This Italian restaurant offers a menu of hearty dishes featuring authentic touches like handmade mozzarella and meat that’s butchered in-house. A standout is the Veal Smash Job: The breaded-and-fried chop comes topped with melty mozzarella and a sauce made from heirloom tomatoes, onions and prosciutto.
Steak lovers looking to indulge should order the bone-in rib eye at this chophouse cum supper club. After a 28-day dry-aging process, the meat is trimmed with the bone in for a juicy, tender cut. Once broiled and caramelized, the steak is drizzled with butter and served with deep-fried onion rings.
Crowds flock here for the meatball Parm hero. Veal, beef and pork sausage are given the old-school Italian treatment when mixed with panade (milk-soaked bread) to make delectably tender meatballs. Tomato sauce and mozzarella add to the flavor. Another standout is the chicken Parm on a semolina roll.
After Massachusetts banned happy hour in 1984, this tavern came up with a 25-cent wing deal that continues to draw customers. The wings are parboiled to lock in the meat’s moisture, then left to cool overnight. Before being plunged into the deep-fryer, they’re coated in a seasoned rub to punch up the flavor. The finishing touch is a honey Buffalo sauce, made from vinegar, hot sauce, butter and a spice mixture, as well as honey to offset the heat.
For a delectable taste of Motor City in the Lone Star State, swing by this customized pizza trailer and order a Detroit-style slice. The aptly named Detroiter pizza features two types of pepperoni (smoked and natural casing) and two kinds of cheese, baked in an upcycled rectangular auto-part pan.
Chef-Owner Carlos Swepson uses his French culinary training to riff on soul food staples. The mouthwatering results include the Double Cut Pork Chop. For this signature dish, a 20-ounce pork chop is rubbed with a spicy-sweet mixture and seared to seal in the meat’s natural flavor. The chop is roasted until tender, then smothered with a sauteed onion-and-apple mixture and nestled on a bed of rich black-eyed peas.
Fentons has been making ice cream by hand and generously scooping it out for sundaes, floats — you name it — for more than 100 years. Duff says the "crazy-good" winner is the Banana Special, which features 3 pounds of dense ice cream finished with pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauce.
This shop churns out individual-sized cheesecakes perfect for giving in to the urge for indulgent desserts. A standout is the Quadruple Chocolate Cheesecake: A cocoa-laced cookie crust, silky cheesecake batter and three varieties of chocolate buttons are layered together to make this rich creation.
Stop by this classic spot to fuel up on a creative, comforting breakfast dish: The B.W. Benny. This bacon-studded buttermilk waffle comes topped with a thick slice of ham, crispy strips of bacon and poached eggs. Housemade hollandaise sauce punched up with cayenne pepper makes for a decadent finish.
Third-generation pitmaster Wayne Mueller starts lighting the fires and loading the meats as early as 3 a.m. at this joint. Such dedication pays off: The brisket is so juicy that no sauce is needed, and the monstrous beef ribs feature a thick, peppery crust that gives way to tender, luscious meat.
This shop offers cleverly concocted flavors like The Munchies, a sweet-salty bonanza of pretzel-infused ice cream with Ritz Crackers, potato chips, pretzels and mini M&M’s. Other standouts include It Came From Gowanus (a salted chocolate flavor with chunks of brownies and hazelnut cookies) and Salute (a blueberry limoncello sorbet that is the perfect hybrid of an after-dinner drink and a dessert).
Head to this hip tavern for your fry fix. Michael Symon favors the Gravy Frites, which are cooked in duck fat and then smothered with mozzarella cheese and brown gravy. The Animal Style Frites are also a must-try: These fries come heaped with cheese curds, pork belly lardons and sunny-side-up eggs.
The prime rib is the star of the menu here, even arriving on a silver-domed serving cart. A unique roasting process ensures each cut is particularly succulent. Coarse rock salt covers the meat before roasting, which seals the juices while simultaneously seasoning the beef and creating a tasty crust.
You won’t find rice at this traditional Chinese noodle shop, where the chef slings bowls of garlic-tinged wide noodles instead. Hand-pulled by Chef-Owner Gene Wu, these noodles emulate the ones made in Xi’an, China, where wheat noodles became a local staple because of a climate that’s too dry for growing rice. The noodles are so flavorful that they don’t need broth; instead they’re topped with scallions, cilantro and hot pepper, then finished with a splash of sizzling sesame oil to blend the flavors.
This neighborhood fixture puts its own spin on classic diner food with inventive dishes that defy ordinary names. Try the Nebulous Potato Thing: a mound of home fries punched up with a secret seasoning salt, topped with melty cheese, then finished with a sunny-side-up egg, salsa and sour cream.
Make restaurant favorites at home with copycat recipes from FN Magazine.
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