Restaurant Books

I love this cookbook! A friend gave me this book last winter nad I have found great recipes for every season. Everything has turned out beautifully. My favorites are the salad with oven dried pears and the soft shelled crabs--it gives great advice too--like dredging with Wondra flour instead of regular flour--what a difference something so minor can make in a dish!

Sandra Gustafson's book is absolutely essential if you are not interested in paying overpriced tourist food when you visit Rome, Florence and/or Venice. Like the title, this book covers restaurants in Florence, Rome and Venice. In each city, restaurants are further divided into several city zones. There are maps to each city zone with numbers corresonding restaurants indicated on the map. They are not the most detailed map but good starting point, nevertheless. I have noticed a few mistakes on the map such as the numbers are placed on the wrong side of the street or mistakenly placed on the next street over. It is best to cross reference this book's map either with your hotel or with a different map.

There is a quick reference section next to each restaurant that display vital information: credit card, reservation, cover charge, hours and etc. She also writes a short and personal comments for each restaurant, indicating the history, owner and sometimes what to order. One important note,

I think the real strength of this book is in Rome. It almost never failed me. I had experienced with this book that would have been impossible to find unless you are a native to the city or know someone there. Most of the restaurants have English speaking staff, especially when in Rome. There are a few ( these tend to be the best!) places that doesn't so have your Italian Phrase book handy!

I'm here at Amazon to pick up newer editions of the Cheap Eats books for both London and Paris. My wife and I have used her books for years for both cities, and find her advice invaluable

This is without a doubt, the best investment I've ever made for travel. I can't tell you how great it was to not have to worry about where to eat while traveling alone in Montreal. 4 out of the 4 restaurants I went to were stellar. I didn't try any more because one of the restaurants I ended up going back to 2 more times and the B&B I was staying at served HUGE breakfasts, so I only ever had to worry about dinner. This book was invaluable. I urge anyone going to Montreal, Toronto or New York City to grab a copy of this book to help them navigate through the often difficult process of finding good, clean food for a reasonable price in a city they are visiting. Everything was exactly as stated in the book. No meal was over $15. Every restaurant was clean and the staff courteous. Also, the store fronts were unassuming so the idea that I could've found these on my own is ridiculous. This book is worth every penny. 5 Stars!! Thank you Cheap Thrills.

This is a restaurant guide for those of you looking for really good food with a wide variety of ethnic cuisine and without the ridiculously pompous nature of your typical five-star. If you go out to eat for the snooty service and to drop a bunch of money, don't buy this book. However, if your focus is on the quality and variety of the food you are eating, with fancy service as a secondary concern, this is the book for you. That is not to say the restaurants in this book lack decent service....Many have excellent service and swanky locals. Some may also have dismal decor and downright cranky staff (read hole-in-the-wall). But they all have great food in common. One of the great things about New York is experiencing the wide variety of flavors and cooking styles available in this melting pot. You won't find me in New York without this book close by.

We found the most wonderful ethnic neighborhood restaurants by using this book. Although our restaurant bills were incredible inexpensive, the restaurants were wonderful. Typically, they were family owned and operated in charming neighborhoods, convenient to the underground stops. Without this book we would have missed, in our view, the best restaurants that Montreal has to offer.

A must read if you plan on having cocktails in NYC. All the best bars to see, be seen, and hang out in. Drinks with a view, drinks in hotels, drinking places for gay/lesbian... anything you can think of. Lots of fun!

Chez Dogs is the personal memoir of Frank Palescandolo, an extraordinary dog lover who shares with the reader his thoughts on the unique canine personalities that he befriended in and about the Coney Island restaurant his parents owned while he was growing up. A wry, gentle account of humorous anecdotes, pet foibles, and treasured memories, Chez Dogs is recommended reading as a nostalgic glimpse into a yesteryear childhood with canine companions, visitors, and passers-through.

My friend recommended this book to me because she knows how much I enjoy eating in fancy restaurants. This book was so fun to look through. But my favorite chapter wasn't the fancy restaurant chapter, it was the cozy cafe and grills and thrills chapters. I've made about 10 recipes so far and they were all fabulous. Can't wait to try some more.

I took along this book while I was vacationing in Bangkok. I was able to hit some of restaurants in the area I was staying (since the book groups the restaurants by neighborhoods.) It was also helpful to when it came to ordering the dishes because of the recommendations. I would say the book is laid out nicely and having beautiful photographs is a bonus.