Best Food and Drink

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This page will list the best Restaurants, Breweries, Wineries, which we visited or any extraordinary food and drink we enjoyed during our travels. To know Joe and Christine is to know we enjoy good food and drink!

Keep in mind we mostly eat at "home". Eating out is for special occasions or when we join family and friends. Those that know me know I love to cook and bake, so requests have been made for recipes that I make in my limited space and that we especially enjoy. Click to find the recipe page.

To avoid scrolling through the whole page, you may click on a state and go to that states information.

Alaska

Colorado Alberta, Canada

United States
State	City	Places and Reasons
AK	Anchorage	Anchorage Farmers Market - The Anchorage farmers market is on Saturday's from 9AM to early afternoon? and it not only has local produce but rows of Alaskan craft and food stands. Marx Brothers Cafe - This restaurant is located in a house. It is a wonderful dining experience. Expect to enjoy some wine, some great seafood, maybe a dessert, and spend some money. They make the ceasar salads at your table. 627 W. Third Ave. Call for reservations - (920)278-2133 Simon & Seafort's Saloon & Grill - This is another wonderful restaurant. If your looking for great food, the perfect view, really good service and the perfect atmosphere, go here. The seafood was wonderful. 420 L Street Call for reservations - (920)274-3502. The Glacier Brewhouse - We ate here twice during our stay. The wood-fired pizzas are great as all of the food we tried was. The beer is good. Ask what beers are on cask for a good fresh brew. In the evenings you can either make a reservation or take your chance at the bar tables, they are "combat seating". 737 W. Fifth Ave. (920) 274-2739.
	Haines	Haine's Brewery - This is hard to find, but if you find yourself in Haines, go say Hi to Paul. He is one of the owners of the Haines Brewery and will be more than happy to let you taste his beers. He is very local and trying hard to make a go of it. We enjoyed good Amber and Pale Ale's while we were there and then he told us where to find a good meal and a few more of his beers.
	Juneau	The Alaskan Brewery - This is strictly a brewery tour but for those of you who haven't had an Alaskan Amber, check one out next time you are in the Northwest. While the brewery may be hard to get to, Alaskan Amber is easy to find. Alaskan Amber is the #1 tap beer in Alaska and #2 in Washington. But don't forget about the Alaskan Pale, Stout, ESB, and any specialty beers including the Oktoberfest. The awesome thing about this tour is its focus on drinking. You can drink as much beer as you want while here and the tour and beer are FREE.
CO	Breckenridge	The Breckenridge Brewery (Did you expect anyplace else?) - The beer is good and the burgers are very satisfying. We enjoyed the India Pale Ale and the Avalanche beers.
	Crested Butte	The Gourmet Noodle - Italian. Christine had the Elk Cannelloni and loved it! The Idle Spur (Crested Butte Brewery) - Whether you are sitting at the bar with a few friends or at a table the beer and food are great. Beers we liked were the Red Lady Ale, the White Buffalo Peace Ale, and the Wildflower Wheat. Try the Smoked trout appetizer.
	Golden	Coors Brewery - I know, I know those that know us are thinking Coors?!!? But listen. The tour is really good plus it's free! AND, at the end of the tour you get three full-size beers, any kind they make. Did you know Coors makes Killian's Red and Zima? The local college students skip the tour and go straight for the beer. That's acceptable!
	Steamboat	Mazzola's - Very enjoyable. Casual Italian, pizza and pasta. Be prepared for a wait! The Spinach ravioli stuffed with artichoke was yummy. Winona's Cafe - We had a great breakfast here! Omelets and coffee were well worth it.
FL	Key West	Pepe's - What a nice evening. Good atmosphere. Great food. The Oyster appetizer was very delicious, and we followed it with Lobster, steak and fish. Good wine, good food, good friends. Life doesn't get much better. Get there early, this restaurant fills up when the sun goes down.
	Miami and close to Miami	Los Ranchose - This is a Nicaraguan restaurant. Very good. There are three sauces that come with most things, so we ordered the steak (Per Luma's direction) which was excellent with the Chimichurra sauce (parsley, garlic, olive oil). Everything comes with fried plantains, red beans and rice. We also enjoyed the fried cheese appetizer. We went to the one in Bayside at 401 Biscayne Blvd. There is also one in Sweetwater and Kendall. Ruen Thai - A few walking blocks off of South Beach you can really enjoy this Thai experience. Close friends of Ken and Luma own the restaurant so it came highly recommended, and as we moved our way through the menu we understood why. We started, with Spring Rolls and Chicken Satay. Then we shared Beef Ginger, Chicken Curry, and Shrimp Pad Thai for our main meal, and ended with Banana Delight. Everything was great, if you like the fresh taste of ginger you will enjoy the Beef Ginger. This is a great place to eat, as you can enjoy a good restaurant and then go for a walk along Ocean Drive to watch the nightlife in South Beach. 947 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, (305) 534-1504 Hrs 5:30 PM to 12 AM. Sushi Jazz - This was excellent food. Once again friends of Ken and Luma's own this restaurant. If you love Sushi go here, if you are wary of Sushi this is a good place to go because you can be assured of the quality. And if there are members of your party who don't want raw Sushi there are lots of cooked Japanese food choices. This is also in a downtown Hollywood where it is interesting to walk around and see the shops and nightlife. There is a parking garage right behind the restaurant. 1902 Harrison Street, Hollywood, FL (954) 927-8474.
ID	Boise	BitterCreek Ale House - As Joe notes in the log, this place does not make their own beer, but check it out anyway. They have 30 Northwest brews on tap including a hard cider and a root beer. They also have a cask conditioned beer. You can find something to love here! Plus the food is really good. We enjoyed a brushetta appetizer. Christine had a Pesto Salmon Sandwich and Joe enjoyed a warm Spinach salad with spicy shrimp. They also had outdoor seating. 246 N. 8th Street.
MI	Houghton (Upper MI)	The Library - Relaxing atmosphere, great beer, and good food. We sat at the bar for hours working our way through an appetizer, dinner and many pints of pale ale and amber.
NJ	North of Newport	Greenvale - Specializing in Whites, this winery is off the beaten path, but it is in the brochures. The setting is ideal and the tasting room fun.
NM	Albuquerque	El Pinto - This restaurant is worth checking out just for the atmosphere, but luckily the food is also good. Good margaritas and Mexican cuisine. 505-898-1771 Seagull Street - Father Tom brought us to this restaurant. We all had fish from Sea Bass and Trout to Shrimp and Salmon. Very good. If your feeling adventuresome, try the Salmon Rellanos. 505-821-0020 Assets Grille & Brewing Co. - You knew there had to be at least one Brewery! The beer here was very enjoyable, we tried them all from the light lager to the amber. Two of our members seemed to really enjoy the Portabella sandwich. 505-889-6400 The Great American Land and Cattle Restaurant - If your looking for a steak - a BIG steak, this is the place. Strictly cowboy fare as they call it. Trivia: What are the cowboys referring to when they talk about Cowboy Caviar? Baked Beans, of course. We had a great Anniversary dinner here complete with one of our favorite red wines, Ravenswood Zinfandel, and a piece of Apple Pie. Thanks Mom, Dad, Aunt Arlene and Uncle Don.
NY	New York City	The Stage Deli - Well, we only had two meals in New York City and thanks to Josh, one of those meals was at the Stage Deli. A famous deli in New York. If you love great pastrami and corned beef, grab a table, order a sandwich, enjoy the pickles and of course, end with a piece of cheesecake.
OR	Bend	DeShutes Brewery and Public House - This beer has a fairly large market. We were there on a Thursday night and the restaurant was packed. First the beer, very good, and best of all they had two beers on Cask Conditioning. They were both excellent. The food was also remarkable. Christine has a Roasted Vegetable Spring Roll with spicy Thai dipping sauce and Joe had a Portabella Mushroom burger with blue cheese and walnuts. We left very sated. It is right downtown at 1044 NW Bond St. The downtown area of Bend is neat and was very busy when we were there. There is also another brewery called the Bend Brewing Company in the downtown area. So much beer so little time....
WA	Spokane	CI Shennanigans - This restaurant was right downtown on the river behind the Double Tree Hotel. We really enjoyed our evening here. The beers were good as were the steaks. After dinner we hung out and enjoyed the music of an excellent trio while playing some pool on full size pool tables.
WY	Jackson Hole	Snake River Brewing Company - Snake River won best small brewery at the 2000 Beer Festival in Breckenridge. The Pale Ale was very smooth and they had a new ESP that I found tasty. They are known for their pizza's and pasta's. It's not on the main drag, so ask for directions or follow the bold aroma of the hops.

Canada
Province	City	Places and Reasons
Alberta	Canmore	The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company - Pub and restaurant. The Grizzly Paw had a very comfortable atmosphere. We enjoyed their Rutting Elk Red an IPA and Bear Scat (or jalapeno poppers). All the beer is brewed on the premises. Pool tables upstairs. 622 Main Street.

If you have any questions about this website or want to contact Christine or Joe for any reason, please email us at christine@lustik.com or joe@lustik.com.