[Montelago]

In downtown Detroit, ther is a little Italian grocery named Gonellas. They made the absolute best Italian subs in the world. At lunch time, there would be a line out the door of people waiting to build their own sub. All the best salted/cured meats, fresh baked breads of all varieties, and the best sauce (Italian Vinaigrette) I have ever had. My dad worked about two blocks down the street, and about once every other week, we would get treated to Gonellas for dinner. I can taste them now.

[merriman]

I had no idea! I'll have to go to Gonellas this week! My wife and I usually go to Ann Arbor for "rare treats" to places like the Broken Egg which is a slightly usual diner - French toast with kiwi; Belgian waffles with cognac and bananas; omelets with turkey sausage, havarti cheese and spinach….

[CookingAngry]

THE DOUBLE EAGLE
Ypsilanti, MI
Eastern Michigan University's No. 1 drunken late-night munchie hangout.

Talk about a dive? This place is dirty with a purpose. Their "famous cheese steak hoagie" is my drunken food of choice. Open 24/7 this family owned establishment has been serving bad, greasy food and reprehensible coffee for my first three years here at college and they d*** well better be here for my last year.

As a freshman I delivered pizzas for a local pizzaria and didn't get off till two in the morning. This was my meal before I went home.

If you attend Easten Michigan University and haven't seen the sun rise while trying to sober up in the Double Eagle, then my friend, you're not taking advantage of the college experience.

[bughut]

The A2 in Dundee when you used to be able to have a smoke after your bacon roll.

[RPMcMurphy]

Brunswick Grove in Milltown, NJ

White Rose System in NJ

Mastoris Diner in NJ

that little cuban place on 14th street by the 1&9 in NYC for a cuban sandwich.

DeLorenzos Tomato Pie in NJ, I'd be willing to say its in the top 5 places in the US if not the world to get a pizza.......no doubt about that. It's my number 1, but I can understand some folks liking some NY and Chicago places....so I'll just say it's top 5.

[boar_d_laze]

Here are some faves:

Langer's Deli, MacArthur Park neighborhood (aka Little Salvador), Los
Angeles: Best pastrami on the planet. Best rye bread, ditto. Even the NY Times says so. Deli prices.

Dumpling Master, Monterey Park, strip mall on Atlantic next to Shun Fat market: Some of the best Canton style Chinese food in the SG Valley -- and the SGV is probably the best place for Chinese food outside China. Great kuo tieh, steamed dumplings, best handmade noodles I ever had, best scallion pie, excellent in general. Very much not fancy. Low prices.

Har Lam Kee, Monterey Park, on Garvey: Very Hong Kong. Big selection of juks -- all of them great. Trolley noodles. Aberdeen style fishball soup with roe in the fishballs. Totally unselfconscious interior that looks like it was the set of a Kung Fu movie. Low prices.

El Mercado, East Los: Not exactly a dive, but not exactly not either. It's a huge market with all kinds of other things going on. One of them is a set of stall/restaurants around the mezzanine -- which is the third floor. Market on the second, flea market on the first. The place rocks on weekends with numerous mariachi groups going at the same time. Most of the food is very good -- especially at the mariscos stall. Low prices. Lots of shopping and tourist charm. You won't hear it much, but everybody speaks English. This place is what L.A. is all about: As far away as you can get without going anywhere.

Sunset Thai, Sunset Blvd "East Hollywood", west of Vermont, in Thai Town. Yen ta fo of the Gods. Low prices.

Palms Thai, Hollywood Blvd, "East Hollywood," in Thai Town, Deer curry, dried fish soup, tons of LAPD eat there, home of the Thai Elvis. Need I say more?

Carousel Restaurant, Hollywood Blvd, "East Hollywood," Little Armenia: Great Armenian/Lebanese. Kebab of the Gods. One of the best overall food values in SoCal.

Papa Kristo's, Pico near Normandie, across from the Orthodox Church: LA isn't known for Greek food, this place is a cheap gem attached to a Greek deli/market. Tip: They sell the bread they serve, but you have to ask for it specially.

Tofu Village, Strip mall off Colima, Rowland Heights: Great soon tofu (Korean chile-garlic-tofu soup) great pan-chan, three colors of rice. Awesome.

Young Dong Tofu, (chain) Alhambra, Arcadia, San Gabriel: The one in Arcadia is the most accessible, the friendliest to western tasts, the easiest to park, etc., the other two are better. I especially like the cold spicy noodles at the Alhambra store. The San Gabriel store is verrrrrry spicy. First time for soon tofu? Go to Arcadia. The barbecue dishes and non-tofu menu is better than Tofu Village. The pan chan is different. The soon-tofu, not quite as good.

Jacalito, Valley Blvd., El Monte: If you can handle incredibly spicy food, try the Mojarra frita al diablo. Que ricos! This restaurant runs towards the hot end of Mexican food, but they'll adjust for you. Nice people, good prices, very fresh.

El Salvoderena, Mountain Blvd., Monrovia or maybe Duarte: Just a little El Salvadoran restaurant, nothing special except the quality of the dishes. Great pupusas, and the enchiladas (estilo America-central) are fluffy and awesome. Again, que ricos!

Anyway, that's a few.

BDL

[jennabrown]

A place in SF known as Gary Danko Restaurant in 800 N Point St is the one which I like to visit very often because of its wonderful ambiance.

They offer a really nice cheese selection.

[oleglipkin]

Taylor's Automatic refresher, St Helena. Cool place, great food, high spirits.

[kuan]

Originally Posted by oleglipkin

Taylor's Automatic refresher, St Helena. Cool place, great food, high spirits.

Definitely! I have a pic of me somewhere.

[Heritage Fare]

John Boy's is a small southern style buffet. They have special selections daily, as well as their normal offering of fried/baked chicken, salisbury steak, collard greens, green beans, cabbage, pinto, great northern or butter beans, mac n cheese, candied yams, biscuits, cornbread, salad, and dessert bar. Special daily selections include turkey and dressing, fried/baked pork chops, fried/baked fish, rib tips, meatloaf. fried okra, okra and tomatoes, rutabegas, and fried green tomatoes. I could go on and on listing what they serve! It's great, fresh food, for only $7/person including, coffee, tea, or southern style sweet tea.

[chubyalaskagriz]

only open during summer called "The Dairy Barn". My young niece and nephew march me there nearly every day and bribe me into buying them soft-serv cones, fruit-slushies, deep-fried cheese curds and fried pork tenderloin sandwiches. Funny part is- sis and I ordered the exact same items there 25 years ago when we were little tykes!

[teamfat]

Originally Posted by chubyalaskagriz

only open during summer called "The Dairy Barn". My young niece and nephew march me there nearly every day and bribe me into buying them soft-serv cones, fruit-slushies, deep-fried cheese curds and fried pork tenderloin sandwiches. Funny part is- sis and I ordered the exact same items there 25 years ago when we were little tykes!

Reminds me of a place I wanted to visit last summer, Lutz's Drive In, a couple miles north of Dowagiac, Michigan. We did drive by it one weekend last August, but didn't stop, as we had a pretty full schedule that day. The occasion for being back in my birthplace was my father's funeral. Eating at the drive in would have been appropriate, as my father and I helped my uncle Bob Lutz build the place back in 1961, 62 or so. Well, being as I was only 7 or 8 years old at the time, my contribution to the effort was probably minimal In spite of my assistance the place did open up, we ate there many times before moving south to Indiana, ate there a few times during trips back to visit.

Hot dogs, root beer and soft-serv cones, what kid could ask for more?

mjb.

[mattie405]

Have to agree with RPMc............can't beat the WR System in Edison for a fesh Cali Burger, Mastoris for gargantuan proportions of good food too, great cheesesteaks at Giannis Pizza on Plainfield although has run of the mill pizza. Into the city, Veselka for anything home made round the clock......mainly european/polish stuff, killer soups. Also 2 doors down from it on Second Avenue the Ukrainian Rest Home, down a shappy hallway to some of the best fresh food ever, we used to swear they had the old residents making those pierogies by hand to pay for their keep, Down on Mott Street, down a flight of stairs to Hop Kee for Chow fun.............gee I'm missing my old haunts back up east......we have nothing to compare to these places down here in the south, guess I need to jump in the car and go visit sis in NJ or the oldest kid in NY.