Thanks for the suggestions, I will report back after our trip.

We are doing a quick revisit this week for some colleges for our senior daughter. Last year when we visited Charlotte we ate at Zada Jane's, Amelie's bakery, and the penquin.(Based on reviews of new ownership we will not return to the penquin) Loved them all so we are again looking for local spots that are fun without being over the top price point for this trip.

Also we have never visited Charleston, but are considering The gin joint, Five loafs, Glass onion, or Queen street grocery.

We do have a car so driving is not a problem, but we don't want to drive to far. staying in the Southpark area in Charlotte, and in the historic district in Charleston

Thanks in advance for any help.

Lola is wonderful but do not overlook Crop. They recently moved to the new location and the restaurant is very attractive and the food is outstanding.

I would pick McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's or just not eat over Crooks.

I am looking for a good local restaurant for a Sunday night dinner by myself, as I am traveling for business. Never stayed in the area before so I am looking for some help . I am staying at the .Doubletree in Miamsisburg and will have a car but would prefer to stay somewhat in the area. Would prefer more informal than formal but really anything will work.

For a very special occasion I am trying to find a Cleveland restaurant that allows you to pay corkage for a wine they do not carry. It is more about the bottle then the charge for bringing it in.After many phone calls to various places, most say it is against the law. With that said I know that rules can be overlooked.

We are going to be visiting Tampa next week for the first time for a cruise. Staying at the doubletree near downtown , and we will not have a car. Looking for some non chain options for intersting local restaurants, open to all cuisines, moderate pricing

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming..Our schedule has been finalized as being at High Point on Friday during the daytime, and spending Friday night in Winston/Salem, and then onto Elon Saturday afternoon, and spending Sat night and Sunday night in Chapel Hill.We feel pretty sure of where to eat in Chapel Hill and Carrboro but need help in the other places. Sweet Potatoes looks good.

-----
Sweet Potatoes
529 N Trade St, Winston Salem, NC 27101

We are making our 2nd visit to North Carolina to check out college's with our high school junior daughter in mid February. Last summer we visited The Triangle, and Charlottle, which we loved. We got great suggestions from this board, and we want to find the same caliber as we experienced.This trip will be Winston/Salem, Elan, High Point and Chapel Hill.
We all love locally owned owned, independent restaurants and we are open to all types of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. More lower/moderate but for dinner we can do whatever. We are flying into Raleigh, but have not decided in what order we are visiting, we will be in NC from Friday morning until dinner time on Monday.

I am trying to help out a family member looking for dinner at a restaurant/hotel on Christmas day for dinner. They are flexible on location. Any help would be appreciated.

Have not heard that Michael is no longer associated with the restaurant. From all indications it appeared that a had found a place that he coud do his thing, cook, and that is something he does so well.
A very talented chef that just can't seem to stay in a place for a very long time,what a shame.

My wife just got back late last night and had a whirl wind tour of being in Bloomington 24 hours. They had a late lunch at Laughing Planet when they arrrived Saturday afternoon and enjoyed the food very much. We are all very fond of Mexican foods so it was a comfortable setting. Dinner Saturday night was at Tallent, and they liked that alot. Service was very accomodating from letting my wife taste a few wines by the glass before she decided on which one was best to match up to the foods. Her comment about the food was the entrees were better than the appetizers, which I find somewhat surprising as the appetizers sounded amazing to me, but again I was not there to eat the meal. All in all it was a great choice, close by, fairly priced, good service, good food and a place they would return to without any question. Breakfast was at Runcible Spoon which the local shop owners and others talked about and they thought that was also very good, but I don't know much about that meal. The one comment I heard over and over again by both my daughter and wife was how friendly everyone was in town and they liked the feel of Kirkwood and 4th street. Many thanks for the recomondations for a first time visitor.

-----
Runcible Spoon Cafe & Restaurant
412 E 6th St, Bloomington, IN 47408

Laughing Planet Cafe
322 E Kirkwood Ave Ste 105, Bloomington, IN 47408

Thanks for all the input, that's what I love about this site, that no matter what part of the country there is someone that is knowledgable about their home town. This specific trip is for my wife and daughter so I was trying to find the right vibe for them. My daughter is 16 but she has been raised with good food and wine since day one and has a pretty good palate and appreciation.
I am always happy to recommend places that we are familiar with in our home town or places that we have enjoyed. Crop is one of our favorites as the chef/owner Steve gets it and understands food. In all the times we have been there which is at least 25 times we have never had a bad meal, and have never felt taken advantage of. The employee's are very tuned into working there and it shows with every plate by the kitchen and dining room staff

I am visiting this weekend with my daughter to check out the school and we are looking for suggestions of locally owned, and interesting spots to eat. We do have a car so driving is not a problem, but would prefer not to drive to far. I do not know this area at all and any help would be appreciated.

Lots of discussion, some of it not even in relationship to what the orginal post was about. The facts were about the food being bland, the service being poor, the attitude of managment, and just the dullness of the place.
It was not meant to debate that we ordered the wrong items, or the recipes were not authentic according to some, that we should not have expected a five star meal, or as someone said that they have never had a perfect meal anywhere(I have had plenty of perfect meals from whole in the wall, to white tablecloth establishments)
This board is devoted to the apprecation of food, wine, service, recipes, and dining out.
Crooks corner was a let down no matter what , AMEN. I just want to warn any potential customers not to waste their money, there are much better choices out there and if we could save one person from going there, then that's a good thing.

We were not expecting a five star dining experience, we knew that going in, but what we did expect was greatly executed food, and the same type of service. We received neither, the attitude was "we can do no wrong, we have a good reputation and we don't care what you think"

Look the chef was one of only 5 nominated within I believe a 4 or 5 state area, you can't tell me that with all the options that this is the best chef around. Food does not have to be fancy to be good, it just needs to be prepared well and this was not by any stretch. No doubt that the national and local press loves this place, but they are resting on their past reputation from probably years gone by.

We did have dinner at Lantern and enjoyed it, and we ate twice at Neals Deli.

We just got back from our first trip to North Carolina and for the most part we were very impressed with the restaurants. Lots of creativity, interesting flavors, and good service, but Crooks Corner was our biggest let down.
Highly recommended on this board, in guide books and by friends that have either lived in the area or have visited. We just did not get it, though the food was not bad, it certainly was far from exciting either.
We had reservations that got cancelled because of a utility pole was either struck by a vehicle or was down for some reason, so the restaurant had no power, That certainly was a shame for the restaurant losing a nights worth of business, so we rescheduled for our last night there. We made a point that we were disappointed of not being able to eat there our first night as it had been so highly recommended to us. When we arrived there was never any mention of being sorry for the mishap, but again it was not their fault but a simple comment would have been nice.
We had jalapeno hushpuppies, which were tasteless,, they needed more spice, or cheese or something they were just plain bland. We had hushpuppies at Allen and Sons that just sang to us, again a different style but I am getting hungry just thinking about those. The salad we had was the highlight of the night, very fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and beans, with a very simple sea salt and vinegar dressing.
Entrees were shrimp and grits and the tabasco chicken. The shrimp was ok but not what we felt was a signature dish, it again needed some pep or zing. The chicken was again ok but not great, the mashed potatoes were swimming in butter. We never got bread but every other table around us did, we really didn't need it but it would have been nice to offer it to us. We were going to have dessert but after our experience it was time to exit this place. Our server never checked back on our meals, never said thanks to us, never wiped down the table , all in all a place we would never go back to.
We spoke to the manager and told her our thoughts, we said we didn't want any thing but to let her know our feelings. I said for a James Beard nominee restaurant this restaurant was far below par, even though you may be popular locally we will never be back here again or tell any one about this place. Her comment "we are not only locally popular but we have an international reputation" Please we have eaten in some of the finest restaurants around and this place was a joke, but Pt Barnum stated it best!!

If you have time for only one restaurant which one would you choose and why. We are visiting next week for the first time and have virtually every meal planned and have heard nothing but praise about Allen and then recently we have gotten some positive feedback about Bullocks.

Thanks for the suggestions, we have made some decisions but have a few more thoughts.
Raleigh/Durham looks like a much more interesting restaurant city than Charlotte, with that said, we have dinner reservations at Watts Grocery and it's a toss up between Crooks Corner and Lantern. (Only one night still available) Bbq Allen and Sons or Bullocks or both? Breakfast Amelia's bakery.
In Charlotte Merts and Sir Edmond Halley's, unless any one else has suggestions.

-----
Watts Grocery
1116 Broad Street, Durham, NC 27705

First time visitors to NC, checking everything out for a possible move to this area. We ae spending 2 days in Raleigh (Chapel Hill) and 2 days in Charlotte(South Park).
We are looking for great local food particulary BBQ, Southern and hidden gems. On this trip we don't want anything to fancy or fussy as we we want to experience more down home, fun food. with out getting to dressed up.
We do have a car and any help would be really be appreciated. We have done some home work but looking for more input. Thanks!!

Crop is one of our favorite restaurants in the city. We dine there at least once a month and most often it is on Sunday night. Sunday night supper is a great concept $25.00 for 3 courses. A salad served family style, choice of 5 or 6 entrees and dessert. They are smart for what they do by using up ingredients still in stock from the weekend, or to experiment on potential new menu additions. It is the best bargain in town for what you get, hands down.
On the other hand I can see why you may not like dining on Sundays because the menu is limited and you can not order seperate apps, desserts etc. My guess is if you asked for something not on the menu and it was available they would accomodate you. Having had a minimum of 20 dinners there, we have never been disapointed. Steve and Jackie who own the restaurant are awesome, as is Tom the chef. We have had some situations that we had trouble parking there because of the Browns games or special area events and try not to go when these are taking place.

We just got back late last night from our visit to Albuquerque and wanted to give some feedback. We were attending a convention which was at the Marriott so we only had limited time to explore the city. Thanks to comments from this board it helped us find some places.
Dinner Friday night 7/17 was at Chef du Jour. Loved it. Buddy the owner is a gem and spent lots of time chatting with us and talking food. Very, very fair prices, intersting dishes, nice portions and it was a shame that more people do not dine here.. A little hard to find but well worth it.
Breakfast Satuday was at Flying star which was perfect for everything but even thought they are localy owned, to much of a Starbucks or chain feel to it.
Breakfast on Sunday was at Satellite coffee and being the same owners as Flying star pretty much the same feelings about them but Flying star had many things to order and Satellite had only 4 or 5 breakfast items.
Sunday dinner we walked around Nob Hill and it was early so we checked out the stores and try to decide where to eat. As we had a late lunch we were hungry but not starved so we wound up at Gecko's and had tapas. It hit the spot, good but not great. If we would have been hungrier it probably would have been Scalo, Nob Hill bar, Brasserie Proveance, Too Fools or maybe even Kelly's. Love the feel of the area, it was ecclectic and fun.
Monday morning breakfast at Frontier. Everyone said do not miss this place. Huh? Mediocre food, dirty atmosphere, Ok we love food and have eaten in places that are as dirty as here but....Sweet rolls, swimming in butter. This place was not worth the effort of getting there.
Yes, it is a difficult city to get around without a car, but we used the rapid ride system, and it was easy to navigate and cheap. The people in Albuquerque were about the most friendly and courteous of any city we have traveled to. Polite, helpful and just nice folks.

Thanks for everyone's advice and comments. We are going to be attending a convention which is at the Marriott but have some free time to explore on our own. Chains not at all interested in except for maybe convience, but we would much rather go to independent and local places after all. We know that everything is not close but we were not sure how spread out the city is. Bus's are perfectly fine and they look like they are easy to navigate, so again cab's don't make a difference to us. If we had more free time we would have rented a car to explore the city, but thats not the case. Just more interested in a few good meals.
I called chef du jour and they are on vacation until 7/7 and left a message to get back to us. If that works out we will go there Friday 7/17, which leaves dinner on Sunday 7/19, breakfast for Sat-Mon.

we are visiting in about 2 weeks and looking forward to our first visit. We have done some research but need some additional advice about local great food. Moderate pricing is best, but open to all.We are staying at Marriot on Louisiana blvd and do not have a car, so we would like to keep it closer by via taxi or walking if possible.
For breakfast Le Peep looks good..any thoughts, any additional places.
Dinner we are considering Chef du Jour, Brasserie Proveance, Duran Central Pharmacy, and have also checked out Zinc, Scalo, Savoy and Seasons.
We have Friday and Sunday night dinner to fill and Saturday, Sunday and Monday breakfasts to fill.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

We will be coming down this weekend and staying at the Hilton by the beach. Looking for local great food. We are open to all types of food and it does not have to be fancy just good and places we can get to without a car.