I have not yet hit Perrysburgers, but I have heard good things about their food. My problem is their business model. Personally, if I want a burger & fries, I want a beer to go with it. About the only exception to that would be if it were a lunch break during work, but I work downtown so couldn't really make it out there.

Not to mention I freaking LOVE Swig, so I have a real hard time trying something new when it's right across the road, and DOES have a great beer selection.

Hope you enjoy it.

Keep this thread updated as you try new places in the area...I'm always interested in hearing about good local eats.

Oh I guess I should note as well: San Marco's. Toledo is a city of about 2 Mexican Restaurants per person, but San Marco's really shines as the one truly authentic option.

Star Bar was opened by the same group/person (not sure really, same ownership though) as Star Diner. But not until AFTER the Star Diners were a hit around town.

My lone experience at Star Bar was very similar to yours...terrible service by scantily clad waitress. I'm a guy in my early 30s so I enjoy scantily clad waitresses, but I don't like crap service and I REALLY don't like crap food.

At Star Diner the girls are dressed a little more scantily than you would expect at a diner, and they are generally young attractive girls... However, I think it's a lot less provocative than Hooters, and the food is way better. On top of that the service, in my experience, has been superb at MOST locations. The East side in Oregon (Rt. 2) is the lone exception where the service tends to be awful (IMO).

My fiancee is pretty conservative, has no desire to go to hooters, forbids strip clubs and the like, but has no problem having breakfast together at Star Diner. And I always see plenty of older women, families, etc there. Like I said, it's just very good diner food, and the service is typically very good because they want to turn the tables over as quickly as possible. They're run like a small diner should be, IMO.

As much as I do enjoy the view I kind of wish they'd put more clothing on the girls just because I don't like to see the stigma it has gained around town. FWIW, they definitely HAVE added more clothing now than when the place first opened, so I have a feeling the owners saw that as well. If you want casual diner breakfast lunch (the basic club sandwiches, chef salads, pancakes, etc) I really think you're hardpressed to find better food/service than what I have seen at Star Diner.

Of course saying this you'll probably try it and end up making me look like a fool by getting a lousy waitress....

I haven't gotten to Registry yet, but the chef went to HS with a few friends of mine so we're hoping to get over there sometime this summer.

Revolution Grille is pretty good over on Monroe St.

Reverend's in BG is still my favorite place to get a burger in the Toledo/BG area. It's also the best bar in the area, IMO. Good craft beer selection, and great hand crafted cocktails. A little disappointing that they don't have hand cut fries or hand made onion rings, but it's very good bar food, IMO.

I want to get to the 5th street pub for pizza, looks real good.

In BG you're going to find more the american pizzeria style than a fancy wood fired gourmet pie like you get at 5th street. But if you're looking for that sort of thing Pagliai's is awesome for thin crust, and Myle's is awesome in it's spicy/greasy/food overload style. And the garlic cheese bread at Myle's is a huge hit as well. Another favorite of mine for pizzeria/bar pizza is Village Idiot in Maumee.

I haven't taken the time to read through/respond to this entire post but I've lived in the BG area most of my life, and have eaten pretty much every where in BG, and a lot of the Toledo spots as well.

You heard wrong. VERY wrong, IMO.

Yes, the front of the house staff is all female. Yes, they're mostly all attractive young females. Yes, they wear shorts and may show some cleavage. But that is where the comparison ends, IMO, and the fact they do a great business of families, after church crowd, and clientele of all ages I think the rest of Toledo does as well. These girls aren't sitting on anybody's lap flirting with the guys for a bigger tip. They're serving food and turning over tables as quickly/friendly as possible.

Star Diner is a breakfast/lunch diner in the classic sense. Huge portions of greasy goodness. Nearly everything appears to be made in house...fries, onion rings, salads, etc. This isn't frozen GFS stuff they deep fry and send out to you...

If you want a sandwich, diner breakfast, or even a salad, I think Star Diner is a great option for breakfast or lunch. Probably my favorite for that type of food in the Toledo, BG area.

The girlfriend and I have to venture to Columbus this weekend for a family get together on Saturday afternoon. Our plan is to head over to the Hollywood Casino and check out the new casino after the family stuff is done. I'm sure we'll want to grab some food at some point as well.

I'm not at all familiar with the area around the Casino and was hoping maybe somebody had some suggestions of anyplace good to eat in the area? Just looking for a casual Saturday evening dinner. Pretty open to any cuisine and even a good gastropub type place would suffice. Just not into chain restaurants, and not looking to spend on a fine dining type experience.

So is there anything good in the area? If not we'll be heading back north (BG area) after the casino, so anyplace that would be on our way out of town?

Thanks for any suggestions from those of you that know Columbus better than I do!

My girlfriend and I are taking a road trip from Ohio to Orlando and we are planning on heading down I-77 for the trip. We'll be in NC about when we'll be wanting to eat dinner and I'm a HUGE fan of real BBQ.

I've never had any authentic BBQ in NC, and I was wondering what people would advise that wouldn't be too far out of the way of my intended route (which will pretty much take us on I-77 through the entire state of NC).

I'm not adverse to driving a little ways off the route, if need be, but I don't want to add hours and hours to the trip either. Right now I'm leaning towards Lexington #1 in Lexington which wouldn't be too far off the course. But Bridges BBQ Lodge would be close enough as well.

Any Chowhounders have suggestions for other places within reason of my route? Preferences between the two I mentioned? I'm excited to get some good 'que!

Crab Legs

For the longest time crab legs were one of my favorite foods. Then when I was in college we went to Panama City Beach for spring break and went to one of those seafood buffets that are all over the place down there. Ate POUNDS and I mean POUNDS of snow crab legs. If that wasn't enough I promptly went to a bar where we had purchased all you can drink beer wristbands (Natty I believe)

Needless to say I deposited all of those crab legs and the cheap beer in the garbage can at the bar. I have not been able to keep crab legs down ever since. Even one or two of them and I'll puke it later...very disappointing to lose what used to be one of my favorite foods.

Thanks for the information. I'm kinda bummed to hear that you don't get to see the cooking as much as I expected at L'Atelier, but I'm still pretty excited to check it out.

Rosemary's looks good too, but we're not getting a car on this trip, and we really want to try the larger tasting menu type place. Thanks though, I'll keep it in mind for a future Vegas trip!

I'm going to be in Vegas the second half of this week, and decided that I'd like to take my brother out to a dinner like we've never eaten. He's been through culinary school, both of us are foodies, and both are very open to trying new flavors.

I really think l'Atelier sounds awesome, both the food and the atmosphere really appeal to me. I really like the fact that when you're seated at the counter you can actually watch the chefs prepare the meal.

However, it appears that I waited too late. The only night we'll have available for this meal is this Friday, and the only reservation time I can get is 10:15 or 10:30. I went ahead and made the 10:15 reservations, but I'm curious if anybody has eaten there this late?

I don't want to pay the full price only to find that we are rushed through our meal because they want to go home, and I don't want the quality to suffer either. I'd like to think that you wouldn't have to worry about that at a nice restaurant like this, but you never know.

There are other nice restaurants in town that I can still get reservations for a more normal dining time, but I really had my heart set on l'Atelier. Can anyone chime in on what I should expect by dining so late?