Where you should go if you're....

Vegetarian and in a hurry
Moscow Food Co-op. Kale Slaw. 'Nuff said.

A Preschooler
Shari's. They have "Find The Hidden Picture" placements. And smiley face pancakes.

A Gourmand Millionaire
West of Paris. Duh.

Low on Caffeine
Bucer's Coffee Shop Pub. Might grab a panini while you're there. Get the Cubano Con Leche for your drink.

Looking for the freshest food in town and good service
New Garden Chinese. Wow.

Getting off the beaten path
Helmer Store and Cafe in Helmer, Idaho. One Heckuva Burger. Trust me. Also, quit whining. You can mapquest it yourself.

In a sophisticated mood
Nectar's Wine Bar.

Fond of Dr. Seuss
The Breakfast Club. Green Eggs and Ham. Haven't tried it personally. Yet.

Hungry
Sangria Grille.

Craving Cheese Enchiladas
Cafe Lopez. Go there for dinner, not lunch because their black bean dipping sauce is to die for.

Craving non-Tex-Mex Food
Patty's Kitchen. Almost as authentic as the Taco Wagon.

Pinching pennies
Tucci's Italian. Split a plate, you get a big salad and bread for free.

Really pinching pennies
Super China Buffet take-out. You can get a LOT of food for $10.

Looking for the quintessential "Moscow" experience
Wheatberries Bakery. Lunch only.

Bored
A Taste of Thai. Curry makes a nice change of pace.

Really Bored
Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday mornings in the summer.

A food blog writer who's running out of ideas
Old Post Office. I really need to get over there.

Ciao and happy dining!

Where Not To Go: The Breakfast Club

I've put off writing this post for far too long.* I know, my five readers are going to send me hate mail, but I have to call 'em as I see 'em. And I have been to The Breakfast Club three times and had a terrible experience all three times. I cannot figure out why so many people I've talked to absolutely love the place. Maybe it's a really terrific restaurant and I just have spectacularly bad luck.

The first time Hubby and I went together to try it out. The coffee tasted burnt and I remember it being absolutely packed so it took a long time to get our food.

Time number two involved our very good friends, E&K wanting to go there and K being unhappy at their lack of vegetarian selections. I also remember getting a skillet meal that I could have cooked better at home. (My standard for good eating is whether the version I make at home tastes better. As I am becoming a better cook this is starting to pose problems.)

The most recent visit to TBC was a big group of my family members all eating there (including my kids) for some event that I have since forgotten. I do remember that we had burnt coffee again and we waited a long time to get seated and get our food because once again it was packed to the gills. Obviously some people really like to eat there.

I ought to try it in the summer months when it is not so busy, when all the students are at home and the town lies in mellow bliss under the blazing summer sunshine... Ok, I'll stop now.


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* In a small town like ours it does not do to criticize local businesses. Even if you're a snobbish food-blog writer and it's your JOB to give accurate recommendations, it simply does not do. One time when I was working at the front desk at the Quality Inn, I was asked by a guest which restaurant I would recommend. I named a few nearby and she asked, "What about Denny's down the road?" I naively told her I wouldn't recommend it. Just being honest, folks. I had been there recently with a rather large group and it took us over an hour to get our food and when it did come some of the orders were incorrect. If it had been an isolated incident, I might have been gracious enough to overlook it, but unfortunately, it wasn't. Well, this guest of mine trotted right over to Denny's and told the management there that the Quality Inn staff was recommending guests not go to their restaurant. To my shock, the owner himself marched over to the Quality Inn that same morning and bawled me out, screaming in my face about how we local businesses need to stick together and how we ought never to give one another a bad recommendation, ever (even if it was the truth) and yadda, yadda and at that point I think I started to cry. Two things have arisen from the ashes of this confrontation. One: I think twice about giving local businesses a bad recommendation. Two: I have never, ever gone back to Denny's.

List of Places I Have Never Been

There aren't that many restaurants in the Moscow/Pullman area. Even so, I get in a rut which is a bad idea for writing a useful food blog. Over the next year I'd like to try each of the places I have never been at least once.

Sushi place in Moscow Hotel. Thank you to Austin Storm for calling my attention to it. I knew it was there but forgot about it.

The renovated Mark IV hotel, now operating under another name and new management. I haven't tried it since it changed. The Sandpiper.

That Sandwich place in the Old Post Office in Pullman.

The Korean/Japanese restaurant just below Stadium Way, in the motel.

The Thai place on Grand just north of the Post Office.

The Loco Hawaiian Plate Lunch. On Main a block north of Zion's Bank.

The Chinese place on Washington near the Post Office.

The Japanese place that used to be Sakura but I don't remember the new name. On Grand in Pullman.

The storefront place across from The Daily Grind.

Sella's Calzones

Vietnamese place up by Campus Commons

CUB?

The Hilltop


Footnote: Places I've visited but have not reviewed yet...

Teriyaki Joe's
Old Peking
The Chinese place next to Sister's Brew. (I have a personal story involving almost calling off my wedding at this place I'll tell some sometime.)
The Daily Grind
Basilios in Pullman
The Fireside Grille in Pullman
Tam's Family Dining
Denny's (I had the privilege of getting chewed out by the owner once. That's a pretty good story too.)
The Emerald Chinese
Rancho Viejo (The Old Farm in English)
Nuevo Vallarta
Pizza Huts in both towns
Winger's (closed due to huge fire... you can get their wings at Tucci's for now)
The Breakfast Club (Thanks, Anon!)
Applebee's
Patty's Kitchen

If anyone knows of restaurants I'm missing, let me know in a comment. I'll add them to my list.

Note to self...

I saw an ad for the new sandwich place in the Old Post Office in Pullman. Want to check that out.

Also heard that the new sushi place in the Korean hotel above the Main Street Bridge in Pullman is pretty good. I want to try that also since I LOVE sushi and so far the Co-op is the only edible stuff I can find.