Looking for something in south bay that is introductory - covering basics of wine tasting. I think Savvy wine celler in MV has one although their website doesn't have a date for it. Any other places? Area is not important as long as it's south bay (los gatos/saratoga/cupertino/sunnyvale/santa clara/san jose/Palo alto/redwood city is fine)

not greek (mediterrenean), but dish-dash and dish-n-dash never disappoints

Thanks everyone..unfortunately wasn't able to use the list much. Went to Bineries but it was closed. Was able to try schwartz's after one failed attempt due to long lines (it was so worth going back). Tried olive and gourmando, that was very nice also. Other than that, walked into a Peri Peri place, a hole in the wall type place , I think it was around mount royal av. and st. urbain. Really enjoyed that place. Guess I'll save the list for my next trip..:)

TY everyone. What are some good examples of Montreal cuisine? I am about a km from the mile end neigboorhood. Also some bakery recs will be great!

I am going to Montreal for 2 days next week. Wondering if there are any must have foods that are unique to that region? Gonna try some Poutine of course, anything else?
If there are any must try places to eat at, please feel free to mention also. I have a car, and don't have any plans, so location is not important, but I have preference for outdoor cafe type places or live music or unique history etc.
I'll probably skip regular food that I can get here in Nortern california (burgers/Italian/asian/mediterrenean/BBQ etc). But don't get french/food from other exotic eurpoean coutries too much.
I know its very broad, so tried to narrow it down. "Unique" is the keyword here.

I have wondered about this place often, the burrito was pretty alright. Thanks!

Just wanted to updated, my current favorite coffee place is cafe venetia in palo alto, exactly what I was looking for..:) I know it's not in the region I originally requested, but still its totally worth the drive.

Well, if I go to a bookstore with the purpose of reading magazines, I usually spend 2-3 hrs, so that kind of makes it a local event.

Thanks Atomica, unfortunately i don't live in SF, so the magazine and cafe is not really useful for me, but it's still good to know. With the demise of borders, places to read magazines are gonna get harder to fine.
@scarmoza, my guess is they are not by rank.

what does everyone think of this article:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/n...

ty operagirl, I was going to research cheese on the forums, this gives me a head start..:)

ty so much...got to try Bellano, that was more the way I like it.
I just had simple coffee at Phillz, I wasn't impressed at all, but then I thought maybe I need to try some of their other types of coffee. but "charcoal"..really? That definitely should disqualify anyone...:)

ty Bunson for the truck rec, i'll definitely try that out.
the rose market was awesome, have to go back there to try other stuff.

Made it to barefoot, philz coffee and cafe brioche. Haven't made up my mind about cafe brioche yet, luved the sidewalk seating though, so I'll definitely go back. I had lentil soup which tasted a little sweeter than I am used to (almost like there was molasses or brown sugar in it). I liked the vibe at barefoot, but the espresso wasn't what I prefer ( a bit too bitter). Not going back to phillz coffee, I don't want to patronize environmentally irresposible places ( paper cups only), pity, I think I liked the atmosphere.

I've been to saravan bhava a few times...that is an awesome place!

By the way, any idea how to save the map in google maps or download to my phone?

oh yes , thats on my list. is it in cheap eats category?
long forward to trying some of the places.

I do like ramen quite a bit, I'll search the boards for some names. Maybe you have a few to add?

Thanks much everyone, ths is looking like a good list to start with. Please keep them coming, I have plenty fo time
@artemis...I see u have good choice with the Paella burrito..:) I was really hoping to find something simillar here. One of their locations started a strawberry salsa that was just yummy, sweet and sour!
I always felt fresh choice is like any other chain, not worth driving anywhere for, and I always end up eating too much..:). Actually to clarify the salad part, I am looking for places where I can customize my salad as well as make my own.
Anyone else think there is some taste difference between whold foods locations (talking about the hot food bar) ?

Hi chowhounds,

I just moved to sunnyvale, now I am in search of everyday food locations. I get almost all my meals at restaurants, so I am looking for reasonably priced everyday food that's good! With all the restaurants around here, there has to be a lot of those! I eat pretty much everything, although frequency wise, mexican probably ranks high, then vietnamese, japanese, salads and sandwiches. I live around Tasman and fair oaks and work at Santa clara (montague and 101) .
I have got some good places to try for weekends from the forums, but need recs for weekdays.

So far I have tried Dish N Dash and Chavez market, I'll go back to both, but need a lot bigger list.
here is some I am looking for:

1) Taqueria's
I am sure there are plenty of family owned low key Taqueria's, a few names will be nice. Also, I am wondering if there are places that make innovative burrito's and Salsa, if anyone has been to sacramento, there is a small chain named Dos Coyote's, that's the kind of place I am looking for. It's a little more upscale than the average mexican place, but still cheap and really good.
2) Vietnamese Pho places.
3) Salad's - Places similar to Pluto's where I can make my own salad's.
4) Great sandwiches.
5) Desperately need to find some coffee places. Been to the 2 at sunnyvale downtown, wasn't really impressed. Looking for places with the best barista's!
6) Brunch/Breakfast (This is not in the cheap category, more for weekends) - classy, imaginative brunch buffet? or just regular steak and eggs or corned beef and eggs. I had a few regular places in Folsom, one of them (Sienna at el dorado hills) always had an unique/different item for their sunday brunch, been there 5/6 times and every time they had something different.

Any other recommendations are welcome too (ethnic or otherwise). I really do eat everything.

Thanks in advance, I know it's a big list, but I didn't really get a good vibe by just driving around, so had to come here!

Went to Evan's kitchen, thanks for the recommendation, seems like good restaurant, the service was great. I didn't really like the fried chicken (it's probably me - didn't like the spices), but everthing else was excellent including service. Definitely worth going back.

thx...have to check that out!
I guess sacto really is not a good place for fried chicken....:)

Where should I go for some delicious fried chicken in Sacramento and surrounding areas? Of course KFC and popeye's and golden chicken don't count for this list.

Already sounds like a great list, looking forward to trying out a few this sunday if I get the chance. I liked one on fillmore, I think it was called groove. Although they didn't have free wireless and the food/coffeee is just ok.
Thanks all.

I want to create a list of coffee shops of cafe's with great character/nice view in SF. Some place where we can go and hang out with friends or just browse the internet, do some people watching. comfy seating is definitely a plus, sidewalk seating is nice too. I guess the food/coffee should be atleast decent. Basically a place to go unwind. Being from Sacto, it's hard to know the cool neighborhood places...:) Location is not important.

I went to brophy brothers seeing the frequent references here, and honestly, I was very disappointed. It was not bad, but I didn't feel like it's chow worthy. I had calamari and sea bass. Didn't like the calamari too much - a bit too soft for my taste. The bass was ok, nothing exeptional. The worst was the rice pilaf that came with the fish, it had absolutely no flavor. Maybe I just went there on a bad day - new years eve. But this is definitely not a place I will recommend. Any thoughts?

Hi all,
Tried Sea Chest from recs from the board ant it was great, cioppino was awesome, albeit huge. The only bad part was woke up with stomach ache middle of the night and next morning was not too great...:(. I suspect the clam chowder, which smelled a little fishy..but who knows!