My Restaurant Reviews
I love to eat and cook and consider myself to be an epicurean. Below are places I have eaten and felt like mentioning. This list is mostly a log of places I have tried.
Philadelphia Suburbs
Dinner
Tango Bryn Mawr, PA - One of my goto restaurants. This place never disappoints.
Roux 3 Newtown Square, PA - my other goto restaurant. Many patrons treat the servers poorly here, so the servers really take care of you if you respect them.
The Cheesecake Factory King Of Prussia, PA - Big chain with big portions. I've never had a meal I didn't like and the servers are excellent.
The California Pizza Kitchen King of Prussia, PA - I love Pizza! This place retains their staff better than most restaurants. After 9 years of eating here the servers know me by sight.
Coyote Crossing West Chester, PA - Small selection but good food.
Nirvana Fine Indian Cuisine Wilmington, DE - I have eaten at many Indian restaurants in NYC and the Philadelphia area. This is one of the best.
Blue Fin Plymouth Meeting, PA - This is one of the best Sushi places I have found.
Desi Village Exton, PA - This is one of those hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurants. Barely decorated and painted. They have a buffet in the evenings. Judging by the 95% Indian clientele and how crowded it was all night I would say this is probably good authentic Indian cuisine. Also note that it is all vegetarian.
Himalyan Indian Malvern, PA – This is my favorite Indian restaurant. If you have never had Indian before try their lunch buffet.
High Street Café West Chester, PA – Cajun and Creole. This is a good place to go when you are looking for something different.
Iron Hill Brewery West Chester, PA – Cheesesteak Egg Rolls and Cincinati Chili. They have good pizza too.
Victory Brewing Company Downingtown, PA – This is an actual brewery not just a brew pub. They have the best Root Beer I have ever had. The food is better then you would expect. They cater to cyclists and rides start and end here on Wednesday nights.
Rock Bottom King of Prussia, PA – The food here is pretty goo
d. They have some items not offered at other places like soft pretzel sticks and Mac-n-Chicken.
McKenzie’s Brew House Malvern and Chadds Ford, PA – I love their chili. Their food is really good and they have a great bar and gaming area.
Melting Pot King of Prussia, PA, Chestnut Hill,PA, and Wilmington, DE – Fondue! This is a great place to go with a group of people. If you go with the 3 course meal you will be there for hours while you cook your own food at the table.
Isaac’s West Chester and Lionville, PA – Sandwiches and salads you wish you could make at home. Their sandwiches are more along the lines of health food store instead of deli sandwiches (think alfalfa sprouts).
America Bar & Grill Chester Springs, PA – Great food. This is a good place to go when you want something a little nicer than usual.
Landmark Americana Tap & Grill West Chester, PA – Had a delicious spinach salad and a BBQ chicken sandwich. They have good battered fries and the Old Bay appetizer fries comes with cheese for dipping. Other reviews state the service is bad but I found it acceptable.
Breakfast
Blue Cafe - Downingtown, PA - Pretty good breakfast. The pumpkin pancakes were tasty!
Meredith’s Devon, PA - Absolutely wonderful! I could eat here every day for breakfast. I haven't tried their lunches since the breakfast dishes are too good.
Happy Days Diner Frazer and Downingtown, PA - fair breakfast buffet and standard dinner food.
King Street Grill Malvern, PA – No longer on King Street but they have great banana pancakes.
Nudy’s Frazer, PA – simple no nonsense breakfast like you would make for yourself if you actually had the time.
Classic Diner Malvern, PA – Don’t let the name fool you, this place serves one of the best breakfasts in the area.
Bob Evans Exton, PA – Large breakfast chain with well know good food.
Cracker Barrel Downingtown and Conshohocken, PA - large chain of home style restaurants. The breakfast is better than you might usually make at home with real maple syrup and great coffee.
Pizza - Since moving to Downingtown I have been trying to find a really great pizza places.
Ron’s School House – Lionville, PA – This place has some of the best pizza in the area. They have a large selection of individual “Ovals” to choose from. They also have great broccoli bites!
Mom's Bake at Home – Devon and Downingtown, PA - Great build your own pizza but the spices get a little overwhelming if you go there too often. I haven't tried asking for it without the spices yet.
Foster Boys - Downingtown, PA – This place draws locals more than other places. I didn’t think their pizza was anything special. I’m going to give it one more try though.
Georgio’s - Downingtown, PA – Fair pizza but no parking and an odd location. They seem to cater more to their sandwiches and restaurant.
Copa 82 Downingtown, PA - OK place for some Pizza and basic Itallian food.
Rino’s - Exton, PA - OK place for some Pizza and basic Italian food. The salads came out with water in the bowl.
Piazza Pizza Downingtown, PA – Their pizza was nothing special. Even though they are close I would rather go to the other places.
Burgers
Five Guys Devon, PA – This place has the best burgers in the area, period.
CheeBurger CheeBurger Malvern, PA – Great burgers and possibly the best milkshakes. Don’t be afraid, the staff is much friendlier than those of the SNL skit. If you feel like gorging yourself, they server a 1lb burger. You get your picture on the wall if you finish it.
Red Robin Lionville, PA – Large variety of toppings to customize your burger.
Char-Lees Lionville, PA – Great Burgers and milkshakes.
Ruby’s Diner King of Prussia and Ardmore, PA – Great burgers, fries, and milk shakes.
Fox and Hounds King of Prussia, PA – I list this under Burgers because they make a great burger and the other dishes are only for people who don’t want a burger but go with you anyway.
Lancaster, PA
Shady Maple Smorgasbord rt23 Morgantown, PA – This is one of the best buffets ever. The food and staff may be authentic PA Dutch but the owner is not so the atmosphere is a little different than you would expect. They serve 5000 people a day and have the largest selection of food I have ever seen. Best time to go to miss the crowds is an hour or less before they close.
Miller’s Smorgasbord rt 30 – This restaurant is outside of Lancaster, PA and feels like it is trying to cash in on the PA Dutch style found elsewhere in the area.
Good and Plenty Lancaster, PA – This is one of the places people talk about when they describe the Lancaster Dutch experience. You site at a long table with a bunch of strangers and food is passed around the table.
Staying home
When you are tired of going out and want to cook something great for yourself try The Kitchen Workshop in Paoli. They have a large kitchen classroom set up and Art hands out 5 or so recipes that you and the other students prepare yourselves. When you are done you get to eat your creations or take them home for later. Bring containers.
Philadelphia
Suzanna Foo Philadelphia, PA - I had the 5 course tasting once and it was incredible!
Roy's Philadelphia, PA - High end chain with great food.
Jone's While the Mac & Cheese and Seared Tuna were delicious I wouldn't go back. They were really the only things I wanted on the menu and for the prices you can do better.
El Vez High end Mexican food. This place is just fun! The Guacamole is made in front of you on a low rider bicycle. If you have the opportunity, try to sit along the back wall; they have a huge collection of Day of the Dead figurines.
Cuba Libre 2nd Ave, Old City - Cuban Food. I have eaten here a few times and it was always good.
Cafe Spice 2nd Ave Old City - Excellent Indian Food!
Continental & Continental Midtown - Great place for small plates. Actually the plates are quite large; three plates are enough for 2 people. The fries are a must!
Sansom Street Oyster House – delicious sea food.
Monk’s – Great burgers and the best pom frites. OK, I know they are just French fries but its Monk’s special mayonnaise dipping sauce that makes them so good.
New York City
Redeye Grille 890 7th Ave, At 56th St - Ate here for brunch. There was a live jazz band playing and the food was great.
Ruby Foo 1626 Broadway, At 49th St - Pan Asian. Good selection of food. The tables get a little cramped since many of the items are tapas. I had the thai chicken lettuce wraps, some sushi and edamame. All were wonderful.
Hudson Cafeteria356 W 58th St, Btwn 8th & 9th Ave - Don't let the name confuse you, they do not server lunch lady fare. I had the lamb, which is not something I normally order, and it was delicious.
Pershing Square 42nd and Park Ave (actually under Park Ave) - Delicious breakfast and good service!
Lindy's 825 7th Ave, Btwn 53rd & 54th St - This place was so expensive I left and went to Sbaro's Pizza instead. I did try their cheesecake but it wasn't as good as they claim.
Las Vegas
China Grill Mandalay Bay– Excellent Wasabi mashed potatoes
Stratosphere Great place for a date! Make sure you go just before sunset and get a table facing out.
Bally’s Buffet Bally’s Hotel – This may be the best buffet in Vegas (or at least the most expensive)
Atlantic City
Cuba Libre Tropicana Hotel – Same as in Philly
Wolfgang Puck American Grille Borgata Hotel – Great California Style pizza
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