Category: United States

BurgersRated 23TexasUnited States

Kincaid’s Hamburgers – Fort Worth, Texas

Gil Garduno3:24 PM

Local, statewide, national and international acclaim for Kincaid’s Hamburgers places this former grocery and market in stratospherically elite company as one of, if not THE best hamburger restaurants in the world. In 2003, Michael and Jane Stern, America’s preeminent dining Americana authorities proclaimed Kincaid’s one of America’s top ten burgers. A book called The Perfect Hamburger, replete with effusive testimony by long-time patrons, was published in 1999. Call it blasphemy if you will, but I believe perfection can be improved. Add New Mexico green chile and you would have the very best hamburger I’ve ever had. Even without green chile, Kincaid’s does serve a phenomenal burger, each one containing a half pound of 76 to 80 percent lean chuck roast…

AmericanTexasUnited States

Celebration – Dallas, Texas

Gil Garduno6:54 PM

To adventurous restaurant patrons, the term “foodie” is often used with derision to connote someone who won’t eat somewhere unless Zagat’s has proclaimed it fork worthy. In theory foodies won’t boldly go where Zagat’s (or in the absence thereof, the local fishwrap) hasn’t gone before. Chowhounds, on the other hand, are (at least by definition) adventure eaters who blaze new trails and traverse the deepest, darkest regions under America’s spacious skies for undiscovered treasures. Sometimes the twain does meet and there’s consensus among foodies and chowhounds about a restaurant which both can agree is something special. Such is the case with Celebration which for 30 years has prepared good home cooked meals fresh daily. The restaurant’s walls are adorned with…

ArizonaBarbecueClosed in 2025Gone But Not ForgottenUnited States

Hap’s Pit Barbecue – Phoenix, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:29 PM

Good barbecue in Arizona? You’d better believe it! Hap’s Pit Barbecue is one happening barbecue joint, one that its proponents believe its name is short for “happiness because that’s what it elicits from its diners–that and audible exclamations of “wow” and “yum.” Hap’s is a perennial listing on Phoenix magazine’s coveted best restaurant list and the only Phoenix barbecue establishment to earn a five star designation from the Arizona Republic newspaper. If you’re looking for national credentials, it’s been raved about on USA Today. Despite those impressive plaudits and accolades, what it took to get me to Hap’s was a recommendation by my great friend and fellow barbecue aficionado Dianna Peoples. I’d been fooled before by the magazine rants of…

ArizonaClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenSteakUnited States

Pinnacle Peak Patio – Scottsdale, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:12 AM

To a lexicologist like me, the word pinnacle has connotations of “the highest point of development or achievement.” In other words, it’s synonymous with ultimate, apogee, culmination, peak, summit, zenith, climax or apex…and those are just the synonyms (a word along with Thesaurus for which there are no synonyms) off the top of my head. At 3100 feet in elevation, Pinnacle Peak itself is one of the more prominent landmarks in North Scottsdale. Whether seen under a star filled night time canopy or beneath a cerulean summer sky, its weathered boulders, craggy spires and desert vegetation make it one of the more spectacular vistas in the area. Spectacular is certainly not a word you would use to describe the Pinnacle…

ArizonaSteakUnited States

The Keg Steakhouse – Chandler, Arizona

Gil Garduno3:11 PM

A Canadian steakhouse in the silicon desert city of Chandler, Arizona? You bet! In fact Canada’s most renown steakhouse has made expansive forays into the United States with restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Texas and Washington among its more than 80 restaurants in North America. Founded in 1971 in Vancouver, the Keg Steakhouse is a cut above many American dining establishments, particularly in terms of service. You won’t find stereotypical Canadian ambiance at the Chandler location, much of whose walls look as if they had been built by Chacoan stone masons. What you will find is a casual and relaxing atmosphere and some of the most attentive and knowledgeable wait staff around. In fact, if rated solely on the attentiveness…

BarbecueClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaUnited States

Memphis Championship Barbecue – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:02 AM

To barbecue fanatics, a restaurant named Memphis Championship Barbecue is as intriguing as Memphis in May, the annual world barbecue championships in Memphis, Tennessee, an event which has been called the “Superbowl of Swine.” With a name like that, the restaurant has got to be great! Proprietor Mike “The Legend” Mills is an unprecedented three-time world champion of that esteemed event (Memphis in May, not the Superbowl). He was called “the competition crushing, restaurant-owning Grand Pooh-Bah of barbecue” in the July, 2006 edition of Bon Appetit magazine and authored a definitive guide to barbecue appropriately named “Peace, Love and Barbecue.” He owns several award-winning restaurants: the 17th Street Bar & Grill restaurants in Murphysboro, Illinois and three Memphis Championship Barbecue…

CajunClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaRated 24United States

Commander’s Palace – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:21 AM

When it comes to accolades, there is perhaps no restaurant in America which has been as venerated as the original Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. From being named the best restaurant in America three times by Food & Wine magazine to being named Zagat’s top New Orleans restaurant for 13 consecutive years (1988-2002) and counting, the Commander’s Palace is truly in a class of its own. The comfortable climes of the Aladdin Resort and Casino attempt to duplicate the original’s inimitable hospitality, incomparable food, impeccable service and sophisticated Southern stylings. In bringing the Crescent City’s most revered dining institution to the desert, the Brennan family has, for the most part, succeeded in reestablishing its classic restaurant without compromising in any…