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Alphabetic town and related food game

M for USA
M for Maine - my favorite vacation spot for over 45 years. I remember started out at the Old Orchard Beach after my graduation from my MS degree and before returning to California forever.

M for Morro Bay - not commonly know, but it’s south of SF, near Cambria, small town vibes kind of town, best Thai food restaurant on main street, best almond croissant from a breakfast place.
Just avoid a lot of seafood places there, they are overpriced, not really that good.

M for Monterey Bay - good place for sea food, best for smoked salmon on bread. We used to go here more frequent when we were living in the Bay area.
I agree with both Morro Bay (and Cambria) and Monterey Bay ... been to these places several, several times as well as eaten at these locations, LOVE IT !!!
 
N for Europe

N - Napoli or Naples, it’s a gritty town, I was nervous at first, especially after my husband received a fake email from the hotel we were supposed to stay at, so we cancelled that hotel and quickly rebooked another small boutique hotel nearer to the beach.
Good food experience, probably pizzas are the best, then sea food.
 
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N for USA
N - Napa, it’s a wine region, so of course food and wine are very good.
N - Newport Beach, my neck of the woods, very good seafood experience except I don’t go here frequently, the long wait, the fancy restaurants, need I say more.
N - New York City, lots of great variety of food here, but I remember Times Square was more gritty in the 80s, now it’s just expensive. Last time I came back for a college tour, a parking space from the hotel I stayed at was $50. Not used to pay that kind of price for a park space.
N - New Orleans, the food was amazing, especially the oysters, but I have not been back since Katrina.
 
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M - Matei, Taveuni Island, Fiji. The day after we got married we walked a couple of hundred yards down the coast road from our hotel to an isolated bar on top of a small cliff. Lunch, we got a couple of Fiji Beers and ordered a pizza. The woman behind the bar then pulled a ball of dough from the fridge and started rolling it. We knew this would take a while so settled in watching the sea. 45 minutes later the food appeared in front of us. Our first meal as a married couple and it was wonderful.

Not our images

Tramonto · Matei

Tramonto · Matei

Also, may I point out to every other restaurant in the World serving pizza, you do not have to leave a two inch wide dry and inedible crust right around the edge, the ingredients will still stay on if you show them the rim.

Screenshot_20260110_194921_Tripadvisor.jpg
 
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Naples: I arrived there at the age of 18. Went to Pompeii, with a mate. We walked around the Roman ruins for about 4 hours, and when we came out, there was a lady selling lemonade, made with fresh, Sicilian lemons. Best lemonade I've ever had - I was brought up on JIF.
New York: what can I say? If you can't find it in NY, you can't find it anywhere! The last time I was there was in about 1998-99, and stayed with some friends who lived in Greenwich Village. Steve had an oriental antiques business, spoke Mandarin chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Thai. He took us to a Thai restaurant where we ate like kings.
First trip to NY was in 1973, on a tour with the London Bach Society. We did a concert in the Carnegie Hall. I remember the ginormous slices of pizza, that's all. I'd never seen anything like it.
 
Oxford, UK: It's been a long time since I was there as a student. All I can remember is that there were some amazing pubs (including The Bear, which I believe is 12th century), the burger, peas and chips at the Eastgate hotel and fairly frequent visits to the Curry house and the Chinese takeaway.
 
O for UK,
O for Oxford
I spent a week here after a long stay at the Cotswolds area, this was our last stop before we headed back to London. Lots of restaurants here.
 
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O for USA
O for Oxnard, I had a job where I spent almost a year here, came back home every weekend. This area is known for strawberries. Back then I ate a lot of Thai, Italian food. Right now there are a lot of Mexican restaurants.
 
I’m way behind, but one place I remember in Oxford (UK, not my hometown of Oxford, Ohio…maybe I’ll add something for that later) was a chain restaurant called Old Orleans.

It was sort of like if Olive Garden or TGIF opened a restaurant for Cajun & Creole cuisine. I do remember they alligator on the menu, though whenever we went, I got some sort of blackened chicken.

According to the internet, the chain went out of business in 2011.
 
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