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What Is The Food Scene Like In Your Town?

6K views 89 replies 27 participants last post by  kaneohegirlinaz 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Someday I hope to visit Hawaii.  I can tell you are homesick :)  I have lived in NYC & So California.  I much prefer the latter when it comes to fresh produce, etc.  Much like New York, I am surrounded by restaurants.  Here in So. Cal, I enjoy visiting the Farmers' Markets, checking out the Asian markets, & bringing home a roasted duck etc.  There are restaurants here of every ethnicity. I guess, we are all happiest where are heart and roots are ;-)
 
#3 ·
O geez, pretty bad actually. It is slowly evolving. The sad thing is, we get thousands and thousands of tourists each year from all over the world. I work in a popular pizzeria and we do great business during "the season" but there still aren't many options in this town. We have a few really good restaurants, the rest are overpriced family/diner food that serve the same menu and utilize mostly frozen product. I am moving to Portland in a month, and am leaving the non-food scene of Moab, Utah behind. I will miss the gorgeous scenery though.

 
#4 ·
O geez, pretty bad actually. It is slowly evolving. The sad thing is, we get thousands and thousands of tourists each year from all over the world. I work in a popular pizzeria and we do great business during "the season" but there still aren't many options in this town. We have a few really good restaurants, the rest are overpriced family/diner food that serve the same menu and utilize mostly frozen product. I am moving to Portland in a month, and am leaving the non-food scene of Moab, Utah behind. I will miss the gorgeous scenery though.

A few years back I was in Moab and yep, you're absolutely right. No food.
 
#5 ·
One of my favorite food things here in Salt Lake City is the annual Living Traditions Festival. It is a weekend of highlighting the various cultures of the people who make up the city's population.  There are about 20 different food booths ranging from mainstream European, Asian, Basque, Tongan, Sudanese - you can't help but find a dozen different new things to try.

mjb.
 
#6 ·
I'm extremely lucky to be on the far north side of the city, which has long been a "port of entry" area for immigrants from all over the world. Within a mile or so of my apartment I can source any ingredient you can think of. The only thing I have to go a bit out of my way for is the Korean market since the one near me closed then reopened as a giant Middle Eastern supermarket. Consequently, my spice and condiment cabinet overflows. I love ethnic markets and do almost all of my shopping at the Asian and Mexican markets in my neighborhood.  The only markets in my neighborhood I haven't properly explored are the African and Ethiopian ones but I plan on rectifying that soon. They are a few blocks off of my usual axis of travel.  I know the high end food scene is also great in Chicago, but it doesn't really have much to do with me. When I do eat out, it's usually at mom and pop ethnic joints or one of the many brew pubs that have popped up around town. I'm sad this week because the European import warehouse where I have bought nice cheeses and chocolate and all manner of other European condiments at deeply discounted prices is moving out of the city to a far away suburb. That's definitely going to curtail my cheese consumption, as the best places for cheeses in the city are prohibitively expensive.
 
#8 ·
@ChicagoTerry I haven't been to Chi-town in a LONG time, but I was taken by my friends to a number of different places to try an assortment of foods from around the world, Greek, Polish, Persian, there was one more I can't remember for the life of me, so I guess it didn't leave an impression on me /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif
 
#12 ·
When it comes to eating out, you can forget my home. Standard German fare, with perhaps one restaurant who pushes the niveau. Foreign cuisines? Nah. Some europeanized asians, but really nothing noteworthy. 

However, when it comes to shopping for food, it is brilliant. Great butchers, great greengrocers, great fishmongers. And lots of local farmers who grow organic stuff and focus on heirloom sorts and heirloom races. Great farmer's market, too. And, more importantly, the most important thing about rural life - after a while, you know the guys who can supply stuff, where you can buy directly from the farm.
 
#13 ·
Gene, I LOVE shopping for food!

I'm one of the strangest gals around these parts, I don't go shoe shopping or clothes shopping... take me to a thriving market and I'm over the moon!

My husband says I get this crazed, glazed look in my eyes, I don't hear or see him... he just finds a bench and says, "I'll wait for you here"... did I say recently what a great fella I've got?
 
#15 · (Edited)
Memphis, TN It's all about dry-rubbed slow-smoked boston butt, I'm _so_ over it.  But what can you expect ina city that is "famous" fo the Memphis In May BBQ Festival.
 

What would I do for a decent pizza in this town, drive to Chicago, IL.  You want some great beef ribs, drive to Round Rock, TX.  And yes, we have done just that!

There are some really outstanding high end places around town. Notably Chef Kelly English's Restaurant Iris & The Second Line. Of course The Peabody Hotel... The Elegant Farmer and Trolley Stop offer some great wholesome food, if you don't mind sitting in the haze of patchouli & body odor of the other patrons.

My personal favorite;  a place called Elwood's Shack. This little gem is hidden in the "mexican" section of the city. It took me 10 minutes to find it. You literally have park in the Lowe's parking lot and walk to it. But oh-my-freaking-gosh, a steelhead trout taco, a house-cured pastrami that rivals any NY Deli I have ever been to.  No matter what you order you can "taste the love" in every bite.  I seriously want to go do a stage at this place, once my new class schedule gets settled down next semester.

And lots of great authentic mexican, if you don't mind being the only gringos in the place, and we don't mind one bit.
 
#17 ·
@SandSquid what about the food truck or food festival scene? anything there in Memphis?
We do have some ubiquitous roach-coaches that cater to the construction crowd, and lots of decent taco trucks. Most of the "street food" are selling "BBQ Pork Nacho's" and a few hot-dog and pretzel carts centered around the folks heading into or out of RedBirds Stadium, and sucking any remaining cash out of the pockets of drunk tourists doing the "Beal St. Pub Crawl". My favorite street vendor is "Memphis Dawgs", quality Nathan's hot dog on a nice steamy soft bun, all the usual good toppings.

Memphis hosts Le Bon Appetit, a yearly fundraiser event for Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, 50 Chefs from all over the country come in for a week and cook up some righteous vittles.
 
#19 ·
There is a woman chef in my neighborhood, self-taught,  a friend of a friend, who did an underground "tasting" menu in her apartment on weekends by appointment only for awhile, I never went to the tasting but I did have a brisket she cooked at a party once and it was outstanding. She now has a legit restaurant where she does a tasting menu made of thing she has foraged or hunted or grown herself and it is communal style tables and an hours- long production. I've heard it is fabulous and she made it onto the James Beard nomination list for this year for her efforts. It's one of the high end dining experiences that I have mixed feelings about. I admire it, but have trouble justifying the expense to myself. If I weren't on such a tight budget I might feel differently, but $100+ meals are way beyond my budget.
 
#24 ·
There is a woman chef in my neighborhood, self-taught, a friend of a friend, who did an underground "tasting" menu in her apartment on weekends by appointment only for awhile, I never went to the tasting but I did have a brisket she cooked at a party once and it was outstanding. She now has a legit restaurant where she does a tasting menu made of thing she has foraged or hunted or grown herself and it is communal style tables and an hours- long production. I've heard it is fabulous and she made it onto the James Beard nomination list for this year for her efforts. It's one of the high end dining experiences that I have mixed feelings about. I admire it, but have trouble justifying the expense to myself. If I weren't on such a tight budget I might feel differently, but $100+ meals are way beyond my budget.
I don't even mind the cost, it's the communal dining that is an absolute negative.
 
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