Columbia, Missouri

[A Patric]

An update based on my recent experiences:

Hamburgers: Booche's

Thai: Bangkok Gardens

Vietnamese: Chinese Wok Express

Japanese: Sake

Steak: CC's City Broiler

Bar Food: Flatbranch

High-End Dining Misc: Sycamore

Breakfast: Uprise

Bread: Uprise

Indian: Taj Mahal

Desserts: Flatbranch (that stout brownie sundae is amazing)

Ice Cream/Frozen Custard: The Scoop Frozen Custard Shoppe

Mexican: Taqueria El Rodeo

Chinese: House of Chow

Sandwiches:

Pizza:

French:

BBQ:

Mediterranean/Greek/Middle-Eastern:

Italian:

Spanish:

Southern/Soulfood:

Cajun:

Seafood:

South American Misc:

[babern38]

I ate at Nikai grill the first week or so after it opened and was very unimpressed. It seems like it is more burger and bar food with a few greek items like gyros that is hoping to get business from people going to the attached club. Every time I drive by there is only about 1-2 people in there. I don't know how they afford all the radio advertising they do.

[babern38]

made it to taqueria tonight. in short, I was very pleased. I had the alambres special, steak, pork, shrimp, homemade tortillas, yummy. The refried beans are excellent as well as the charo beans. The salsa was fresh and unique from other mexican places in town. I'm really looking forward to returning.

[A Patric]

made it to taqueria tonight.  in short, I was very pleased.  I had the alambres special, steak, pork, shrimp, homemade tortillas, yummy. The refried beans are excellent as well as the charo beans.  The salsa was fresh and unique from other mexican places in town.  I'm really looking forward to returning.

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Good to hear! I'm glad that they are finally doing the home-made tortillas too. I agree that their beans are excellent, and just thinking about them makes me want to go back soon. In the mean time I tried the new place off of Paris road that is also a Mexican grocery, and was not very satisfied. They seem to have a lot of authentic trappings, but the food was really nothing special at all. That is the second time that I've had just average food there, so I doubt I'll be returning.

Taqueria El Rodeo it is from now on!

[emilyr]

Regarding Milwaukee-style custard, what sets it apart from St. Louis-style?  Also, have you had Ted Drewes; especially the chocolate?  They carry it at Schnucks and Walgreens.

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Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. Let me preface it by saying, I'm not exactly sure and it could be totally imagined on my part. I've heard that one is more French based and one more Italian. I'm not positive which is which, but I'd say Milwaukee is more Italian; it seems to have a consistency closer to gelato. Maybe it has to do with how the custard base is made, the percent of eggs or cream or whatever. Again, it could be totally imagined. I went to college in Milwaukee and that was the first place I had frozen custard, so Kopp's is kinda my gold standard. My aunt lives in the STL area and has since dragged me to Ted Drewe's when I tried to convince her that Milwaukee's was better. Don't get me wrong - both are totally great and I definitely prefer them over plain ice cream - but I don't think I'm going to get over my love of the Milwaukee-style.

That being said, I think Jason's here is pretty good, and I like the variety you can get at Shakey's. I have high hopes for Culvers. I know. I know, it's a chain, but it's a Wisconsin-based chain that I really love (best drunk food ever!). I've already had a couple butter burgers, but it's been too damn cold for any custard yet. But I'm looking forward to a day when we get over 50, so I can get a small scoop.

[emilyr]

Formosa is also good for Chinese. It's on Broadway, upstairs from Jimmy John's or there abouts. Next door to KOPN. Not spectacular, but consistent and clean (which I seem to find is not always the case at Chinese places around here).

Is China Wok Express the one on Broadway down near Providence? IF so, my aunt swears by their Vietnamese and Korean menus.

[A Patric]

Is China Wok Express the one on Broadway down near Providence? IF so, my aunt swears by their Vietnamese and Korean menus.

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Exactly! I recommend their Vietnamese but not their Chinese.

Anyway, regarding cleanliness, I always check the health department profile of restaurants I eat at, usually before hand. Most times their aren't major problems, but every now and then...

Here is the website where you can find the last health inspection of every restaurant in Columbia:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/webapps/cfform...inspections.cfm

That should make you feel better (or worse) about some places.

To change the subject again, I'll have to try Jason's, but until then "The Scoop Frozen Custard Shoppe" is my favorite in Columbia.

[emilyr]

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Anyway, regarding cleanliness, I always check the health department profile of restaurants I eat at, usually before hand. Most times their aren't major problems, but every now and then...

Here is the website where you can find the last health inspection of every restaurant in Columbia:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/webapps/cfform...inspections.cfm

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Yeah, that site has become one of my most checked. My best friend's husband is also a health inspector, so I have an inside track. There have been a few occassions when my friend and I have picked a restaurant, and hubby goes, "ooooh, I don't think so," but he can't tell us specifics. I'm not a germ-freak, but I've heard way too many non-restaurant-specific horror stories, so I'm starting to get wary (but not obsessive - I have gone to places I love, ratings be damned!).

[A Patric]

Had Mexican breakfast at El Rodeo. It was excellent, though the tortillas were not home-made as far as I could tell. They were pretty perfectly round, and were not particularly flavorful.

I'll have to ask them about this soon.

[emilyr]

I ate at Addison's with some friends for lunch on Saturday, and was a bit disappointed. We got the nachos bianco as an app and the chicken was cold and the cheese was barely melted, resulting in a slightly disappointing but still ok dish. We missed that hot, melty, cheesy feel you get from nachos, but we like the fried pasta/wonton chips. Then I got my sandwich - the tuna, artichoke and olive open-faced - and side - asiago broccoli, usually a favorite - and I was similarly disappointed. The tuna, which I'd ordered medium rare, was still cold in the middle and barely had any color on the outside. I have a feeling some frozen tuna got tossed onto the grill for just a minute to get the outside done but didn't warm through. Plus, the sauce had no flavor, and the toast was really soggy from the topping (especially the artichokes) being too wet. My broccoli was cooked perfectly, but the cheese sauce had no flavor whatsover. I added a ton of salt and pepper to my plate. My friend got the French Dip sandwich with the sweet potato fries. The fries were great as usual, and her sandwich was good, but the jus was still cold. We ordered the carrot cake (which has a pecan caramel or praline filling) and it was great!

Like I said, we were disappointed with our lunch, but we're not going to give up on Addison's just yet. I saw in the paper Sunday that they're looking for an executive chef. I think our issues were mostly from poor timing. I may have to give them a couple of months before I try them again.

[A Patric]

Any good meals lately?

Cherryhill Brasserie is on my short list of places to eat at.

I recently had some food from Bangkok Gardens for the first time since the grand opening of their new location and over 50% of the food was quite bad, especially when compared to their former standard of quality.

I also recently at at Chinese Wok Express again, this time having the Pho with beef, chicken, and some type of sausage I think. It was excellent! My wife was also very happy with her meal. Choosing dishes off of the Vietnamese menu is definitely the key.

We stopped by the old Korean restaurant (I think it used to me Mandarin Express), which is now called Jingo's or something of that nature. I grabbed a menu to look at and we didn't stay. The food really looks like the run-of-the-mill midwestern Chinese cuisine, and nothing struck me as interesting.

Finally, we have tried out House of Chow two times now, and both times we have both been very pleased. It hasn't blown me away, but compared to other Chinese restaurants, it has been excellent. Note: we have only ordered off of the "authentic" previously "secret" menu.

Anyway, anyone have any good Columbia experiences to share?

[babern38]

I've only eaten at cherrhill brasserie once, which is unfortunate because I thought it was quite good.

I really enjoyed the gorgonzola cheesecake appetizer as well as the frog legs dish. I'm looking forward to going back.

Going to Taqueria El Rodeo for like the 5th time tonight. Last weekend I visited to try two of their (weekends only) dishes.

My first experience with menudo led be to learn that tripe is not my thing for textural reasons. The soup itself wasn't as flavorful or spicy as I thought it would be either which didn't make the expereince any better. It was basically some orange flavored broth water with some tripe in it. Never had it before so I have nothing to compare it with. I don't know if this is a standard/common presentation

I also had another dish which was basically a shrimp ceviche in a large margarita glass served with saltine crackers. I thought the saltines a bit strange and the ceviche could have used more chunks of vegetables, but it was still good when you added enough hotsauce for flavor

[tidee]

i'm visiting columbia in two weeks. what 's a good ethnic place to eat on a budget?

[A Patric]

i'm visiting columbia in two weeks. what 's a good ethnic place to eat on a budget?

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If I had to recommend one "ethnic" place it would be Taj Mahal indian restaurant. Not only is it very good for Indian food, but it is one of the best restaurants in town.

However, service is almost always very, very, very slow, so make sure you have the time if you go. Also, the food is not cheap, though it is fully worth every penny. Finally, I wouldn't recommend their buffet, the spices are toned down and the richness of certain dishes is reduced. If you go, ordering off the menu is a must.

Secondarily, for ethnic food, I would recommend Chinese Wok Express. The atmosphere is not great, but the prices are very reasonable, and the Pho, non-fried spring rolls, and other items off of the Vietnamese menu (not the Chinese one necessarily) are excellent. They only accept cash, so be prepared.

Off topic slightly, I tried the middle eastern restaurant Casablanca for the first time last night, and I was really not impressed. It was expensive, the pita was out of a bag, they admitted that the falafel was from a mix so I didn't order it, the hummus was flavorless, the rice was bland, and the beef that I had was dry and without character. It could have been worse, but still I won't be going back.

[emilyr]

Last night, in addition to being St. Patty's Day, was my and my best friend's husband's birthday. We couldn't find a good Irish dinner the whole group of people we were going out with could agree on (16 people total), and I wanted to do something different than we usually do for dinner (Flat Branch, Addisons, or Grill One5). I suggested Bangkok Gardens or Chinese Wok Express, but we had some pretty picky eaters with us. We compromised with HuHot, the new Mongolian Grill over on Buttonwood.

It's a chain, and I wasn't really enthused with spending my birthday there, but it ended up not being as bad as I had assumed it would be. It's a buffet style build-your-own stir-fry place. You go down the buffet line, pick noodles, meat and veggies, then pick from one of their many sauces. It takes 5-6 of their little ladles of sauce to get enough liquid for the fry, and so you can play with different flavor combos; they had some good ones like a nice yellow curry, ginger and garlic broth, and the standards like a mongolian bbq and a sweet and sour. Then your bowl of fixins is turned out onto a big round grill and 5 cooks go around wtih spatuals stirring the dishes; kind of a show - though it would be better if they did tricks ala Benihana. It's definitely not somewhere you want to go if you have food allergies. I didn't choose black beans, but several ended up on my plate cause the girl next to me did! My peanut sauce got into my bf's sweet and sour dish. The side dishes are pretty generic chain restaurant kind of stuff (chef salad, Asian salad, egg drop soup, cheesecake "rangoons"), but it was fun on the second go round to the buffet when I had a bit more hang of how to layer.

I don't know if I'll go back soon. It was crazy packed, and we had to get there at 5 to make sure we could get a table for our group. They don't do reservations, even for a group like ours, and I saw people waiting at the bar to get their table.the entire 2 hours we were there. I do have to say it was a good option for my group of picky eaters, and I could see myself getting addicted to their "homemade" ginger soda.

My favorite part of the night was the ginormous Guiness dark choclate cake I made for dessert and Wii bowling and tennis. And of course, many many glasses of Guinness.

[babern38]

I love HuHot. It takes awhile to figure out what sauce combinations you like. I've found that adding a ladel of the chili oil helps make the sauces less sweet or salty and keeps your teeth from grinding. Sounds weird, I know, but its great.

[A Patric]

I didn't think it would be much, but after receiving a $5 off coupon, I tried Joey's Seafood, the new chain in town.

Result:

It wasn't much...well at least in terms of quality, because the cost was actually too much.

I will say though that service was excellent, the meals were served promptly, and the food was hot, so it wasn't all bad, just not worth the price.

[babern38]

I just ate breakfast at Taqueria El Rodeo for the first time and it was AWEOME!!!!

I just ordered the breakfast plate, choosing chorizo as my choice of meat. It came with the chorizo mixed with 2 scrambled eggs, their awesome potatos, chilaquilles, and their beans. Flour tortillas were served alongside.

The also have tacos for breakfast and one of the filling choices said Nopalitos. I asked what this was and was told it was cactus, so I had to try one. I thought it was pretty good. Definitely not what I imagined cactus to taste like. It was like a very mild pepper.

Great place, will definitely continue to return. The chilaquilles were awesome. I have only had chilaquilles once before in Belize on my honeymoon and they were nothing like these.

[Jaymes]

Pretty excited to see this thread popping up from time to time, even though I'm not in Columbia. I'm in Springfield and if Columbia is seeing a little action, maybe there's hope for Springfield.

Anyone?

[A Patric]

I just ate breakfast at Taqueria El Rodeo for the first time and it was AWEOME!!!!

I just ordered the breakfast plate, choosing chorizo as my choice of meat. It came with the chorizo mixed with 2 scrambled eggs, their awesome potatos, chilaquilles, and their beans.  Flour tortillas were served alongside.

The also have tacos for breakfast and one of the filling choices said Nopalitos.  I asked what this was and was told it was cactus, so I had to try one.  I thought it was pretty good.  Definitely not what I imagined cactus to taste like.  It was like a very mild pepper.

Great place, will definitely continue to return. The chilaquilles were awesome.  I have only had chilaquilles once before in Belize on my honeymoon and they were nothing like these.

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I agree, my best meal there so far was breakfast, and it was absolutely excellent. I also had chorizo and eggs and loved them. However, I didn't have the chilaquiles, so I'll have to try them next time I'm there. I agree that great chilaquiles are amazing, and the key is in the sauce, so I can believe that theirs are good since they make their own sauces. Oh, and I had forgotten about their potatoes...they are some of the best I've ever had. I'll have to go back soon.

[mywhitedevil]

I can't believe I've missed this entire thread. It shows how little I visit the eGullet forums lately.

Some glaring disagreements:

Taj Majal and India Rasoi (or Kitchen I forget. The one on Broadway) are very pedestrian and I only bother when I'm really hard up for some Indian food. I think Taj Mahal is slightly better, but I wouldn't suggest either to any visitor. I'm spolied I guess because I was introduced to Indian food at India Palace in Lawrence when I went to school.

Classy's may be all right for lunch, but the dinner menu has to be one of the wierdest, amaturish I've ever seen. In fact, it is responsible for one of the single worst meals I've ever had, esp. considering that the bill was higher than a dinner at either Sycamore or Trat. I'd like to like it more because I have friends on staff there and the owner is really sweet, but I can't.

Has Flat Branch Brewery been mentioned? I'm not keen on the food there much at all (although the burgers are pretty good. They don't use Show-Me Farms anymore I don't think, though) but the beer is very, very good. I'm a pretty big microbew fanatic, and I really, really like the majority of their brews.

We shop at HyVee, but I would avoid both the fish case and the fresh meat case based on my own industry knowledge and some insider knowledge. Also, the majority of thier self service case has bee switched to Tri-gas laden case-ready junk from Cargill that I wouldn't feed to a dog. I can't honestly reccomend any meat market in Columbia. I'm severly unimpressed by them all (I hope to maybe change this.) We also shop at Clovers and the Farmers Market.

[A Patric]

So has anyone found any good barbeque in Columbia yet?

Overall I like Bandana's even though it is a chain. The only thing that I have tried at Smokin' Chick's was a pulled pork sandwich that was really soggy and not particularly flavorful. It didn't make me want to go back. Buckingham's was OK, but not that convincing, though I only had the opportunity to try a few items. Then there is someplace downtown right on the edge of campus that is mainly a sports bar, but is supposed to have good ribs. The name starts with an 'S' I believe, but I can't think of it. Finally, as I was just searching around I found a listing on Google for this place:

Rooten Tooten Bar B Que

19H N 5th St

Columbia, MO 65201

(573) 443-6620

Anyone ever heard of it? Either it is new, out of business, or I have simply been blind.

Any other thoughts on Columbia barbeque, and/or what the name of the ribs place I mentioned above is, and whether it is actually good?

[babern38]

Sutton's Bar-b-Q used to be pretty good, but I think it might have closed for the second time. I don't remeber where it is, since I had only been to the new location once. It may be worth looking up.

So has anyone found any good barbeque in Columbia yet?

Overall I like Bandana's even though it is a chain.  The only thing that I have tried at Smokin' Chick's was a pulled pork sandwich that was really soggy and not particularly flavorful.  It didn't make me want to go back.  Buckingham's was OK, but not that convincing, though I only had the opportunity to try a few items.  Then there is someplace downtown right on the edge of campus that is mainly a sports bar, but is supposed to have good ribs.  The name starts with an 'S' I believe, but I can't think of it.  Finally, as I was just searching around I found a listing on Google for this place:

Rooten Tooten Bar B Que

19H N 5th St

Columbia, MO 65201

(573) 443-6620

Anyone ever heard of it?  Either it is new, out of business, or I have simply been blind.

Any other thoughts on Columbia barbeque, and/or what the name of the ribs place I mentioned above is, and whether it is actually good?

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[emilyr]

I've had Smokin Chicks a few of times and generally really like it. I've never eaten at the restaurant, though. I had it a couple of times from their mobile cart at outdoor events, and they've catered a few events my company's hosted, so I've never really gotten the whole experience. Chick himself is from my hometown and his family is friends with some of mine, so I've had some of the sauces before. I like his not too spicy one. I'm not a chile head, so I don't try anything too hot, but my friends seem to like them.

[A Patric]

Well, by the way, I went to try and find Rooten tooten BBQ, and it doesn't appear to exist anymore. I'll try and track down Sutton's, which seems like it might still be around.

Thanks!