The Stinking Rose

From Garlic Paradise

55 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

http://thestinkingrose.com/index.html

What they say: ""A Garlic Restaurant": World-Famous "40 Clove Garlic Chicken" (half-cut chicken marinated in chopped garlic, rosemary, olive oil in a sauce made with red wine, shallots, garlic, rosemary, thyme and butter served with caramelized garlic cloves and garlic mashed potatoes); Bagna Calda (Northern Italian-style garlic bread – toasted focaccia topped with oven-roasted garlic cloves, butter anchovies and olive oil mixture)"

This was the first restaurant that I "had to go to" in LA.  Greg Zaganoev, a LA native, told me this was the one spot I had to try.  "It's all garlic".  That's all I needed to hear, and he was right.  everything in this place has garlic in it.  It's a garlic restaurant to the extreme.  Their signature dish is a chicken made with 40 cloves of garlic and garlic flavored ice cream.  The food was delicious and wonderful, and the use of garlic was masterful and perfect.  Nothing pungent, just perfect.

UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING

The sickest I have ever been in my life was when I had swine flu.  I lost 23 pounds and I had a 104 temperature and developed pneumonia.  The next sickest was the day after Stinking Rose.  I didn't eat that day.  I smelled of garlic….like stunk of garlic…and I felt disgusting all day.  Too much oil.

BE WARNED…IT'S GOOD…BUT THE AFTERMATH IS CATASTROPHIC..Bob Sagat said the only time he would go back to Stinking Rose is when the vampires attack because the "garlic fire diarrhea that results from eating at this restaurant would make vampires extinct"

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Rubin's Kosher Deli

FROM DELI PARADISE

500 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

"Hot Beef Brisket Sandwich (baked and special seasoned and sauced kosher beef brisket sliced and served on a bun or rye bread), meat knishes, chicken matzo ball soup"

JUST A GOOD OLD FASHIONED, COMFORT INDUCING, JEWISH DELI WITH ALL THE CORNERSTONES OF A DELI PARADISE (big sandwiches, soups, pickles, kugel)….PLUS IT WAS OWNED AND FOUNDED BY THE FAMILY MEMBER OF ONE OF THE CO-FOUNDERS OF THIS BLOG AND ONE OF MY MOST BELOVED FRIENDS, HANNAH RUBIN-SCHLANSKY, SO IT HOLDS A TRUE PLACE IN MY HEART!

Nate and Al's

From Deli Paradise

414 N Beverly Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

http://www.natenal.com/

""Matzah Brei" (fried matzah with scrambled eggs fried in drawn butter), eggs and smoked fish, toasted bagel cream cheese and lox (smoked salmon)"

The location of the founding of this blog.  The idea of this blog was established in a booth in this Beverly Hills institution over brunch.  I had a pastrami eggs benedict.  This is just classic deli in the heart of Beverly Hills.  Amazing food, amazing service, a sense of home.  Just like the matzah balls ooup and hot corned beef on toasted rye bread with steak fries with yellow mustard, this place warms my heart, my soul, and fills my belly!

Canter's

FROM DELI PARADISE

419 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

http://www.cantersdeli.com/home

"Fairfax Sandwich" (1/2 pastrami 1/2 corned beef on rye bread served with cole slaw and a pickle and a side of signature deep-fried potato pancakes)"

This place is as classic as a giant deli comes.  Giant booths, giant menus, buckets of pickles, giant drinks, giant sandwiches and portions.  This place is classic and great.  It is open 24 hours, so the type of patrons vary based on the hour of day, from the elderly in the late morning for brunch to the drunks in the early morning for the drunk food.

This place is classic, legendary (featured on a Guns N Roses album cover), and worth the hype! A true deli and LA landmark!

WURSTKUCHE

FROM SAUSAGE PARADISE

625 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291

http://www.wurstkuche.com/index.html

"Exotic sausages: Char-grilled rattlesnake sausage, buffalo sausage, crocodile & pork Andouille sausage and duck & bacon sausage"

This place is outstanding.  This place is incredible.  This place is a giant, flawless diamond in the rough.  This is one of the coolest restaurants I have been to.  You enter what looks like a butcher and walk to the counter.  You pick your sausage of choice with amazing toppings, a side of the belgian fries which have been ranked some of the best in the country….not the city…not the state…the country, and an ice cold craft beer, grab a number, and walk through the giant curtain to reveal the dining room which is a huge long hall of long lunchroom tables with great music.  You make yourselves friendly with the stranger next to you and check out the amazing dipping sauces they have.

The sausage is incredible. The fries are amazing and exceed the hype of being the best in the country.  The beer is great.  The atmosphere and experience are fantastic.  This place is a cannot miss, home run, guarantee. 

THE MEATLOAF BAKERY

FROM MEATLOAF PARADISE

2464 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614

http://www.themeatloafbakery.com/everyday-favorites/

"Meatloaf cupcakes – "The Mother Loaf" (ground beef, pork & veal mixed with onions, celery & red pepper, ketchup, mustard, eggs, Worchestershire sauce and a blend of crackers & oatmeal baked into cupcake molds topped with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes as icing served with a side of demi-glace), "Herby Turkey" (Ground turkey meat loaf cupcake topped with stuffing and a side of cranberry sauce)"

This place is plain, simple,  and great.  Meatloaf.  One bites, "cupcakes", sandwiches, 1/2 bites, full loafs, and the varieties are endless.  This place is perfect for a snack or a meal.

SUPERDAWG

FROM HOT DOG PARADISE

6363 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60646

http://www.superdawg.com/

""Superdawgs" voted best Chicago hot dogs – (smokey & garlicy)"

Chicago is a culinary mecca that is only gaining noterity and acclaim.  Every year a new fantastic gastrointestinal kingdom opens.  However, Chicago is a city that takes pride in its history and traditions and this cannot be more true than it is for its food.  Chicago pizza, italian beef, and hot dogs are staples and landmarks of this Midwestern empire.  

Chicago style hot dogs are unique, distinct, and cannot be altered or substituted….and for gods sake…NO KETCHUP! A Chicago style hot dog is defined  on Wikipedia as "is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seedbun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the many toppings. The method for cooking the hot dog itself varies depending on the vendor's preference. Most often they are steamed, water-simmered, or grilled over charcoal (in which case they are referred to as "char-dogs"). The canonical recipe  does not include ketchup, and there is a widely shared, strong opinion among many Chicagoans and aficionados that ketchup is unacceptable.^[ A number of Chicago hot dog vendors do not offer ketchup as a condiment.

A Chicago style hot dog is incredible and unique, and once you have had one, it's hard to go back to normal hot dogs as the tastes and smells that come from a Chicago hot dog.  It is addictive and initiates cravings no matter what time of day. and Superdawg makes them the best.

THere is not a hot dog restaurant in Chicago, rather a restaurant in Chicago more beloved than Superdawg.  The hot dogs are perfect, the fries are well done, and the experience is outstanding. Your meal comes in a box with a hot dog, well done fries, a giant pickle spear, and pickled tomatoes….an adult sized happy meal!! This place is a landmark in Chicago where you see many different generation sitting together having a delicious meal while retelling the story of their first Superdawg experience. People bringing their kids and grandkids saying "your father/grandfather/mother/grandmother brought me here".

Superdawg is a Chicago and American culinary institution that cannot and should not be missed.  It is one of those places that everyone should it eat at once in their lives!