Favorite Local Restaurants

Does anyone have any favorite local restaurants? It would be a place you visit often or when you want a 'sure thing' in good food.

For me the place is Nino's on Naamans Road (Route 92) on the Delaware-Pennsylvania border.

They have Pizza, Italian platters, and some of the best quality hot wings I can find. While the wing sauce is just your basic Red Hot sauce with vinegar, the wings themselves are huge and cooked just right which is cooked long enough to be slightly crispy and not rubbery and yet not dried out. The advantage of having great wings in an Italian restuarant are the shakers of Parmesan cheese and garlic powder on the table you can sprinkle on the wings or onto your plate and roll the wings in it. I've even been known to use the Oregano and hot pepper flakes.

Nice selection of slightly exotic pizzas, great service, and reasonable prices. We have eaten there dozens of times and never had a bad meal or poor service. Add to that the coupons they put out and you have a winner.

UT, what was that place we went to Thursday? That was great!

My favorite Philadelphia haunts:

El Azteca--Grant and Bustleton: We are incredibly devoid of Mexican restaurants in Philadelphia...this place is fantastic. They also have a BYOB location in Center City.

Abilene--4th and South: Tex-Mex, low-key for being on South St.

Tamarind--2nd and South: Thai, nice atmosphere, great prices.

South Street Diner--across the street from Tamarind: Great diner staples, along with awesome Greek food.

Philadelphia Fish and Company--3rd and Chestnut: Primarily a fish joint, but also other dishes; expensive as hell, but one of the best meals you'll eat in this town.

Pizza Rustica--36th and Chestnut: Best described as an "upscale sandwich shop," yet reasonably priced.

Now, you said local Rich, but there are a lot of local areas on the Cellar...my favorite St. Louis places are here.

We had lunch at Fitzwater Station, a tiny little place right on the Schuylkill Canal near Phoenixville. They have decent lunch sandwiches. At night they have a broader menu. Some beers on tap. I'd call it competent and homey. They don't aspire to anything gourmet, but they're a fine little neighborhood place.

The Black Lab is better than average

Casey's - A bar above the level of "dive" in Hatfield, although the exterior screams "dive bar". Somebody forgot to tell the chef where's he's working, though and the food is excellent. The bartenders are friendly and the drinks are stiff.

Blue Dog Pub - part of a chain of 2 restaurants (I go to the Lansdale one) that mostly position themselves as sports bars. They have the big screen TVs and the occasional crowd during large sporting events, but make up for that with great food and an extremely wide variety of beers.

The Sumney - Yet another in a line of bars with great food. The dining area is bigger than the bar here, though. Still has a load of regular barflies that hangs out there, but they tend to be reasonably nice folks, even when liquored up. American/Irish pub type food, much better than expected despite the pink neon on the roof.

Rinos - Italian restaurant in Exton, Penna. right outside the mall property on Route 30. Reasonable beer selection, great food specialities (Chicken Basil Calzone, anyone?) and an awesome dessert tray. How many pizza joints that you go to have dessert trays?

I'll add more as I think of them.

It's funny when 2 1/2 year-old threads get resurrected but funnier because J and I stood outside the Black Lab Bistro last Saturday afternoon. And I've never met Scred as far as I can remember, and I usually remember users.

Scred, be sure to see Poco on Feb 10 at the Colonial! :thumb:

If anybody ever gets to Dayton the Pine Club is the place for steaks. Knotty pine decor reminsicent of a time when a huge prime rib, coupla Rob Roys and hash browns with sour cream was a healthy meal. Other goodies: Blue Moon, Pacchia, and for those who love pretension, L'Auberge, where the dignitaries of the Dayton Peace Accords had their vittles. Ming Tsai of TV and Blue Ginger (in Wellesley, MA) fame was born and brought up here in Dayton. His family had a restaurant here for years before he went on to greater fame. It's not a TOTAL culinary wasteland west of Phila. (but, honestly, it's close.)