Sections
12 Cumberland St, Charleston, SC American, Beer Garden $$ – $8 to $20 for an entree
We had the opportunity to check out the much-anticipated Craftsmen Kitchen & Tap House on their opening weekend.
The much-talked-about restaurant has completely transformed what used to be that bar we all loved but never remembered, Johnson’s, into a awesome little beer garden restaurant. The actual “beer garden” portion is quite small, but they’ve got the authentic-looking Bavarian tables, so I’m sold on liking everything about it.
If you claim to be a beer garden, then you can damn well count on me sampling [...]
1235 Rue Guy, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Thai $$$ – Entrees for 15 – 20 CAD
Ready for a change after consuming several heavy French meals in a row, we looked (again, on Urbanspoon) for a great Thai restaurant. We found one in the Concordia University area, a place with plenty of nightlife around to check out after our meal. Easy subway access, but we, of course, chose to ride our rental bikes.
The restaurant, Phayathai, is on the second story and holds seating for approximately 30 people—pretty small and, again, we’re pretty sure we saw the owner busing tables. There were a few round tables that seat six, but, to be safe, you should probably make a [...]
100 N. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202 Mediterranean/Italian Lunch: $$ Entrees for $9 – $13
Aria Tuscan Grill sits in downtown Charlotte, within a stone’s throw of the Epicenter outdoor shopping center. Inside, everything feels very upbeat and new. You’ll enter off Tryon Street and walk a few steps down to the main floor of the restaurant, giving you the feeling of many NY or Chicago restaurants where you feels as if you’re eating at basement level. They’ve done a great job making the restaurant feel open, with large windows at street level, and successfully giving the space a very upscale bistro feel inside.
The best [...]
2424 N Davidson St $$ for a soup/salad lunch/dinner French, Coffee, Cafe
I stumbled across Amélie’s on a recent trip to Charlotte and, according to Urbanspoon, it is one of the most popular, most raved about spots in the Queen City. So, I jumped in the car and made the short drive over to NoDa, which appears to be a resurrected-warehouse-district-turned-loft apartments and hip new eateries.
Arriving at Amélie’s, you’ll find that their forte is their desserts as they have a very simple food menu with an elaborate pastry case. You’ll find that this cafe-meets-dessert store is huge, too–as you navigate the very bright and [...]
1337 Morrison Drive Charleston, SC $ – Sandwiches from $7-13 Pub Food, Burgers, Bar
With Jeff finally back in Charleston after a weekend in Atlanta for work, we decided to pretend Sunday night was a Saturday night, which usually includes trying a fun new restaurant. Although the Tattooed Moose is definitely not new, we’d still yet to try it because it’s located way up East Bay St. – and not within walking distance…unless you want to get shot on your way.
When we arrived, we felt like we were the first and only patrons with cars… the outside looks like a hole-in-the-wall biker bar meets emo, hipster hangout, where the [...]
Anson Restaurant 12 Anson, Charleston, South Carolina “Seafood, American, Steakhouse” –> Southern $$$ – $24-32 for entrees.
Having not dined at Anson in years, we made our first visit of sorts recently and did not find it as our memories expected.
Situated right off of Market Street, its right in the thick of Charleston as tourists know it. You’re sure to get a few wafts of that awesome smell of horse from the stables next door.
Anson has a sort of interesting vibe going on: while they offer a very traditional Southern menu, the white table clothes and price point of all entrees and wine leave you [...]
1023 4th Ave, San Diego, CA American, Bar Food $$ – Entrees from $15 to $25
The Yard House is a very typical-seeming sports bar …typical as in the kind that are very “upscale” feeling, meaning that they still serve a sports bar menu just at much higher prices to cover their extraordinarily priced real estate.
This one is nice, no doubt: a sensible amount of TVs, loud background music, a huge space with large, substantial-feeling tables that are well spread out and able to accommodate large parties.
On my visit, I tried the STREET TACOS PLATE ($13.55). The ASADA was pretty damn good with grilled New York streak, toasted [...]
17 Warren St, Charleston, SC Italian — Outdoor patio & live band occasionally $$ — Most entrees in the $15-18 range
Looking for some good Italian on the peninsula, we strolled over to Pane e Vino, located just off Charleston’s busy King Street on a much quieter, off-the-beaten path Warren Street. Entering the restaurant, you’ll pass by the giant patio hidden behind an ivy-covered wrought-iron fence, which looks larger than the main dining room of the restaurant.
The interior feels very Italian with a lowly lit, cozy and romantic atmosphere, although a little less authentic feeling than, say, Osteria la [...]
351 Rue St-Paul Ouest, Montreal, QC Bakery w/ Sandwiches $ to $$ — About CAD 9 – 11 for lunch
After the walking tour, we remained in Vieux Montreal and explored Rue St. Paul. Vieux Montreal, as we learned on our walking tour, is mostly inhabited by tourists. The main street, Rue St. Paul, is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops, and dotted in between is the typical crowd pleaser painted up in gold and throwing gold beads to the crowd–leave it to the Canadians and misinformed college freshmen that body paint is cool.
Love the sign, so typical of Quebec on many levels: [...]
2694 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham, NC Diner style with sandwiches/subs, salads and breakfast $ – Appx $9 for lunch
When you walk into Foster’s, you get the impression that this place is a local institution — and not just because it feels like it has been around for a very long while. They’ve got that old country store feel going on, and not the fake feeling Cracker Barrel style (in a side note, I ate at a Cracker Barrel recently for the first time in like 10 years and had NO IDEA that they were so blatantly racist at one time. That went right over my head as a kid. Just check out their Wikipedia: “In 2004, an investigation by [...]
