Category: United States

ArizonaRated 24Southwestern

The Turquoise Room – Winslow, Arizona

Gil Garduno

The concept of “fast food” had a far different connotation during the Southwest’s Frontier days than it does today. This is especially true if one traveled via railroad through hundreds of miles of desolate, open country. In the more densely populated and genteel east there were often several cities between most destinations. This allowed for frequent rest and refreshment stops. Passengers rode in relative comfort in Pullman cars with dining cars. In the wide open west, only twenty minutes were allowed during each of the infrequent stops. Further, the food was as miserable as the travel conditions. According to Keith L. Bryant’s History of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, “meat was greasy and usually fried, beans were canned,…

CaliforniaFine DiningRated 24United States

Geoffrey’s Malibu – Malibu, California

Gil Garduno

The walls at Geoffrey’s Malibu are festooned with copies of whimsical framed “doodles” created by Hollywood celebrities and movie stars who have dined at the posh seaside restaurant. Most are tongue-in-cheek self-portraits which probably speak volumes about the glitterati themselves–and not just whether they lack or are blessed with an artistic talent beyond their particular medium. Thematically, all the portraits include a heart. That’s because Harvey Baskin, the restaurant’s previous owner asked the artists to donate originals for publication and sale in support of a charity for children with heart disease. Jane Russell’s heart forms her shapely derriere at the terminus of legs which would otherwise go on forever. George Burns’ bespectacled heart puffs on one of his beloved cigars.…

CaliforniaMexican

La Super Rica Taqueria – Santa Barbara, California

Gil Garduno

Truly legendary restaurants, those which can legitimately be called institutions–and there are very few of them–don’t just inspire return visits; they inspire pilgrimages. Institutions have generally stood the test of time by remaining consistent over time, thriving even against the onslaught of more polished and pristine interlopers. Institutions are beloved beyond the communities they serve, their fame and acclaim growing with each satisfied visitor, many of whom make pilgrimages from hundreds of miles away. One restaurant which has earned the distinction of being called an institution is La Super Rica Taqueria in Santa Barbara, California. Hungry patrons line up half an hour before the restaurant opens because they know that very shortly the waiting time to place an order will…

CaliforniaDiners Drive-Ins and DivesRated 23Sandwich

Norton’s Pastrami & Deli – Santa Barbara, California

Gil Garduno

“I flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami.” ~George Costanza January 14th has been designated “National Hot Pastrami Sandwich day.” The fact that a day has been designated to honor the greatness of the “most sensual of all the salted and cured meats” is wholly unnecessary for many of us. True pastrami paramours in the mold of Dagwood Bumstead, Shaggy Rogers, Joey Tribbiani and my friend Bill Resnik, don’t need a special reason or designated day to partake of pulchritudinous pastrami. To us, every day is pastrami sandwich day! Now, if your experiences with pastrami have been limited to the packaged Boar’s Head offering or worse, an occasional Subway pastrami sandwich, you’re probably wondering what the big…

AmericanCaliforniaRated 24United States

Opal Restaurant and Bar – Santa Barbara, California

Gil Garduno

We’re all familiar with premise of Iron Chef America in which accomplished chefs are pitted against the veritable pantheon of culinary giants who have earned the title of Iron Chef. Can you imagine if one of the vaunted Iron Chefs, or even one of the challengers for that matter, failed to present the judges a variety of ways in which the “secret ingredient” is used? How, for example, would the oft-haughty judges react if during “battle rice” Iron Chef Morimoto presented seven different sushi rolls? Though not led by Iron Chefs, there are a number of fusion restaurants across the fruited plain where you’d swear all the dishes served have a “one-note” flavor profile (usually cloying), the only significant difference…

CaliforniaItalianRated 26

Trattoria Mollie – Montecito, California

Gil Garduno

In its three best-selling editions–published in 2006, 2008 and 2012–National Geographic’s “Passport to the Best” has enthralled, excited and educated connoisseurs of matters of taste across the globe. With top ten lists in dozens of categories studded with savvy tips and inspiring imagery, this wayfarer’s bible invigorates investigative yearnings for exotic travel, if for nothing else to confirm or refute the opinion of the authors. Still, when the “Passport to the Best” recognized Trattoria Mollie in Montecito, California as “one of the “Ten Best Destination & Special Restaurants in the World,” the honor was probably lost on much of the popular culture demographic. Trattoria Mollie has instead garnered much more fame and acclaim courtesy of a rousing endorsement from media…

SandwichSouth Carolina

Butcher & Bee – Charleston, South Carolina

Gil Garduno

I’m not a sandwich store that only sells turkey sandwiches. I sell a lot of different things. ~Lady Gaga You might expect that a restaurant selected for inclusion on a list of “The 21 Best Sandwich Shops in America” would have a signature sandwich, its chef d’oeuvre. Pittsburgh’s Primanti Brothers, for example, is known for its pastrami and cheese sandwich. The Darwin Cafe in San Francisco is famous for its roast beef sandwich. Every sandwich shop on the list exalting the best sandwiches from sea to shining sea has its magnus opus, a masterpiece for which it is best known. All but one, that is. The sandwich recommended at the very first sandwich shop on the list is “whatever’s available.”…

PizzaRated 24South CarolinaUnited States

EVO – North Charleston, South Carolina

Gil Garduno

America is a pizza obsessed nation. Ninety-three percent of us consume at least one slice of pizza per month and collectively, we each eat some 46 slices of pizza per year. According to Pizza Magazine Quarterly, the pizza industry’s number one business magazine and web site, there are nearly 70,000 pizzerias in the United States (or about as many pizzerias as Santa Fe, New Mexico has residents) to sate our love of pizza. Almost two-thirds (or about 46,000) of those pizzerias are independently owned and operated. With such a large number of pizzerias serving the pizza loving public, creating a list anointing the best pizza or any number of best pizzas in the country is an audacious endeavor (just try…

Closed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenSoul FoodSouth CarolinaSouthern

Gullah Cuisine – Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

No culinary tour of South Carolina’s Lowcountry would be complete without sampling Gullah cuisine at least once. In the Lowcountry, Gullah represents several things: people, culture and language. As a people, the Gullah represent a distinctive group of African Americans living along the island chains and coastal plains which parallel the South Carolina and Georgia coast. The Gullah people are directly descended from the thousands of slaves who labored on the rice plantations in the moist, semitropical country bordering the South Carolina and Georgia coastline. Because of their relative isolation, the Gullah have managed to preserve their dialect and culture more completely than virtually any other group in the country. Where Gullah culture is most in evidence is in the…

Soul FoodSouth CarolinaSouthernUnited States

Magnolias – Charleston, South Carolina

Gil Garduno

Some four million visitors flock to Charleston, South Carolina every year. Charleston is the beguiling Southern charmer, a siren which lures guests with its storied history, artistic communities, architectural styles (which range from antebellum to art-deco), pristine beaches (on ninety miles of coastline) and, of course, incomparable Lowcountry cuisine. Known as the “Holy City” because of the prevalence of churches on the city skyline, the sub-sobriquet “foodies’ heaven” is fitting; however, as songster Steve Miller reminds us in his hit tune Jet Liner, “You know you got to go through hell before you get to heaven.” A great number of Charleston’s very best restaurants are clustered around the historic district, an area several times larger and much more crowded than…

GeorgiaSouthernUnited States

The Lady & Son’s – Savannah, Georgia

Gil Garduno

When I told friends and family of my impending visit to Lady & Sons, the Savannah restaurant owned and operated by former Food Network celebrity chef Paula Deen and her scions Bobby and Jamie, I expected a barrage of well-intentioned criticism. The most “innocent” criticism would have to do with “a cacophony of cackling” and a “chorus of “ya’all” coming from the kitchen. At least one dissenter, I believed, would accuse me of naivete in thinking the celebrity chefs might actually be present, much less actually preparing my meal. The most cutting criticism–the one I feared most–would be an accusation that a visit would actually be abetting racism. Thankfully everyone to whom I mentioned my visit realized that the nature…