Boulder, CO

Does casual mean dress or price point? Edited to add that the conversation clearly went here already.... Sorry.

My teens like the following:

Ilegal Pete's (Burritos)
Mountain Sun (Brew Pub)
Chiba Hut (On the Hill..Good sandwiches named after types of marijuana)
The Med
Boulder Cafe (fondue)

The food is not that good, but it is always worth a trip to the Dushanbe Tea House. Moving to more expensive adult fare....

You might try a new restaurant on Pearl called Riffs. It has outdoor seating which is always fun for people watching. The food at Frasca and The Kitchen is good but expensive. The Kitchen Next Door is a lower priced option as is Frasca's pizza restaurant. I have eaten at Salt twice and would not go back. I like The Bitter Bar (try the fried brussel's sprouts leaves). We had a nice meal recently at Oak at Fourteenth. My vegetarian friends like Leaf.

cbrand in Mountain States

Best Cuban Food in Miami?

Just wanted to add more praise for Havana Harry's. My husband has been working on an extended project down in Miami and I joined him for a long weekend. He took me to Havana Harry's for lunch and I have to say that their vaca frita is really delicious! We also had their Cinco Leches cake. This is three layer cake filled with dulce de leche and soaked in the traditional tres leches cream. WOW! On top of this, the slice was large enough for three people.

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Havana Harry's
4612 S Le Jeune Rd, Coral Gables, FL 33146

cbrand in Miami - Ft. Lauderdale

Key Largo Review

Thanks so much for the in depth review. We are traveling to Key Largo in March and I found this very helpful.

cbrand in Miami - Ft. Lauderdale

Disappointing food trip to NOLA (very long review)

OP here.... I'm responding in one post to most of the issues raised above.

Re Felix's: Felix's gets a lot of recs on this board. As for eating oysters "out of season", the oysters tasted fine... very fresh. It was the poor shucking I had issue with. Also, when we order Po Boys and jambalaya, I don't think it should take 50 minutes + to get our food. There were lots and lots of people around us that were steaming mad that they also had to wait so long for food.

Re: muffalettas at Napolean house. As I noted, I thought the meat to olive ratio was off. We had a muffaletta in Memphis at a place called Cafe Beignet (around the corner from the Civil Rights Museum) that I thought was better because it had more meat in it and it balanced the taste and texture of the olive.

Re reservations at Dante's Kitchen. They DO NOT take reservations for brunch. I had talked to them on the phone before we left Colorado and they said that things did not heat up for them until closer to noon so I was very surprised that at 11:20 there was a 1.5 hour wait (it was Father's Day but a look around the restaurant did not show too many families, mostly groups of young professional types). I know brunch can be busy, and it was my fault that I did not get my family out the door sooner. As to passing plenty of restaurants on the way to the freeway.... where? We went out Carrolton. We stopped at Madeleines but we could not get a table there either and besides, we were hoping to eat more regionally specific food (we can get eggs/pancakes anywhere). Other than that, we did not see anything else open. Remember... it was Sunday morning.

I don't think the tourist info place gave a bad recommendation. The sort of divey seafood restaurant they sent us to is exactly the type of place we were hoping to find. The problem was that it turned out to be closed. If you have ever been out to Laura Plantation, you would know that there is NOTHING out there other than that one restaurant.

Re: Mr B's.... I knew I would get this type of flack for posting a bad review, but so be it. I'm sorry, but our table had both gumbos (seafood and YaYa) and they were both bad. My seafood gumbo tasted like they had forgotten to season it in any way. I did not taste the YaYa, but both my younger son and husband said it was bad. Note: our family did eat gumbo in two other restaurants that we all thought was much better so this isn't a "we don't like gumbo" thing. Finally, the head/tail thing on the BBQed shrimp was really not the issue. It was that for whatever reason, the shells were NOT COMING OFF. It made it really, really difficult to eat. Should I have sent it back? Maybe.

cbrand in New Orleans

Disappointing food trip to NOLA (very long review)

I may be the only person in history to have lost weight on a trip to NOLA. Sigh. We had the most frustrating string of bad luck when it came to restaurants.

Reference.... family of 5 on an extended road trip.... in NOLA for the weekend.

Friday. It took longer than we expected to get into New Orleans and get checked into our hotel (Place de Armes.... loved it BTW). No one had eaten lunch and by 7:00 p.m. we were starving. We had a scheduled 8:30p.m. tour, but we thought.... surely we can eat in 1.25 hours and still get to our tour. WRONG! We walked up to Acme, found a line out the door, so crossed over to Felix's where we were seated at apprx 7:15. We ordered and then waited. It should have been a tip off to me that no one around us had food on their tables and that they all looked pretty miserable. We waited and waited. Our drinks eventually arrived. We ordered the house special... some sort of spiked up lemonade thing. It was nauseating; sickenly sweet and artificial tasting. At around 7:50 some shucked oysters finally showed up (our server promised our food would be right out). The oysters were fresh, but they had been so poorly shucked that there were pieces of shell and debris littered through out. Shame on them! At 8:15, fully an hour after we were seated, our food still had not shown up. We had to leave without eating. Thank God Cafe du Monde is open 24/7.

Saturday (our one good food day).

Lunch... We tried to go to Coops but a single gaming machine meant that our teens couldn't go in. Ended up at the Napolean House. Very nice lunch. Gumbo, Red beans & rice and Jambalaya all very good. Po Boy and Mufuletta nothing to write home about. I thought the Muffuletta needed more meat in it to balance out the olive relish. Introduced to Pimm's Cup. Yumm!

Dinner... Boucherie. Everything I hoped it would be. There was a crowd waiting to get in, but we had a reservation and our table was waiting for us when we arrived. The service was very good and the food was wonderful. They make a smashing Pimm's Cup (best one we had in NOLA). I had the Boudin Balls and Shrimp/grits. Delicious! Son who is a bit of an expert when it comes to mussels having eaten them all over Belgium, France and the Pacific NW said that they were some of the best he had ever had (the broth has "some delicious greens in it). Both son and husband raved about the ribs. Dessert was a bit of miss. They need to hire a good pastry chef. If I lived in NOLA, I would eat at Boucherie all the time.

Sunday.... After Mass we headed out to Dante's Kitchen for brunch. We were a bit late getting out of the Quarter, so we did not get to the restaurant until 11:20. At 11:20 there was a 1.5 hour wait!!!! Yikes! We had to get out to our Laura Plantation tour, so we could not wait. I told the kids we would eat on the road. BIG MISTAKE! We didn't really see much on the way to the freeway. Once out of town, tourist information told us that there was a restaurant right next to the plantation. CLOSED. We ended up not eating again all day. Back in the quarter for dinner, most of the restaurants we wanted were closed on Sunday night. We ended up at Mr. B's.

The minute I walked in, I thought... uh oh. My senses told me that this was the type of place that probably catered to business travelers and tourists. I was right. The food was expensive, mediocre and even bad. Both gumbos (seafood and regular) were inedible. I took three bites, put my spoon down, but was never asked by my server if I wanted something else. My two older kids liked their cheese and leek soup, but watching them eat it, I thought the soup had sort of a gloppy consistency that was unpleasant. Main dishes... two older kids had the soft shell crab. They liked the crab, but the crab was served on some sort of corn concoction that my 16 yr old son graciously pointed out was NOT a good pairing for the crab. My 15 yr old daughter just gagged when she tasted it. To be fair, my husband liked his crab ravioli. I ordered the BBQed shrimp which everyone says is the must order dish. Now I'm an experienced eater. I've eaten things that most people would not get within 10 feet of. I'm no shrinking violet and I enjoy tucking into food. However, this BBQed shrimp was ridiculous. It came with every thing still attached to it (head, legs, shell) and it was served in a deep wide bowl full of sauce. I don't know what the problem was. I've shelled plenty of shrimp in my day... maybe they were over-cooked, but these shells were not coming off for love or money. They tended to break up in small pieces in my hands and by the time I was finished shelling, I was up to my wrists (literally) in sauce and I felt like I had participated in some sort of Grecco-Roman wrestling event. I was fuming! The shrimp tasted pretty good, but they were ABSOLUTELY NOT worth the effort. Dessert was pedestrian at best. In the end, our bill was $200 (we did not have wine) and we had had a boring, if not bad meal. I was beside myself because I had so wanted to eat good food in NOLA.

Anyway.... once again praise for beignets and Cafe du Monde. Also for Pimm's Cup, our new found summer cocktail. All in all, we loved NOLA and I can't wait to come back with just my husband. Hopefully we will have better luck with food next time.

cbrand in New Orleans

Help! Overwhelmed by choices. Help us plan our weekend.

Re parking at Boucherie....

They said that the city took their parking lot away. We will probably do as suggested. Ride the street car out and cab it back. What will that sort of cab ride cost in NOLA?

cbrand in New Orleans

Help! Overwhelmed by choices. Help us plan our weekend.

I believe the comment about the St Louis Cathedral was in the Eyewitness Travel Guide Series on NOLA. There was also a story about the fact that the Cathedral (and the whole French Quarter) burned down in 1788 on Good Friday partially due the fact that the church refused to ring its bells to warn people about the fire (Got to love us Catholics.... dogma above all else )

cbrand in New Orleans

Help! Overwhelmed by choices. Help us plan our weekend.

Mass is at 9:00 at St. Louis. I'm assuming Mass runs an hour (or is it like the midwest where they are in and out in 45 minutes?). I'd entertain the idea of going to another church since the St. Louis Cathedral is described as being the oldest yet ugliest Cathedral in America. Suggestions from other Catholics?

Afterwards we are going to drive to Dante's for brunch which opens at 10:30.

Saturday night we will ride the street car to Boucherie..... 8:30 dinner reservations and they said that it would take a full hour to ride there from the FQ but they described parking as "grim".

cbrand in New Orleans

Help! Overwhelmed by choices. Help us plan our weekend.

Thanks for the help so far. Here's were we are:

Saturday dinner at Boucherie
Sunday brunch at Dante's Kitchen

I think we will fill in Saturday lunch and Sunday dinner with Po Boys et al. Will we have trouble finding things open on Sunday night in the FQ?

Still looking for a dinner suggestion in the FQ for Friday night. Must be walking distance from Place D'Armes. Does anyone want to weigh in on Cochon?

cbrand in New Orleans

Help! Overwhelmed by choices. Help us plan our weekend.

Ok... I'm pretty good at research so usually I can search the different Chowhound forums and come up with an eating itinerary when we travel to different cities. Not so on the NOLA board. There are too many choices and too many differing opinions (Bayona is wonderful... no don't eat there. Commander's Palace is a NOLA institution...... no it is an overrated tourist trap etc. etc. etc.) Plus, having not been to the city, I don't have a good sense of how difficult it is to travel across town.

So here are our specs:

Family of five (three teenagers). Seasoned travelers. Good eaters.
Coming in late Friday afternoon mid June. Leaving early Monday morning. Staying in FQ.
Feeding 5 people becomes expensive so we can only have 2 pricey meals.
We will have a car, but we prefer to walk or take public transportation. We are good walkers.
Husband and sons will only have collared shirts and pants.

We need a dinner spot for an early Friday dinner within walking distance of FQ.

Saturday we are taking a swamp tour and then going to the Bywater Art Market. Lunch?

Need Saturday dinner suggestions. Thoughts? This could be one of our upscale meals though Boucherie looks great and affordable. How hard is it to get from FQ to is it Uptown ( or is that Riversbend?). Can we take a streetcar? Hummmm...... the menu at Patois looks great too.

Sunday we need a place for brunch/lunch after Mass. Dante's Kitchen? I'd like to tour the Garden District on Sunday afternoon so maybe something in that neighborhood.

Finally, we need something quick and cheap Sunday night (since we will no doubt have spent too much money in your fair city) preferably in the FQ.

And...... after reading the thread on NOLA's top 5 dishes, I'd like to also try to eat the following:

turtle soup
muffuletta
Po' Boy (I'd like oyster, son #1 will want roast beef)
BBQ shrimp
red beans & rice
snowballs with condensed milk
bananas foster

Thanks for any help you can toss my way.

cbrand in New Orleans

Dinner suggestions around Mayflower

My in-laws are going to be in DC for a long weekend starting Thursday. They will be staying at the Mayflower and they will NOT have a car.

They are seasoned travelers with sophisticated tastes, though I would not call them highly adventurous eaters. I would think that New American, French, Italian, or Mediterranean cuisines would be preferable to Thai, Ethiopian, or Indian food.

At 80+ they are active but they would not be interested in trekking miles to eat in some out of the way, hole-in-the-wall. They would be up to a metro ride but a cab ride would be easier for them. They are not interested in renting a car.

In this new economy we are all conscious of getting good value for our dollars. To that end, I think they are looking for a couple of dinner spots that offer well conceived food and good service at a not outlandish price. They have been around the block enough times to be completely unimpressed by hype or scene.

Thanks for your help. A search of this topic pulled up some information but much of it was out of date.

cbrand in Washington DC & Baltimore Area

Comic-con still need some help (SD)

Thanks for everyone's help! I made a packet for my husband and son that includes maps, menus, closing times and any specials (Cowboy Star has happy hour T-F 4-6 where you can get 20% off the bar menu.) Now let's just hope they can actually get into some of these places!

As usual, the folks at Chowhound were an invaluable resource. Many Thanks....

cbrand in California

Comic-con still need some help (SD)

Husband and son (15 and an experienced eater) are leaving tomorrow from Boulder, CO for Comic-Con. They WILL NOT have a car and are rather disinclined to travel too far from the Convention Center to find food (they like to eat well, but this is a comics tour not a food tour). They are staying at a Bed and Breakfast (Keating House 2331 2nd Avenue) so they will be walking or taking a taxi to/from that location and the convention center.

Having researched the California board for both Gaslamp and Comic-Con, I have made them the following list:

Urban Kitchen
Kebab Shop
Zanzibar
Cafe Chloe
Johnny Browns
Tin Fish
The Cheese Shop
Ciros
Valentines
and Donovans for a good steak dinner

Could someone vet this list for me? Any additions? Strikes? Could you put it in order for me in terms of which ones would be 1st choices?

Also, son likes to eat Pho. Any noodle shops near the convention center?

Thanks.....

cbrand in California

Report from our weekend trip to Seattle

My husband and I used to live in Seattle, but for the last 8 years we have been living in Boulder, CO. We decided to take a weekend trip back to the Emerald City to see friends and take some time for ourselves. I checked into Chowhound beforehand to see what has been happening food-wise in Seattle since we left. As usual, Chowhound did not lead us astray. This is our report....

Saturday breakfast.
Met friends in Ballard at Vera's (their suggestion). Holy cheese-wiz! When did Ballard get so hip? My friend told me to order the Smoked Salmon Benedict. I was hesitant since so many dishes like this can be overly salty and gloppy. I did NOT need to worry. Vera's smokes their own salmon and I was served a beautiful fillet topped with an excellent Hollandaise sauce and perfectly poached eggs! We have a winner!

Saturday Dinner.
Husband revealed to me that he had never eaten Geoduck. I don't know how this did not come out in pre-marriage counseling, but I figured it was time to rectify the situation. I saw that Union had it on their menu. Our friends later told us that the food at Union could be uneven, but I have to say that the dishes we were served were all solid and interesting and I would not hesitate to go back.

Geoduck... served raw with cucumber and radishes. Fresh and clean.
Beef tongue with farro... playful take on "beef w/barley"... rich, deep, complex. Yum!
Duck w/currant sauce. Nice dish. Well plated. Fairly standard.
Scallops w/ John Dory. Nice dish. Well plated. Fairly standard.
La Tour cheese w/ poached figs...Sheep/Cow mix. One of the better ones I've eaten lately.
I appreciate that they had some nice half bottles on hand.
Service was good.

Saturday dessert.
Stopped into Dilettantes on Broadway for late dessert. Place was packed at 11:45 at night. Back in the day (late '80s early '90s) Dilettantes could be counted on to serve high quality chocolate desserts and they really seemed to take pride in what they produced. Well those days are gone. The hot chocolate was barely warm and it was topped with overly sweet cream. The cake we ordered was cold and had a mass produced quality. It had obviously been taken right out of the cooler. Sigh... I think the Cheesecake Factory probably does a better job with dessert. Would not go back.

Sunday lunch.
We found ourselves in Madison Valley after church and we popped into the Essential Bakery. Bakery goods were standard fare, but the Grilled Yam sandwich really surprised me. Served with grilled greens, it was not mushy the way I worried it would be. A fun vegetarian sandwich and certainly worth eating even for a carnivore.

Sunday dinner.
Lark. WOW! Honestly some of the best food I have eaten in the last few years (and we travel quite a bit) but it was not without its small stumbles.

Watercress, endive and frisée salad with bacon and soft boiled egg. Generous serving. Really well balanced flavors. I loved the egg on top. Fabulous.

Chicken liver parfait with Armagnac prunes and walnut toast. Silky smooth, fabulous flavor and a lovely aspic on top. Combined with the prunes it just sent me over the moon! Walnut toasts were a bit crisp for me and I thought the chicken liver was more enjoyable on untoasted walnut bread.

Wild striped bass with artichoke, black lentils and truffle sunchoke puree. One of the best dishes I've ever had. Beautifully plated. Fish pan fried to perfection. The puree was absolute heaven. Amazing!

Naturally raised veal sweetbreads with spinach, bacon and grain mustard. This dish was the low point of the evening for us. In a day and age when menus are so detailed and explicit that they practically give you the name of the cow from which your cheese is made, I think that Lark's menu should have mentioned that the sweetbreads were FRIED. With so many wonderful ways to prepare sweetbreads, why would you fry them? My husband said that they reminded him of chicken nuggets... good chicken nuggets.... but chicken nuggets none the less. Huge disappointment.

Snake River Farms beef tartare with quail egg and toast. Ok, they redeemed themselves with this dish. What a pleasure to eat! Loved the raw quail egg on top.

Cheese course. This was another disappointment. We had three cheeses. The portions were very, very small and all of them were dull and uninteresting. I would not order cheese there again.

All in all, I loved Lark and it will be my 1st stop the next time I'm in Seattle.

Monday morning.
Found ourselves at the market but too early to eat at Matt's (next time!). Went to Le Pichet on 1st. Excellent find. Good coffee, wonderful baguette, and the best croissants I have ever eaten. Husband had a lovely broiled egg dish with a Serrano type ham and Gruyere cheese. Great place to sit on an overcast, drizzly morning before catching a plane back home.

That wraps it up... sorry it was so long. Thanks for all the suggestions. Seattle is a great food town!

cbrand in Pacific Northwest