God Bless Food and the People Who Make It
I had a strange realization at work yesterday (Tuesday)- I love talking about restaurants.
I love talking about their ups, their downs, and all the in betweens.
It was really slow, and somehow the topic of restaraunts came up. I, of course, had to mention my favorite restaurant in Columbia- Flatbranch Pub. Then we branched into other dining venues and what their varous strengths and weaknesses are. Finally, I found myself giving a list of must-eat-at places in Columbia to a co-worker who has just moved to Columbia, telling her where to go and what is good there.
It dawned on me, somewhere in the middle of all this- I could talk about restaurants for hours. So here we go.
My all-time favorite restaurant is Flatbranch. They are very reasonably priced and their food is really really good. It's not exotic or exciting, by any means, but it's always very tasty and satisfying. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Tamara loves their 3-Cheese Spinach Dip; Beckie raves about their Chokes'&'Cheese dip/sauce that goes good on burgers, sandwiches, with chips or fries; their Reubens are awesome and their pizzas are oh, so good. Yeah, their main thing is beer, but the food is excellent and the atmosphere is always buzzing. The best part is that late at night, their pizzas and appetizers are way cheap. Try the Barbecue Chicken pizza- it's muy bien.
I love pizza, and the best pizza in the world is CiCi's. No joke. Okay, that last sentence was a joke. Which means the sentence before was a joke. Except the first part, which wasn't a joke, even though the sentence after it was joking about not being a joke. The point is, CiCi's is a joke. It's a piza buffet that's really cheap, and the pizza is about the quality you're paying for. It's not gross, it's actually pretty good, it's just not great.
The best pizza in Columbia is Shakespeare's. They're a little pricey, but it's worth it. Handmade when you order, you can watch grunge-looking hippies and college kids tossing the crusts. They use cloth towels for napkins, which are always really clean (at least mine have always been). My favorite is that they slice their pepperoni extra thick. Mmmmm.
Emily, Joe, and Beckie can all join me in singing the praises of W.G. Grinders. The first one I ever had was the Cordon-Bleu Grinder, Joe's personal favorite. I've tried others (the White Pizza one is pretty good) but love struck me when I tried the chicken salad grinder. Very messy, but very tasty. Then, like a bat in the night, a new champion grinder came to town when Emily introduced me to the Turkey Reuben grinder. So full of flavor, and who knew Russian dressing could be so good? And to top it off, Grinders cookies are to die for.
Other places in Columbia to enjoy a bite:
I love talking about their ups, their downs, and all the in betweens.
It was really slow, and somehow the topic of restaraunts came up. I, of course, had to mention my favorite restaurant in Columbia- Flatbranch Pub. Then we branched into other dining venues and what their varous strengths and weaknesses are. Finally, I found myself giving a list of must-eat-at places in Columbia to a co-worker who has just moved to Columbia, telling her where to go and what is good there.
It dawned on me, somewhere in the middle of all this- I could talk about restaurants for hours. So here we go.
My all-time favorite restaurant is Flatbranch. They are very reasonably priced and their food is really really good. It's not exotic or exciting, by any means, but it's always very tasty and satisfying. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Tamara loves their 3-Cheese Spinach Dip; Beckie raves about their Chokes'&'Cheese dip/sauce that goes good on burgers, sandwiches, with chips or fries; their Reubens are awesome and their pizzas are oh, so good. Yeah, their main thing is beer, but the food is excellent and the atmosphere is always buzzing. The best part is that late at night, their pizzas and appetizers are way cheap. Try the Barbecue Chicken pizza- it's muy bien.
I love pizza, and the best pizza in the world is CiCi's. No joke. Okay, that last sentence was a joke. Which means the sentence before was a joke. Except the first part, which wasn't a joke, even though the sentence after it was joking about not being a joke. The point is, CiCi's is a joke. It's a piza buffet that's really cheap, and the pizza is about the quality you're paying for. It's not gross, it's actually pretty good, it's just not great.
The best pizza in Columbia is Shakespeare's. They're a little pricey, but it's worth it. Handmade when you order, you can watch grunge-looking hippies and college kids tossing the crusts. They use cloth towels for napkins, which are always really clean (at least mine have always been). My favorite is that they slice their pepperoni extra thick. Mmmmm.
Emily, Joe, and Beckie can all join me in singing the praises of W.G. Grinders. The first one I ever had was the Cordon-Bleu Grinder, Joe's personal favorite. I've tried others (the White Pizza one is pretty good) but love struck me when I tried the chicken salad grinder. Very messy, but very tasty. Then, like a bat in the night, a new champion grinder came to town when Emily introduced me to the Turkey Reuben grinder. So full of flavor, and who knew Russian dressing could be so good? And to top it off, Grinders cookies are to die for.
Other places in Columbia to enjoy a bite:
- Boone Tavern
- Booches (great burgers)
- The Heidelberg (great atmosphere)
- 63 Diner (great one-stop grease shop)
Places to Avoid:
- Applebees (click on the link, please)
Anyway, now that I've worked up a ravenous hunger, I hope you get hungry too. Try the Buffalo Chicken Grinder or Flatbranch's Green Chili Chicken Fingers.
Comments
and AMEN for turkey reubens.
And now I'm hungry.