Restaurants

Black Angus, wow that’s a blast from the past. We used to go there when I was a kid. We even went there the night I graduated from high-school. Our friends always made fun of us because we called it Stuart Anderson’s like we knew him or something.

The reason we went back this time was for a solid meal after being in the hospital all day at my dad’s bedside. We needed a meal we felt was going to sustain us and this was the place to go.
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Happy Thanksgiving

It started a little early this year. A friend asked the other day where we intend to spend Thanksgiving.

Now from many people, this question means “are you planning to spend the holiday with your goddaughters in the Chicago suburbs or are you heading over to your cousins’ bash in Springfield, Illinois? Or will you join your sister-in-law’s family around the table?” But this particular friend knows one of my darkest secrets: Every so often, my husband and I tell all the different groups that we’ve accepted an invitation to someone else’s house just so we can hang out at our own undetected. You know, sleep in, watch the Macy’s parade, put up the Christmas tree, head out to dinner in a restaurant.

We’re due for that subterfuge.

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Buckhorn Grill in San Francisco

When you go to the movies, who doesn’t love a big bucket of popcorn, with all that sweet butter and salt? Nowadays though, the price of that popcorn is approaching ten bucks, especially if you add in a large drink to help wash it down. If you’re like me, sometimes you want more than the salty goodness of that popcorn. You want something meaty, like a good burger or a steak sandwich.

Here in San Francisco, there is a place where you can get that tasty sirloin with your movie ticket, at the Buckhorn Grill. In the Westfield Metreon Shopping Mall, besides its huge selection of movies, you will find a variety of delicious food options. Recently before our show time, I wanted to grab a bite of something substantial. Their tri-tip sandwich turned out to be one of the best reasons to skip the popcorn I have ever had. Read More »

San Francisco Landmark Tadich Grill

Another “must see and eat at” for any San Francisco visitors or new residents, is Tadich Grill in the Financial District.  I read somewhere that Tadich was referred to once as, “It’s kind of like the Peter Luger’s of Seafood”. Having eaten at both The Palm Restaurant on Second Avenue in New York and Peter Luger in Brooklyn, I have to agree.

When you dine at Tadich Grill be prepared to be served large portions by sometimes grumpy but always no-nonsense waiters. This is not your trendy super-friendly chain restaurant, this is a piece of San Francisco history that has survived a hundred trends. If you close your eyes, the atmosphere is a little Nick and Nora in The Thin Man, especially if you hear a cable car clang its bell on the up/down California Street outside the restaurant.

Now for lunch but especially for dinner, you have got to try the Cioppino, white bib around your neck and all. Read More »

Cody's Original Roadhouse

I am grateful I’m not a shy traveler. Unlike a lot of folks in my family, if I’m on the road and need a break, or hanging out at the hotel and hungry for a meal, I’m not relegated to drive-thrus at burger joints. I’ll walk up to the hostess at any sit-down casual dining restaurant and ask for a table for one. No book tucked under my arm, no pad of paper to look busy.

Which is how I wound up having dinner at Cody’s Original Roadhouse in Ocala, Florida. I was prowling around looking for a meal in the middle of the afternoon — hanging out at La Quinta Inn and Suites would mean working — and passed this unusual building with an old Chevy truck in front. I figured it for a regional chain right away, but it’s not a chain we have, so it was instantly cravable.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out they really like the word “original” to describe themselves, even though both Logan’s and Texas Roadhouse share the Roadhouse label in their names. According to their website, original in this case means “an era gone by, when things were simpler, more casual and definitely relaxed.”

Route 66 pattern

Which explains why I walked in and saw that their booth fabric is the same cloth someone used for a Route 66 purse, carry-on luggage and vest I own. That pretty much sums up casual for me. And lucky me strolled in during happy hour, when I could get a chopped sirloin steak, baked potato, rolls, and a salad to look at for $8.98. Oh, and don’t forget the all-you-can-eat peanuts at the table.

Like I said, they share a lot in common with other national chains we know.

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Have you ever dined at a restaurant that was so good you wanted to go back everyday and try every thing on the menu?

I have and that restaurant is Jaks Grill. Oh my goodness, it’s one of those places that makes your mouth water when you walk by. The aroma that wafts out and around the restaurant it’s just heavenly.

Jaks has 3 locations around the Seattle area. There is one in Issaquah, Laurelhurst and West Seattle. I live near the Issaquah location and I walk by it everyday, much to my dismay.
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Let me start this post off by saying I am *not* a native Texan.  But, as a person that has moved around quite a bit over the course of my life, I have lived there the most number of times (and, for the record, my mother is now permanently settled there).  And though I do not identify with the whole “Texas is the best!” way of thinking, I am all too familiar with it.

And because of all of the to-ing and fro-ing in my life, when asked where I’m from, it’s just easier to say Texas rather than go into a five minute monologue that starts “I was born in Illinois but moved a few weeks later…”  And when I do that while traveling, I’m usually met with the following reply.  “Texas?!  Do you know any cowboys?”
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NCL Gem chef

Because I’m a travel agent, the industry subtly expects me to oooh and aaah over every little detail a cruise ship comes up with as a differentiation point. Take, for instance, the idea of an ice bar where the temperature never gets above 16 degrees.

Say it with me now: “Coooool!” As in so cool, who in their right freakin’ mind would go in there wearing the shorts they packed for a cruise? Who’s luggage has enough space to haul along a parka?

Obviously, I have issues with setting aside my consumer mindset when it comes to selling vacations. So my first thought when NCL began trying to upsell us on making reservations at its premium restaurants aboard the Gem this spring was, “Shut up. I’ve already paid for my meals.” (Princess, likewise, offers restaurant alternatives with a cover charge.)

But that, of course, isn’t true research, just an opinion. That’s why my husband and I broke down and made dinner reservations for Cagney’s, NCL’s signature steakhouse, for our anniversary despite the $25 per person cover charge. (For the record, we also devoted an evening to testing the Tex-Mex Tequila restaurant at $10 a head. Well, at least I can write it off as a tax deduction. I don’t know how other people learn to live with their mistake; we’ve eaten better for less at On the Border.)

True to the “freestyle dining” mentality, we had made reservations for 7:30, but showed up 2 hours earlier hungry and wondering if they could squeeze us sooner. Why of course! When you pay extra for your meal, they bend over backwards to accommodate your every wish. Our table had a stunning view, the wait staff was almost overly attentive, and my husband and I settled in for what we expected to be one heck of a stand-out meal.

Cruisin' and dining = heaven

We ordered filet mignon with a baked potato (heavy on the butter), the entree that has been pounded into our generation’s psyche as THE special occasion celebration item. They prepared my medium rare request properly … but you know, the main dining room cooked my steak correctly as well. They kept our water glasses full, just like they do in the main dining room. They kept the bread basket full, just like the main dining room.

So far, we were hard-pressed to figure out what our $50 bought beyond the fact the hostess didn’t ask us if we’d like to share a table or dine alone tonight.

And then the difference tapped my husband gently on the shoulder. “Sir, would you like to buy flowers for the lady?” asked the young lady wearing an NCL shirt and holding bouquets for sale. Yes, for a premium price, we were the target for roaming vendors who would have been thrown out of a Burger King in any other setting in the world.

NCL's main dining room

To be fair, if the ship’s main dining rooms are showing a long wait time, you’re hungry and in the mood for something out of the mainstream — say, suishi or teppanyaki — I wouldn’t blame you for checking out Le Bistro or Orchid Garden. But steak or chicken? Keep your money in your wallet until you hit the casino or dock at port the next morning.

Kuleto's on Union Square in San Francisco

When we “play tourist” or have family visiting who really want to eat somewhere nice downtown in San Francisco, Kuleto’s is often our “go to” restaurant. The restaurant and its sister cafe are both located inside the Villa Florence, a very nice hotel in Union Square.

When you look around the immediate area, your restaurant choices are limited to bar food or super expensive restaurants, though I would be tempted to return to an old favorite, John’s Grill. At Kuleto’s their menu has so many great dishes, even my own picky mother found delicious risotto the evening we took her out.

Dining at Kuleto’s if it is the two of us, we love to sit at their long counter that faces the cooks. There is something about watching them cook for you that adds to the experience – and you are served pronto! We usually share one of their antipasti to start, like the Calamari Fritti alla Diavola or the Prosciutto di Parma con Carciofi. My husband swears by their Tagliata con rucola which is the hanger steak, and I often use my date night to eat exotic pasta like their Tortellini d’Anatra.

If you get a chance, arrive early for your dinner so you can have a glass of wine at their bar. It is an amazing 40-foot-long, intricately-carved Brunswick bar made in England, which was brought around Cape Horn aboard a clipper ship and survived the 1906 earthquake while installed at the Palace Hotel.

221 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 397-7720
www.kuletos.com

Sunday – Thursday 11:30am-10:30pm
Friday & Saturday 11:30am-11:00pm

Photo credit to my iPhone

Looking at fish makes you hungry

Durango Steakhouse serves the best steak in downtown Atlanta, and I’m not just saying that because they didn’t bat an eye when four drowned rats showed up at the hostess stand.

Our little spring break posse decided to stop in Atlanta on our way home to visit the Georgia Aquarium we’d heard so much about. (Well, OK, they’d heard about — I was there the first summer it opened, which is how I knew where to look for a hotel.) We had the good luck to score a great price on the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, and the bad luck to arrive in a never-ending rain. You see, the aquarium is a mere four blocks away, which meant ordering up the Tahoe from valet parking, then driving it a few feet to pay again for outdoor parking was stupid, and still wouldn’t keep four girls who didn’t have the good sense to pack an umbrella dry.

So we hoofed it. Had we really been lucky, we would have passed a drugstore to buy an umbrella but that wasn’t to be.

Do I see steak?

We had the same situation on the return trip, although the light rain had eased into more of a mist, so we veered off by a few blocks to look for a place for dinner. The concierge at the Marriott suggested either Durango for steaks or Ray’s in the City for seafood. We chose seafood approximately 14 seconds before the rain picked up the pace. Ray’s hostess turned us away citing a dress code policy, but she didn’t seem too apologetic, so we suspected it was more about our squeaky shoes than our jeans. (Hey, mine had sequins!)

Durango, on the other hand, waved us right in, found us a table (albeit in the corner) and acted as if we were perfectly normal instead of taking a shower with our clothes on. And the concierge wasn’t exaggerating: It was the best center-cut filet I’ve had in 6 months, prepared perfectly on that oak-fired grill: juicy on the inside, crunchy enough to add flavor on the outside. Not to mention I got to choose red beans and rice and a crock of chicken corn chowder as my side dishes, which always excites me more than a baked potato and salad.

I tried to take a picture of the pumpernickel/wheat bread twist our server graciously brought several rounds of to our table, but my friend said it looked more like a road apple than an appetizer, so I’ll spare you that image.

But the next time you’re in Atlanta, check out this place. I’ll bet they’re just as accommodating to normal diners.

Durango Steakhouse

230 Peachtree St.

Atlanta, Georgia

(404) 222-0103

Photographer credits: Julie Sturgeon,