Struggling for a good family meal in Carlsbad

Boy - Carlsbad/North Cty area is a tough area to find good food that pleases the kids and the adults at the same time! We've been to Bety's Tacos a few times (I loved it - mother in-law hated it - too blue collar - food was too "weird"). Been to Kaito in Encinitas (really great - but not a family place). Eaten at some truly god-awful places near the water in Carlsbad (can't remember the names - but it was the typical touristy pretty view, pretty awful mexican food type places charging $18 for a plate of fajitas). Where can we get a nicely grilled piece of fish without paying $22.95 that can also provide some grub for our 6 yr old daughter? Where can we get really GOOD mexican food (tried Tony's Jacal in Del Mar - I hated it - worst chili relleno ever, terrible salsa, bad cheese enchiladas, awful flan etc. . . . though the ambience was neat.). Tried Especial Norte on Hwy 101 - the much-lauded soups were good - but nothing great and everything else (enchiladas etc were dreadful). We're new to the area - from Dallas - where we've been spoiled on local tex-mex spots like Mia's - and even the Mi Cocina family chain. We know the mexican food in CA is different than Tex-Mex, but we're struggling to find good mexican food - and a good seafood restaurant that won't break the bank in SD. We also tried Trattoria I trulli - it was OK . . . but given today's economy, we're looking for outstanding the few times we get to go out to eat. We don't mind driving for good food - even 30 miles south into the city . . . but it's be great to have a few places in North Cty for quality grub for a family meal. Any help is greatly appreciated!

skedhead2000 in San Diego

San Diego - Farm House Cafe or Urban Solace?

Wow - we really kicked off quite a discussion . . . though my wife and I have only eaten at Better Half and Farm House one time each - I'll chime in with our experiences. We went to Better Half about a month ago to take advantage of the unbelievable $15 3-course prix fixe early bird special. The ambience was wonderful - we got there at 6pm on a Saturday and the place was about half full . . . it was packed by 7pm. We started with leek and potato soup - which was spot on. Velvet-smooth and layered flavors. My wife had mussels en frite and I had the cornish game hen. Both were nice - but neither spectacular. We finished with bread pudding- far too sweet. You can't argue the value they delivered, but it didn't blow us away. The lone truly memorable dish was the soup. We went to Farm House this past Friday around 7:45pm. It was packed and we LOVED the ambience . . . the seating was tight but not too tight, it was a perfectly quaint place to sneak away and enjoy a lovely meal with other foodies in the know. The food was consistently spectacular here . . . again, just one meal - but they nailed EVERYTHING. I had the $30 prix-fixe February special (gnocchi with truffle oil and bread crumbs . . . braised veal shank with mustard greens and polenta . . . and they let me substitute the chocolate dessert for an almond panna cotta). The service was really charming . . . laid back, warm, friendly, water was filled without us even knowing it etc. - pacing of the service was just right. My wife started with chevre salad and had the 1/2 dozen oysters for her dinner (she wanted to save room for dessrt - of which she ordered the butterscotch pot de creme). My gnocchi was as light as a cloud with a touch of (I believe) gorgonzola and the essence of truffle oil gave it perfect depth. My wife made me eat half her salad so she could eat 1/2 my gnocchi. My veal shank was again - spot on. Impossibly tender braised veal set against the slightly bitter greens and the polenta was sublime. My wife's oysterswere the only off note of the evening . . . not because of their quality, but rather because of their size . . . each about the size of a nickel. Shame on us for not inquiring exactly what type of oyster . . . and yes, oysters should be appreciated for their quality rather than their volume - but $12 for six teensy-eensy bites of food should come with a forewarning. The panna cotta was unbelieveable, smooth and subtle (not too sweet). The butterscotch pot de creme was good - but the panna cotta was ridiculous. Even the decaf coffee my wife ordered was great - bold and vibrant. We've eaten all over America, including many three star places in NYC (Jean Georges, Blue Hill, Babbo, Scarpetta etc) and the experience we had at Farm House rivaled any of them - seriously. We walked out of the place smitten . . .

skedhead2000 in San Diego

San Diego - Farm House Cafe or Urban Solace?

Thanks everyone for the feedback . . . we're looking for romance, so Farm House it is . . . BTW, we did the stressed economy blue plate special at Better Half last month . . . it was very nice.

skedhead2000 in San Diego

San Diego - Farm House Cafe or Urban Solace?

The wife and I have a precious date night out this evening . . . we're new to San Diego and devoted foodies. After much research on these boards and looking over the website menus we've got it narrowed down to Farm House Cafe or Urban Solace for dinner tonight. If you had to choose between your last meal on this planet between Farm House Cafe or Urban Solace (and no cheating by mentioning other places - we're on a budget and these two places look to offer a nice blend of ambience, quality, creative food and value) - which would you choose? Need to know before 6pm tonight if possible . . . THANKS!!

skedhead2000 in San Diego

Rate my NYC Dining Weekend

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I'll report back when we get back to Dallas.

skedhead2000 in Manhattan

Rate my NYC Dining Weekend

Fellow Hounds,
My wife and I will be in NYC four four nights in early October. We've got an 8pm concert at Radio City Music Hall one night (Echo & the Bunnymen - brilliant!) and we're going to try and score tickets for Young Frankenstein another, thus two of the four nights will be a mixture of pre-theatre and late-night snacks. We need to keep a budget, so no crazy $250 dinners at EMP etc. We love all types of cuisine but hope to get great samples of Italian, pizza, burgers, croissants, rustic french, new "farm-driven" American and some deli food. Neither one of us will be drinking during the week because my wife is pregnant - so we'll be able to focus our budget on the food. BTW - last year we went to Jean Georges for lunch and Momofuku Ssam & Babbo for dinner so those options are corssed off the list.

Day #1
- 9:30pm dinner at Scarpetta (coming off a 5:30pm landing at Newark)

Day #2
- 8:30am breakfast at Barney Greengrass (and then hit Central Park or the museums)
- Noon lunch at the Shake Shack
- 5:30pm early dinner at Artisinal (for the fondue and maybe the $35 prix-fixe pre-theater dinner)
- 11pm or later, catch a post-concert bite at 'ino for the truffled toast.

Day #3
- Grab a bialy at Kossar's
- Pizza in Brooklyn at Di Fara's for lunch
- Dinner at Blue Hill

Day #4
- Breakfast at Clinton Street Bakery
- Gray's Papaya for a light lunch
- 5pm reservation at Casa Mono for some pre-theater tapas
- 11pm Late night snack at Spotted Pig or Balthazar

Day #5
- Grab a croissant at either La Bergamote, Petrossian's Cafe or Patisserie Claude for breakfast.
- Head over to Katz's for pastrami on rye for lunch at Noon
- Walk over to Russ & Daughter's to stock up on lox just before heading out of town on a 3pm flight out of La Guardia.

I'm hemming and hawing if we should swap out Scarpetta for Perilla, but the menu at Scarpetta sounds amazing. We'd love to try a Daniel Boulud restaurant but the top dogs (Daniel and Cafe Boulud) seem out of our price range.

BTW - does anyone know if Blue Hill or Scarpetta will allow an entree to be split? Ideally, my wife and I like to order two appetizers, split an entree and split a dessert. At Scarpetta, we were thinking of getting two apps, splitting a pasta and splitting an entree. Not sure if they'll allow it. We also tinkered with the idea of the 10-course tasting menu at Degustation but that'll be close to $200 for the two of us.

skedhead2000 in Manhattan

Dallas Hound - 1 Night for Business

One last thought . . . one of the guys going to dinner suggested a place called The Half Shell. Said it's got great crab legs despite dive bar atmosphere. For a foodie, is this place a hidden gem or a place to avoid?

skedhead2000 in Chicago Area

Dallas Hound - 1 Night for Business

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback . . . Looks like Quartino or Blackbird are our best options given how late our convention is running til that night. I doubt we'll need to make reservations for a Wednesday night at 10pm.

skedhead2000 in Chicago Area

Dallas Hound - 1 Night for Business

Thanks lp veg . . . I took a closer look at some of the websites for these places and many of them close at 10pm. Coco Pazzo is 10:30pm as is Blackbird. looks like Quartino is open til 1am!

skedhead2000 in Chicago Area

Dallas Hound - 1 Night for Business

I'm in for 1 precious night in Chicago for a convention out near O'Hare. I'll be dining with a few business contacts (four guys in the 35 to 45 year old range) of whom like good food, but are definitely NOT foodies like myself (a.k.a - they've likely never heard of Foie Gras and would say "Bless You" if you said "Achatz"). They'd probably stick with a steakhouse - but I'm gonna drag them somewhere cooler.

We won't have a car, but we can cab it into town. We can't splurge - looking for entrees in the $20-$28 range. As an example, we had a convention in Cleveland last year and went to Lolita and it was perfect. Cool vibe, great food that didn't bust the bank and made the foodies and not-so-much foodies all happy.

One other catch, we'll be dining on a Wednesday night around 10:15pm or 10:30pm - so we'll need a place that stays open late and has a good vibe at that time (tough on a Wednesday - I know).

I've done a bit of research and come up with the following places and was hoping to get some help to narrow it down to a definitive winner. I tried to keep the selection of places to cater to a wide array of palates (i.e. American or Italian menus with some casual Bistro style places thrown in).

- Coco Pazzo
- Sola
- Quartino
- Sepia
- Custom House
- Brasserie Jo
- Blackbird (budget blown - is it that amazing?)
- Sweets and Savories

Thanks for your help with this. Please feel free to slice, dice and add as needed.
Cheers

skedhead2000 in Chicago Area

best mexican in dallas?

Heck - I'll fourth Cafe San Miguel. Everything is delicious . . . love their braised short ribs (but don't get it on your shirt - it'll be stained forever), killer homemade corn tortillas and guacamole, killer ceviche etc. One draw back is how darn loud the place is. It's a fun scene - just be prepared to SPEAK UP!!

skedhead2000 in Dallas - Ft. Worth

LA Hound coming to Dallas

Darn it - I forgot to add that Bijouz is also absolutely incredible.

skedhead2000 in Texas

LA Hound coming to Dallas

I'd have to agree with sike101 . . . if price is not a consideration go to Aurora (and be prepared to drop hundreds and hundreds of dollars). Otherwise, go to York Street or Lola.

skedhead2000 in Texas

Where can I find good pizza in Dallas?

I'm shocked too . . . Louie's on henderson blows away any other pizza in the city. Olivella's is great too - but it's no Louie's. Went to Grimadli's the other night and was disapointed (tomato sauce is sickly sweet). Other good places - but all a distant second to Louie's are Covino's (go to the original location and DON'T order the pasta unless you like overcooked goo), Marco's (the ambience of an Andy Gump but pizza is nice) and that's about it. There are no good places for chicago style pizza in Dallas btw. Oh yeah - Sal's near Wycliff is awful. Not sure why folks love that place.

skedhead2000 in Dallas - Ft. Worth

ONE day in Dallas - have car - need itinerary complete w/ local fav eats!

Dude - Wine Therapist is right across the street from York St. Great bar to buy a bottle and hang out.

skedhead2000 in Texas

Dallas Italian Suggestions

I;ve lived here 17 years, been to Italy several times and love Taverna. However, last week I went to a little place that opened up in Highland Park called Nonna (across the street from Whole Foods on Lomo Alto and Lemmon) and had the best italian food I've eaten in this city. It's tiny, it has no website, the chef has experience from Olivetto Cafe (Alice Waters Chez Panisse spin off) and spent several years in Italy perfecting his pasta making skills. Everything is made in house and sustainable. Wine list is amazingly affordable. My wife and I had braised lamb shank with cannelini beans ($32), house made fettucine with pancetta and thyme ($17), vanilla panna cotta ($8) and a bottle of italian red as recommended by the bartender ($34). I'm counting the hours til we get to back here.

skedhead2000 in Texas

Best Chicken Dish/Fried Chicken/Rotisserie in D/FW

Chic from Barcelona (Forest and Preston - next to Mercury Grill) has unbelieveably good rotisserie style chicken.

I'm partial to Bubba's on Hillcrest (in Snider Plaza) for fried chicken.

skedhead2000 in Texas

Grimaldi's - Dallas

I'm dying to try this pizza . . .can anyone tell me exactly where in the West Village Grimaldi's is located? Is it near Taco Diner, near Tom Tom Noodel house etc??
Thanks

skedhead2000 in Texas

Sushi . . . On Sunday?

Thanks everyone for your feedback! Looks like we're in good shape with Tama or Katsu-Ya.

skedhead2000 in Los Angeles Area

Sushi . . . On Sunday?

Fellow Hounds,

My wife and I are in Los Angeles to see family this weekend (visiting from Dallas) and have one precious night to dine out (Sunday) and we're dying for some great sushi in the Studio City/Tarzana area (or up through Woodland Hills and Calabasas as my family lives in West Hills). We usually go to Sushi Tsune on Ventura and Reseda but, like many sushi restaurants, it's closed on Sunday.

I've scoured the boards for notes on places like Tama and Nozawa but there's no info as to when they're open. Can anyone please provide some recomendations for a great sushi restaurant that's open on Sunday? We're looking to keep expenses around $60-$75 per person and we won't be drinking. We'd love to find a great omakase, classic-style place if possible. The quality of the fish (rather than the "scene") is the primary factor for us . . . but all of that is out the window if nothing is open. We'll even consider driving over "the hill" into the city if that's our only option to find some good sushi on a sunday.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Skedhead

skedhead2000 in Los Angeles Area

Pie!!! looking for some pie in dallas.

Great Harvest Bakery in Snider Plaza makes insane homemade apple pies - I think every Friday. You have to call ahead and reserve one because they sell out really quickly.

skedhead2000 in Dallas - Ft. Worth

Austin Hound looking for help in Dallas

Esquire,
No offense taken . . . my comments were based on a meal about a year ago, whereby we returned two of our three dishes because they were so poorly executed. Given the wealth of dining options available in the city, I saw no need at the time to go back to The Grape. How long has Michael Weinstein been in the kitchen?

skedhead2000 in Texas

Breakfast in Dallas

This one's a no-brainer . . .

American Breakfast: Original Pancake (on Lemmon - but other locations around Dallas as well)

Mexican Breakfast: LA DUNI!!!

skedhead2000 in Texas

Highland Park/SMU Dallas area

Olivella's is new and it serves fantastic (albeit pricey) pizzas. It's a tiny hole in the wall. Please do NOT go to Cafe Brazil . . . it is foul, it is vile, it is food unfit for eating unless you're piss drunk and it's 2am and nowhere else is open . . .which is how Cafe Brazil stays in business). Bubba's in Snider Plaza has the city's best fried chicken. Penne Pomodoro (also in Snider Plaza) has great straightforward, affordable italian food. It won't knock your socks off, but their pasta dishes all hit the spot.

skedhead2000 in Texas

First time to Dallas (no car)

Stephan Pyles is in the middle of downtown Dallas . . . unlike Manhattan, our downtown area is definitely NOT pedestrian friendly (especially after hours). Lola is in Uptown (it's an old home that's been converted into a restaurant), much nicer area and only a block from McKinney Ave where there's lots of shops and restaurants to walk by. I've not been to Stephan Pyles (I've heard the ceviche menu is to die for but other items are up and down) but I've been to Lola several times and it's second only to York Street for my vote as Dallas' best restaurant. BTW - York Street is in Lakewood (a very cool, funky neighborhood on the East side of the city with the city's best wine bar - Wine Therapist right across the street - but it's quite a schlep from the Anatole via cab).

skedhead2000 in Texas

Austin Hound looking for help in Dallas

I second the recomendation for Cafe San Miguel. It seems to fit your requirements ideally . . . outstanding, creative food (the ceviche, the guac, the pomegranite margaritas and any of the entrees . . . all of which price out around $14-$20 per). The atmosphere is fun and loud on a Saturday night - you'll need reservations. Also, if you want the city's best pizza . . . Louie's is right next door to cafe San miguel. Atmosphere is blue-collar watering hole, but all of the food is outstanding . . . and it's dirt cheap. Another affordable gem is Ali Baba on Greenville Ave (they close really early, however - I think around 9pm). If you want a dirt cheap BYOB place try Sevan. It's rarely mentioned on the Chowhound boards, but I went a few weeks back for a birthday party and food was outstanding . . . it's mediterranean . . . hummus etc . . . overlook the surly staff, open a nice bottle of wine (you can buy one across the road at Whole Foods) order the pistachio chicken and enjoy. For italian food, Taverna is one of the city's best and the risotto, pizza and entrees are surprisingly affordable (though they take no reservations for parties of less than 6 and you'll have to wait about 30-40 minutes for a table on a Saturday evening). Hope that helps. BTW - not to be a hater, but I'd pass on The Grape. The ambience is great (european wine bar) but outside of the mushroom soup the food has gone WAY, WAY, WAY down hill over the years.

skedhead2000 in Texas

St. Louis Business Dinner Recomendations?

Thanks again for the incoming info . . . I stumbled on to a place called Mangia that sounds pretty good and they serve on Sunday's until 10pm. Any feedback on Mangia?

skedhead2000 in General Midwest Archive

St. Louis Business Dinner Recomendations?

Thanks for the feedback . . . Annie Gunn's and Kreis's both sound great but they close on Sunday at 9pm and 9:30pm respectively. Mike Shannon's and Dierdorf's seem to get slaughtered with user reviews (does Outback serve a better steak?). We did find out that Charlie Gitto's on the Hill is open til 10pm. We'll be done with our business around 9:30pm at the Gateway Grizzlies ballpark and according to mapquest it's an 11 mile 23 minute drive to Gharlie Gitto's (talk about a close call). We'd be happy with any good meal on Sunday night at any restaurant open til 10pm or later. Any other suggestions are welcome . . . any cuisine (as long as it's good) any location we can reach before 10pm (departing from the Gateway Grizzlies ballpark near Centreville, IL at 9:30pm) is open game. Can we eat at the bar at Tucker's Place (open til 11pm)? Also the Tucker's Place South location appears to open til 11:30pm (heaven knows why). Is the Tucker's South not as good as the original?

skedhead2000 in General Midwest Archive

St. Louis Business Dinner Recomendations?

Thanks to everyone here on your great feedback. I started checking the hours of operation for several of the aforementioned restaurants and you're indeed correct . . . getting a good meal at 10pm on a Sunday in St. Louis (or any city outside of NYC I would assume) is a difficult task. I'll run Mike Shannon's, Kreis's, Annie Gunn's, O'Connell's etc past my co-workers and see what I can sell them on.

Thanks again St Louis Chowhounds . . .you folks are VERY helpful. If anyone needs any Dallas, TX recs, please contact me and I'm happy to help.

skedhead2000 in General Midwest Archive