Category: United States

Closed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaSandwichUnited States

Carnegie Deli (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:40 PM

Father Mark Schultz, the charismatic priest at the San Antonio De Padua church in Penasco, jokes that the reason Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays is not because there’s a shortage of cows. That’s certainly true. There is more beef on the hoof in America than there are tax-paying citizens. That’s why it’s always puzzled me that sandwich restaurants in New Mexico are so chintzy with their meat portions. You’d think there really was a beef shortage (and an excess of bread and lettuce) considering the the typical Albuquerque restaurant sandwich is comprised of thin shards…

Closed in 2023Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNevadaUnited States

Spiedini – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:39 AM

Spiedini is a magnificent sensory feast that begins when your olfactory senses first catch a whiff of the intoxicating emanations wafting from the kitchen as you drop your car off at the valet parking station. It continues as you step into the marble tiled floors of an ultra modern, visually appealing restaurant extravagance. Your tactile senses are aroused as you dip the fabulous focaccia bread into a marvelous mixture of virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Finally, your taste buds culminate the exhilarating experience as you savor each and every bite of a very memorable Italian culinary event. Just like…

AfricanArizonaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Cafe Lalibela – Tempe, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:21 AM

One of the first things that caught my attention during a 2006 visit to Cafe Lalibela were beautiful, brightly painted depictions of revered Christian events such as Christ carrying the yew hewn cross to Calvary. The art shouldn’t have surprised me. Ethiopia’s (especially the city of Lalibela’s) historical ties to Christianity span several centuries. Lalibela, the city for which the restaurant is named, is one of modern Ethiopia’s holiest cities and a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. With a population of very nearly 100% Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, Lalibela is renown worldwide for its monolithic churches built during…

BarbecueMissouriRating: OutstandingUnited States

Super Smokers – Eureka, Missouri

Gil Garduno4:57 AM

Note: On January 6, 2006, The St. Louis Business Journal announced that Super Smokers closed unexpectedly. As it turns out, only one of the five St. Louis area restaurants remains open. This will add several miles to our trips to Chicago, but any detour that leads to outstanding barbecue is well worth it. St. Louis, Missouri isn’t widely recognized as one of America’s barbecue capitals as is cross-state barbecue bastion Kansas City, but perhaps it should be. St. Louis based Super Smokers may not just serve the best barbecue in the state, they have been certified as ‘cuing the very…

AmericanClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenIllinoisUnited States

Hackney’s – Lake Zurich, Illinois (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:20 PM

The second city doesn’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to burgers and if you have to hire a hackney (carriage or automobile) to get to Hackney’s, by all means do so. Hackney’s, a family tavern with a history dating back to the 1920s has a half dozen franchises throughout the Chicago area and features burgers worth going out for on a Windy City day. The eponymous Hackney burger on dark rye and Hackney’s bleu cheese burger stand out! In fact, the Food Network’s “Best Of” show named the Hackney burger as one of America’s best burgers.…

Closed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenIllinoisRating: ExcellentSandwichUnited States

Siegelman’s Restaurant Deli – Arlington Heights, Illinois (CLOSED: 2011)

Gil Garduno4:27 AM

Who would have thought that a nondescript restaurant in a nondescript shopping center would feature food beyond description–food for which you run out of adjectives and synonyms for delicious (let’s see: savory, scrumptious, yummy, tasty, mouth-watering, appetizing, delectable, luscious)? In Siegelman’s, the quintessential Jewish deli, we found some of the very best pastrami (and it’s no surprise that it carries the Vienna Beef label) in America–perfectly marbled to bring out its dramatically captivating (not nearly sufficient to describe it) flavor and in such huge proportions that your mouth is agape (and watering) at first sight. There’s a Yiddish word that…

BakeryClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenIllinoisSwedishUnited States

Swedish Bakery – Chicago, Illinois (CLOSED on February 28, 2017)

Gil Garduno4:12 AM

In New Mexico, which is very proud of its “tri-cultural” heritage, the contributions of Native Americans, Hispanics and Anglo-Americans are manifest in its languages, architecture, cuisine and cultural events. While New Mexico has certainly not shunned multi-culturalism, the lack of concentrated communities of residents from other heritages has meant those heritages aren’t celebrated as prominently, if at all. As much as my wife, a very proud Swede, has come to love New Mexico and the contributions of its tri-cultural population, she misses the availability of Swedish cuisine, products and the melodic, sing-song lilt of a Swedish accent. Kim’s maternal grandparents…

BarbecueIllinoisRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Weber Grill – Wheeling, Illinois

Gil Garduno4:48 AM

In 1952, George Stephen invented the original Weber kettle grill and with his innovative design, sparked a backyard revolution. As a result, the XY chromosome compliment was no longer a handicap (or more accurately, an excuse) for men throughout the world when it came to preparing meals for their families. Since the discovery of fire, man has viewed his domain as the outdoors from where he and his fellow hunters brought home the day’s victuals for early woman to prepare. Throughout the centuries, the descendents of troglodytic man (many of whom haven’t evolved much) have perceived cooking as a feminine…

AmericanMissouriRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Lambert’s Cafe II – Ozark, Missouri

Gil Garduno3:29 PM

In 2004, the Travel Channel, notorious for the compilation of “top-ten” lists celebrating America’s hedonistic excesses named Lambert’s Cafe the number one restaurant in America in which to pig out. Gluttons gorging on gargantuan, gut-busting platters of oysters, steak, pizza, pancakes, burgers and more were showcased in all their gastronomic glory as they taxed the limits of their engorged bellies. What separated the restaurants featured on this top-ten list was that all of them have achieved acclaim not just because of their prodigious portions, but because they serve genuinely good food. These shrines to gluttony were no run-of-the-mill all-you-can-choke-down cafes.…

ArizonaRating: N/R (Not Rated)SandwichUnited StatesVietnamese

Lee’s Sandwiches – Chandler, Arizona

Gil Garduno1:15 AM

For years, the American viewing public was subjected to the bombardment of the airwaves with the exploits of Jared. Once a corpulent fellow who weighed 425 pounds, Jared metamorphosed into a 190-pound shadow of his former self largely through a calorie reduction effort comprised principally of submarine sandwiches proffered by America’s most prolific sandwich chain. Many of us caloric overachievers regard those commercials with skepticism–not that Jared could lose so much much weight, but that any sane person could eat such a mediocre sandwich twice a day for an entire year. I could understand it if Jared’s sandwich diet was…

IllinoisMexicanMichelin Recognized RestaurantsMichelin: One StarRating: ExtraordinaryUnited States

TOPOLOBAMPO – Chicago, Illinois

Gil Garduno4:26 AM

A quote attributed to Marcel Marceau, the French mime famous for his sad-faced clown, aptly describes my attempts at describing a meal at Topolobampo: “Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words.” Life’s vicissitudes often include moments which move you deeply and stir your very soul. Our inaugural dining experience at Topolobampo was not so profound and cathartic as to move us to drastically change our lives, but it certainly prompted a stirring awakening as we experienced what was conceivably the best restaurant meal we’ve ever had. Perhaps more impressively, a second visit affirmed that…