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California Links

• BBQ
• Chinese Food
• Crockett
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• Newport Beach
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• Thai Food
• Walnut Creek
  
  
• Places to Try

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  Other States

• Cherry_Hill_NJ
• Colorado Springs
• Las Vegas
• Maui
• Montreal
• NEW ORLEANS
• Philadelphia
• Virginia
  

  Italy

• Rome
• Orvietto

California

Danville /Blackhawk California

Hayward

Los Compadres Mexican Restaurant 

Walnut Creek

One of my favorites. Menu tracks seasonal changes and is often offered with wine pairings. One of the top wine list in Northern California. Prima Cafe's Wine Shop augments the restaurant. Valet parking. Highly recommended.

Point Reyes Station

Highly Recommended for Hog Island Oysters (5 stars) and the fresh whole crab (perfect). The oysters are simply the best I ever had. Get them with the Hog Wash sauce. Open for breakfast, lunch and diner, the menu has soups, salads, seafood, shellfish, Niman Ranch steak, and vegetarian affair - quite a large menu. Desserts are many, I had fresh berry pie. Unique was the piping hot popovers served along with their own corn bread. Second batch we not as hot, probably needs to ask for those "straight from the oven." Service was reasonable considering the place was packed on Valentines Day. The atmosphere is casual and noisy. Musicals played jazz in the bar heard throughout the cozy restaurant. Corkage $10. Reasonable wine list, moderate prices.


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Rutherford

"Very casual atmosphere and very good food at affordable prices. A great place to stop on your way up through the valley. Friendly service, nice portions, and good food! Loved the Filet Mignon and Garlic Mashed Potatoes" a patron writes. Also called the "best wine value". Has been recommended more than once. Not yet rated.

St. Helena

Terra is located in an historic fieldstone building. Chefs are award winners. No sign on building. See Menu  Not yet rated.

Napa

San Jose/Santa Clara

One of two restaurants run by the same family for 30+ years serves the best burritos on the planet. The beans are heavenly smooth and fresh every day. Their rellenos are made fresh every morning with fire roasted Poblano chilies.

Suits come from South San Francisco to dine here. The fire department and the police congregate at lunchtime around a sparse number of tables. I have been dining here for 30 years. Chili Colorado, Chili Verde, BBQ beef, Carne Asada, Carnitas, chili rellenos burritos are all top favorites. These are embellished with guacamole, cheese, beans, lettuce, chopped cilantro, chopped tomatoes, and onions, Pinto beans, Mexican rice, and hot sauce. Jalapeno are available on the side. Have a homemade pineapple or pumpkin empanada for dessert

Authentic and excellent Chinese with a varied and extensive menu. Highly recommended. Get there early.

I have tried the one in Virginia

This particular restaurant is in a new complex of expensive shops near Winchester and Stevens Creek. It features family style Italian food in generous portions. A family style menu for lunch is $11.95 per person for 4 courses with two choices per course. Affordable food prepared well. Decor makes this new restaurant seem like its been there for 100 years. Noisy and fun. Ok wine list with modest priced wine Italian and domestic. Reservations a very good idea. Menu

Highly recommended, I had the SHRIMP WITH ANGEL HAIR ,Large Shrimp Sauteed with Herbs, Lemon and Garlic. Combined with Angel Hair Pasta, Fresh Tomato and Fresh Basil which I rated at 10! Outstanding. I capped this off with the lemon/raspberry cheesecake - very good.

San Rafael

Las Vegas

Carnevino at the Palazzo Hotel

In Fremont

In Crockett (above Berkeley)

Fun spot - a great view of the San Pablo Bay near the Richmond Bridge. A Nautical theme forties style roadhouse restaurant featuring an array of crab dishes & prime rib. Crab for four $100

Nantucket Seafood Restaurant  

East bound: Take I-80 east to the Cummings Skyway Exit.
After exiting, turn left. Go straight to signal light (1/2 mile).
Turn right at the signal light. Go straight on this water front road for 1-3/10 mile to Port Street.
Turn left on Port Street. Port Street dead ends at the harbor.

In Palo Alto

Spago's - A Wolfgang Puck restaurant-

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In San Francisco

Menu highlights include house-made pastas, traditional Italian salads, fresh fish and flavorful meats grilled over mesquite. All baked goods, pastries and desserts are prepared daily in-house. I previewed the wine list. Its full of bargains and many Italian finer selections. Bravo!

Palace Hotel - The Garden Court Restaurant
Their wine list is good with reasonable wines only moderately marked up, $18 ~$200, some by the glass. The serve Brunch on Sundays at $45.00 Per Person as well as a Saturday Afternoon Tea. Directions   click here. Reservations

545 Post Street (at Mason)
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 776-7825
Fax:(415) 776-6702
mail@postrio.com


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Ristorante Fior d'Italia

601 Union Street San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 986-1886

Oldest Italian restaurant in SF (1886)

Montreal

In Cupertino

In San Carlos

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In Healdsburg

In Oakhurst

In Oakland

Very good seafood and a few exceptional aged prime New York cut steak (1 lb.) or a Filet Mignon(10oz). Wine list is not the greatest but the 1999 Chateau St. Jean Robert Young Chardonnay, with an exceptional nose from the Alexander Valley estate ($39) paired well with fish dishes. Notable: OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER were excellent! Key Lime pie was the best I have ever tasted. Five of us had different seafood selections. All were excellent. Service was very superior. Bread was excellent. Valet parking is validated.

In Pleasanton

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BBQ

IN FREMONT

Jamaican ownership reflects a style both Caribbean and Southern Unites States. Potato salad is wonderful as is the corn bread. BBQ ribs, chicken, beef, and links all Very smoky.

IN San Jose

Chinese Food

KIM TAR Restaurant 
Chinese BBQ
1698 Hosteter Rd, #J
San Jose, CA 408)

Authentic and excellent Chinese with a varied and extensive menu. Highly recommended. Get there early.

Chinese Food - Fremont

Chinese Food - Milpitas

Chinese Food - San Jose

Newport Beach

21 Oceanfront is located on the oceanfront,across from the Newport Beach Pier (Balboa pennisula).

Colorful and popular with the locals. Fresh Dungeness crab is good. Soft shell crabs were from Thailand but are good but ask for them Fried extra crispy. Tarter sauce was very good. Warm bread was just a plain French bread and clam chowder was a Manhattan style which was strong of other flavors like bell peppers and tomato one could not detect a flavor of clams. Fried squid was good, crab cakes were good, and cole slaw was good. The cheese mash potatoes arrived over-powered by Romano cheese and burnt on the bottom. Several tap beers on hand including Heineken and Hefeweizen. I was disappointed they did not have French Fries. Seasonally they have fresh oysters on the menu. Service is that of a typical dinner -matter-of-fact and unpretentious but generally friendly. Staff works hard so treating them well probably has a high payback.

Thai Food

Ala Carte Food is for flavor and taste.
If presentation was fancier, this would be a five star restaurant. Service is excellent and the people are so polite that you feel that you should be on your best behavior. Low cost. Very highly recommended. Pad Thai is my favorite.

Colorado Springs

Virginia

Location is 25 minutes from Dulles Airport and a free parking building is across the street.
Although this is a chain, it is superior to most of them.
A very big menu includes fresh oyster varieties and clams on the half shell, 10+ fresh catch of the day, Lobster thermador. Good crusty bread, many wines by the glass, good wine list. Good friendly service. Decent dessert tray.

Cherry_Hill_NJ

White linen tablecloth, upscale. In the Ritz shopping center. Excellent Sushi and also Asian/Chinese. Elean is the owner. If you sweet talk her they will even make you something not quite on the menu. Honey Walnut Prawns a specialty. Highly recommended.

Philadelphia

Parc is a wonderful spot and very what's happening now. The street side seating is the most popular and usually has a line while dining in the large inside restaurant is almost immediate. The service is excellent and even the manager comes around to ask you if all is well. My wife and I had the Norwegian and eggs Benedict respectively. I order some baguettes while I waited. The food was PERFECT- the egg just runny enough, the muffin hot but not crusty, the hollandaise perfect and not excessively lemony. Ah great experience - perfect is hard to come by. Liked it so much, came back the very next day when the Green Egg proved to be jammed with people on Sunday.

Highly recommended. Good menu but not quite as varied as many French Bistros. The decor was 100 % in character. It felt French. While we loved the Cappuccino, I was disappointed they did not offer a French Pressed Coffee.

Joy Tsin Lau is easily recognizable as there a two dragon statues framing the entrance on the street. I am a big fan of Yelp, reading all the reviews of all possible candidate restaurant before deciding where to dine. In the case of Dim Sum candidates there we several near-equal-rated possibilities, some next door or even across the street. My wife and I pick THIS one because its menu was huge (274+ items) and had many of our favorites. The menu featured Schezuan, Mandarin, and Cantonese. One of the first things I noticed was the number of Asians dinning here. If one seeks authentic dishes, this fact resonates with me as a sign of very good things to come.

We respectfully acknowledged the staff, when I asked the young waiter his name he laughed and was generally please at the interest we showed. The decor showed sign of being well used but it was clean with white tablecloths. The waiting staff was cheerful and tended well to our needs; removed excess used plates and filling water whenever it was needed. At one point, the owner (Mabel Chi Chan) came by to ask if all was well. They all could not have been friendlier.

Even though Dim Sum hours end around three, we inquired to insure Dim Sum items were largely available at dinner too - just not the inevitable cart parade. We knew at the get go, we were ordering up a feast and we came hungry. There are no significant Chinese restaurants in Greensboro, NC where we live and certainly none that have ample Cantonese dim sum. We ordered har gow (Shrimp dumplings), Shu Mai (pork dumplings), Barbecued Spare Ribs, Pot Stickers, Spring Rolls, Hot and Sour soup, Mongolian Beef, Chow Fun (wide noodles) Dry Style with black beans. The quality and flavor of the food were excellent. The Pot Stickers were an unusual recipe which include black forest mushrooms but were tasty enough though had wrapper that was a bit too heavy.

We read some negative reviews that are inconsistent with our great experience. I have not one negative comment. I would recommended this restaurants to anyone who likes authentic Chinese or has an adventurous pallet. By the way, if you know your way around Chinese food, you can order items prepared your way. The price is very modest. We ate like kings for $25 a person.

NEW ORLEANS

HOURS: Dinner only, Monday to Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

"Many loyalists declare Irene's Cuisine a well-kept secret, though you'd never know it given the often tremendous wait for a table. All parties are seated first-come, first-served. On a particularly crowded night, you might start off the wait in the garage, which is set with a few candlelit tables. Music is piped in from the restaurant, and a waiter serves drinks. Don't be put off, though. Soon you'll be moved into the roomy and inviting bar, where the pianist usually succeeds in entertaining to distraction. Finally, you'll make it into the dining room, where the ceilings are high and the walls are dark wood and lined with bottles of wine."

"Locals consider Irene's to be the best Italian restaurant in the city, though the cuisine is infused with a bit of French country and, of course, laced with a New Orleans spice. Italian-influenced specialties like Veal Sorrentina (medallions of veal served on top of fried eggplant and topped with mozzarella and a tomato sauce) and Pollo di Parma share the menu with Lamb �a Provence and New Orleans soft-shell crabs served on a crawfish fettuccine. The limited menu is abundant with fresh, carefully prepared, locally grown vegetables and pristine seafood, augmented by seasonal specials. All dishes are rich and tasty — if a little salty — and the service is professional, yet warm and accommodating."

Oysters Irene; Escargot aux Champignons; Soft-Shell Crabs (seasonal); Veal Sorrentina; Pecan Praline Bread Pudding.

My comments: Don't go if in a hurry. This is leisure dining. Plan for engaging conversation over a drink before dinner. "The garage" is a bit weird but the food is worth the wait. Wine list is good. Very highly recommended.

As small dinner chains go, Houston's is about as unobjectionable a place as you'll find, even if you'll have to cool your heels until a beeper on your belt signals that your table's ready. Seconds after you're inside the large, split- level dining room, with its fern-bar feel, a perky server will appear. In a few minutes you might be digging into a thick, creamy spinach-and- artichoke dip or munching on big, meaty ribs dripping with a good sauce. The hickory-grilled burgers are a cut or two above average, as are the chili, iron-skillet beans and five-nut brownie. Very highly recommended.

Mothers is where tourists line up by the dozen for its down-home southern style eats. Mother's specialties delicious baked ham and roast-beef po'boys (ask for "debris" on the beef sandwich and the bread will be slathered with meat juices and shreds of meat), home-style biscuits and jambalaya, and a very good chicken gumbo in a couple of noisy crowded dining rooms. Cleanliness is not an obsession, but that doesn't seem to repel the hordes fighting for seats at peak meal times. Food is served up by robust black southers ladies than look like the enjoy the food too. Food is cafeteria style, with a counter or two augmenting the tables. Reservations not accepted. No credit cards. My favorite soft-shell crab with chips. Highly recommended.

Monterey

Pacific Grove, Monterey

Friendly bit out of the way place with excellent food. Wine List is rather extraordinary and diverse from affordable to some of the worlds best wines but leaning a bit toward the more recognizable names rather than best buys. Very highly recommended.

Old Bath House   

The most romantic location in Monterey. Serve is Tops. Executive Chef:Boris Ilabaca. Four course Early dining (before 6) more affordable at under $30. Bath house has a somalie (wine steward) who will help navigate an ample wine list. Wines are offered that are better buys rather than just a name at all price ranges. The food and service are impeccable. Make reversatione well in advance - ask for a view window seat for your sepecial occasion. Very highly recommended.

Downtown Wharf and Cannery Row, Monterey

Best Wine List in the World" award from Wine Spectator for 21 years running. $30 ~ $10,000. Giovanni Sercia somalie (wine steward). Favorites include "Hog Island" Oysters from Tomales Bay, Grilled Abalone Medallions on Ginger Scallion Sauce. Reservations a must well in advances. Four dining rooms my favorite is the garden (The Conservatory)

Mendocino

Originally run by two retired French Chefs, the food was sometimes rustic but always superb. At that time it had seven tables, alas, today it is been commecialized and lacks the original charm that was its inception. Its still in the old house but now features many rooms

Today this is a popular destination with a well thought out wine list that is modestly priced. Not rated recently

Over the years, many little Restaurants have occupied the tiny space behind the post office at Little River. The space is essentially 3 1/2 tables and a kitchen. I have had some incredible meals there probably for a number of reasons:

1. High attention to detail by the current chef concentrating on a small menu for few people
2. The stiff competive nature of the area being loaded with good places to eat.

Unfortunately, chefs and owners come and go. Don't expect to see this place advertised. If you think your ready for a culinary experience, go by to look at the current owner's menu. In the past, I have rated this experience four stars!

Warm, inviting, especially in the winter when the warmth of the fire place is so welcome. Noisy and lively. Food is good.

Sunnyvale

Maui

Mama's Fish House

(Just out of town past Paia toward Hana on the Hana Road.)
"Mama opened her picturesque beach home in 1973 as Hawaii's first fresh fish house, right on the beach with a spectacular view. Mama serves fresh fish caught by her own fishermen, steaks and seafood prepared Maui-style. Her beach house is a romantic memory of old Maui." Dinner Menu and Lunch Menu Let me say this is the most romatic spot ever and the food is truely 5 stars. The Ahi Sashimi was the best I ever had. The open view ( no windows) is breath taking. Valet parking was free. Very highly recommended!

Sea Watch Restaurant

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Bistro Molokini

Near the pool of the Grand Wailea Hotel, Bistro Molokini offers a relaxing, open-air ambience with breathtaking views of the Pacific and distant islands with an demonstration kitchen and kiawe wood-burning oven. Features a harmony of new California and Island cuisine. Open for lunch and dinner. The Calamari and Kalamata Olive Salad was a TEN! I also enjoyed the local birds flying in and out. Highly recomended. Reservations: (808) 875-1234 x 4900

Rome

Request a table in the arbor-covered courtyard near the fountain where the fruit and fresh vegetables announce their perfection. A stone corridor set back from the street leads into the restaurant. Authentic Roman food. Menu is superb. Favorites of mine include:
Putarelle in Salsa di alici (chicory Salad), Vitello Tonnato, Sancer Torte con panna.

Refreshing simple with excellent food this affordable tratoria is a favorite. Menu is very large and they have an excellent grill if you manage to get but the pizza. House wine is cheap and quite drinkable. Other specialties include il fritto misto GAUDI' e le melanzane alla sorrentina. (7:30 PM to midnight.)

Orvietto

Restaurants with a good wine List

A good wine list suggest a number of things about the restaurant. A large diverse wine list means they are successful and they recognize the importance of catering to the varied taste of their customers. When the markup is modest, it tells me they want to encourage consumption knowing a great meal is incomplete without a great wine to set it off. I often decide to try a new restaurant purely on the basis of them having a discerning wine list on the rational (right or wrong) that if they don't "get it" with the wine then its unlikely that the food will be anything special. One the other hand, if the wine list includes those better buys from small wineries that feature Hand-crafted superior wines, then somebody has the ability to taste the difference and taken the time to learn what is available and offer their customers the best at a good price. If they apply that care in the wine, it usually follows that the attention to details is to be found in the food and presentation.

This famous and extremely formal Nouvelle French restaurant is a good place to impress someone. You walk downstairs to a well tailored room with fine linens, beautiful place settings, and fresh flower bouquets. The service and management is excellent - several waiters and busboys per table, aiming only to please. The menu is seasonal, but the venison is always a house specialty. They offer a 7-course tasting menu for $75 or 4-courses for $68. Dishes might include poached oyster, salted duck liver, lamb medallions, or fresh lobster. For dessert, make sure you try the fruit sorbet made fresh hourly. Very fine sauces, bouillons, and unique, but sensitive combinations of food add to the style of Masa's. Jacket most definitely required.
reservations: Required 4 weeks in advance

Los Gatos

Places to Try

Danville Blackhawk

The menu is innovative and eclectic, emphasizing seasonally-inspired cuisine. Selections include a variety of "small plates," pizzas and other dishes from the wood-fired oven, fresh seafood, nature-fed meats, poultry and game from the hardwood grill; salads; special luncheon sandwiches.

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