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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Oct 9, 2011 9:46:06 GMT -5
Do you check out new restaurants, or are you willing to let someone else do your dirty work before you try it?
Normally, I like to do the checking out myself but Friday I went to a new restaurant that is definitely going to go into my rotation. It has been there for awhile under a couple of different permutations, but it looks like they hit on a winner this time.
There's another Mexican place that just opened up recently that I would like to hit sometime.
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Bluerobin
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Post by Bluerobin on Oct 9, 2011 9:48:57 GMT -5
If they last 6 months, I will consider trying the place. By then the crowds should have died down, and if they can survive on normal traffic flow, they must be ok.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Oct 9, 2011 10:04:16 GMT -5
Oh yeah! I try to get to a new restaurant that interests me as soon as I can. I live in an area with a great, vibrant restaurant scene, so I have a long of restaurants I still have to try!
Last week we tried an old diner that reopened under new ownership with a "farm to table" concept and BF and I were both impressed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 10:14:10 GMT -5
I like to try new restaurants first. I have realized that my closest friend and I have a different idea of what is good food. I like fresh, handmade, local, etc. She is ok with restaurants serving stuff that they got from the freezer. Yes, sometimes they can make the food edible, but I prefer going to places that cook from scratch and use local ingredients.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Oct 9, 2011 10:15:41 GMT -5
For professional reasons, all the time. It's not so much about being first, but finding out about the little things that make the place worth a visit.
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TD2K
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Post by TD2K on Oct 9, 2011 11:34:28 GMT -5
I don't eat out a lot except when Mich is here so I tend to hit the same places that I like. However, we've found several good new restaurants by trying new ones. Yes, you might get a few flops but I have to tell myself I would otherwise also miss the gems.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Oct 9, 2011 12:11:56 GMT -5
In fact, a couple of the places we've found have been courtesy of coupons through restaurant.com. One place is a sports bar, which we've hit several times. More recently, we found a sandwich place which makes awesome sandwiches, does a very decent barbecue and we have yet to try their pizza offerings.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 12:26:00 GMT -5
We had a new Mexican place open up close to our house about 18 months ago. We tried it within the first 2 months & the food sucked. We pass it a lot & noticed that slowly it started getting busy. Now days the parking lot is almost always full. So we figured that they must have changed something & gave them another chance. Turns out that they improved from suck to ok. Their location is what is keeping them busy (I guess). For an extra 10 minute drive you could be having great food.
In answer to your question, we will usually try them.
Oh & talk about someone knowing their market. We have a small local place that is literally hidden in our housing area. They do mostly the same foods that you could make at home for a reasonable price. A HUGE number of the older people eat there 3 or 4 times a week so they don't have to cook. Many of them drive their caddies just back & fourth to the place & nowhere else. That place is ALWAYS packed, not only the parking lot but both sides of the street. It's a little gold mine.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 12:30:53 GMT -5
I like trying new places - I can't say I am on the cutting edge of the restaurant scene - "new place" just means new to me. You pretty much need to open in my backyard for me to make it out opening weekend.
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Oct 9, 2011 12:38:41 GMT -5
I usually let the eager eaters scope out new places first and wait for feedback (pun intended) before I give them a try. Many times new places go through growing pains before they hit on what makes their place work or not work. There's several well-established eateries where I live, some small mom & pop type places with simple comfort foods, some more extravagant or catering to a specific menu (Italian, Chinese, etc). If a place is good (or not), word of mouth usually gets around pretty quickly.
The local paper does a write-up each Sunday about a different local restaurant each week - focusing on their specialties, service, price, ambiance and quality of the dishes - and they're usually quite accurate in their appraisals. It gives you a general idea of what to expect if you decide to go.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Oct 9, 2011 14:13:48 GMT -5
I discovered last week that the pizza place across the street from me closed. They'd been open only about 4 years and made a very good pizza. I was pretty bummed about that since they delivered and were one of my mainstays when my hips were acting cranky.
It's a pity as there is now only one pizza place that I know of that makes edible pizza in this town!
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Post by robbase on Oct 9, 2011 23:16:30 GMT -5
......... I went to a new restaurant that is definitely going to go into my rotation...... you have a restaurant "rotation"? Do you also have a "closer" ice cream parlor? What did you have to do "acquire" the new restaurant in your rotation? Did you have to trade them a salad and an appetizer to be named later?
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Sammy
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Post by Sammy on Oct 9, 2011 23:22:33 GMT -5
TD2K: I don't eat out a lot except when Mich is here She's that bad of a cook, eh?? <Sam shakes her head and feels bad for TD>
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Oct 10, 2011 7:46:10 GMT -5
We do try new restaurants occasionally, but not very often as we don't eat out all that much. I like trying new places, but DH works so many hours that I usually cook at home except for pizza. We've found a couple of really good pizza places that we like.
DH tried Mediterranean(sp?) food when he was out of the country this summer and we're going to a local place that makes that type of food soon.
Poor TD! (Anne rushes to find some good quick recipes for Mich>
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Oct 10, 2011 8:11:06 GMT -5
Mich DOES cook, contrary to what Sammy says! I also cook quite a bit while out at TD's. ;D
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kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 10, 2011 15:32:15 GMT -5
We'll check out new places first. A couple of years ago a sushi place went in. We didn't have any sushi places close by so we were really excited. Granted, it was a gamble with that type of food, but it paid off. The place is great. We eat there all the time now.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Oct 10, 2011 15:41:02 GMT -5
DH is super picky so we tend to eat only at places where I know the menu has something he will eat. It makes trying new places a real PITA.
We have found some new to us places. Brothers Sebastian Steak House has been in Omaha for several decades but neither of us had ever gone there. We went for my birthday last year and that was the best steak I've ever had. I got DH to try a couple places in the Old Market that I've been to without him and he enjoyed them.
A lot of the places opening up here are "foodie" type places that do not have anything DH will eat. I did find a place that serves duck fat french fries and he's intrigued with the idea, so we might try that place someday. I also really want to try Crave, which DH has heard about from people at work (rave reviews) and he'd like to check it out sometime.
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kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 10, 2011 15:56:13 GMT -5
We've finally got some good "foodie" places around here. I'm obsessed with this awesome restaurant that opened up that is sort of a Latin/South American place. They buy a lot of local products and have a lot of organic and gluten-free stuff. It's so tasty. I'm there so much the owner comes over to say hi when I'm in there.
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Post by theamazinggomez on Oct 10, 2011 16:56:36 GMT -5
Never discount a chain restaurant. Perhaps you need to step out a bit more instead of living in a cocoon.
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Post by theamazinggomez on Oct 10, 2011 18:09:36 GMT -5
Keep eating that heavily laden private restaurants and you will be very,,,,,,well-rounded.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 10, 2011 18:13:12 GMT -5
Never discount a chain restaurant. Perhaps you need to step out a bit more instead of living in a cocoon. ---------------------- Chain restaurants don't do well up here. From Denny's to Taco bell to Red Lobster, they open with great fanfare, only to die a slow and painful death. They're just not that good.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Oct 10, 2011 19:37:42 GMT -5
Never discount a chain restaurant. Perhaps you need to step out a bit more instead of living in a cocoon. Chains are just okay. Not great, just... okay. Fine in a pinch, but nothing you seek out. A Jimmy John's opened up here and I feel like it's a black spot on my chain-free town.
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kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 10, 2011 20:01:03 GMT -5
There are some chain places I really love. (Bahama Breeze comes to mind.) But we have some really great local restaurants, and we're finally getting some more diversity in the kinds of locally owned restaurants around here. I like to support our local small business owners as much as possible, especially the ones who have gone out on a limb to add some diversity to food choices.
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Mad Dawg Wiccan
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Post by Mad Dawg Wiccan on Oct 10, 2011 20:42:15 GMT -5
Taste is a subjective thing, what I like to eat doesn't mean others will as well. When taking in reports of a restaurant, I will listen most closely to how was the service, which can make or break a great meal.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2011 0:30:08 GMT -5
Chains are just okay. Not great, just... okay. --------------------------- That's why they fail here. We have over 3,000 restaurants in this city, most of them absolutely fantastic. OK just isn't good enough,
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Firefly
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Post by Firefly on Oct 11, 2011 0:52:22 GMT -5
I love this new Italian street food restaurant that was just opened not far from my work - I mean it's not even a restaurant per se more like a fast food joint but I am having love affair with it nonetheless.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Oct 11, 2011 6:47:36 GMT -5
Jimmy Johns is just blah. In my neighborhood its all local stuff. Too bad they suck and charge $4 for a bottle of Sam Adams. If I never went to them ever again I wouldn't miss them. There are local places I try to get to back home and in Morgantown that I miss dearly.
I found one that looked interesting, actually the menu was drool worthy. I got certificates from restaurant.com to try them out. Before I could get there I had an email saying they'd closed down. Fail!
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