Good Eats (Part II)

This post recognizes my favorite overall Groupon restaurants as opposed to individual items featured in my last post. A small distinction maybe, but there were just too many incredible restaurants to fit them all in one post. Unfortunately two of them closed this year, leaving my top 5, of which three are from my home town of Chicago! So I’ll start there.

Chicago:

Las Tablas Columbian Steakhouse -

My first Colombian Steakhouse

These empanadas were by far the most perfectly executed I've ever come across.

Followed by a wooden plank loaded with Entrana skirt steak, chicken breast, chorizo, pork ribs, arepa, plantains, yuca and potatoes. The flavors were just incredible!

Sola -

Sola's Chef Wallack serves up an exciting Hawaiian influenced meal that will leave you stunned.

Savory bread pudding topped with Kalua Pork, BBQ sauce, shallots, apples and rosemary.

Marinated artichokes fried crisp on the outside and served with a rich truffle aioli.

Braised short ribs that fall apart with the touch of a fork served with snow peas, trumpet mushrooms, quinoa, eggpant, lime, hoisin and soy.

It's rare you'll hear me rave about a burger that didn't come from my favorite little place in Avondale...so believe me when I tell you this waygu burger with bacon, caramelized onions and cambozola cheese on a pretzel bun is a force to be reckoned with. I really need to find that cheese.

Chuck’s Southern Comfort Cafe -

This was a favorite of mine even before living off Groupons so seeing Chuck's hit my email box was a thing of great excitement!

These Jamaican Jerk Wings packed a punch of flavor and spice!

Crispy chicken fried chicken, sage gravy and southern green beans...a match made in heaven.

You can't argue with this face...it's just that good!

Make sure you don’t miss the desserts either.

Scottsdale/Phoenix:

The Painted Horse Cafe -

Chef Bryan Elliott welcomes me into his establishment...little did I know, I was about to have my mind blown.

The perfect example of my favorite type of chili. Thick, hearty, meaty and exploding with flavor!

I don't usually expect to be blown away by chicken...it's such a pedestrian ingredient. This chicken did just that. It was cooked perfectly and seasoned to perfection.

I tried a number of other excellent dishes at the Painted Horse but in the interest of time, I’ll tell you that you really can’t go wrong with anything, as long as you go.

San Diego:

PrepKitchen -

No individual dish here at PrepKitchen stood out as a clear winner in my eyes. Each one was as delicious and exciting as the next. I say exciting because I’d look at each item and be sure I’d had something very similar maybe hundreds of times in my lifetime…but each and every time, something was different. Something was better. It was as much a journey as it was a meal and my dining companions and I couldn’t stop raving. We tasted over a dozen items on the menu but I’m only going to post a few below in the interest of time.