Food L. wrote: >My husband and I will be driving from Wisconsin to Pittsburgh, south through W. >Virginia and back through Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan this summer. Anyone >have some suggestions for good, out of the way, regionally authentic >restaurants, roadhouses, joints, cafes or diners? And at least one nice but not >too fancy restaurant in Pittsburgh. We're not afraid of driving a distance for >good food. Respond here or email to [email removed] if you wish. >In return, I can suggest similar types of places to dine in Wisconsin, where >good food often lurks behind cheesy decor. >Thanks! >Janet Roberts >Green Bay, Wis. Cool, my friends and I just did a somewhat similar trip for our Spring Break. Actually, we went from Champaign to Charleston and back, going through Ohio one way and Kentucky the other way and visiting family in Chicago as a side trip at the end. Anyhow, I won't touch Chicago for reccomendations, since that would require a book, but I'll try to go through some other places. West Lafayette, IN (Purdue U)- this place has some incredible pizza- so good that I'd be willing to say that it's better than Uno's or Edwardo's. The place that has this incredible pizza is Alfano's, and if they have their 7-cheese special, it's definitely worth it. They also have another interesting creation that I've never seen before- stuffed breadsticks, which are also very very good. Another interesting pizza place, that really seems to be an area institution is Bruno's Swiss Inn. They are a little more creative pizza, with such toppings or sauces as peanut butter, apple, and apple butter. Their apple butter pizza is a wonderful experience that I doubt you'll find anywhere else. Elsewhere in IN- sorry, but Indianapolis is the only other place I've eaten, and we just go to White Castles every time (it's a delicacy that we don't have in Champaign). There is a place called the Beef House that seems to advertise all along I-74 between Champaign and Indy, but I've never been there or heard much about it- I think it's in Crawfordsville, but I'm not entirely sure. Cincinnati area- A good regional eating experience in Cincinnati is the chili- just visit any Skyline Chili, and order the 5-way. It's a different type of chili, so don't be put off by the idea of having spaghetti with your chili; it really is good. One warning though (and anyone in Cincinnati please don't be offended)- the city itself closes around 8pm. Really, the downtown area seemed pretty dead after 8pm (of course it was a Tuesday night). My friends and I actually seem to have a curse on us when it comes to visiting Cincinnati and trying to eat at the Skyline on 7th and Walnut (?). Every time we get there, they're open, but by the time we find a parking spot- they've just locked the doors. And that was at 2pm on a Sunday. Really, the downtown area has weird hours if you ask me. WV- we only ate at my friend's place while we were in Charleston. Her mother is actually a restaurant inspector in the area. Anyhow, the only place we ate out was at a really nice restaurant in Lewisburg called Food and Friends. Actually there was one other place,too. We ate breakfast at some Ferris Inn (?) that is on the Kanawha River right at the Falls (It's the Glen Ferris Inn). It's basically a bed & breakfast place that someone else reccomended. It was good, but we were just there for breakfast. Anyhow, the place in Lewisburg was good and was reccomended to us by a desk clerk at the Greenbrier, a fancy resort in the area that is worth walking around and gawking at. Well, that's about it. If you come to Champaing, we've always got Aunt Sonia's for a great breakfast (try the chili-cheese pancakes) or Li'l Porgy's for some excellent BBQ ribs. :-Dan
Pizza