MrKotter's Profile
Santa Cruz dinner with water view
Those were 2 at which I was looking, and I was leaning towards the Crow's Nest. Thanks!
Santa Cruz dinner with water view
I'm heading out to San Jose for a trade show and plan to hit Santa Cruz on Saturday night. Any ideas for a decent dinner spot on the water? Preferably seafood, but the menu needs some land lubber options as my co-worker is not a fish eater. Thanks!
Good perch in Toledo/Maumee
I'm passing through next week, and I am in search of some really good lake perch. Any recommendations? I've seen a few places advertise perch: Jim Shull's Rib Cage, Maumee Bay Brewing, The Seafood Restaurant in Sylvania. Thanks!
Dish South Side PGH-- Italian
They can! I also love their pizza, but their pasta dishes are some of the best in the area. Not real heavy on the sauce and relatively simple
looking for nutrition based cook to prepare meals
isisprods, if you email me at kotter15@yahoo.com, I will put you in contact with someone that may be able to help you out
Apple picking in Western PA?
It took my wife and I about 10 years to find an apple festival with cider doughnuts as we were both raised in the Midwest. We haven't found the whole deal with apple picking, but I can tell you where to find a festival with good doughnuts, http://www.applecastle.com/ . The festival is 10/8 and the castle is in New Wilmington, up in Amish country. Apples are very well priced, they have some craft tents, food, local entertainment, and fresh doughnuts. Just an FYI while you are up in the area head east on Rt 208 to Volant...we found better doughnuts at the Volant Pumpkin festival which is always on the same day. These are not cider based, but they are the best doughnuts I have ever had!! There is a tent right by the river where a group of Amish women churn out these fantastic treats. They are big, sweet, and they have a little maple syrup in them, I think. Plus, you get another little local fall festival.
Not quite so fine dining in the South Hills (Pgh)
Over the past few weeks, my wife and I decided to go to a few places that we frequently drive by, but never stop. You win some and lose some...
Saigon 88 -- some how related/connected to Pho Kim with some similar menu items, but S88 does not hold a candle to Pho Kim. The patio is nice but loud with traffic noises. The menu has sushi, some Vietnamese, and some Thai with some interesting looking items. Overall, the food was really not very good at all, except for the sushi. The Unagi was some of the tastiest in the area, and the Hamachi was good. I had a green curry with duck that was overly sweet and not even close enough to being spicy hot. Sounded good but kind of turns my stomach thinking about it....my wife had the House fried rice which was terrible. First off, folks around here have got to learn how to make fried rice, and the name sort of implies what needs to be done with it! This attempt was incredibly flavorless with minute pieces of chicken. At least the Sapporo wasw cold! Will give it another try for sushi, but that's it.
Pazzo (Mt Lebo) -- We thought we'd give it a try to see if they kept the brick oven and we wanted to eat outdoors. We went on a Tuesday night which turns out to be 50% bottles of wine and apps. The nice outdoor patio and the Tuesday specials were about the only positives, other than the service which was very good. The apps list is the typical, 3rd rate, Pittsburgh, Italian restaurant staples, albeit without the chicken wings. The menu looks nice with a variety of pastas, pizzas, and grilled stuff, but the execution definitely lacks. My wife had the baked pasta--loaded with cheese, penne, marinara, and very little taste. The marinara was decent, but the dish just had no distiguishable flavors. I had the Margarita pizza and it was decent at best. This is the first time that I have seen anyone use a brick oven to try and cook a boring, doughy, thick crust. The ingredients were Ok, but how do you mess up buffalo mozz and basil! Disappointing for sure!
South Park Clubhouse -- Been there for beers a few times and it is a great bar with a good beer selection, although a little imagination could make it a better selection. I have to admit that the food exceeded my expectations. I had the ribs, which were good. Fairly tender with a good smoky sauce and plenty of it. I hate places that serve average ribs with very little sauce. My wife had baked cod with a baked potato and it was more than serviceable. The best thing is that this place ain't going to break the bank. Good bar food, great atmosphere, and we'll give it another go.
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Pazzo
430 N Main St Ste Rear, Taylor, PA 18517
Good chow near Fleetwood/Reading?
Muddy's looked really interesting, and I would have stopped if it wasn't 95 degrees out! Good Eatz is a great call! Very large and diverse menu (carnivores, vegans, and tweeners), and their selections are a nice change for traveling folks who want more choices than, chips or fries with your sandwich.....
Dinette vs Il Pizzaiolo
Il Piz is my the winner in a direct comparison, only because it is better and offers more options. I have no problem with either one! One thing to bear in mind--the wait at Il Piz can be substantial at times, especially on weekends.
Dining Suggestions for Pennsylvania, namely Grove City,Cranberry and Pittsburgh area DDD
To answer your last question, the area west of Grove City is a large Amish area. If you take route 208 west, you can head into New Wilmington where you can probably find a bakery. It will be about a 10-20 minute drive.
The Iron Bridge is a great place to eat, but beware that there are extremely long waiting times on the weekends (can be 1 - 2 hours prime time). I can't comment on the wait at Rachel's. Near the outlet malls, there is a nice little Mexican restaurant just on the other side of I-79 called Compadres--pretty good stuff. Another place of interest in Slippery Rock (~15 minute drive) is the North Country Brewing company. Nice brew pub, decent food, nice atmosphere, but also can be quite busy on weekends as it appears to be the hot eating spot in this college town. Ironically, I discovered this place after my wife and I walked out of the aforementioned Elephant & Castle!
pittsburgh beer distributors
Duffy's in Pleasant Hills has a nice selection and you can't pass on a place called Beer World in Crafton. I agree with PG about Banksvile Beer as my go to place. I am stating to like the 6 Pack Shop on Mt Lebo Blvd. Prices are outrageous, but I'm more willing to spend $10 on a experimental sixer tha $40 on a case!
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Pleasant Hill Restaurant & Bar
536 S Kennedy Dr, McAdoo, PA 18237
Finally, a Pittsburgh pizza for CT transplants
PG, is Apizza Badamo an off shoot of Bado's? I saw the name, and that was my first thought. How is the sausage there?
pa wineries
I agree with njfoodies that most PA wines are not worthy of $20+ pricetags, but I think that is more of an issue in the eastern part of the state where the wineries are probably a little better. In the western part of PA, we aer looking at the $8-$15 range for most of the wines. The reality is that WPA wines are average to good
(coming from a dry wine drinker), with some really decent stuff for under $10. The reds in this part of the world are not really that good overall, but there are some quaffable finds. Conneaut Cellars has some good stuff, Stone Villa can turn out some nice whites, some of the Erie wineries (Arrowhead, Presque Isle) also have some good wines at decent prices. If you're looking for CA quality juice, it ain't gonna happen very often. If you're looking for a place to have some fun, drink some wine, and just enjoy the winery atmosphere, the local wineries fit the bill! PS--Ohio has some good wineries as well.
Erie, PA Wine Trail Musts?
sorry if this is after the fact, but I was on vacation. If your time is limited, you may want to stick with the Erie/North East area wineres. They are not as good as the OH wineries in general, but I think you will hve a good time without a lot of driving. If you do choose to go he OH route, stop by Markko along the way. If you can find it, they have some of the best wines in the entire area, especially chardonnays, an their reds are quite good for the area.
Erie, PA Wine Trail Musts?
Where is your origination point and where is your finishing point? My reason is that, imo, there are some better and more fun wineries in the Geneva-on-the-Lake area of OH. I suspect that you can have fun in either place, and there aren't really that many wineries in the Erie area, unless you cross into NY. Here is a link to the map of the North East wineries, some of which have some good juice, http://www.pennsylvaniawine.com/map-pdfs/Chautauqua%20Lake%20Erie%20Trail.pdf .
It is a nice drive along the lake and there are a few watering holes, including a nice bar/restaurant at the North East Marina, right on the lake. As for restaurants in Erie, I personally like Smuggler's Wharf for dinner, and you may want to consider the Sloppy Duck, which has good bar food and may be more suitable for a party.
Local Honey in Pittsburgh?
Sunstream Apiaries, Mars PA 724-772-0985. I have a local wildflower honey from them right now, and it is really nice
Upscale-ish lunch in Shadyside, Pittsburgh?
I also am looking for a new late lunch/very early dinner place in this area (non-BYOB), and I have found that neither Toast nor Typhoon are open until 5pm. I agree with the general comments on Casbah. Plum is really good and open for lunch and Point Brugge is one of my favorites. Pangea and Girasole are also great places to dine. Any other suggestions? I am not opposed to Bloomfield or Lawrenceville (already been to Tamari). Thanks!
Salem's Grill - Strip District
Do they serve any adult beverages? BYOB? Is this really a more lunch-counter type place than a sit down restaurant? thanks
Where to have a great meal at the bar (Pittsburgh)?
Monterey Bay on Mt Washington is another great option for bar dining if you are in the mood for seafood and want a great view.
New Island House in Port Clinton OH
It's $18.95 for a perch dinner including bread, salad, potato, and veggie. Not a bad deal as I have paid $15 for much more mediocre fish. IMHO, almost any perch is good perch although most seems to be quite average, at best.
New Island House in Port Clinton OH
This is sort of an upscale place for PC, but it is worth a visit if you are looking for a nice restaurant. The setting is an old hotel bar and dining room complete with tin ceiling and wood bar. Service was adequate but not spectacular, and the food was very good except for the perch dinner, which was outstanding! Prices are probably high for the area, but reasonable for folks used to larger cities. Nice wine and beer selection--not to many choices, but enough decent options. They had some nice steak entrees that looked good, and they do really good baked potatoes, regular and sweet.
Fried Chicken in Pgh area
Been watching a lot of "Triple D" on the Food Network, and there always seems to be good fried chicken. Any clue on where to get good fried chicken in or around Pgh or SW PA?
Tamari (Pgh)
Finally made it to Tamari last Friday afternoon, and it was really, really good! We got there around 2:30 after a shopping trip in the Strip, and we had the place to ourselves. Therefore, I can say the service was very attentive! The wine list is nice with all selections at $7/glass--nothing extraordinary, but you can get a nice Malbec and a decent Cab (Main Street).
My wife and I did the whole deal as we were starving--started with CA rolls (MRs loves them) which were very nice and fresh, some ceviche which was outstanding served in a little tostone, and the grilled romaine which was also very nice and refreshing. The next course was the robata--meat on a stick seved with 3 sauces. If you watch the Next Iron Chef and are completely sick of the Kikkoman commercials....I believe that this course fits the umami category. Had beef tenderloin (melt in your mouth), chicken, and shitakke. These are very small portions (3 little pieces) with a really nice teriyaki glaze that marries well with the sauces (ginger, chimichurri, soy butter).
For entrees, I had the lamb lollipops which were smallish lampchops with a serrano pepper char served with I believe the same chimichurri sauce from above with mashed sweet potatoes. This was outstanding and needed a nice Cab! The Mrs had the sea bass with chipotle whipped potatoes. The fish was excellent and the potatoes actually reminded us more of other root vegetables, which was refreshing.
Dessert is pretty limited but the chocolate ganache cake is really great with the cayenne bite on the end, and the green tea cake was extremely nice. Can't wait to get back and try some of their specialty maki.
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Iron Chef Restaurant
51 S Wyoming Ave, Kingston, PA 18704
Best Restaurant in Erie, PA
Just out of curiosity, what was your previous best restaurant? I get up to Erie 2-3 times per year, and I usually eat at Smuggler's Cove purely for the lake perch dinner. I am always looking for a nice place to eat just in case I am there for more than 1 night.
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Smuggler's Cove Restaurant
RR 611, Tannersville, PA 18372
New (Great!) Mexican in Pittsburgh: Round Corner Cantina
Good to hear! Great Mexican in Pgh tends to be an oxymoron....do they serve beer?
Pittsburgh itinerary help please.
I agree with Whigsboy. You're tentive itinerary is pretty good as you are hitting 3 really nice places. If you stay at the Hampton, you could theoretically walk to Heinz hall, but it may not be a pleasant walk if you are all dressed up without comfy walking shoes. If you drive, there is a parking garage right on Penn Ave just past 6th st, right across the street from Heinz Hall. From the hotel, take a right on Smallman, left on 11th, first right on Penn and the garage is on the left just past the intersection with 6th. If you end up staying at the Courtyard, you can eat at Sonoma Grille right in the hotel, drinks at Seviche across the street, and walk to Heinz Hall.
Pittsburgh puzzler...
You probably have more selections that you will need, but I want to throw in another one that is near your area. It is a small, quaint place with outstanding food, great beer, and a nice affordable wine list, Point Brugge Cafe, http://www.pointbrugge.com/ .
Pittsburgh puzzler...
Yaya is correct--give us an idea of your location and travel means as Pgh is not an easy place to navigate. You can't go wrong with Lidia's as it is one of the better all around places in the Burgh. On the same street, Smallman, you will also find Eleven (really nice upscale restaurant, kind of pricey and might be a good lunch option if cost is an issue) and Kaya (smallish place with great food with a Caribbean twist).
Soba Lounge - Great New Items on the Menu
Welcome back! I hadn't seen you on the board for a while. Thanks for the heads up on Soba as that is probably my favorite restaurant in the Burgh, and its nice to hear that they have updated their menu.
