Favorite Restaurants
I love unusual food, spicy food, interesting places. I want a restaurant that makes me happy, and this means good food, good times, good service.
Jersey Shore
- Rojo's Tacos 6th and Ocean, Ocean City.
- I had thought I'd never find a good burrito after we left California, but theirs is fine.
- La Fontana del Mare, Strathmere NJ.
- Good Italian food. Closed in winter. BYOB.
- Steve and Cookie's, Marina, Margate NJ.
- Great bar, very good food.
Philadelphia
- Monk's Cafe, 16th/Spruce.
- Wonderful beer selection, Belgian ales on tap. Food's good too.
- Chloe, 232 Arch St.
- Tiny, friendly, great food.
- Zesty's, Manayunk.
- Good Greek food, friendly waiters.
San Francisco Bay Area
East Bay
- Town House Bar & Grill, Doyle St/Powell, Emeryville
- This is a great place. Upscale food, nice room, good bar.
- Bucci's, 6121 Hollis St, Emeryville
- Very fine Italian food, friendly people.
- Bison Brewing, Telegraph Av, Berkeley
- Microbrew. Mussels in chili & lime sauce. Wow.
- Tropix Piedmont Av, Oakland
- A great Caribbean place. Looks tiny from the front, but there's a nice patio out back.
San Francisco
Mecca, 2029 Market, San Francisco- A much-acclaimed restaurant on the edge of the Castro. Fantastic food, great bar.
- Ideale Ristorante, 1309 Grant/Vallejo, San Francisco
- Fine Italian food in North Beach.
- Greens, Fort Mason, San Francisco
- Zen vegetarian food looking out at the Golden Gate.
- Stars, San Francisco
- Great bar, fancy food, grownups.
- Zuni Cafe, Market St, San Francisco
- Worth going just to see the mixed tourists & trendies. Food's fine, fifteen kinds of oyster on the oyster menu.
- Fog City Diner,
San Francisco
- Another tourist mecca, but the food's good and the bartender's friendly.
Peninsula
- Buck's,
3062 Woodside Road, Woodside, 650-851-8010
- Roy Rogers mural, California food. Wonderful friendly service.
- Evvia, Palo Alto
- Find Greek food. Ask for a bougatsa for dessert.
- Nola, Palo Alto
- Great New Orleans style food in a wildly-decorated courtyard. High energy, great bar.
- Left at Albuquerque,
Emerson St, Palo Alto
- Try the Carnitas. Or any of the 121 kinds of tequila. (It's now a CHAIN, with instances on Union St in San Francisco, Campbell, Burlingame, even Santa Barbara. Hooray.)
Boston
Haven't lived in Boston for a long time now. When I go back, I look forward to:
- Durgin-Park, Faneuil Hall Market, Boston
- As an MIT undergraduate, I used to have the 95 cent special every Saturday. Faneuil Hall Market has been yuppified, but Durgin-Park is still pretty much the same, good honest food put in front of you without ceremony. Eat your peas.
Other
- Tarpy's Roadhouse,
Hwy. 68 at Canyon Del Rey, Monterey CA
- Ribs, chicken, steak, meatloaf, and some of the best service I've ever seen in any restaurant.
- Harry's Bar, Venice
- The best (restaurant) meal of my life.