I promise not to say nice yet untrue things about the food, ambiance, or service like guide books and web sites do in order to … Why do they do that? To promote tourism in their city by saying how awesome things are when they really aren’t that great? Or is is that the majority of people have very low expectations regarding the food they eat?
Well, I am not going to do that. I’ve read so many reviews of restaurants since I moved here that say a place is great and then we go and spend too much money on totally crappy food, in a terrible setting, with horrible service. To make myself feel better, I used City Search to find their top recommended restaurants in Baltimore…
I did not find Tapas Teatro, Wine Market, Helmand, B, or Peter’s Inn… arguably the best restaurants in Baltimore. (I don’t include Charleston, which may be the best gourmet restaurant in Baltimore because I don’t regularly pay $150 a person for dinner.) What City Search recommends is this litany of crap:
Ruth’s Chris, Hard Rock Cafe, Vellegia’s, Akbar, Capital Grille, Jordan’s Steak House, Blue Agave… It goes on and on, a list of places you could find by walking out of any hotel in the city and directly into the first building you see that occupies a kitchen. The web site is totally, unconditionally, and shockingly unhelpful.
And that’s when it really hit me: that’s exactly what I’m doing here in Chicago. Depending on that sort of search engine is never going to get me through the top layer of crusty, uninventive, overpriced restaurant. I’m on my own to sift through the rubble looking for a gem.
I’ve created this page so you don’t have to do the same. Click on active links to read my <honest and meaningful> experiences and opinions.
Cafe Laguardia – Pretty Good
Twist, A Tapas Cafe – Excellent
Irazu – Great
Jane’s – Great
Lula Cafe – Great
John’s Place – Coulda Been a Contender but it isn’t
Goose Island Brewing Company – Skip It
Twisted Lizard – Pretty Good
Caffe De Luca – Pretty good
People – Sucks
State – Loud and Lame
Hot Chocolate – Great brunch
Sweets and Savories – Pretty Good
Cafe Ba-ba-Reeba! – Eh…
Landmark – Expensive but good
Crust – Eh…
Webster’s Wine Bar – Pretty good
Bin 604 – Pretty good
Cru Wine Bar – Expensive but good
Sangria Restaurant and Tapas Bar – Sucks. Deeply.
Cafe Iberico – Sucks. Frozen and reheated croquettes, etc.
