Some good responses here, thanks to all. Not too worried about hanging around in sketchy neighborhoods because we're now in our 60s and pretty much don't do it. Although when I was a mere lad of 18 I used to hang around the streets in Washington DC (hometown) and Baltimore. I'm a firm believer that those who walk and act with confidence are way less likely to encounter problems. This is backed up by experience as the only people I know who have ever been victims of street crime are more "retiring" looking. Not small, just not exuding confidence. This is also backed up by police/FBI studies.

Thanks cleopatra, we had already planned on "Going to the Sun" but were not sure if we'd stay over in Whitefish/Kalispell or just double back to Interstate 15. Mrs. frank was concerned the road north from there mightn't be as good but I told her since it's not winter that it would be fine and that the traffic through the park is probably brutal this time of year.

Thinking we might spend a day or so in that area as a couple of the golf courses look nice then head north from there so let me know what's in Fernie as well.

Thanks and keep 'em coming.

frank

Thanks GirlyQ. I didn't mean to imply we were necessarily looking for chow in Shelby. Just that we were going to head north on the Insterstate. Although now we're thinking more of going over to Glacier NP and then either returning to Interstate 15 or just proceeding north from the west side of Glacier NP up into BC and then over to Alberta.

Thanks again.

Thanks josey,

Putting all of this in my databank. Bison Bistro was also recommended from one of my skiing buddies.

Keep em coming.

frank

Some of the Tim Horton's appeal is that we're stockholders. Let's face it no one goes to chains for high quality food or ambiance. But it's a known quantity, you know the level of mediocraty that you'll receive.
Always nice to know the names of local coffee shops though. As for $ levels and ethnicity we're pretty open. Middle Eastern, Slavic, German and Italian are high on our list. While we do enjoy the higher end night out we are in our 60s so watching/maintaining our weight is always an issue.
Thanks and keep posting, please.

notfatfrank

We're planning a mid-July road trip from Colroado to Alberta so we're spending some time in MT. Looking for some recommendations for chow on a route from Sheridan WY, Billings, Great Falls to Shelby. We're thinking about going cross-country instead of Interstate from Billings to Great Falls. Especially if there's some good food and/or sites along the way.

We like small, different places and always avoid chains. OK, we do frequent Starbuck and Tim Horton's but that's it. Otherwise we believe that multiple locations is the kiss of death for restaurants.

Also if you have some ideas on places to stay, sites to see we're open for all recs.

Thanks in advance.

notfatfrank

We're planning a driving trip from Colorado, through Montana to Alberta. Our plan is to make a circular route; Calgary, Banff, Jasper, Edmonton, Red Deer. Depending on our spirits we may return via Medicine Hat and the Dakotas.

We tend to favor small, unique restaurants. Our rule of thumb is any outfit with more than one location isn't generally worth our time. We do frequent Tim Hortons but no American chains.

With that in mind can we get some recommendations for chow. Also any places to stay, sites to see etc.

I've been to Lake Louise in the winter for skiing but this will be the first summer trip for both of us.

Thanks in advance for help from our fellow chowhounds.

notfatfrank

It's the "Flying Monkey" (maybe "Funky Monkey") in the town that's the entrance to Zion National Park in Southern Utah. If you're ever in the area give it a try.

I can sure believe that eimac. It's funny though, when I read the threads prior to our trip there seemed to be a lack of consensus about every place EXCEPT White Duck Taco. So it was kind of on our "can't miss" list. Moose Cafe was kind of a tip of the hat to our friends who visit Asheville often, and "might" think that I'm a bit of a food snob. Besides, it was on our way out of town.
Having spent some time driving around downtown I really didn't feel like going there for any meals, particularly not breakfast.
We have often had great luck in eating at places that were never mentioned on here. In fact on one trip earlier this year we ate at a place that had been ignored on here, posted a glowing review and have since seen several other posts singing its praises.

notfatfrank

Well Jeff, I didn't come on and ask for recs, I just read most of the threads that covered the last two years. We weren't planning on any "date night" type dinners, due to a health issue we were not going to eat much after about 4:00 PM, so "nice" dinners were kind of out.

I certainly didn't (mean to) imply disappointment with any of our choices, nor mean to imply that the food scene in Asheville was lacking. I was just putting my opinion on here for those that are interested in it.

We did enjoy ourselves immensely although maybe it didn't come across in my original post. While I can certainly appreciate the love that all of you feel toward Asheville and the Applachians we live in the foothills of the ROCKY MOUNTAINS and it's about 1500 miles each way for us. OTOH Vail is about 2 hours!

Made a short trip to Asheville and read up on our options here (as we always do) before going. Here are our impressions;

White Duck Taco is definitely worth going to. We had 3 tacos (white duck, fish and black bean) as well as chips with 3 fresh salsas and a couple of iced teas. Out for less than $20 (before tip) and every pleased with the quality.

Louella's BBQ. Had a light supper of ribs and sides one evening and it was good. Since we used to live in TX and now live in CO it's nice to get back to SC style ribs.

Moose Cafe. Neither of us are big fans of the "country breakfast" concept but this was good, although (as I think others said) they seem to be too liberal with the salt. Biscuits were good and the apple butter (which I haven't had in 45 years), while not what I was used to was good.

Had the lunch buffet at the Deer Park facility as the Biltmore. Normally I don't care for buffets but this was the "Thanksgiving" dinner (week after Thanksgiving) and it was good. It was "real" turkey instead of the "factory produced" turkey roll. I looked over the carving station before committing to make sure. For $18.00 per head I was happy with it.

I have friends that go to Asheville every 2-3 years but I don't see any reason for us to do so. We did enjoy ourselves and even got up to the Grove Park Inn. Spent an hour or two looking at the entries in the Gingerbread house contest and had a drink. We looked over two of the restaurants and the prices didn't look as high as we expected. But we weren't very hungry so we had the light supper at Louella's.

We live in Loveland and eat out more in FC than Loveland. Jay's Bistro and Fish which are almost across the street from each other are both good. Jay's is our default lunch spot, try the fish tacos or the Reuben! I like Larkburger but my wife can't eat beef so I go there when I've played golf or otherwise by myself. Someone mentioned Pulcinnella and we second that. I can't say that I've found a memorable Mexican place in the Fort yet.

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Jay's Bistro
135 W Oak Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524

Larkburger
105 Edwards Village Blvd, Edwards, CO 81632

Thought I"d bring this thread a bit more up to date. Just got back from one night in Torrey and two in Springdale. Had a forgettable dinner in Torrey (don't remember the name either) and had a light breakfast at the Kiva Koffeehaus on the way to Zion. The Kiva was well worth the stop. I had the eggs with asparagus and I don't usually care for eggs. My wife (who doesn't care for cornbread) had a piece of the blue cornbread and it was pretty fine.

Ate a very nice, and reasonable priced dinner at The Spotted Dog. Wife had the ham and potato soup and I had the ham and peas with (I've forgotten the past?) with a light cream sauce. It was as good as I've ever had. Both the soup and the pasta had 3/4" to 1" CUBES of REAL HAM. We didn't have any alcohol with our dinner and IIRC we got out for less than $50 including tip. BTW I usually tip 20% for outstanding service and that's exactly what we had.

Had lunch at the Flying Monkey, pizza and pasta. I ordered a salad (pretty big) and we ordered a hummus with garlic bread appetizer. The waiter seemed to be monitoring our progress so as not to preempt the hummus with our pizza. We scarfed on the garlic (foccacia) bread but had a lot of hummus left over. We ate about 1/2 of our 10" pizza and asked for a to go box for it and asked for a second loaf of the garlic bread to go. We finished the pizza and hummus for dinner that night and then had the last of the garlic bread with some sliced pepper that my wife had pulled from her garden before we left home. With 2 iced teas and tax our total (prior to tip) was $33. and change. Very reasonable we thought.

A very enjoyable time and we're planning a return trip when the weather cools off a bit.

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Spotted Dog
428 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale, UT 84767

I agree with the Mary's Lake Lodge rec. Also check out Twin Owls (evenings only) on MacGregor Ave, Sweet Basilico isn't too bad. Nicky's out on Fall River is excellent as well. As someone else said Smokin Dave's is good, they also now have a location in Lyons.

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Mary's Lake Lodge
2625 Marys Lake Rd, Estes Park, CO 80517

Sweet Basilico Cafe
430 Prospect Village Dr, Estes Park, CO 80517

Fall River Cafe
3250 Highway 20, Ashton, ID 83420

We just made the drive from Stockton to norther Colorado and the only thing I'll add is if you get to Winnemuca NV around lunch time hop off and try the Third Avenue (?) Bistro. My wife's rule of thumb is that anyplace with the word "bistro" in its name is probably better than just just trusting to blind luck.

We spent the night in Winnemuca (bad timing on starting our drive) and tried this place for breakfast. It was very nicely done (unexpected in this town) and worth the stop. If we make this trip again we'll make sure to get an early start from Stockton and have lunch there, then drive to SLC of someplace else for the night.

Thank to both. Claire, I saw 626 when I googled but IIRC the prices were a bit spendy. Since we're only going to be in GJ for lunch we may try it depending on how hungry we ae at that point. Otherwise we may just try Enzos or Teguila's

notfatfrank

I haven't been on here in 6 months and saw some folks looking for EP recs. I was too late to answer those but here are our favorites. We live 40 minutes away and have several friends in EP and without them we'd have been stuck eating at the"tourist" places:

Mary's Lake Lodge-good food and wine list. The often run a "10 for $10" menu but you generally have to ask.

Bald Pate Inn-great soup and salad bar, good pies too! If you have time, check out the play "7 Keys To Baldpate", funny.

Sweet Basilico-not my favorite but one of my buddies loves it so we go there occassionally.

Not sure of the name, "Hangar Inn" maybe. It's at the 18 hole golf course on Highway 7. Reasonably priced sandwiches etc.

The BBQ place has good, very large sandwiches. We usually split one. They generally have a coupon in the local paper.

If you drive to EP on US 34 from Loveland instead of 36 from Denver/Boulder take the turnoff and go through Glen Haven. Nice scenery but also a chance to pick up some of the best cinnamon rolls you'll ever taste.

notfatfrank

Heading out in a few days, out I70 to Grand Junction/Colorado National Monument. Looking for a lunch rec in GJ. Found some good sounding stuff in Moab already.

Thanks in advance

notfatfrank