What's your favorite restaurant and why?

Wombat457

Regular Member
Joined
28 Nov 2025
Local time
4:07 AM
Messages
199
Location
USA
Mine is a place called Marino's. It is a restaurant with a bar and is a more up market country town place. Basically, it aint a drunks or sports bar. I have been going there for 15 years and know all of the staff pretty well - well enough for them to take the mickey out of me every chance they get. The beers are cold, the runs are generous (helps when your a friend of the bar maids) and the food is excellent. When put together with a great atmosphere I don't think you could go past it for a nice family night out and we make it a family night out 3 nights a week :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah thats lovely.
I live somewhere just a bit on the totally crap side for restaurants and cafes. I have to travel to get good food (which I frequently do) but it means theres no nice local familiar place to frequent. Heyho.
Same here. This is Deep South Bible belt and the sidewalks roll up at 7 PM...
 
Unfortunately my favourite restaurant, or rather strip of beach front restaurants is 12,000km away from home. A mix of a Michelin level restaurant, Thai streetfood, hotel restaurants, burger places and fresh fish BBQs. You can have whatever you fancy from £2 a dish to £100 a go. Exquisite, Long Beach, Koh Lanta.
 
I don’t go to fancy restaurants anymore. Fancy here just means you have to wait longer, lol. I have a few favorite restaurants within 10 to 30 minutes drive. We go there when my husband gets paid, when he gets his Social Security check. It’s a way to get out, otherwise we would be home all day. They are reasonable but not cheap anymore.
A gourmet burger place, a burger is about $24 with delicious fries, something I can’t make.
An Asian place where I get my Spring rolls and soup, and my husband gets his Pad Thai.
A British pub, still operates by a British owner, they serve wonderful and crispy fish and chips. Occasionally my husband orders mushy peas which I can’t stand, lol. Nothing mushy until I get to my 90s, lol.
 
Can't say I've got a favourite restaurant here, although The place I did the Indian Food Festival at in September (La Casa Bistró) would certainly rate up near the top, if we went out to eat frequently (which we don't). Always busy, excellent service, a pleasant, but homely atmosphere and, all the dishes are perfect. I mean, perfect!
Having worked with the chef for a month, I can see why they're perfect; he's a stickler for detail and his recipes are tried and tested, tried and tested again until he's satisfied. After that, they don't change.
In London, my favourite restaurant is Masala Zone, in Covent Garden. Wonderful, delicious, home-style Indian food, with no concessions for those who don't like spicy food. Reasonably priced as well.
 
In London, my favourite restaurant is Masala Zone, in Covent Garden. Wonderful, delicious, home-style Indian food, with no concessions for those who don't like spicy food. Reasonably priced as well.
I need to try this restaurant. So far my husband’s best friend’s daughter recommended Dishoom, they are good, but very crowded, and we have to wait, not coming back.
 
Last edited:
I went to Dishoom in Covent Garden as well. We had a reservation so we went straight in, but there was a long queue outside all the time we were there.
Masala Zone ( there are 4 of them in all) is sort of hidden up a side street (Floral St) and, even though it was pretty full when we arrived, they found us a table.What most pleased me was to see at least half a dozen Indian families eating there!
 
I had a favourite restaurant in the Netherlands when I still lived there.
Simple food, done very well.
They looked after us
When my mum got wheelchair bound, they would run the extra mile to help make her feel comfortable.

Unfortunately they closed down, otherwise I would still drop in even to just say Hi whenever in NL
 
There's a deli we go to for breakfast and lunch on occasion. I really like their iced coffee because they make the ice cubes with coffee. Craig likes their corned beef hash they make in- house. For lunch, I have a favorite sandwich with deli meats and Craig always gets their turkey club because he says it's the best in the area. The food doesn't seem to have changed, but the place has been sold and the new owners keep increasing the prices. The last time we went, it was in low $40s plus tip for his corned beef hash, 2 eggs and rye toast, plus my chicken fried steak with 2 eggs, grits (which are actually decent with a little doctoring), and an everything bagel. Granted, I brought home over half of mine and we got breakfast with the addition of 2 eggs, but I can remember getting the same when we first started going there years ago for mid $20s plus tip.

Our most favorite place is The Cellar, Google Search in Daytona Beach, FL. It's a high end Italian place in the former home of President William Harding. We used to go at least once, if not twice, every time we were vendors at a trade show in Daytona. We told some other vendors about the place and they ended up doing the same.

There are a couple of other high end Italian places we really like locally. They both are run by chef owners and make their own pasta. One place has an open kitchen and there are no microwaves, but they do have a wood fired oven that turn out not your run of the mill pizzas. The other place has no pizza on the menu at all, not even flat bread. I had some of the best tasting perfectly seared scallops I've ever had there. We've been blown away every time we've eaten there, tastebuds and our wallet. Home - Pasta And

Casually, there's a local place called BRGR Stop, Google Search . They have specialty burgers, choose your own flavors fantastic milkshakes, and great onion rings, plus they have a rotating selection of small brewery beers.
 
Last edited:
It depends on what we're in the mood for. For something as simple as picking up pizza or subs to bring home, we have 4 or 5 great mom & pop pizza joints nearby. For sit-down dining that is nearby and reasonably priced, there are a several local, privately owned restaurants that we like, which are a big step up from other local places. If we want something nicer, there's a pretty upscale place 10 minutes away. Once every month or two, we also go to a very upscale place in a well known, historic hotel very nearby. You'll pay for it at the latter two, but the food and service are exceptional, every time.
54842128889_7103044a6b_b.jpg

54842212320_b16fda557f_b.jpg


If we want to take a road trip, there are a few other privately owned, upscale restaurants that we like within an hour's drive. Since they're all locally owned, few to no one here would have ever heard of them, so there's no point in naming them. We don't bother at all with any of the corporate chain restaurants. That goes for everything from fast food (actually, we don't eat any fast food), to pizza joints, to steakhouses, and popular bar 'n grills. Except for some smaller, high end chains like Buddakan, the food and atmosphere is always sub-par in corporate chains to what you find at equivalent-level locally owned places.
 
Last edited:
I agree with you where corporate chains are concerned. That is why I like where I go - it is privately owned, small with a great atmosphere. Has an upstairs for parties etc and the down stairs with the bar area. No drunks or motor mouths just decent people out for a nice quiet (most times) drink and meal :)
 
Back
Top Bottom