IllinoisPizzaRating: Very GoodUnited States

Gino’s East of Chicago – Lake Zurich, Illinois

Gil Garduno2:10 PM

Ostensibly no one knows more about a city’s best dining destinations than the taxi drivers who ferry famished fares there…or at least, that’s the theory. The original Gino’s East was founded in 1966 by taxi drivers who lured away the pizza chef at Chicago’s Pizzeria Uno and started their own pizzeria. Gino’s East now relies on those taxi drivers for those precious and essential word of mouth referrals when passengers inquire as to the best pizzeria in a city of outstanding pizzerias. Once a year, the original Gino’s East rewards cabbies for those referrals by giving them a free personal pan pizza. That’s just a little bit of marketing genius, but in a blue collar city, slick marketing isn’t good…

Hot DogsIllinoisRating: N/R (Not Rated)SandwichUnited States

Superdawg Drive-In – Chicago, Illinois

Gil Garduno3:56 AM

Some of today’s Marvel comic book heroes such as Captain America and the Submariner had their genesis in the 1940s where they crusaded against oppressive regimes fighting to subjugate America’s freedoms. Maurie Berman (himself a recently returned G.I. from World War II) and his wife Flaurie looked no further than the superhero genre when naming their unique roadside hot dog stand, on the roof of which stand statues of well defined male and female anthropomorphic hot dogs attired in leopard skin togas. Today, while serving as both beacons to the restaurant as well as vigilant guardians protecting its south vantage, those hot dog icons beckon passers-by with their winking and blinking eyes. Superdawg has become America’s premier hot dog restaurant–a…

MexicanRating: N/R (Not Rated)TexasUnited States

El Ranchito Cafe & Club – Dallas, Texas

Gil Garduno12:41 PM

In the Mexican neighborhoods of west Dallas, adventurous “gringo” diners who grew up on Tex-Mex cuisine have apparently discovered the wonderful cuisine of Old Mexico. On the night we visited, this was evidenced by the lively and decidedly “white” crowd enjoying their meals almost as much as the generations of Mexican-American patrons craving (and receiving) authentic tastes of home. Since moving to the United States from Monterrey Mexico, entrepreneur and owner Laura Sanchez has carved a niche in the Dallas Mexican food arena and has done so by not deviating from her roots. Authenticity resonates in the cuisine as it does in the corridos belted out by the Mariachis. El Ranchito’s salsa packs a punch unlike the tomato and cilantro…

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…

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…

AmericanClosed in 2010Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoTaos County

Joseph’s Table – Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:07 AM

When chef and owner Joseph Wrede launched Joseph’s Table several years ago in Ranchos De Taos,dining patrons and pedantic critics alike were ready to beatify him (a culinary Saint Joseph). In 2000, Food & Wine magazine named him one of the top ten chefs in America, extolling his use of locally grown organic produce in “surprising, sensual ways.” The London Times called him “the voice of modern American cuisine.” Even Food Network luminary Bobby Flay came calling during a visit to Taos. On June 28, 2002, Wrede closed his restaurant to contemplate the lucrative lure of a corporate chef position. The Taos culinary world breathed a collective sigh of relief when he launched his new restaurant in December, 2003. Housed…

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…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNational Chain

Carrabba’s Italian Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:03 AM

This usually means a meal at one of those copycat national chains I avoid like the plague. Although I don’t generally write about such restaurants (if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all), being a good team player, I do (sometimes begrudgingly) participate in outings to these purveyors of mediocrity. It never fails to amaze and amuse me to see throngs of diners doing their best imitations of Pavlov’s dogs as they line up to consume what is generally pretty horrible food. It’s obvious those clever Madison Avenue brainwashers have done their job well and thanks to years of subjecting their taste buds to the cruel onslaught of mediocre food, America’s dining public just doesn’t seem to…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Chilacas – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:50 AM

In the vernacular of the cannabis consuming culture “rollin’ fat ones” means something entirely different than what it means at Chilacas where a “fat one” is a giant flour tortilla stuffed with your choice of Spanish rice or cilantro and lime spiked rice; black beans, posole or refried beans; your choice of meat–spiced beef, carne adovada, barbacoa, pollo; salsa or red or green chile; cheddar cheese or sour cream and such additives as lettuce, tomatoes and onions. All of these ingredients can also find a home layered on a Chilacas bowl, served on an order of three tacos or atop a crisp romaine salad and even served low carb style. Chilacas, which according to a placard on a restaurant wall…

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…