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Good Eating Outside of Theme Parks


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Java Moon Cafe is a worthwhile stop on a visit to SFGAd, nearby which there is not much other interesting food. It's just up the road on the other side of I-195. They have an imaginative menu with some unique creations, especially the sandwiches. Yelp notes some issues with waitstaff attitudes, but we didn't have any problem.

http://www.javamoon.com/find.html

 

Java Moon is okay, but it's at such a terrible intersection. Rte 537 becomes such a nightmare over there during park season. I always did my best to avoid that part whenever I could because of the high accident rate.

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Death becomes thee over here.

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SFSTL - Like stated in the first post, Super Smokers and Joe Boccardi's are both very good. Super Smokers is obviously barbeque, where you pick your sauces. Joe Boccardi's is Italian, great pizza.

 

But another good place is POOR RICHARDS. Its about 1 1/2 - 2 miles east of the park on Fifth street in the Dickey Bubs Plaza behind White Castle. Its a local pub/ bar and they have great wings, big salads, huge juicy burgers, and a really good Philly cheese steak. Their prices are very reasonable. And on game nights when the STL Cardinals, Blues, and Mizzou Tigers play, $4 pints in a glass with the local teams logo where you get to keep the pint glass and refills are $2!!!

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I'll go ahead and add one near SFMM. Chi Chi's Pizza is located 15-20 minutes (with traffic) from the park, and ranks as one of the three best pizza places (if you're curious, Lombardi's in NYC and Home Slice Pizza would be the other two I put in the same class) I have ever been to. When I was living in Santa Clarita that was a place we used to hit all the time. They have a decent size menu and have a bunch of other good Italian food, but the pizza really is the star of the show there.

 

There are actually two locations that are in the vicinity of the park, they are a chain of 5 restaurants I believe.

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I went to the DMV area at the end of October to get in coasters before some parks closed and I got a chance to go to Ben's Chili Bowl when I left SFA. Although it's not right around the corner it was close enough and the food was good enough to make the trip worth it. Maybe I'm greedy as hell but I went back and ordered seconds that day.

 

Ben's Chili Bowl is godly. Highly recommended if you're in/around DC.

 

dt

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  • 3 weeks later...

If the food at BGW's Italian restaurant doesn't tickle your fancy, you might try this Italian joint just down Rt. 60: Doraldo's Ristorante Italiano. I met some friends there for a belated birthday dinner last Saturday night, and it was very good (first time I'd eaten there in years). The fried-calamari appetizer was particularly light and tasty, as was the Chicken Marsala. Each meal also comes with a bowl of very good garlic knots. The Rigatoni Alla Vodka is pretty good, too.

 

Just get on Rt. 60 as you leave the park, turn left, and go the Shops at Kingmill (on the right). You can't miss it.

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^I'm gonna have to keep that in mind next time I'm at Williamsburg, Italian is my favorite.

 

 

That being said, anyone visiting Six Flags America or Busch Gardens Tampa should stop by Ledo Pizza. It's a popular pizza chain around MD and some parts of VA, however Tampa has the only one in the state of FL. Besides there awesome pizza, they have a wide variety of Italian food.

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I know you don't want national chains, but I love me some Famous Dave's and they are sparse enough to almost feel like they are not a chain. There used to be one at CP Marina; however, it appears they've been moved into Sand Castle Suites.

 

I didn't know that they had moved Famous Dave's from the Marina to Sandcastle Suites - when did that happen? Seems like they would lose money that way as I know that the restaurant gets a lot of guests from boaters docking there.

 

I will say that it would be nice to see a better restaurant go into SS than Breakwater Cafe though - and that is from someone that usually tries to avoid chain restaurants when we are on vacation (save for Carrabba's, TGIFriday's or Famous Dave's). Last year, we went over there exploring and were going to go in and grab an appetizer and some beers and the place wasn't open at like 3:00 in the afternoon during peak season.

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If the food at BGW's Italian restaurant doesn't tickle your fancy, you might try this Italian joint just down Rt. 60: Doraldo's Ristorante Italiano. I met some friends there for a belated birthday dinner last Saturday night, and it was very good (first time I'd eaten there in years). The fried-calamari appetizer was particularly light and tasty, as was the Chicken Marsala. Each meal also comes with a bowl of very good garlic knots. The Rigatoni Alla Vodka is pretty good, too.

 

Just get on Rt. 60 as you leave the park, turn left, and go the Shops at Kingmill (on the right). You can't miss it.

 

Garlic knots and Chicken Marsala. I'm there!

Edited by jray21
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  • 2 weeks later...

If you're in the mood for a good hamburger and a glass of craft beer after riding Banshee all day at Kings Island, I highly recommend Flipdaddy's, which is one interstate exit south of the park on Mason-Montgomery Road. Their burgers are very inventive (heck, one of them is called the Chuck Norris) and they have a lot of local Cincinnati beers on tap, including Mad Tree and Rhinegeist.

 

Directions:

Head south on Kings Island Drive. Continue south onto I-71. Exit the interstate at Exit 19, and turn left to head south on Mason-Montgomery Road. The address is 12071 Mason Montgomery Road,Cincinnati, Ohio 45249.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'll add one near Coney Island in Cincinnati: Eli's BBQ. Tiny place, tiny menu, but done exquisitely. Went there for the first time last week.

 

Directions from Coney Island, on the same road and just about 5 miles away.

 

I support this. Tried it last month and it was amazing. They opened one downtown in Findley Market.

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Front

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Seating outside.

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menu

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These are delicious too!

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This is what i got both times. $8

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If you're in the mood for a good hamburger and a glass of craft beer after riding Banshee all day at Kings Island, I highly recommend Flipdaddy's, which is one interstate exit south of the park on Mason-Montgomery Road. Their burgers are very inventive (heck, one of them is called the Chuck Norris) and they have a lot of local Cincinnati beers on tap, including Mad Tree and Rhinegeist.

 

Directions:

Head south on Kings Island Drive. Continue south onto I-71. Exit the interstate at Exit 19, and turn left to head south on Mason-Montgomery Road. The address is 12071 Mason Montgomery Road,Cincinnati, Ohio 45249.

 

Some of those burgers & beers...oh my! Thanks for sharing!

 

I think that this is the same exit we stayed at for Banshee Bash last year, but we ended up going to Carrabba's as that was right next to our hotels. And you certainly can't go wrong at a Carrabba's!

 

^ Those BBQ sandwiches also look to die for...wow!

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Just got back from a Texas trip, and there are a few places I'd like to add (no links as I don't have the required post count yet):

 

La Barbecue - Austin, TX - technically this isn't "close" to any of the parks in Dallas or San Antonio but is definitely worth the trip. The beef (brisket & beef rib) that we tried here was absolutely amazing. I'd go as far as to say that the brisket - particularly the point (fatty portion) - may be the most flavorful beef I've had in the US. The sides and the other meats are good, but they pale in comparison to the beef items. They sell out of a food trailer, and open up at 11 daily. The line moves rather slowly and they will sell out of the beef ribs early, so you'll want to make sure you're in line by 10:30 as insurance.

 

Pancake Joe's - San Antonio, TX - we ate here for breakfast. Two words...HASH BROWNS. These are without a doubt the best hash browns anywhere in the country. Everyone at their respective tables had at least one order of these and with good reason - they are amazing! Think Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream potato chips in the form of a hash brown.

 

Southtown Pub - St. Louis, MO - a mix of dive bar and BBQ. The pork and brisket here were both VERY good. I've been to a ton of BBQ places in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas and this ranks up there with the best and comes without the long lines that accompany the food at the other good establishments.

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Some of those burgers & beers...oh my! Thanks for sharing!

 

I think that this is the same exit we stayed at for Banshee Bash last year, but we ended up going to Carrabba's as that was right next to our hotels. And you certainly can't go wrong at a Carrabba's!

 

^ Those BBQ sandwiches also look to die for...wow!

 

It's hard to find non-chains up near Kings Island, and when I found out that Flipdaddy's opened up in Mason, I was pretty excited.

 

And like everyone else, I cannot recommend Eli's enough. Ohio obviously isn't considered a big BBQ state, but Eli's is probably the best BBQ I've had "up north". Definitely worth the trip up the river or into the city for it. Also, it's BYOB! It is cash-only though, just as a note.

 

Also out near Eli's is Terry's Turf Club, located at 4618 Eastern Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45226. Good luck getting a table though! They're another awesome burger restaurant and it's a very cool dive-type place with a massive collection of old neon from around Cincinnati.

 

We really need a restaurant thread over in the Random forum if there isn't one. There's a slew of restaurants in Cincinnati that I'd recommend to out-of-towners, but are a bit too far away from the parks to justify talking about here.

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Not my picture, but it gives you an idea of the heaven on a bun that Terry serves up.

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You know you're in for a treat when you roll up to a place that looks like this.

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^^That burger looks amazing...thanks for posting this!

 

And I agree in that a random forum thread for restaurants that are local or semi local to where you live would be cool. I was posting stuff in here about restaurants in downtown Buffalo, but that is still a good 20 minutes from the nearest amusement park (Martin's Fantasy Island).

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For anyone going to Six Flags over Georgia, or just going to Atlanta in general there's this Mediterranean place in Midtown called Café Agora that is absolutely to die for! Its about a block from the Midtown MARTA station too, which is great in the case of the train breaking down... (As what happened to me )

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About two miles west of Coney Island is a local institution Roll n Roaster serving great roast beef sandwiches, just in case you are not in the mood for great local pizza (at Totonno's or Grimaldi's) or Nathan's

 

http://rollnroaster.com/custom/rollnroaster/commercial.htm

 

Roll n Roasters looks good to me, but how old is that commerical? Would like to give them a try someday.

 

I've updated the index on the first page.

Edited by cfc
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