Category: United States

BurgersRating: N/R (Not Rated)TexasUnited 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 along with ultra-fresh ingredients. Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce if you’d like. Each burger is made to order and each is crafted to burger perfection. By not mashing the meat down with spatulas, the burger builders ensure you get a juicy, tasty treat you want to savor even though you might be tempted to inhale it so you can order another one. The store’s motto is “where friends meet to eat” and while you might start off not knowing…

AmericanRating: N/R (Not Rated)TexasUnited 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 recognition from Zagat’s, but there are also people’s choice awards, recognition from the Food Network as one of the top ten home cooking restaurants in the country and even a 1996 Gourmet magazine article by Michael and Jane Stern touting it as a place for cheap eats in Dallas. In 2009, Southern Living magazine named Celebration one of the South’s best diners.  “Long-time residents come to this laid-back eatery for “the city’s tastiest pot roast.”  “Other classic Southern dishes include…

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 critics who obviously didn’t know what they were talking about. This time those critics were spot on! Hap’s captures you before the door with the wafting olfactory pleasing aroma of smoked meats that smell as if they’ve just come out of a real barbecue pit. You’re greeted by a staff obviously proud of their product–and for good reason. Unfortunately during my first visit, I couldn’t sample all of those good reasons, but what I did sample were some of the…

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 Peak Patio, a gawdy Western facade which has grown into the world’s largest western steakhouse with seating for 1800 people inside and outside for 2000. Launched in 1957, it has achieved worldwide notoriety as a fun family dining destination–one with a strict “no necktie” policy as enforced by the cutting and stapling to the rafters of over one million cravats over the past 46 years. Ever the cynic, I would have dismissed it entirely as a tourist trap had the…

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 of the wait staff and management, the Keg would be a top tier restaurant. Because our wait exceeded the 20-minute wait promised, my dining companion Bill Resnik and I were each treated to a complementary appetizer during our inaugural visit. My choice was baked goat cheese which was coated in crushed almonds and served with a savory tomato basil salsa and toasted bread. We both had a lettuce wedge which we asked be doused with as much bleu cheese dressing…

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 restaurants in Las Vegas. With such credentials, it’s obvious Mills knows barbecue and it’s demonstrated in the slow-smoked meats extricated from the smoker at the precisely perfect instance and with just a tinge of pink. Those meats are ameliorated with Mills’ “Magic Dust,” a combination of 18 different spices available on each table in the restaurant. Las Vegas patrons perennially consider Memphis Championship Barbecue the best wood pit barbecue restaurant in town (according to the Las Vegas Review Journal’s annual…

CajunClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaUnited 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 fashion. The Commander’s Palace exudes panache, sophistication, Southern gentility, and sheer awe inspiring class which will leave you agape from the moment you walk in until the minute you walk out. An eminently polite wait staff treated us like royalty, anticipating and attending to our every need, making polite recommendations without undue pressure and politely apprising us of the restaurant’s uniquely fabulous specials. We began our lunches with Turtle Soup Au Sherry and Gumbo YaYa, two of the most savory…