My TOP 5 National

A new year and a time to start fresh. One of my resolutions is to get my kids to eat more veggies. If only I could get them to taste like Doritos or Milk Duds!

I promised last week to list my top 5 national and local restaurants so another one of my resolutions is to follow through on my promises. Before I do let me break down how I arrived at both:

National: By national I mean a restaurant outside of my home state of Utah. We have been inundated with national chains recently i.e. In-N-Out and Cheesecake Factory so they would not count as national anymore. If any restaurant on my national list ends up coming to Utah I will move them to local or substitute them with a new one. Ah the power of your own blog!

Local: Local means just that. Located in my home state of Utah. I've lived in Texas and Alberta, Canada and will list my favorites there in due time.

I will list my top 5 national first with the accompanying URL so you can check out locations and menus. I will give a brief description of the story behind each one. I will story the national ones this week and the local ones next week as we live in an attention deficit society and I don't want this blog to be 10 pages. Of course all of the following met my Road Commandment qualifications.

NATIONAL TOP 5: (is that ominous enough!)

1. The Boat House restaurant on the island of Coronado, San Diego, CA. I was on a work related review when a group of us stumbled onto this place cruising around San Diego. We had hit Old Town and the Gas Lamp district but one night cruised out to this island to check out the hotel that was used in the Marilyn Monroe movie "Some Like It Hot" (if you have not seen it go buy it, it's a riot). It met all of my Road Commandments so we decided to check it out. I ordered the macadamian crusted halibut as you have to go seafood on any coastal visit. It came with a salad, killer rolls, garlic mashed potato's (instead of the rice) and asparagus drizzled with a rosemary butter sauce. To this day my favorite dish I've ever eaten. I have been back a few times and it is just as good so I know it wasn't a fluke. My travel mates let me sample their dishes and they were all great but they all wanted more of my halibut. I've referred this dish and restaurant to many and have not heard any bad reviews so go and do thou like wise!                             http://www.boathouserestaurant.com/
2. Cherry Creek Grill, Denver, CO. This was referred to me by a co-worker who had spent tons of money at the near by Cherry Creek Mall shopping. My menu item of choice is the Prime Rib French Dip sandwich. You heard me right! Prime Rib!!!!! The issue I've always had with french dip sandwiches is the bread. It usually gets soggy and falls apart before you can get it to your mouth. This roll they have the Prime Rib piled on soaks up the au jus and it permeates the meat so each bite blows up in your mouth, in a good way. Awesome! It used to come with shoe string fries but now it comes with their seasonal veggie which makes you feel better about eating healthy anyway. Cherry Creek is part of the Hillstone restaurant family and when you click on the Cherry Creek tab on the link below it will show you a picture of this heavenly sandwich:                 http://www.hillstone.com/
3. Claim Jumper, located in most western states. A few employees at a bank a co-worker from Houston and I were working at in southern California recommended this restaurant. I knew of a Claim Jumper restaurant in Park City but this is not the same place. The menu is as big as the Cheesecake Factory and the portions are huge. My co-worker got the turkey dinner that had what looked like the whole breast on his plate. I went with the ribs and cheesy potato cakes. You also get your choice of bread and I go with the sour dough roll that is right out of the oven. I've had a bunch of dishes there as my family enjoyed eating at the one just out side of Disney Land when we were down there a few years ago and even the kids loved it. Warning: I didn't like the french onion soup however as the onion petals were too big. Maybe that was just the one in Vegas but I thought I would throw that out there anyways.        http://www.claimjumper.com/
4. Lou Malnatis Pizzeria, Chicago, IL. A lady I was traveling while in Chicago was raving about the deep dish pizza at Lou's. We ate at the one in Schaumberg and it didn't disappoint. Deep dish in Utah usually means grease dish. The dough is either underdone or saturated with grease. This pizza was at least 4 inches thick and the crust was perfect. The toppings were very fresh and the sausage was to die for. Now there are a lot of deep dish places in Chicago with Uno and Duo's being most familiar but I would give Lou's my business. You can even order their frozen pizzas on line and have them delivered here. Nice!          http://www.loumalnatis.com//
5. Knowlwoods, So. CA. chain. OK all of you In-N-Out fans. No disrespect to you but the best burger in California is located here. I would put it up with Crown Burgers or Training Table here in Utah. The BBQ beef sandwich is a monster and fantastic. The grilled salmon was excellent as well. The fries and onion rings are done to perfection and the atmosphere at their locations make it memorable. A must visit when taking the kiddies on a vacation.         http://www.knowlwoodrestaurants.com/

So there you have them. As we move along through the year I will isolate my top 5 in certain cities and also list recommendations to cities I have yet to travel in as more and more people are giving me recommendations. Keep them coming as I would like to make this a one stop shop for good grub!

Have a great week!