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.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
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
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.
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.
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.
Mexican, about any kind. Sometimes I want the real deal at the taco truck, sometimes I want white-people Mexican, sometimes I want Taco Bell. Favorite sit-down place is mostly Mexican with a bit of white-people Mexican mixed in. Only place in the metro area that has truly hot salsa, homemade.
If it’s Mexican, I’m definitely getting red sauce enchiladas or tacos with either al pastor or lengua.
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!
Local rural Mexican restaurant. Nothing special. There’s hundreds of similar places near me. But I know the staff at this place. I can order an amazing burrito and a good, generic margarita. It’s my comfort food.
We only have one legit Mexican place, taco truck. And we had nothing 20-years ago until Hispanics came in to work after Hurricane Ivan.
It was bizarre after spending a couple of years in Chicagoland. “Uh. Y’all got any Mexicans around here? Cause a man gotta eat.”
Vietnamese.
Almost always order the Phở Dặc Biệt. Not sure what it means but it seems to be the deluxe or variety version of pho. Always tasty, and no stomach ache - which is the inevitable result of fast food in my case.
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.
