Everything’s just Sysco™ now lol.
I really wish everyday people could bypass the middleman and just order directly from Sysco and Shamrock Farms. I’d never eat out again (and that’s why they won’t do it).
GFS scratches a little of that itch for me.
Ramen.
Ramen.I do not think I can pick a favorite, mostly I cook at home so just make what I want. But my most usual restaurant orders:
Burrito Jaliscience from Crazy Burrito. BBQ pork (asado, not like with BBQ sauce), refried beans, rice, grilled onions and their absolutely addictive so very hot hot sauce.
Pho from Pho Quyen. The one with thin sliced raw beef that the broth cooks.
Sag/Palak paneer and garbanzos masala from Rasoi Indian. And the curried okra.
And the best restaurant meal we ever had, ever, was at a Peruvian restaurant in Sarasota that is gone now. It was like 10 years ago and we still talk about it. Even the salad dressing was exquisite, every part of the meal so good. Seared tuna & a chicken dish with yellow sauce. Tableside bananas foster. Better than it sounds because every part of it was incredibly delicious.
There a lotta fried chicken sandwich places. Love em all.
Otherwise the more traditional Pakistani and Arab kinds. Sit on the floor, stay there for hours.
And by floor I mean there are booths of sort with ‘ground seating’. That ground seating can be elevated tho.
At these restaurants I also like live classical music and ideally being outdoors
Favourite is a tough ask.
I love southern US style BBQ, and if they do a good ‘Jacob’s ladder’ beef rib I’ll be there on the regular.
I also love a good curry, but it has to be either authentic Indian, or authentic BIR. If it’s the former then I love a Dosakaya Pappu, an authentic Goan Pork Vindaloo, or a Mutton Paya. If it’s the latter then I love a good Lamb Madras or Chicken Jalfrezi.
I love good Mexican food, there was. a place I used to go to in London that did an amazing seafood enchilada, but they’ve taken it off their menu and it’s the only thing I ever ordered it was so good.
But, for favourite it has to be a good steak house. And in an ideal world, I’ll have the ribeye, cooked as the chef suggests (which usually means a medium rare for a ribeye) with a bonemarrow butter sauce, thick cut chips, and maybe a couple of portabello mushrooms.
Most any restaurant is fine by me, but there’s an absolutely fantastic small chain Indian restaurant near me that does absolutely divine curry, but I tend to get chicken vindaloo if I remember correctly.
Also a fantastic local German restaurant nearby that does amazing everything from sides like their freshly made sauerkraut to fantastic spätzle, so you know I gotta get both of those.
Edit:
- I think it may have been lamb vindaloo. Been a while since I was last there.
- There used to be a local Chinese restaurant that I absolutely LOVED. It was most likely authentic considering you’d see Chinese families ordering family style and doing the whole lazy susan thing. I’ve never seen a nin-authentic Chinese restaurant do that.
Vietnamese - BBH (bun bo hue) which is a spicy beef noodle soup. Clay pot catfish, if they have it.
Chinese - Whole steamed fish, if they have it. Favorite veg dish is eggplant and green beans stir fry.
Indian - I gotta get the vindaloo!
Mexican - If it’s a food truck, al pastor and lengua tacos. Enchilada rice plate at a sit-down restaurant.
Italian - Probably the puttanesca or aglio e olio. Anything with Calabrian chilis is automatically tempting.
Breakfast diners, especially Greek ones. I order three eggs over medium and pancakes with extra butter. If they serve tea, I order hot tea.
I like buffet places, as long as they’re clean. That way I don’t have to order, I just grab some of this and some of that and go back for more of what I liked
Buffets are underrated. (Although overpriced)
Man I love me a good American Chinese buffet. The more Americanized and Sysco-ified, the better.
That said, I also fuck with more authentic Chinese cuisine like dumplings and hot pot. It’s all good food.
All you can eat hot pot 😋🤤
In China it was usually called Bu Fei, but in Taiwan it was Chi Dao Bao - eat until full. Of course they usually had a 2h time limit, but I can eat a lot of hotpot in 2h.
The best meal I’ve had in 2025 was at a Chinese buffet
The older I get, the more overpriced they are. My appetite is shrinking
it’s a family-run chinese place, and idk what my go-to order is, I can’t pronounce it. I get it because I walked in and a no-nonsense old chinese lady started chattering at me in mandarin and I panicked and pointed and what they brought me was really good so I keep getting it.
there’s like 30 other things on the menu that I also can’t pronounce, so maybe one day I’ll have tried them all.
Those are the best chinese places.
it gets even better. it doesn’t even have a name. it’s just called “chinese restaurant”. and idk who makes their fortune cookies, but I got one there one time that just said “uh oh”.
don’t leave me hanging like that.
Ahahahah
Dick’s [burgers]. A “bag of dick’s” [burgers] is the appropriate measure.
Almost ate a bag of Dick’s today, but wanted to make it home in time for the game.
Probably should’ve eaten some Dick’s.
Chinese buffet. To-go box loaded with all the meats, rice cooker at home.
I don’t do that anymore for fast food, but a local pizza chain called Bellagios is what I sometimes get (it’s rare when I do).
Back then, it used to be a local fast food chain called Burgerville, but their quality is horrible compared to what it used to be.
Oh man, I haven’t had Burgerville in nearly a decade and a half. Bummer.
Their stuff was really good back in the day, and their quality was fantastic. Too bad the quality’s gone to trash, especially during COVID.
I go for US southern BBQ, particularly a brisket sandwich and sausage with cornbread, mac & cheese, and some collard greens or slaw.
It goes in phases. There’s an Asian Latin fusion near me that is on my mind lately. The birria bao buns are fantastic!
Our go-to is tex-mex and i love chicken mole, cheese enchiladas, or a good old fashioned crispy taco. If my husband says no to 4 restaurants, we go to a taqueria. Made that rule about 5 years ago and it’s never let us down!
