Restaurants - Chicago, Illinois

Favorite picks:

- Lula for an organic "in season" dinner (Monday nights only). Delicious food at a good price, especially with the paired wines.

- Big Star for yummy tacos, tostadas and limy guacamole. Great price. A little too hip though?

- Pizano’s for awesome deep dish pizza. Try their sausage and mozzarella pizza.

- Lao Sze Chuan for very spicy and good Chinese food. Really liked my house noodles. If you are there for lunch, make sure to ASK for the lunch menu.

Also tried:

Heaven on Seven, Purple Pig, Downtown Dogs, Billy Goat Tavern, Sarah’s Pastries and candies (all on the Gold Coast Tastebud Tour) and Orange (for brunch).

Restaurants - Oslo, Norway

Some of the restaurants I've tried 2008-2011:

Great (and expensive):
- Alex Sushi (heavenly sushi)
- Grefsenkollen (awesome food and wine selection)
- Stadtholdergaarden (simply delicious)

Good but not great (and somewhat expensive):
- Klosteret (nice atmosphere and great wines)
- Oro (liked the grilled food aspect and bar feeling, better our first time)
- Restaurant Eik (maybe better with another server? not too badly priced)
- Solsiden Restaurant (nice atmosphere by the fjord, ok food)
- Bølgen og Moi - Briskeby (great brunch)
- Bølgen og Moi - Tjuvholmen (ok lunch. their burger is always pretty good)
- Tjuvholmen sjømagasin (ok food but boring atmosphere)
- Brasserie Hansken (nice lunch place with good food)

Good (and cheaper):
- Albertine Tandoori (favorite Indian food and my most visited restaurant)
- Villa Paradiso (only 2 Amy's in D.C. beats this pizza joint)
- Mucho Mas (decent burritos if you add some rice)
- Habibi (excellent meze)
- Rust (best tapas in town maybe?)
- Vognmand Nilsen (nice prices - good service but food not extraordinary)
- Brasserie Blanche (awesome hearty French food)
- Ekebergrestauraten (outside) - (cheap cafe style food with an awesome view. somewhat slow service)
- Bistro Brocante (great French lunch, try the "leverpostei" sandwich)
- Cafe Sorgenfri (lovely over the top interior and great Danish "breakfast" (fad) to share)

Do not want to go there again:
- Dinner Restaurant (poor service and just average food)
- SW20 (I left hungry and annoyed at the servers)
- Barcelona Tapas Bar (not very tasty)
- New Orleans Restaurant (far from New Orleans)
- Mr Bay Asian Cuisine (just ok but nothing special, good service)
- Hotel Bristol (excellent sandwich buffet and atmosphere, but really expensive beer and poor service)

Want to try:
- Palace Grill
- Nodee

Restaurants - the Carolinas and Georgia

Places visited (since blog was created): Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Beaufort, Asheville, Hendersonville, Atlanta, Chapel Hill.

Atlanta:

- Bacchanalia for a gourmet dinner experience. Everything was delicious, and we ended up getting 9 courses with all the in between courses.
- Emerald Coast Coffee & Grille for a 3 course coffee/brunch. Not gourmet food, but great concept to pair coffee with the courses and good atmosphere and service.

Hilton Head/Bluffton:

- Kelly's Tavern for delicious and huge reubens. Update: Service was pretty bad this time (spring 2011)
- Fiesta Fresh Mexican Grill for authentic and very fresh tacos. Try the pastor.
- Sea Shack for not so expensive and down to earth seafood.
- Mellow Mushroom for their yummy pizza crust (and pizza).
- Wild Wing Cafe for their too many good flavors of wings and sports bar atmosphere. Update: We always go on half off wing Wednesdays. Sweet deal, but service can be slow on these nights.
- Phillies for good sandwiches.

Avoid: Hilton Head Diner, Charlie's for dinner (too expensive for the value)


Asheville:

Salsa's is simply delicious for a fusion Mexican dinner. Remember to pair it with their awesome margaritas.

Barcelona & Costa Brava, Spain

Places visited: Barcelona, Tamariu, the Girona countryside

Best B&B:

Mas Martorell near Girona (lovely rooms, hosts, pool and an extraordinary breakfast with everything home made)

Top restaurant:

Irati (Basque tapas) in Barcelona (not the best food, but fun concept, atmosphere and worth the money as you pay for each toothpick)

Provence, France

Places visited: Le Thor, Isle Sur la Sorgue, Avignon, Gordes, Rousillon, Seguret, Buis le Baronnes, Gigondas, Mollas sur Ouveze, Les Baux, Mont Ventoux, St. Julien Bridge, Chateau de la Canorgue Winery, Vaison la Romaine, Uzes, and Pont du Gard.

Favorite B&B (and restaurant):

Les Carmes close to Le Thor (with Michelin star chef and CHEAP gourmet dinners every night except Sundays plus wonderful hosts and guests)

Favorite towns:

Isle Sur la Sorgue (huge Sunday market, smaller Thursday market)
Gigondas (excellent wine tasting and restaurants)

(honorable mentions: Gordes, Rousillon and Vaison la Romaine)

Best sight:

Cathedrale d'Images

Restaurants:

Best Restaurant EVER:
Les Carmes near Le Thor (see above)

Worth going to if the weather is nice:
La Girocedre in Puymeras near Vaison la Romaine (beautiful back yard and hearty French food)

Nice not-so-heavy French food:
Terroirs in Uzes (try their delish tartines)

Washington D.C:

Top restaurants:

2 AMYS pizzeria (mmm delicious Italian style pizza)
Rosemary's Thyme Bistro (for a mediterranean breakfast)

Dublin

Top three experiences:

- Walking Tours: Dublin Literary Pub Crawl
- Music: Dublin City Jazz Orchestra (at the Button Factory)
- Lunch: Gruel (68 Dame St.)