Eatin Good in Your Neighborhood
Posted January 17, 2007
In six years of touring, we occasionally get the rare opportunity to stumble across a great gastronomic find apart from the usual Taco Bell/Burger King/Subway Smorgasbord o Shit. I find some of the best places to eat are run by families, or at least by a small corporation whose CEOs are also the people taking the new menus down to get copies at Kinkos.
The past few months had us on the road out east and around the Midwest, so I was able to come across a few places in those regions that brought a satiated smile to my face and a warm tingle to my belly region. My single greatest criteria for an eating establishment to make one of my blogs is if I go in expecting a food-borne illness, and leave with a food-borne epiphany.
So heres a few places that stick out in my mind that I think are worth visiting if youre in the area.
Caf Piala 118 East 1st Street New York, NY 212-614-8900
Right across the street from the Mercury Lounge, Caf Piala serves up what I consider to be one of the top two Indian buffets in the country. I must admit, Ive only been to two Indian buffets in my life including Caf Piala, but still. Theres a place in Indianapolis called India Garden that has an excruciatingly delicious buffet for pennies on the rupee, so my standards were already high. Caf Piala did not disappoint, with buffet food that was always fresh, a friendly and endearingly non-English speaking staff, and naan that I could eat for days on end. And all this for the low price of $5.99 (lunch) and $6.99 (dinnger). Thats dirt cheap, even for Indiana. Open 24 hours.
Kabob Hut 13 Allegheny Avenue Towson MD 410-821-8005
I remember walking down the sidewalks of Towson in the freezing sleet on a Sunday evening being miserable because I hadnt eaten all day, we couldnt find anything open, and I think we were all getting on each others nerves. There were a few coffee shops around that were all closed, and the only thing I saw open at first glance were pricey TGIFridays type restaurants with eight dollar hamburgers. My face was numb by the time I walked in the door of the Kabob Hut. At that point, I didnt care if the food tasted like camel poo and cost me $15 a plate. I was cold, hungry, and sick of highway food. Eric and I were the only people in the place, which looked like it had been deserted for a while. I was expecting stale hummus with soggy, reheated pitas, but what I got was a veggie plate prepared as if I were the Sultan of Bruneior hell, even the Sultan of Swat. I couldnt eat it fast enough. The man behind the counter, who I assumed was the proprietor, was gruff, but it was a nice gruff like Coach Mickey. You just know that behind that stone-cold face is a man who is looking out for your bowels best interest. Kabob Hut is open all week.
The Great Wall 4228 East State Street Rockford, IL 815-226-0982
Chinese restaurants on tour are one-step away from being compatriots of the fast food league. Sometimes you find one thats really great, other times you find your noodles are covered in a substance that looks like dragon snot and your veggies are wilting worse than porn sausage at the end of a days shoot. The Great Wall in Rockford is the former. It was another scenario where we were the only people in the place and were expecting subpar Im on break service, but instead got fresh plates of crisp veggies and hot noodles, served with outstanding tea, and presented in a way that could easily demand a $100 tab, but fortunately for us was only about $8 a plate. The hostess was nice and made sure the vegetarians in our party werent ordering stuff that would make their heads explode. No buffet at The Great Wall, but the entrees more than make up for it. The Great Wall is also open all week.
The Best Steak House 516 North Grand Boulevard St. Louis MO 63103 314-535-6033
Right around the corner from the new Creepy Crawl, The Best Steak House is one of the best greasy spoons Ive eaten at in a long time. The House has been serving up gigantic steak and chicken sandwiches to St. Louians since 1964, and walking through the door feels like a step back in time. You almost expect to see an alligator-shoed John Lee Hooker sitting in the corner, softly croaking Boom Boom to himself while gumming a French fry. The setup is cafeteria-line style, and you can tell they get extremely busy from time to time by the way the grill cook barks like a drill sergeant. Nex! Ill have the chicken san- Nex! Ill have the stea- Nex! Ill have the grilled chee- Nex! Nex! NexNexNex! Anyway, they grill the buns, which is good, and the portions are huge enough to make you feel like that first guy that got killed in Seven, except maybe not so pukey. The Best Steakhouse is open all week and actually has a website, which is www.thebeststeakhousestl.com.
