What Restaurants Do You Love?

The restaurant I couldn’t wait to get back to — Montmartre in Capitol Hill (D.C.) — didn’t make it through the pandemic. It was our anniversary restaurant, the place we’d pick for every special occasion, or just when we wanted to escape and connect with one another. I can’t believe I won’t get to enjoy their octopus and cocktails again!

But, in happier news, a dear friend is opening an amazing wine bar complete with lots of outdoor seating. So now I can’t wait to go to St. Vincent’s, right near Howard University.

Chez Panisse in Berkeley, right down the hill from my house, I miss it so much.

I moved from Portland, ME last year, but still fantasize about the many great restaurants there. TIpo and Baharat specifically are SO fantastic. I want to move back just for the food and can’t wait to visit again xoxo

I couldn’t afford to eat out even before the pandemic, so typically my only experiences in restaurants were going to a work dinner or being treated to dinner by my family. Typically I wasn’t choosing the restaurant and it was always very exciting to find out where we were going and scope out the menu. I can’t wait to do that again! I did have a family member buy me takeout from an Indian restaurant in my neighborhood for my birthday this summer – such a treat.

This is going to sound silly, but my favorite restaurant is Freebirds World Burrito. I started going there multiple times a week when I was pregnant since low carb burrito bowls were one of the few things I could eat on a diabetic diet and since I do low carb anyway, it was easy to get my burrito bowl in the next town over when I was running errands. The staff affectionately called my son “queso baby” and they people who worked there became like a little family. They closed all of their locations outside of Texas and I am heartbroken. It was my one constant friend I could go to for a delicious meal that is sometimes hard to find low carb that is good and I don’t feel like I am “missing” anything. So sad :(

RIP Veritable Quandary here in Portland, Oregon. The unique property they occupied for years was sold two years ago and VQ was reborn a few blocks away in a brand new building with a new menu, and it’s not the same :/. It was my Special Occasion spot for birthdays and celebrations with my extended family. They had a wine cellar in a basement that you accessed from a staircase in the middle of the dining room. It had one big round table and felt like a secret hideout, with servers silently stopping in to pull bottles for their tables.

I just want to go to restaurants soon. It’s been a long time due to covid I haven’t went outside. I hope everything will be fine soon.

We keep kosher, so in London the options are really limited, and there are a handful of restaurants that are good, but two of them are amazing – hummus bar. I miss sitting at the bar, having a beer or glass of wine and eating their baos or sloppy joe hummus. The other one is delicatessen. We can get take out from them, but it’s not the same. They used to have a Niçoise salad, which in principal is simple but they made it a work of art. Or my favourite – arayes and having them with their fresh corn polenta.

Further afield – Abaita on NYC. I think of your pizza often (same for Ba Ghetto in Rome). The tapas place in Paris – one day I will return. Rendez-vous in Tel Aviv – your pasta and pizzas haunt my dreams. Same for you Anita Ice Cream in Neve Tseddek

With young children, our going-out-to-eat shifted pre-pandemic to breakfast and coffee spots, and that’s what I miss most here in Raleigh, NC:

-Leisurely scouting out the pastry counter in hole-in-the-wall Boulted Bread, maybe snagging a peach galette or a “savory” croissant with asparagus and some sort of delicious cheese combo, or a corn and tomato tarte (everything is always seasonal!). Then sitting down to eat them outside in their garden.
-Taking the newspaper up to the second floor of The Morning Times to grab a table by the window while one of us stood in line downstairs for fried chicken biscuits drizzled with honey, breakfast burritos and maple lattes.
-Bellying up to the kitchen window-facing bar counter at Place At the Table with yogurt, peanut butter, fruit and granola bowls and rose cardamom lattes, alongside people from EVERY walk of life (this pay what you can cafe has an amazing mission).

So agree about Eventide! I miss Portland so much! Also miss Back Bay Grill in Portland as well!

Ok, and one more….Cheese and Crack in Portland, OR…called an adults snack shop…design your own cheese and antipasto trays, ( Brie Brulee…sweet mother of God!) wine, prosecco slushies, fondue French Onion soup and soft serve ice cream with an elegant twist!
I miss travel!

Luckily my favorite Asian place does take out..Origami Sushi and Asian Grill in Silverdale, Wa…Their Spider Roll is primo, and their Honey Walnut Prawns are to die for. I live in a somewhat isolated area , a ferry ride away from Seattle, but in my travels over the years, I can say these are restaurants I can’t wait to return to….
In Victoria BC Canada..Don Mee …AMAZING Dim Sum, the best I’ve ever had. There is usually a wait, and the service isn’t the greatest..but oh my goodness, the sticky rice in banana leaves, and shrimp noodle!
Just about ANY tapas restaurant…sadly Pinxto closed in Seattle…Jaleo in DC is fabulous!
Le Mediterranne in the Bay Area…was my go to restaurant in my 20’s. Developed a love for avgolemono soup and tiropita there!
So many choices!

What I mostly miss is talking for hours in an ambient environment with tea light candles, wispy flowers on the table, dim lighting, and good music. Hearing the clang of dishes in the kitchen, low conversations all around, and wine pouring is so, so missed. Europe and the east coast have so many small little local eateries like this, but in LA they are hard to find. Some places I really miss are Elf Cafe and Botanica.

As a foodie this pandemic time has been the most disastrous time of my life. I like visiting places exploring various food dishes and enjoying. Thank you for sharing it with us

I live in Connecticut and I’m so sad that my favorite pizza place, Vero Pizza, closed during quarantine. They closed for two weeks in March and never opened again. I was eagerly awaiting ordering takeout when they opened again! I will forever miss their prosciutto and pineapple pizza! They also had the best house salad and dressing. :(

I would have looooved to go to Austin this fall and appetizer-hop down 6th Street but things a not back to normal at all, so that’s on hold for me. So many great places were looted and vandalized this summer. I hate that these business owners (many BIPOC and/or women) and their employees have had to deal with such destruction.

Oh, so many!

Locally:
Bull Valley Road House, Port Costa, CA
Belotti Ristorante, Oakland, CA
Hopscotch, Oakland, CA
Pizzetta 211, San Francisco, CA
Pearl 6101, San Francisco, CA

Further flung:
The Gardner’s Cottage, Edinburgh, Scotland
Septime, Paris, France
The Table, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Senia, Honolulu, HI
Wickman House, Ellison Bay, WI
Rolf and Daughters, Nashville, TN
Cafe Amelie, New Orleans, LA

Love food! Miss travel!

Song e Napule on Houston at the edge of greenwich village and soho was the first restaurant I went to in new york, and for my four years of college the owner and waiters were my constant companions, through highs and low, heartbreaks and first dates, bringing me the best pizza I’ve had outside of italy. I had to move out remotely when I finished school, but I have been dying to go back just to walk in and hear, “bella!!” boom out from the kitchen.

Papalote is around the corner from my house (and on speed dial in my phone)!!! They oblige my picky kids by making them breakfast tacos for dinner at least once a week. They seem to be doing decent takeout business, so hopefully they will still be here for your next visit to Austin, Joanna!

Very much in love with Sofreh in Prospect Heights. It’s a labor of love and I really hope they make it.

We’ve been getting weekly takeout from our local diner. Diner food is really only good inside the diner, but we NEED them to survive, so we’re having lukewarm omelettes for a while so that we can come back for chrome seats and diner coffee and ice cream sundaes when the pandemic is over.

I would love to stand in the line at the Cheese Shoppe again! Fellow W&M grad, Class of 2010 :)

My very favourite thing is dining out alone at a bar with a book and a cocktail … But also the tiny spots for a quick bite and the small cafes for an afternoon work session that becomes at glass of wine at the dot of 5 pm. OH GOD I MISS IT SO.

In no particular order : The Smile on Bond St. in NYC and Roberta’s in Brooklyn, Whalesbone on Elgin in Ottawa, EDNA in Halifax, Nora Gray and Candide in Montreal, Sous Sol in Winnipeg, Woodlot, The Walton, Sukhothai, Lady Marmalade and The House on Parliament in Toronto, Mariela’s Tacos in Silverlake.

… Now I’m hungry.

I was really missing the movies, finally rolled the dice last night to see Tenet (masked and socially distanced) and it was stupendous. For restaurants, I can’t wait to go have a really good steak and order too many cocktails. I’ve been trying to get Mexican food takeout and it’s just not the same when the queso’s in a cardboard cup!

I’m also scared that our favorite restaurants would close down. We have been frequenting them to get take outs, and thankfully they seem to be busy with takeouts. I’m also showing my support of local restaurants by posting them on FB, IG or Yelp. Our support means so much in this troubled time.

Now that I have two kids at home, long gone are the days of frequenting restaurants, going to one on a whim, or casually leaving the house in slow, carefree search of food. I’ve missed that for over 7 years now, as I used to love eating out so much. Pre-pandemic we would occasionally go on a very planned date or also take the kids out – with no expectation of adult conversation.

To see everyone here pining after their favorite restaurants, I realize I suddenly have company in this nostalgia. It’s oddly comforting!