susantrader's Profile
Guilty Pleasure
Have you found the chocolate covered sunflower seeds? OMG!!! They are dangerous. Thank goodness they are pricey.
Asheville, NC, getaway
We just decided to go this weekend, but we'll have our 8 yr old son with us. These restaurants all sound great, but perhaps more for adults. Does anyone have suggestions for some casual kid-friendly places with good food and reasonable prices? It should definitely not be fancy.
Guilty Pleasure
I haven't been able to stop thinking about this since I read it...LOL. OMG that sounds divine.
Guilty Pleasure
My newest guilty pleasure is McDonalds' Mocha Frappe. I just can't get enough of them!
Downtown Atlanta for one special meal
I live in the burbs outside of Atlanta, but with 5 kids, I don't do a lot of fine dining. I will be in downtown for one night (our anniversary) and we're looking for something special. It doesn't necessarily have to be fancy, but I'm not talking Matt's Rib Shack or the Varsity, good as those places may be. Does anyone have any suggestions for the downtown area?
Lake Charles, LA
In Lake Charles at the moment, and I'm asking my inlaws where to go in LC. Here's some good names:
Pujo Street Cafe
Harlequin Steak House
Mazen's
DeAngelo's (closed due to fire but will reopen)
We just ordered a crawfish boil and picked everything up premade. It was from Choupique Crawfish - absolutely scrumptious.
Hope this helps!
Lake Charles, LA
If you don't need "fancy", I have a place for you. It is 10 minutes away, in Sulphur. It's called The Boiling Point, and it's very, very not "fancy" but the food is really good.
1730 Beglis Pkwy
Sulphur, LA 70663-5909
(337) 625-9282
It's a true cajun place that locals populate. Everything from gumbo to crawfish to the best boudin (get angel wings on horseback - fantastic). It's not a diet place. You can also get their homemade cracklin's to go, which my husband LOVES.
Need Recommendations : Visiting late-March/Early-April
For barbecue in Memphis, the Rendevous just can't be beat. In New Orleans, I would recommend Napolean House or Chartres House for some great Creole food. And don't miss Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait for dessert. You can't really say you went to New Orleans without going there.
Quick weekend in Chattanooga
We just stayed one night, but got in a couple of good restaurants, and one terrible one. First, we went to the Blue Plate, near the aquarium. I think it was on Chestnut. We ate out on the patio and people watched. My husband had a simple salad to start, and said it was really good. I started with a special that day - fried green heirloom tomatoes with roasted corn and a coulis to finish. It was delicious! Then we had grilled rosemary chicken, turnip greens, cornbread and a vegetable plate (roasted green beans, carrots, cheese grits, and fruit salad.) Everything was very good except for the carrots, which they attempted to caramelize but instead burned.
For dinner, we had planned to go to the Meeting Place, but a hotel clerk dissuaded us from that because we had our 5 year old along. We went instead to Hennen's, a steak house right next to the Blue Plate and the Aquarium. It was wonderful advice! I had trout with brown butter sauce, and my husband had a "Desert Fired Shrimp and Pasta". We loved it. We were too full for dessert, though they had some wonderful choices on the menu.
The next day we went to a new pizza place near Coolidge Park called Pizzeria Venti. The first thing they told us when we went in was that they were out of pizza. Huh? A pizza place that's out of pizza? There was only one other group in there! They told us it would be 25 minutes (turned out to be 45). My 5 year old was too tired to walk any farther, so we ordered the pizza and some appetizers to have while we waited. We got the bocce balls and a tuna and white bean salad. I have to admit that the salad was really good. The bocce balls were okay. I also ordered sweet tea, which they were out of. And they couldn't make more because they were making the pizza. There were 4 guys just standing around! So I got lemonade instead. It wasn't lemonade, it was water - because they were out of lemonade. I asked for lemon slices and they took about 20 minutes for those guys to bring them out.
Meanwhile, my son had to use the restroom and they were out of toilet paper! Out of toilet paper!
Oh, and we had to move tables because there was an ant infestation underneath our first one.
Finally we got the pizza (sold by the slice) and it was pretty good. But for $3.75 per slice, I would have expected it to be bigger than a 4 inch by 8 inch crust-free piece.
Very strange - I would NOT recommend this place.
Hilton Head restaurants for my 21 year old
Thank you so much for your replies. I am printing them out and handing them to her tonight. The whole thing is a surprise. I'll try to find out what they chose and I'll post about what they thought about them.
Shopping for food (and dining out) in/near Summit County, CO
The Dillon Dam Brewery has an awesome trout. We just love it. I have a house there and that is always a must-visit for us. So is the Sunshine Cafe. I always get the trout and eggs. There is another place right next to the Dillon Dam Brewery - canNOT remember the name. It's a *beautiful* setting with an awesome atmosphere. We always go to the Der Fondue Chessel on top of Keystone next to the AspenStube. I do NOT care for the Backcountry Brewery in Frisco, but I know others that do. The Alpenrose in Vail has wonderful German food. We love the Mint. Not crazy about Old Dillon Inn, partly because it is so darned dark in there. But those two are right by my house and have been there since before my house was built in 1965. We used to love the Blue River Bistro but the last 5 years or so, I haven't cared for it.
Hilton Head restaurants for my 21 year old
I am giving my daughter a weekend in Hilton Head for her 21st birthday, and I want to know what restaurants to set her up with. She will be with her fiance and they aren't really fancy people at this age. But they do like good food. Does anyone have any suggestions for a fun place with good food that isn't necessarily heavy-white-tablecloth fancy? I wouldn't want a dive for that particular occasion either.
Guilty Pleasure
Hohos/Yodels
Oreos
Oscar Meyer hot dogs
cinnamon toast (made with loads of sweet butter and sugar)
big macs
Oh the shame. ;)
Shrimp and Grits
Since my husband is Cajun, I make a lot of shrimp etouffee. I started making grits instead of rice with it, and that makes a terrific shrimp and grits! For my grits, I use the best stone ground grits I can find. I use one cup of that, 2 cups of chicken stock, and 2 cups of half and half. Yes, it's very rich but oh-so-good. The chicken stock adds a dimension of flavor that water just doesn't give, which is great with this dish.
The best shrimp and grits I have ever eaten was at a little restaurant called A. W. Shucks in Charleston. It's an unassuming little place in an alley alongside the Market. It's got a little outside elevated patio that you can people-watch from.
The best diner in the South
Sadly, the Revolving Table Restaurant in Mendenhall has been closed for several years. I had many a fine meal there.
Susan (a different Susan)
Weekend in Gatlinburg, TN
I consulted the boards here before going, and followed some of the restaurant advice this past weekend. The second we pulled into town on Saturday, we needed a meal so we went to the Park Grill on the main drag. The atmosphere was pleasant, and I believe someone here accurately described it as a post and beam affair. They had a very good salad bar. My husband ordered an appetizer that consisted of 3 jalapeno poppers, 3 strange-tasting salt and vinegar wings, and 3 cheese sticks. All of these were the frozen and heated type, and it was overpriced and undergood. I ordered the trout, and for $20 something, I expected more than plain, dry grilled trout. It did come with a sweet potato casserole that was very yummy. My husband ordered the prime rib and said it was "okay." My son got a steak from the kid's menu that was a great deal at 75 cents X his age (4). It was a bit hokey with a gift shop and waitstaff dressed like park rangers. Our waiter was very busy and not terribly attentive. I probably wouldn't bother going there again.
The next night we went to Calhouns. We both ordered ribs, and they were overcooked, dry, and very tough. I didn't care for the barbecue sauce, which was probably fine if you like the Carolina vinegarry style. My husband said it improved the ribs quite a bit. The atmosphere was pleasant. The really fun thing was that my 4 year old's kid's meal came in a cardboard car that he is still carrying around and playing with. Our waiter was incredibly slow moving to the point of frustration. My husband liked the whole thing a bit better than I did.
On our last evening, we went to Cherokee Grill. It was definitely the best of the three dinners. I had some delicious crab cakes accompanied by bleu cheese grits that were scrumptuous. My husband ordered the Prosperity steak and said it was terrific. We had a waitress that was very attentive and had our glasses refilled before we even thought to ask. The atmosphere was lovely with a lot of stacked stone and dimmed interior. Comfortable booths. Very nice meal and a good experience.
On our way out of town, we stopped by the Flapjacks on the main drag for some breakfast. It seems that you must eat pancakes while in town, because there are pancake restaurants on every block. This one was very kid friendly, but did not have the assortment of pancakes (blueberry, filled, etc.) that some other places have. Their pancakes were very thick and not very tender. I'd probably try a different pancake house next time.
susantrader from alpharetta, ga
