We have the most unique thread going, how about favorite Dives. My favorite was The Spot cafe in Lawrenceville Il. It was a dumpy little place in an old railroad boxcar. It had counter only seating with maybe three feet from back wall to stool. They had a small flat-top grill, a two well deep fryer, an old non-commercial fridge and nothing else. They had a few things on the menu,but the only thing to get were the Spot burgers. They were literally a big handful of ground chuck taken from a bus tub in the fridge, pattied by hand and cooked in butter on the flat-top. The fries were an entire potato put thru a fry cutter. ****, even the catsup was homemade. Thank God there was no health department around in those days. There was one little old lady running the place and you didn't dare harrass her. First of all, you wouldn't get a burger. Secondly, you might very well be beaten to death by the other customers for messin with Martha. You behaved!! There is now a Hardee's in its place.

[m brown]

Japanese place on 2nd ave and 92nd NYC. Rice cooker, grill, stove. Lots of Yelling!
Hole in the wall, mother and son operation. The Best!

Vietnames place on 46 and 8th or 9th. 4 tables shoved into a store front. Takes forever to get served, but well worth the wait.

[BevReview Steve]

When I was in college in Indiana.. there was this place called Kay's Pizza in Gas City. Man, the place was smokey, run down, and a major health violation.

But the pizza! The grease just flowed and hit the spot (and you felt it for hours afterwards!)

[shroomgirl]

Mothers in New Orleans....Ferdis....french bread with (in house cooked) sliced ham, sliced roast beef, cabbage, creole mustard and "debry" what's leftover when you cook the roast beef, thick with scraps of beef and thin gravy....oh man!!! Creole lunches
you'll see business men with $100 bills and bums scrapping up the change for beans.
It's in the CBD (central business district) on Poydras. Been there forever and will never update....why?????? Pretty big place but never enough seats during rush, they have lines out the door.
Our hole in the wall Veitnamese place closed a couple of monthes ago....bummer.

[Mezzaluna]

My brothers rave about Jim's Rib Haven in Rock Island, Illinois. Every time they get together, they reminisce about every shred of pork they ever consumed there. I love barbecue, but that place is too seedy for me to even walk in the door!

I remembered another one. There used to be a place in Galesburg, Il called Gyro's Place. They served (you guessed it) gyros. But oh man!!! The guy that owned it was at least seventy and wore an extremely bad blond surfer dude hairpiece. Didn't speak a word of english, either. The gyros were fantastic. Huge piles of heavily spiced meat. (lamb?) Onions, peppers and a great yogurt cucumber sauce. I heard that the I.N.S. came sniffing around and he just kinda disappeared. I did always sort of wonder if the meat in the gyros was from the unattractive little animal that died on top of his head. By the way, Mezzaluna, Jim's Ribs are pretty darn good. GO FOR IT!!

[This message has been edited by mofo1 (edited 11-30-2000).]

mofo1, you reminded me of a place that was in South Bawlmer years ago, I can't even remember the name, but they had the best gyros ever! I'm not sure I know what kind of meat they use (I'm not sure that I need to know), but from what I've seen, it's sort of this conical mass of finely chopped stuff that's spitted and rotates over the heat source. The cook takes thin lengthwise slices of it; it actually sort of looks like those horrible Steakum things.

The sauce is tzatziki - yoghurt, cucumber, a little chopped tomato, a little ground and toasted cumin; it's very similar to an Indian raita and is wonderful with grilled lamb!

[shroomgirl]

I eat at Pita Plus at least 3x a month...6 tables (mix of 2 and 4 tops) spinach and cheese burekas, fresh housemade pitas (white,whole wheat andflavor of the day)
they have a Gyro salad $5.00 that is 2 meals
I pour the viniagrette over it then get the btl of tzaki and ummmmm. They have plates with pita, bureka,salad meat of choice...
not totally divey but hole in the wall.

[Mezzaluna]

Since gyros are the subtopic, the best around here are at two places: Oakland Gyros in Milwaukee near UW-Milwaukee; and Gyros Corners West in Waukesha (20 mi. west of Milwaukee). Better than any gyros I ate in Greece (sorry, Nicko!), and the pitas are very good, too. GCW has a super chicken version made with breast tenders. Surprise! They take time to remove the tendons, even.

[Live_to_cook]

Hap's was in Port Richey, Florida, on an old pier over the Gulf of Mexico.

Hap cooked in the kitchen, red-faced 65-plus fella, pure Florida cracker, worked in bare feet if you can believe it.

The place was Southern homestyle and cheap. Paper and plastic all the way, picnic tables. Packed, with judges sitting next to landscapers.

The best ever: smoked mullet (fresh off his brother's boat, split open and slowly brought to succulence during hours over a low oak fire).

Plus cheese grits, the best hush puppies ever and cole slaw: $4.05. No lie. Watch the pelicans and wonder how you ever deserved life to be this good.

RIP, Hap's. They sold the pier for a gambling boat landing. A wail went up from eaters for miles around.

[David Jones]

When I'm craving great tacos, it's gotta be a dive. The best in Chicago are definitely on the South Side. Three different styles at three different places, plus a place for real gorditas, not the T*%& B#*& kind. There are no chihuahuas at these places.

El Milagro on 18th Street - for the big taco (I'm still trying to track by state or region). Have a guisado (stew) de puerco or guisado de res with everything - that means rice, beans, and a cabbage salad on two yellow corn tortillas. Milanesa and chiles rellenos come whole with the same garnish. Where's my Lipitor?

Los Comales on 26th Street - for lots of yummy little tacos. Traditional fillings are the rule - sometimes I think that I get the GRINGO special, with extra chile. I love spice, so it doesn't matter. Good al pastor and lots of volume means great tacos at this place.

Atotonilco on 26th Street - This is the place for tacos Al Pastor - best in Chicago. You can't miss the great menu signs and retro graphics. Fruit and Veggie juices are extracted to order, and they make great liquados.

At the Supermarket Aguascalientes on 26th Street, they serve the best gorditas, made to order. Pillows of fresh masa are griddle-fried to order, then filled with incredible goodies. Lomo de Puerco en Adobo - seasoned, braised pork shoulder is not to be believed. I wish I were twins so I could eat more!

Most of these places have become quasi-chains, for better or worse. These are the best locations of each concept. Trust me, I'm conducting full-scale research!

[David Jones]

Or, how about the dream retirement gig....

I once went to a place outside of West Yellowstone, Montana, called Eno's. It was a grill-your-own-steak place, sort of. They offered two cuts of beef, a chopped steak and a chicken breast, which they serve to you raw. To start, you get a great potato salad, or an iceberg salad. You walk back to an enclosed patio, where you see a salad bar set-up with garnish for your steak, salad and baked potato - - - and a well-fired grill. Throw in a big screen TV with a dish, and $6 pitchers of Molson Golden. After a day of hiking or fly fishing? Perfect.

David, you reminded me of a place in Frederick, Md - I think it's called the Mongolian Wok.

You go in, pay your $$ and are handed a large bowl. Then you go down a line of containers with stir-fry cut veggies - peppers (all colors), onions, scallions, mushrooms, carrots, etc., etc.; you turn a corner of the line, and there's an employee slicing paper-thin pieces of beef, pork, lamb or chicken (the meat is frozen so that you can nearly read through the slices). Then there are several containers of thin cooking sauces; ginger, hot and sour, sweet and sour and a couple of others that you ladle over your raw ingredient. You then give the cook your bowl, and he dumps the ingredients onto a round, corrugated grill about a yard across and he flash cooks it. Yummy and fun!

[Mezzaluna]

Maryeo, we have a Mongolian BBQ here, too. The grill is round and flat, not corrigated however, and the meat is in freezer bunkers on the veggie buffet line. It's a great place to take friends, no matter if one's eating low fat, another's eating low carb, etc. The flavors are interesting to explore, too. My husband and I eat there often. I'd like to try it elsewhere just to see how it measures up.

There is a BBQ place on US 1 in Fort Lauderdale FL called Jenkins.
Family run place with lines out the door.
every single day.
We just moved to Portland , OR and are having the toughest time finding a decent BBQ place.
Danielle