We also look for new restaurants most of the time. But, we also like to hit up places with great views/outdoor spaces in nice weather as well.
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Does anyone have, for lack of a better term, an “index dish”? Let me explain. If we are trying out a new Italian restaurant, for example, I will always try the chicken/veal marsala, and will determine how good the place is by the quality of the marsala dish. Some places know how to make this well, and others go through the motions.
We have been surprised–a little place in Waterton, Alberta, within Waterton Lakes National Park, had one of the best marsala I’ve ever had, and we’ve been to places in a town’s Little Italy that disappointed.
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We’re the opposite. We tend to try dishes that sounds the most unique, and more points if it’s something we’ve never had before.
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You don’t want to touch a new restaurant here with a 10 foot pole within the first 6 months. They are always jam packed. Even when Zaxby’s opened, the first couple of months the line was out in the street and the inside jam packed. If you go now, you’ll have the place to yourself.
I get that concept of an index dish! Sort of a barometer of the restaurant.
Bonus points for restaurants with outside space obviously this time of year and the next several months in the Midwest.
I swear my H is the only person who can go to an ethnic restaurant and still find a bacon cheeseburger somehow on the menu!
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I enjoy dining out. Unlike many here I like seeing other people, it just seems festive to me.
We met a couple here we really like and the 4 of us try to go to dinner every month or so. We have so far tried a few new places which is always fun. Last month we agreed on a specific restaurant we want to try. Well when I went to get a reservation, I could only get 4:30 PM or later than 7:30PM on a weekend a month in advance! All 4 of us prefer 6:00-6:30 so we are going this Thursday.
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We judge Italian places by their calamari. 
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For us…Italian places…it’s all about the sauce.
We used to go out and try new BBQ places with the same group of friends about twice a year. If there was one we particularly liked, we just went back.
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I generally use lasagna as a barometer of an Italian restaurant because, even if it’s not the best, it’s still lasagna.
I like eating outside if the patio has ambience (vines, flowers, fireplace, etc.) and there isn’t a car in sight. If I can see cars, no go. Too many restaurant patios overlook parking lots.
Good one! We will do that as well if we are stopping in for a light lunch
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We have a favorite breakfast spot whose special often was an eggplant parm omelet, which my wife loved because their marinara is out of this world. They no longer offer it (new cook does NOT like eggplant!) but my wife will order a side of the marinara to put on her spinach omelet. I do agree with her, it’s pretty darn good!
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We always eat out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because we have social activities attached to the dining out. On Tuesdays we play trivia at our local pub that is directly across the street. On Wednesdays, we participate in a run group. We run and then eat at a pizza place that has a wings special on Wednesday nights. I have to say, it does get monotonous, and causes me to be disinclined to eat out other times during the week. There are only so many dining out dollars, plus I feel guilty eating out more often than that, even though the food we get out at those places is nothing special.
We are going out tonight, however. Returning to a restaurant I was not previously impressed with that is now getting better reviews and has a new menu. Seafood. We live on the beach, so we have lots of seafood options.
My big complaint is the lack of ambiance our local places have. There are probably three or four restaurants where one could dress up a bit, though it is certainly not required. Nothing is fancy at the beach. There’s also a lot of the same stuff at all our local places. I mean, I love grouper, shrimp, oysters, but they’re everywhere. And lots and lots of fried food, which I don’t do (except for French fries, occasionally). Just lots of catering to what tourists want. Yes, we could go farther afield, but I honestly feel like it’s a lot of effort to get off the island. Lol We have one nice Italian place and one fun Tex-Mex place that offer something different from seafood.
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We rarely go out for dinner unless we are traveling. We do go to lunch every Friday. We had one particular spot we went to alot. Great menu with nice outdoor seating and good parking. After 20 years they had leasing issues and moved downtown. We have only been once as it’s just not as convenient.
Yesterday we decided to try a new to us Mexican place my husband had heard about from several of his volleyball friends. It was across town on a street that has many Hispanic owned businesses. Of course he couldn’t remember the name but he thought he knew what one it was. This street has at least 10 small places that I can think of. We went to the one he thinks they recommended. A definite hole in the wall place with just a few tables inside and some tables outside. We sat outside and the noise from the road was horrible. The food was good but I wouldn’t go back. We drove past some others we might try. None of the spots in this area are tablecloth and nice atmosphere but they are good Mexican food.
We do want to try a new taqueria near our house that is nicely done but it just opened and every time we have drove by the line is out the door.
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Our weekend dining is mostly spontaneous. We have a handful of local places where we know we can score a spot for two on a short notice because they still have outdoor seating (not very popular when it is drizzling and the temps are in the forties). So if we get hungry while doing our regular weekend routine, we try one of these places. 
Usually, we get lucky.
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We’re more like this. When we’re traveling I want to try what the restaurants feel is their best dish (for local fare). I don’t want to eat what I can get regularly at home.
I suppose I make an exception for Thai. I’m not at all a hot spice lover, so with many Thai dishes being really spicy I tend to stick with Mild (or no hot spice) Pad See Ew. Since we’re eating Thai it’s not like we’re getting local cuisine anyway (except in Thailand!).
@FallGirl - H and I also enjoy going out to dinner to socialize and love to be in a lively place. Last night we took the trolley with friends to Little Italy to an Italian restaurant called Buon Appetito which H and I like and our friends hadn’t been there before. We had after dinner drinks at Wolfie’s Carousel Bar where there were a lot of young people drowning their sorrows after the Padres lost to the Brewers. It was a fun night and we stayed out later than usual!
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We have a couple favorite American, Mexican/Tex-Mex, and Italian places in town. An Indian place, a Thai place, a Chinese/Vietnamese place (they do both).
And the best Caribbean/Hawaiian food in town is at Zeke’s Island Cafe, where we’re headed tonight… as long as the rain isn’t cats-and-dogs.
I will not need a menu – I’m getting the Huli Huli Chicken with the mac salad as the side, Hot heat level on the entree (you get to choose from like six heat levels). It is so good.
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Living in NYC, we have no lack of good restaurants. I usually eat out when meeting friends or business associates for dinner. I often do drinks and appetizers instead of sit down dinner.
I like rooftop or garden restaurants when weather is nice.
This week was my birthday and the weather was beautiful in NYC, so we went to the RH rooftop restaurant and Katsuei sushi. My 2 year old granddaughter has a taste for miso cod and fried tofu.
When I go visit my mom, we go out to eat most of the time because it’s too much trouble to cook.
I prefer to cook for myself, but I rarely entertain at home.
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When we go to BBQ I can tell you what everyone is going to get. But otherwise we like trying new places and most often with cuisines that we don’t make often at home or much fancier than I would want to make at home. For me the whole point is to eat something interesting. I often order fish because I think it tends to be a good buy at restaurants and they get rid of all the bones. I also will order things like rabbit, or game because if it’s on the menu, it’s probably a specialty of the chef. I like Italian food, but I’m nearly always disappointed by the American versions of it.
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Today at 5:30, husband asks, do you want to go out to eat? Sure, I said, where are you thinking? He named two places, one of which is great for lunch but doesn’t have dinners that I like. The other was a wine bar that we’ve been to many times and I have a couple of favorite appetizers I like to get. Made an online reservation which was totally unnecessary, since there was only one other couple on the back patio.
FYI, I haven’t eaten at a restaurant indoors for three years now. The joys of living in San Diego - heaters everywhere for year round patio dining.
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