@DrGoogle I can imagine that Din Tai Fung might not translate well over to a smaller kitchen at a mall! I’ve seen this before with other Chinese restaurants in Arcadia and Monterey Park. As soon as there are just a few changes in the kitchen staff or the physical location, the quality alters radically.
We were just in Vancouver BC and headed for a Diners Drive-Ins and Dives rec, Peaceful Chinese Restaurant. They had a “westernized” lunch specials menu, but we ordered from the regular menu and the food was amazing! Our favorites were the beef rolls, which just melt in your mouth, the dumplings, and the spicy sauce noodles which rival our favorite noodles from a street vendor we found in Hong Kong.
What I’d give for quality Shanghai soup dumplings!!! However did finally have good USA dim sum when visiting D in the DC area two weeks ago, China Garden in Rosslyn.
Chains, only use them when traveling. I eat a vegetable based diet, avoid wheat and beef, so it is hard to find much worth eating on the road. Culvers is a personal favorite as it is a regional chain expanding as far afield as Arizona and their interiors tend to be clean and cheery. Their salads are ok, and the frozen custard is one of my favorite things on earth. Us Wisconsinites need an occasional bag of fried cheese curds as well. KFC, avoiding the sides and getting one chicken breast is a rare indulgence. Taco Bell can be comfort food, and is cheap.
Panera you’d think would be great The concept is good, but the product often seems to be lacking in flavor and quality. Chipotle and the like don’t thrill me either, though appreciate the attempts at health.
Some of the best Chinese I’ve had is from obscure strip malls with FOB immigrants cooking.
@great lakes mom I agree on the “obscure strip mall” recommendation. Our favorite Banh Mi shop as well as our favorite Pho restaurant are both in strip malls. Both spots have all of four tables.
Adding one more chain restaurant I like: Nordsrom Cafe.
^^^I agree - love their nicoise salads.
Musica, my S, in San Diego took to me to the most amazing Bahn Mi place someplace inland in San Diego. They had so much that was wonderful! SoCal is an ethnic food heaven!
I think that’s why chains don’t thrive here. Why go to PF Changs when you have so many little mom and pops cooking fresh, authentic and exquisite meals right down the street? We also have some extraordinary Lebanese and Armenian restaurants. There’s a Lebanese butcher a few miles away who has a wood fire pit behind his place. I buy the seasoned meat in the shop and he cooks it out back over a wood fire while I do the rest of my shopping. oooboy
In the LA metro area, we not only have an amazing array of fabulous ethnic restaurants from all over the world, we also have an incredible food critic – Jonathan Gold – who is dedicated to searching out and promoting the best of the best of the small, hole-in-the-wall, mom and pop places. I don’t think it is possible to overestimate Jonathan Gold’s influence on the LA restaurant scene over the past 25 years. Anyone coming to LA should look up his reviews for the neighborhood you’ll be in. He takes all of the risk and uncertainty out of trying a hole-in-the-wall place.
I keep a running list of his recommendations, and I think the Lebanese butcher shop that MusicaMusica mentioned may be on that list.
yes—I agree Jonathan Gold has fantastic taste (and taste buds)
Many times it’s the hole-in-the-wall places that are the best. They are owned by mom & pop families and everything is made from the heart. We’ve had the best Chinese at hole-in-the-wall places in NYC and the best pastrami sandwiches at hole-in-the-wall places in New Jersey and certainly the Shrimp food truck we found on Oahu was superb!
When I lived in the LA area in the early 80s someone had a book of hole in the wall recommendations which was fabulous. Even then there were great ethnic restaurants (and lots of great BBQ too).
I feel the same way here - why would anyone go to the Olive Garden when we have a million better Italian restaurants?
We sometimes eat at chain restaurants when we’re traveling or in a new area and don’t have time to research anything. One of our favorites, which has just come to the US (originally from South Africa but all over Britain) is Nando’s. We also eat at Itsu a lot (sushi and other Asian-ish healthy options).
One national/regional chain I miss here in DC is El Pollo Loco. I always try to pick up a chicken and fixins from them when I’m in LA.
When our middle child was diagnosed with life threatening nut allergies, our days of being adventurous in the dining out arena came to a screeching halt. Chains are much safer for her than mom and pop ethnic places. Sometimes the language barrier is just to much to overcome. But she’s almost ready to fly the coop, so we can return to trying out new little hole in the wall restaurants.
I am getting married in northern Michigan. Taste testing at a bunch of local places was the only fun part of wedding planning. There are too many gems up there to even attempt to name.
Local: La Choza (santa fe), Best of Europe, Blue Bayou (anaheim), Dehli Palace (flagstaff az), Tia Sophia (santa fe), Lake Tahoe Pizza Company, The Stove (mammoth), Domingo’s (boron california)
Regional: In n Out
National: Cheesecake Factory, Claim Jumper, BJ’s
Yeah. It’s quite good, and prices are pretty reasonable (I usually get a double cheeseburger, chili cheese fries, and a drink and it’s like $9 and plenty of food to fill you up). I recommend if you’re in an area where there is one to try it, but it’s probably not worth going too far out of your way for.
One thing about Culver’s–it’s really clean. The tables, the soda machines, the bathrooms, all really clean. Presumably the kitchens, too.
I like the explosion of food trucks, especially gourmet taco trucks. We have lots of amazing ones with menus that change all the time. Here’s the menu from Guerrilla Tacos from a couple of days ago:
~ Sweet potato taco with almond chile, feta cheese, fried corn, & scallions
~ Baja style Calamari steak taco with chile morita, pistachio, lime, chives
~ Wild boar picadillo taco with pine nuts, pinto beans, green chile rajas, cherry tomatoes, burnt tomato chile, pickled onion, cilantro
~ Zuckermen’s asparagus and fried egg taco with aged cheddar, red pepper escabeche, Serrano chiles, parsley
Yummy yum yum!