Lost American Cafe

Ahh, I miss decent food..

Good topic, ibredd. Most of the inexpensive cafes with good food are those with special cuisines; in my area now, we have a fabulous cafe called Afrodisiaco with a combo of puerto rican, mexican, and carribean food, every dish really good so far. We have one good Thai restaurant, one poor Thai restaurant. Numerous terrible coffee shops (5). One tapas restaurant that was great just folded. Two okay chinese restaurants...but I am originally from Los Angeles, were there were a selection of good chinese restaurants, plus hundreds of other good "ethnic cuisine" specialty cafes, and am quite picky about saying a place's food is good.

I miss good indian food, good vietnamese food, good french food, good italian food....but I am in the hinterland in a lightly populated county of northern california. If I go south a few hours, I can find some of the best food in all the world in the San Francisco bay area...some of it not very expensive, even though certainly the finest places are.

Mel's Drive-in

I am Australian - our country cafes were never very good, and still aren't - but, in the cities, we have a plethora of places to eat with reasonable to great food, at reasonable prices - much of it from different countries, although there is an emergent Australian cuisine which is a fusion of classic European and Asian traditions.

We also have the usual blight of KFC and McDonalds and such.

NYC still has many neighborhood restaurants with every kind of ethnic food you can imagine. My neighborhood, Jackson Heights, NY has many Indian, Argentinian, Mexican, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Spanish, Italian, German, Korean, Chinese, and the ubiquitous "Greek" diners with ten page menus.

Good food is all around the city, and you can still eat well for under $20.00, in many places for under $10.00.

I second that, Nextone - NYC is a great place for cheap, fabulous food!

nextone, You mean to tell us there are no Japanese? c.i.

I'm spoiled, I live in an urban center with lots and lots of good cheap food of every ethnicity. Here in Toronto it is quite easy to avoid the fast food conglomerates. However, once you leave, it is another story entirely.

The Boston surrounding areas still have a great many of these places and in general they're just called pubs nowadays, or villas, or such...still though some wonderful tiny little hidaways with great food at a great price. The delis and cafes along with these make for a whole days worth.
If I was left with only the big names I dont think Id eat out very much at all.

cicerone imposter, Am not aware of Japanese restaurants in my immediate neighborhood, BUT a few el stops away in Sunnyside there are several. Also Turkish, Irish, and Transylvanian.

I had the pleasure of knowing my Grandmother-in-Law (can you follow that relationship ) a few years before her death. From the stories the family related, she had just such a restaurant in Upper Michigan for quite a few years. She was a marvelous cook, of French and American Indian extraction. The restaurant was owned by her for about 20 years, and she was the personification of the expression: 'Chef, Cook, and Bottle Washer.' She even had a 5-acre plot where she raised chickens, both for the eggs and meat in the restaurant. She would occasionally visit local farms and actually choose the live beef and pork she wanted slaughtered for use in her restaurant. This was prepared by a local packer, who cut, wrapped, and kept frozen the meat for later use. She baked the pies, bread, and cookies she used for desserts or sold individually. Why did she give it up? Through the years, the government applied more and more restrictions and regulations on her establishment. She decided she didn't need all that aggravation and just sold the place. Now, this was a woman who even at the age of 80 was an immaculate housekeeper and cook. The 'inspectors' the regulators sent in, didn't know beans from apple butter about cooking, serving, etc., but if just one little speck of grease was found on her serving counter, she was written up with a 'violation.' I think this type regulation is forcing the good Mom & Pop type restaurants out of business. It's sad

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<That was kind of sneaky, nimh.>

The diner is alive if not thriving in rural America. Many of the small towns have small cafes that serve homemade, simple food. One that has a special place in my memory may be closed now. It was in a little town called Derby, Iowa. The owners/cooks/waitresses were two sisters in their 80s who made the most delicious pies. Payment was on the honor system. The cash register was open and customers left their money and made there own change if necessary.

Transylvanian Restaurant, where the diner becomes the dinner

Mustang, I agree that the health code is getting out of control. I think germphobia in general is out of control. With all of the anti-bacterial products out there, and the government interference, we are going to end up being a nation of people with weak immune systems, taxing the health system even more than it already is. I love George Carlin's comment on the Purel fad: "Stop it already, your immune system needs practice!"