her to Fontera grill but they are closed on Mondays. Thanks

Will post more when we get home but fantastic helpful imnformation here... did the whidby island and stoped at Toby's for Mussels (they don't get much fresher) loved everything.. We have tonight that will either be at the market or I may try to see if I can talk the wife into urban farmer. Thanks a ton everyone.

I live in milwaukee and am just passing through but saw this.. Never been a fan of Penzys. Penzys started in Milwaukee and the parents let the kids take the business in two different directions. Bill Penzy started Penzy's and packages and warehouses spices and has stores all around the company...still better than mccormicks but not the way the parents did things nor anywhere as fresh as they could be. Patty has stores in Milwaukee and Chicago but goes by the name the Spice House (also thespicehouse.com) the difference here is freshness. Patty dosent do much packing except at the store level of things that fly off the shelf. So when you order you order is usually fresh packed from bulk and much much fresher. Penzys is great when you in a pinch or a rush but the better choice is always mail order from the spice house imho. Don't take my word for it order some and buy some and do your own comparison.

Sad to hear about Aligator Soul.. looked promising .. So far we went to Matts at Pikes Place market but were underimpressed with the service that we cut things short at appetizers and a bottle of wine. That said the ceviche appetizer was spectacular. The grilled calamari with their homade spanish style chorizo had a great flavor integration but it was too strong a flavor for Calomary as the dish overpowered the calamari and I've never had grilled calamari before but I get the sense that it isn't optimal to grill and was tough but flavorful. We bent over to the crap pot and while its unique and notorious for the shooting of man vs food there It is overrated as there seafood was ok but nothing spectacular. Thinking of trying El Gaucho... any thoughts? Thanks again

Never been to the Pacific NW and have 5 days to explore after my wife concludes a business trip to Seattle Hoping to get some ideas from those of you who have been there or live there and after searching this board there doesn't look like alot of activity on this board but I thought I'd put it out there since this trip is in a week and we just found out today were going. Likely destinations on our list are: Seattle- will be going to Pike Place Market for sure. any fav's? Everett- The posts about Aligator Soul looks intriguing La Conner- Going up for Tulip Festial Astoria Portland area Oregon Wine country south west of Portland Columbia River Gorge- planning on travelling a couple hours east of I-5 on I-84 then likely coming back on 14 I know thats a broad request without parameters but we love trying regional cuisine and love casual, hidden gems, local hidden treasures (egullet has helped me scout a number of those). We can do more fancy if necessary and are open to all international cuisines...love paella, french, Cajun or creole, and anything inbetween pretty much. Thanks for any light you can shed on helping us make good dining choices on a hastily planned mini vacation.

I'm lucky enough to have grown up and still live less than a mile from Sollys. I also worked at Kopps while in highschool and love their burgers as well. Solly's will always be a special place for me that my dad took me as a kid on Saturdays when he would ake me to his work to get me out of Mom's way for a few hours. The burgers are very good and very over buttered but thats their gimick. The meat really is very tasty and does make a difference. The malts are exceptional (I may be biased as I can't have a taste of one without feeling a bit of love from my old man whos been gone for 17 years). The fries are crisp and very tasty. Everything is served very fresh and hot. Its not fancy, It's not trying to pretend to be something it isn't. It is what it is, a burger joint with very good quality (and lots of butter) but if your passing through it is a great experience to check out along your culinary adventures.... Just don't plan on a big dinner if your doing lunch their!! It can be pretty rich and greasy (in a good way)

well we didnt go the buffett route but found a gem of a restaurant in downtown celebration. I wasnt aware that the Columbia restaurant from Tampa's ybor city has opened several locations throughout Florida. It was very good food nicely prepared in a great environment. It also was reasonably priced so i would highly recommend it for someone looking for a nice authentic spanish or cuban food in a beautiful atmosphere.

we ran into two places that we really enjoyed that werent over the top pricey and had great food. Both were at teh recomendation of the hotel one was Bonefish Willys which had a great atmosphere right on the indian river and wonderful fish with great fresh grouper (the cajun batered was jsut the right mix of lightly seasoned not to overpower the grouper) and really good specials too. the other was a place on the melbourn beadh side of things on 5th avenue jsut a couple of blocks off A1A called Skewers. We werent up for too much food but the hummus was really good and we were allowed to order off the lunch menu at 9:30 at night. The sauce was really good on the chicken skewers a potato based olive oil imersion. We loved melbourne because it wasnt as touristy as many places weve gone. Also for Breakfast we liked the Blueberry Muffin restaurant on A1A- the muffins were great and so was the service. We didnt see Dijons but would have loved to try it (we got back before you posted) Thanks though.

Well were back and did find one exceptional dining experience that was a great value. We went there for lunch but only because we didnt find out about it sooner. The Columbia restaurant in downtown Celebration is every bit as good as the original in Tampa. Prices were really reasonable for lunch and Dinner didn't look too expensive either. Great dining Spanish and Cuban cuisines were well represented on their menu. I'll post this on the Orlando restaurant thead as well.