805Andrew Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 I always check Yelp for great restaurants when I am traveling and Yelp doesn't disappoint 90% of the time. I have a laundry list of restaurants to try in the LA area from watching various TV shows like Anthony Bourdain No Reservations/The Layover/Parts Unknown and Man vs Food and reading food blogs like Zagat. When I go to West Coast Bash I'm thinking of going to Little Tokyo in LA after SFMM on the drive down to Knott's since its near the 5 Fwy and hitting up the famed Daikokuya which is on my list of places to try and is open late. Good thread by the way Chuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 (edited) Speaking of Cookout, they've opened one on Richmond Road in Williamsburg (which is "tourist central" here when it comes to hotels). It is a very good burger joint, indeed. Good burgers Edited September 19, 2013 by cfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaellynn4 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 After a day at KI, check out Blue Ash Chili on Western Row. Famous for the "Cincinnati Chili" style with 3,4,5 and 6 ways. Also have a lot of really good sandwiches. If you're really hungry try the double decker with your choice of meats and cheeses. Great place to eat!! Head south on Kings Island Drive, take a right on Western Row, and will be on your right after you go under 71 in a little shopping center with a Donatos and Penn Station. Also, for a little further drive, check out Marion's Pizza a little down 71 on Mason-Montgomery Rd. Awesome pizza!! Â I second this suggestion. I went to Blue Ash Chili when I visited KI last month and the food was very delicious. I recommend either the 6-way chili (spaghetti, chili, onion, beans, cheese, and fried jalapeno nuggets) or their Philly Chili, a Philly cheesesteak smothered in chili (top-quality beef used, I might add). Â They were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, so a quick Youtube search will pull up the video for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Nicky's Pizza near Six Flags New England is amazing. The owner is incredibly friendly and the pizzas there are massive (and massive is an understatement as one large fed my 4 hungry friends and I with leftovers) and delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanM64 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I want to throw in a 3rd recommendation for Palermo's near Hershey. I went last year, and the pizza and pasta I got were both fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I want to throw in a 3rd recommendation for Palermo's near Hershey. I went last year, and the pizza and pasta I got were both fantastic! Â I'll definitely have to try them next time I'm at Hershey. Usually we just go to Red Robin out of familiarity, but that place looks amazing. Â Also, near Lake Compounce there is a good diner, Kizl's Family Restaurant (http://www.kizls.com/), that has a really good breakfast and pretty good lunch and dinner as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anything Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 There's good food as in taste - and that's virtually everything that's fast food or bad for you - and the GOOD good food, which generally I've found you have to prepare yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Time to bump this thread...   Hersheypark - About a 15 minute drive from the park is a place called Arooga's. If you are looking for awesome wings & a huge draft beer selection, you need to check this place out.  Another awesome find is Troegs Brewery which I believe is less than a mile away from the park heading East on the Hershey Highway (quit thinking dirty thoughts, people!)  I included some photos of my recent experiences in Philrad's Phoodie thread. They are great places to visit if you need a break from riding coasters and don't crave regular crappy theme park food!   Aroogas  Troegs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted September 19, 2013 Author Share Posted September 19, 2013 Just updated the index--thanks for all the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airtime&Gravity Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 There are two location by Santa's Village Azoosment Park.  Santa's Village The first is Van's Frozen Custard located at 16 E Main St East Dundee. They, relatively, recently moved to this larger location and added an expanded menu. They have vanilla, chocolate, and whatever the special or two of the day is frozen custard, as well as sundaes, shakes, malts, etc. Additionally, they make everything fresh daily. The new location has also added hot foods. I will usually get the Peach Melba Crisp or the Sweet & Salty(vanilla with pretzel sticks, rasberries, and cheesecake bites) sundaes. http://www.vansfrozencustard.com/index.html  Located behind Vans at 8 S. River St. in East Dundee, Benedict's Eggs and More is a pancake house. They are only open from 7-2, and they can draw large crowds, especially on weekends. I will usually get the potato pancakes. They give you a lot of food here, so come hungry. http://www.benedictseggs.com/  Both of these are located just a couple minutes northwest of Santa's Village.  Six Flags Great America  Pita Inn While not really close, it is on the way to the park from the south. This is a chain of Medeterrain cuisine restaurants with locations in Skokie, Glenview, Wheeling, and Mundelin. I will usually get the lunch special($4 or $5 depending on if you get chicken) or the hummus and shawarma plate. The lunch special is a great deal and could easily provide two meals if you weren't going anywhere. Again, it is a bit of a drive as Mundelin would be the closest, but it is well worth it. Plus, it easily beats the chain restaurants outside the park. http://www.pita-inn.com/index.php  Timothy O'Tooles across the street from the park is also supposed to be good. I think I had their food at Taste of Chicago one year, but I'm not sure. Even if true, my personal experience with the restaurant is not enough to say anything more, other than, I heard they are really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanM64 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Six Flags Great America- Kaiser's Pizza and Pub- only a 5 minute drive from the park. I haven't been there in a few years, but the pizza was great when I last went, on Mondays the offer 1/2 price pizza, and Tuesdays-Thursdays they offer an all you can eat pizza special! Â Kaiser's Pizza and Pub- 1801 Illinois Highway 21 Gurnee, IL (IL-21 is also called Milwaukee Ave/Riverside Drive) If you head east on Grand Avenue from I-94 (or a right turn onto Grand if you're leaving the Great America from the main entrance), the first stoplight you come to after the park's main entrance will be IL-21. Take a left at that light, and Kaiser's is about a mile up the road on your right side. http://www.kaiserspub.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movieguy Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Next time you go to Kennywood, go north to New Castle, PA. It's a 45 minute drive, but it's worth it, because New Castle is home to MP Coney Island, where some of the best chili dogs and chili fries I've ever tasted currently reside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Next time you go to Kennywood, go north to New Castle, PA. It's a 45 minute drive, but it's worth it, because New Castle is home to MP Coney Island, where some of the best chili dogs and chili fries I've ever tasted currently reside. Â Thanks for reminding me of that. We used to go there all the time when I was growing good. If it's still as good as it was 25+ years ago, I second that recommendation. Â On to my current home park, if you drive up 77 about 15-20 minutes north of Carowinds, you'll be in downtown Charlotte. There they have a city block that is EPICENTRE. One of my favorite restaurants is there with good fresh American food, BlackFinn American Saloon. EPICENTRE also has numerous other restaurants including Whisky River which is owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. I've heard reviews that the food is good although I've not personally eaten there. EPICENTRE has its own parking garage but they seem to charge more than double what the public parking garages are in the area. Â Another favorite of mine is Ri Ra Irish Pub. It's an easy walk about 1-2 blocks away from EPICENTRE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 Giving this thread a bump just in case anyone has discovered any other good local joints in their travels this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movieguy Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hershey, PA is also home to the "What If..." restaurant, which I heartily recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinTheAttendant Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 We left Dorney Park at midnight on Friday and were looking for somewhere to eat that was still open. We stumbled upon John's Plain and Fancy Diner in Quakertown, about 20 minutes from the park on RT 309. It's open 24/7, has a very classic diner feel to it, prices were decent, portions were surprisingly big, and everyone in our group seemed to like their food (the fries are really good). My only complaint was that the service was rather slow, but it was 1 in the morning and the place was actually kind of busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Linn Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 For Knoebel's:  Balzano's Rose Marie's Marley's  All in Bloomsburg. The first two are Italian places and Marley's is a microbrewery/restaurant. Really, really good beer and they have a pretty large variety of food (seafood, steak, pasta, wings, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movieguy Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 ^ Thanks for letting me know about these. Usually, we're too tired to drive anywhere else after Knoebels, and go to either the Cracker Barrel or Ruby Tuesday that are right next to where we usually stay, in Buckhorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccron10 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) They are starting to build a Chipotle in Hershey right now. Its been somewhat of a controversial topic because some of the townspeople think that there shouldn't be a fast food joint in town (it is actually technically called fast casual) and that it would ruin the overall look of it. The sad thing is that ten years ago there was a Hardees right across the street and people don't remember it. I welcome this addition because the only fast food places around Hersheypark are Wendy's, McDonalds, and a couple of Subways. Â EDIT: Fenicci's, which is located right across from The Hershey Story Museum is a pretty good pizza place with some of the best in town. The old world style is the best and they also have a nice ice cream and small sub shop nextdoor. Edited October 21, 2013 by Ccron10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 ^I recommend that you look at the first post of this thread. We're looking for "local" joints or "regional" chains. Chipotle is national. Â This is interesting info concerning the town's attitudes toward big chains, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Linn Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 ^ Thanks for letting me know about these. Usually, we're too tired to drive anywhere else after Knoebels, and go to either the Cracker Barrel or Ruby Tuesday that are right next to where we usually stay, in Buckhorn. Â An Olive Garden opened in Buckhorn earlier this year, but I'd much rather go to one of the two Italian places I posted...Balzano's especially. All three that I listed are within 10 minutes of Buckhorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2012jarrett Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I hear the area around the park isn't that nice but are there any good places to eat near BGT? I'm looking for mostly seafood and the opportunity to try key lime pie in Florida (I make it myself at home with my own recipe but I'd like to see how it stacks up to the real thing), and any other good Florida food. Â If you're going to Carowinds to ride their new giga in 2015, there's a good Mexican place called Azteca near the park that has some of the best shrimp enchiladas I've ever had and you can have guacamole made tableside and pick what you want in it. I've both eaten there and had my dad go out and bring it back to the hotel and my family ate it in the courtyard gazebo overlooking the pool at night and it was fab. There's also a German place called Waldhorn in the area that has amazing schnitzel and gulaschuppe. Â And just in case you don't want pancakes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight "I can't sleep, to heck with it" snack, and afternoon snack at a pancake house in Pigeon Forge, there's a quite a few places around the park that are definitely worth trying. Huck Finn's Catfish has some pretty good fried seafood, especially in such an area where not much fresh seafood is available. I loved the catfish I had. There's thousands around the Smoky Mountains, but my favorite pancake house is Ye Olde Pancake Pantry. I had some pretty good peanut butter and chocolate pancakes there. Calhoun's has really good barbecue, but for some reason they felt the need to explain to me that the ribs I was about to order had bones in them. And as pricey as it is, if you have the time, I recommend doing Dixie Stampede. In addition to the show being incredible, the food is great. I loved the barbecue chicken I was served (I don't usually like barbecue chicken!) as well as the vegetable soup. Â And it isn't really local, but the Famous Dave's at Cedar Point's marina (not sure if it counts as outside of a park, but you need a reentry stamp to leave the park like that) is my favorite place to eat when visiting Cedar Point because while there are other Famous Dave's around, this one's extremely unique due to its location. In addition to having the best barbecue I've ever had, you can get an incredible view of either Raptor/Blue Streak/GateKeeper or one of Millennium Force and the back of the park across the marina while you eat and watch the boats go in and out on Lake Erie. Only thing I don't like about it is that the walkway leading to the door has no railing to keep you from falling into the lake, and I'm a big klutz. Both of the following shots were taken from that Famous Dave's. Â Â Â So yeah, that view + the best barbecue in the world. Why eat anywhere else? Â Sorry for the long post; I'm a bit of a foodie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denning Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 St. Louis wings across from Canada's Wonderland. Good local chain of wing joints. Wings are small but marinated for extra tastiness. Great dill sauce and awesome fries. Their suicide is tasty and the right level of hot - not a gimmick. Opened up a location right across the street from Wonderland not even a five minute walk from the gate. Has a patio that offers a great view of Leviathan and cold beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denning Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Canada's Wonderland:Lunch/Dinner Lick's Burger Boutique is located just across the parking lot on Jane St. It's a local chain with a few locations in Ontario. Everything is made on the grill when you order and their burgers are a pretty good size. Whatever you order, make sure to get Guk sauce on it. I'd also suggest getting Taters'n'Cream on the side (Fries smothered in sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, and chives). Â Don't recommedn Lick's to Americans. They overcook the burgers which are dry and tasteless. They will never respect us again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locostitch Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I know it has already been suggested but I highly suggest Slaters 50/50 in Anaheim Hills outside of Disneyland. It is honestly hamburger paradise and the burgers are massive. It has also been featured on Travel Channel Bacon Paradise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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