Upscale eating

I use Yelp and only eat at local shops. I have never been disappointed and have found a lot of great places that only the locals used to know about. $$ is a typical breakfast, lunch, or dinner. $$$ is saved for when the reviews are 4.5 stars or higher. I avoid the $$$$ because I normally just don't see the value and never have any outfits to fit the occasion while on the road.

As far as high-end restaurants, while I havent been disappointed, I cant think of any place that stuck out as something incredibly special.
 
I am not sure how "great garlic mashed potatoes" could be a selling point of a restaurant. I mean, there is an upper bound on how good a dish like that could be. If that's the highlight it would make me question everything else.
 
I've had a few very expensive meals at fancy restaurants downtown, but had much better dinners at Texas Roadhouse and Red Lobster for a fraction the cost.
 
GlennAB1 said:
I've had a few very expensive meals at fancy restaurants downtown, but had much better dinners at Texas Roadhouse and Red Lobster for a fraction the cost.
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TXRH is surprisingly good for a chain. But Red Lobster? Really?
 
cowman said:
Wait Casa Bonita is a real thing? Heh.
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Oh yeah, baby.

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.thed...hings-you-may-not-know-about-casa-bonita.html

LOL!

Dave Theisen said:
Ok, I'm going to be out in Denver in November. PoA meetup at Casa Bonita!
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Now you're talking! hahaha. That would be rather epic.

And as bad as the food is, they at least did get the 2016 award for public health in their district for food handling cleanliness.

And they renovated the place over the winter of 2016-2017. Whatever that means.

The place is literally, as old as I am. Within a few months, anyway. Haha.

I knew some kids who worked there as cliff divers who were on my high school's swim team. (No I wasn't a swimmer...) Common summer job for decent high school divers back then. Assume it still is. They were also waiters and waitresses in between cliff dives, I believe.

Plus, I need to check in with Zoltar and see what my fortune says. Although a quick Google says that they must have retired old Zoltar and acquired some other newer (and probably easier to maintain) fortune telling machine. Rats! Zoltar rocked! LOL.

PoA photo in Black Bart's Cave!

I can do a pretty good Cartman impression. Hahaha.

November PoA Casa Bonita Meet-Up!
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Did someone seriously just say they are willing to spend $500/plate on something that their body is just going to expel later that night?! Uh, nope.
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Yip. And I'd do it in a heartbeat again... Well, every 5 years or so. (I've only been there twice - it's incredibly difficult to get a reservation). It's not about the food, it's about the memory. You don't really do a $100 hamburger run for the $3 worth of ground beef, right?

But, at the risk of having beer cans thrown at my head, I will attempt to make an argument here for "value" about what you're actually getting and that it's not just crazy overpriced food...

First of all service is included, so you actually just pay $500. This brings it down to the equivalent of $425 (18%).

Second, the dinner event takes 3 to 4 hours. It's really 2 dinners rolled into one over 8 to 10 courses. It's a LOT of food - more so than what would be comfortable to eat in an hour. You are definitely satiated after.

Third, they use ingredients that would be expensive even to cook at at home - e.g. on the menu right now (part of the $500, but listed individually):
* $60 for Kaluga Caviar -- Kaluga runs around $35 for 0.5oz.
* $30 for Fois Gras -- Goes for about $70 per pound. Let's say $18 for 4oz.
* $100 for Japanese Wagyu (not just American raised Wagyu-descendants) -- Goes for around $150 per pound. Let's say $75 for 8oz.
* Not on right now, but $75 for black truffles when it's in season - they shave it in front of you, you get to say "when". I stop when I have about 5 little truffles equivalent, which would run ~$50 in Whole Foods. On top of that the ones in Whole Foods are really hit or miss (I've actually returned truffles to Whole Foods before - only time I ever returned fresh ingredients to a grocery store).

So their markup isn't actually that high over the raw ingredients. If you prepare let's say Kaluga at home for 2 people, the ingredients alone will run you ~$90 and you still have to prepare it. And you risk screwing it up - which is fairly easy to do with caviar - OR - you can pay $30 more and have it prepared by one of the top-rated chefs in the world and he'll either get it right or he won't serve it. I'd pick the restaurant prep every time.

You just don't generally go and eat Kaluga, Fois Gras, Wagyu, Black Truffles etc. all on the same night. If you did, it would be expensive as well - even at home.

Yeah, it's a lot of money. But if I have to give up one Ruth's Chris a year to go to the French Laundry instead once every 5 years - it is absolutely worth it. Think about it, would you rather go to Catalina 5 times, or once to Hawaii?
 
deonb said:
You just don't generally go and eat Kaluga, Fois Gras, Wagyu, Black Truffles etc. all on the same night. If you did, it would be expensive as well - even at home.

Yeah, it's a lot of money. But if I have to give up one Ruth's Chris a year to go to the French Laundry instead once every 5 years - it is absolutely worth it. Think about it, would you rather go to Catalina 5 times, or once to Hawaii?
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Honestly, I've had all of those items. But not in one sitting at one place. I suspect it leads to upbringing and what you're used to, but I didn't find any of them particularly deeply impressive to my palate. Nice, certainly, but not something I'd go out of my way to go have again.

Earlier this year, friends suggested a place on the east coast of Florida to meet for dinner when we were out there, and we said we'd pick up the tab. Just wanted to see them. We get there and they tell us we'd be missing out big time if we didn't order the pork chop.

(Record scratch....)

Pork chop? Weird. Okay. I'm game.

We order the thing and it comes out and it must have been every bit of two inches thick and looked like a typical cut of prime rib, more than a pork chop.

Cut into it and it's immaculately correct on temperature and doneness throughout. I suspect they did a sous vide or similar, there's no freaking way I could ever get a cut that thick, that consistent all the way through. And it really was divine.

So... truffles? Meh. But pork chop? ooooh! Now that's actually different!

Funny thing was we also literally stumbled into @Theboys and his SO that day also, and they also recommended a great place that did japanese and similar for lunch, on the drive across Florida! Haha.

I was so dang stuffed that night. The way the timing worked out, we drove back across Florida again after midnight and got back to our hotel at like 1AM, and I think I was still full.

For a vacation day where we were just puttering around seeing old and new friends, it turned into quite the gastronomical day! Haha. Definitely well above average for us, but perfect when on vacation!

For a really nice meal out around here, I'd say the couple of places that serve bison correctly, are favorites. I think even Ted's Montana Grill does a decent job on bison, for a chain.

Also a fan of good Cajun or Creole. Hard to find around here but there's one place that's authentic and good. Have a trip that's getting planned which will take us to NOLA next year, and really looking forward to that... mmmm.
 
I've only had a couple of memorable fine dining experiences. For me, the necessary conditions were:
* truly creative food, where you smile and find yourself saying "you magnificent bastard, how did you do that?" as you eat
* top notch service
At that point, you're paying for a few hours of entertainment, the rent, the staff, and the chef's IP. That's worth paying for, like theater or symphony.

OTOH, some places are just excessive, or expensive for the sake of being expensive, or rely on fads or avant garde gimmicks. I'd rather cook at home, or go to an ethnic joint in the suburbs, or the greasy spoon down the block.
 
Ryanb said:
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is the biggest joke I've been to in a while. For what you pay, the food is very generic. Will not be back.
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Yet so many of my cow-orkers think it's the bee's knees. (Although the fact that they use terms such as "bee's knees" is an indicator right there)

Cajun_Flyer said:
Did someone seriously just say they are willing to spend $500/plate on something that their body is just going to expel later that night?! Uh, nope.
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Ha! Reminds me of the people who like to buy fancy toilet paper. Think about it, what do you do with toilet paper?

denverpilot said:
Honestly, I've had all of those items. But not in one sitting at one place. I suspect it leads to upbringing and what you're used to, but I didn't find any of them particularly deeply impressive to my palate. Nice, certainly, but not something I'd go out of my way to go have again.
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Same here, I've never found a taste for tortured duck/goose liver, yet make me a braunschweiger sandwich and I'm all over it.

I love finding hole in the wall or mon-n-pop joints with good flavor. Just this past week I was on a motorcycle ride with a buddy, we were staying in the NE TN mountains, and were searching for a dinner place. We happened to ride past this place, turned around, and went back.

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The place smelled wonderful, so we ordered and I had a very spicy, fresh, and flavorful pad prik king.

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The little place was run by two elderly Thai ladies who enjoy cooking their childhood favorites. One of the ladies sat with us over dinner and told us her life story, how and when she came to America, how she ended up out in the middle of BFNW Tennessee, about her children, and life philosophies. The food was outstanding, and the dinner company fascinating. You don't get experiences like this at Ruth's Chris. We were out riding 6 days, and this was by far the best meal.
 
GeorgeC said:
I've only had a couple of memorable fine dining experiences. For me, the necessary conditions were:
* truly creative food, where you smile and find yourself saying "you magnificent bastard, how did you do that?" as you eat
* top notch service
At that point, you're paying for a few hours of entertainment, the rent, the staff, and the chef's IP. That's worth paying for, like theater or symphony.
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My only truly memorable fine dining experience was my wedding reception. As we were much older, we didn't want a big fancy and expensive yet bland reception, so just invited about 15 of our closest friend and family to a French restaurant out in the middle of nowhere in central PA[1]. A French restaurant in the middle of the PA woods? Well, yes, as the husband and wife chef team had trained at Le Bec Fin in Philly and he was a master chef before he left to open his own place. It was out of this world good. Set me back 2.5amu, and worth every penny.

[1] You know about Pennsylvania, right? Pittsburgh on the left, Philadelphia on the right, Alabama in the middle. :lol:
 
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Ghery said:
Yup.
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When I was a kid growing up in Oklahoma we didn't have a lot. It was a major treat for the family to go out to Casa Bonita for dinner. A few years back we were up visiting friends and we decided to stop there and eat. Oh my God it's not good at all it's like Pancho's here in Texas
 
denverpilot said:
We get there and they tell us we'd be missing out big time if we didn't order the pork chop.
(Record scratch....)

Pork chop? Weird. Okay. I'm game.

We order the thing and it comes out and it must have been every bit of two inches thick and looked like a typical cut of prime rib, more than a pork chop.

Cut into it and it's immaculately correct on temperature and doneness throughout. I suspect they did a sous vide or similar, there's no freaking way I could ever get a cut that thick, that consistent all the way through. And it really was divine.

So... truffles? Meh. But pork chop? ooooh! Now that's actually different!
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I can beat that with something even simpler :). Toast. Ok, Cheese Toast. But toast.

At Hy's Steakhouse - they're mostly in Canada but there's one in Honolulu as well. Prime steakhouse, slightly higher end than Morton's or Ruth Chris. Great steak, great snails, table side Caesar. Everything is great... but the OUTSTANDING thing is the Cheese Toast.

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MAKG1 said:
And even the dives -- in some cases ESPECIALLY the dives -- in SF have good food. Like, there is one hell of a good Turkish dive across the street from the main library, where everyone can eat for under $10 each. The best Chinese food I've found in Chinatown was some attic two blocks off Stockton St. I just stumbled into; but there is almost as good stuff in Richmond without the tourists or expensive parking. There is a Korean hole in the wall in upper Sunset near the old Shriners Hospital that I really like. The places that aren't worth it are those with Zagat ratings in the window and busloads of tourists out front, or pretty much anything near Pier 39.
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I kind of put Alioto's in that category. Somewhat pricey, Zagat ratings, and the food is somewhere between Red Lobster and a high end seafood restaurant. It seemed kind of run down as well, the last time I ate there.

But, not too far away, inland from the Wharf a bit there USED to be a restaurant called Charlie Brown's. There were two of them - one in the City and one in Sacramento. They weren't particularly upscale, and their prices were fairly reasonable compared to similar restaurants. Both have closed, but the one in the City used to have prime rib specials on Thursdays, where you could get a $10 prime rib plate, and it was really good prime rib.
 
Sam D said:
Some of the nicer restaurants in SF (e.g. Gary Danko) can run in the $100's per person. And they are fantastic...when you're not paying for it! Pro tip: if a meal has a cheese course or sorbet to "clean the palate" between courses, get someone else to pick up the check.
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Gary Danko's was definitely worth the money. What cost me real money at Danko's was that we blue sky made the reservation that afternoon while watching the Blue Angels during fleet week. They had a cancellation so we got in. While I was wearing a dress shirt and slacks, my wife had a T-shirt and blue jeans and "denim" isn't what most people wear there (though they said they would seat us). We popped over to some local boutique and my wife got a nice top and skirt. That cost me more than the food I think.
 
Kansas City is known for a couple of things: Steak and BBQ. Now I'll go for BBQ as often as I can, but steaks? Dunno, I can do a pretty fair job at home. We went to one of the high-end steak places for an anniversary or something, once. Very, very good dry-aged steaks. But for the $$$? I wasn't blown away enough to say it was the "best ever".

One of the tricks I do is to try to follow the chefs. If there is a chef with a good reputation either locally or that just arrives, there is generally something worth checking out. It may not be the cheapest or most expensive, and it may not be the "best ever", but there is going to be something unique in the experience and sometimes that's worth a lot, too.

I enjoy it when there is a food-truck get-together. There will be another one very close to me in a couple weeks and I plan to check it out. There is usually some really good stuff there, and the crews are really trying to show off.

Nice things about doing BBQ contests is that you get to try someone else's treats. There is always somebody experimenting with something that stops by and says, "Try this and let me know what you think." It may be BBQ, it may be some kind of desert or appetizer or something they are messing around with between beers. But every now and then I get something that makes my leg start kicking like a dog when you rub his belly (and that's a good sign). One time I tried something that actually got me angry - it was so good I knew I'd never find anything better and pretty much was mad my quest of finding the "best ever" was over.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I kind of put Alioto's in that category. Somewhat pricey, Zagat ratings, and the food is somewhere between Red Lobster and a high end seafood restaurant. It seemed kind of run down as well, the last time I ate there.

But, not too far away, inland from the Wharf a bit there USED to be a restaurant called Charlie Brown's. There were two of them - one in the City and one in Sacramento. They weren't particularly upscale, and their prices were fairly reasonable compared to similar restaurants. Both have closed, but the one in the City used to have prime rib specials on Thursdays, where you could get a $10 prime rib plate, and it was really good prime rib.
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I haven't been to Alioto's since the day I graduated from college. Got an OK seafood lunch, and drove to LA. Somewhere around Bakersfield, I got really, really sick and left an unspeakable trail down I-5. And I was fine the next morning.

I think Alioto's might have been a nice place around 1955.

Honestly, that part of the city is much too full of tourists to be worth anything but a hefty parking bill. There is some really good stuff less than a mile away in North Beach.
 
Bill Jennings said:
[1] You know about Pennsylvania, right? Pittsburgh on the left, Philadelphia on the right, Alabama in the middle. :lol:
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OMG that's funny. Mr Regular Cars' on YouTube's description of his "vacation" to Altoona had me laughing out loud recently. Especially the part about the mall.

SixPapaCharlie said:
When I was a kid growing up in Oklahoma we didn't have a lot. It was a major treat for the family to go out to Casa Bonita for dinner. A few years back we were up visiting friends and we decided to stop there and eat. Oh my God it's not good at all it's like Pancho's here in Texas
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Like many who didn't realize Casa Bonita in Denver is a real thing after seeing the South Park episodes about it, I had no idea there was a chain of them, until I was reading an article about the crazy Denver one being renovated last winter, and the article mentioned it. They mentioned it because the cliff divers and all of that stuff we here know the cheesy one here for, don't exist at the others.
 
Here's one to add to the list. Casa de Benavidez in Albuquerque, NM. Talk about killer Mexican food. It doesn't get any better than this. I'll definitely be back next time I'm in town.
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@abqtj Have you been here before?
 
Speaking of different Mexican places, I used to travel a lot to Fort Worth visiting General Dynamics (now Lockheed). The group usually went to Joe T Garcia's, preferably towards the end of the trip. You enter the dining room thru the kitchen. Last time I was there they had expanded and actually had a real entrance.

Cheers
 
Clark1961 said:
Only a mile or so from my house. I never go there.
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I've been to Casa Bonita a couple of times back in the day, but actually for fast food their "Taco Bueno" outlets were pretty good (much better than the competition, good salsa for a fast food place). Still, for Mexican in Lakewood, CO I used to just pop in to my local real Mexican restaurant with black velvet paintings of fighting cocks on the wall. $5 got me two large pie tins full of all kinds of assorted food.

For the kitchsy stuff, I liked the Organ Grinder Pizza on Sixth (now long gone).
 
flyingron said:
I've been to Casa Bonita a couple of times back in the day, but actually for fast food their "Taco Bueno" outlets were pretty good (much better than the competition, good salsa for a fast food place). Still, for Mexican in Lakewood, CO I used to just pop in to my local real Mexican restaurant with black velvet paintings of fighting cocks on the wall. $5 got me two large pie tins full of all kinds of assorted food.

For the kitchsy stuff, I liked the Organ Grinder Pizza on Sixth (now long gone).
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My "go to" family operated place died when they expanded to multiple locations. The back-up family run place has become hit or miss. In looking mode right now. The one decent new find is only open for breakfast and lunch. Redevelopment pushes up the rents and the good food moves to quieter spots to hide with the bad food.
 
Clark1961 said:
My "go to" family operated place died when they expanded to multiple locations. The back-up family run place has become hit or miss. In looking mode right now. The one decent new find is only open for breakfast and lunch. Redevelopment pushes up the rents and the good food moves to quieter spots to hide with the bad food.
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Don't leave us hanging-- which restaurants are you talking about? I'm always looking for new family run places to try.
 
ColoPilot said:
Don't leave us hanging-- which restaurants are you talking about? I'm always looking for new family run places to try.
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El tapatio on alemeda is the one that went downhill when they expanded. Tofalinos on Ward has become hit or miss. Got sick after last meal there and haven't been back in months. Gregarios on wadsworth is okay but only been there once so dunno about consistency. Parking lot is usually at least half full. Have some other targets but moving slowly. Gotta be careful dontchaknow.

Youngfield, not Ward. I just drive there.
 
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My favorite "expensive" restaurant has to be Texas De Brazil. Atmosphere is nice but not crazy formal. $50 each will do it. I fast for about 2 days prior to going... and dang I love me some meat! Hell the little smoked salmon bites on the "salad bar" are worth the cost. I drink water and maybe have a beer or two.

Maybe I'm cheap?

$500 a plate! lol. I'd need to **** at least (4) $100 bills postprandial to even consider it. I have family members and friends that will talk and talk about food and how great a particular item was at a certain place... I mean I like good food but I don't live for it. I can only :rolleyes: when the mother in law talks for an hour about how delicious the mashed taters were at Cracker Barrel.
 
Clark1961 said:
El tapatio on alemeda is the one that went downhill when they expanded. Tofalinos on Ward has become hit or miss. Got sick after last meal there and haven't been back in months. Gregarios on wadsworth is okay but only been there once so dunno about consistency. Parking lot is usually at least half full. Have some other targets but moving slowly. Gotta be careful dontchaknow.

Youngfield, not Ward. I just drive there.
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I agree -- El Tapatio is OK, not great but not bad. I like how they've taken over all the old Bennigan's restaurants -- makes interesting Irish/Mexican decor.
I used to eat at Las Delicias downtown (19th?). They were pretty good but I haven't been there in years.
 
Casa Machado on MYF is pretty dang good. I make it a habit to eat there when I am in town.

Edit - Changed name of restaurant. Casa Don Juan is my favorite mexican place in Vegas. Dang CRS.
 
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Clark1961 said:
El tapatio on alemeda is the one that went downhill when they expanded. Tofalinos on Ward has become hit or miss. Got sick after last meal there and haven't been back in months. Gregarios on wadsworth is okay but only been there once so dunno about consistency. Parking lot is usually at least half full. Have some other targets but moving slowly. Gotta be careful dontchaknow.

Youngfield, not Ward. I just drive there.
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Hit up any of the Brewery Bars in the city. I, II, or III. Same family, good Mexican. Various locations. We usually go to the one near Park Meadows.

Excellent green chile in two levels of heat. The menu doesn't make it clear that you can order it this way, but we like "half and half" mild and hot. Mixed, it's just perfect.

If we're entertaining folks who like something more "upscale", Hacienda Colorado is the go-to for that in Mexican. We don't bother going there unless we have guests though. Too expensive when Brewery Bar is right up the road.

Best Cajun in Denver is Gumbo's, now no longer in downtown, but is in a smaller place up the hill and out of downtown Denver. Which of course, is fine by us. Haven't had a single dish there that wasn't perfect.
 
denverpilot said:
Hit up any of the Brewery Bars in the city. I, II, or III. Same family, good Mexican. Various locations. We usually go to the one near Park Meadows.

Excellent green chile in two levels of heat. The menu doesn't make it clear that you can order it this way, but we like "half and half" mild and hot. Mixed, it's just perfect.

If we're entertaining folks who like something more "upscale", Hacienda Colorado is the go-to for that in Mexican. We don't bother going there unless we have guests though. Too expensive when Brewery Bar is right up the road.

Best Cajun in Denver is Gumbo's, now no longer in downtown, but is in a smaller place up the hill and out of downtown Denver. Which of course, is fine by us. Haven't had a single dish there that wasn't perfect.
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I just discovered that they closed the Brewery Bar on Parker Rd! Hadn't been in a while and it's boarded up and for sale. Good to hear the others are still around.


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haskell99 said:
I just discovered that they closed the Brewery Bar on Parker Rd! Hadn't been in a while and it's boarded up and for sale. Good to hear the others are still around.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Well, I assume they are... LOL. Wow. Wonder why the Parker Road one closed?

Strangely we never went there, and it was closer. We like the Park Meadows one.
 
I love good food. For the most part, GOOD food is not that expensive. I've found that at expensive places you're paying for the atmosphere. Last spendy place I was at was The Bazaar in Beverly Hills. Its a tappas restaurant that my daughter wanted to have dinner at. The food was good, but when I spend $120 per person, I don't want to leave the place and hunt for a Carls Jr because I'm still hungry. The desert bar, however, was great and the coffee was the best I've had in a long, long time. There have been exceptions. When we were in Thailand last year I wanted to have dinner at Sirocco. Its outside on the 63rd floor of the LeBua Towers. but the night we wanted to go they were booked. So I got a table upstairs at Mezzaluna. Chef's tasting menu with wine pairings. And it was over $1200, including tip. But it was beyond amazing. However, given a choice between a free meal there and the street food vendors at the North gate in Chiang Mai, I'll take basil chicken and a Singha beer served by the 'crabby lady food cart' any day of the week.
 
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