November 20, 2009

53.0F

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Best of 417 2008—Food

(page 4 of 4)

 Franchise Winners

Top 5 Restaurants
1. Cheddars
Don’t miss the Key West chicken-and-shrimp dish with pineapple pico de gallo.
2. Zio’s Italian Kitchen
Chicken with a chianti sauce finished with sliced red grapes is on the menu here. Try it!
3. Steak & Ale
Ten lunches for $6.99 served fast is a strong selling point here. We like Hawaiian Chicken.
4. Texas Roadhouse
Four words: Steak-and-ribs combos. ’Nuff said.
5. Applebee's
The queso with chips here is very Velveeta-esque but costs less than $5! Afterward, have the orange crispy chicken bowl.

Top 3 new restaurants
1. J. Buck’s
We love the spicy Brentwood pasta and the ribeye steak, and for an app, the margherita pizza with tomato and basil.
2. Red Robin
Best presentation idea at a chain: The onion-ring tower! It makes what otherwise might be basket grub into an event.
3. Chipotle
We like the burrito filled with “carnitas,” pork seasoned with pepper, juniper berries and thyme.

Best New Restaurant in Branson
Sullivan’s
The Branson Landing showpiece was too good to be true. It closed in mid-December, but while it lasted, we enjoyed it.

Best Chocolate Fix
Godiva
Our favorite is the new chocolate mousse truffle line here.

Best Appetizers
Cheddars
Plenty of tasty standards: Spinach dip, chicken tenders, nachos.

Best Soups
Panera Bread
The best in the bowl here is the baked potato soup, which is served Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Best Salads
Ruby Tuesday’s
Did you know the Fresh Garden Bar has gone organic?

Best Desserts
Cheddars
Home of the Cookie Monster Wow!, a fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookie with trimmings and garnish galore.

Best Bakery
Panera Bread
Although there are great holiday breads galore here, our favorite is probably the foccacia baked here every day. That or a simple baguette. Great to take to a dinner party.

Best Sandwiches
Panera Bread
The word tomesto isn’t in the dictionary, but it does mean a great sandwich: chicken, field greens, roasted tomatoes, red onions and sundried tomato pesto on three-cheese bread.

Best Sports Bar
Indigo Joe’s
Plenty of screens; Angus steaks, and a touch more family-friendly than similar places downtown.

Best Bar Food
Indigo Joe’s
Teriyaki kabobs and fresh fruit and vegetable dishes round out a menu with the typical chicken strips and jalapeño poppers.

Best Beer Menu
Fox & Hound
Rivals the menus at MudLounge or Patton Alley Pub downtown, except it has a host of screens for game-watching.

Best Late-Night Snack
Taco Bell
If we’re burning the midnight oil in the 417 Magazine offices, we’ve been known to snarf a Cheesy Gordita Crunch or three.

Best Breakfast
Village Inn
Where else can you get standard fare plus crepes and blintzes?

Best Barbecue
Rib Crib
All you can eat St. Louis ribs, Tuesdays 4 p.m. to close.

Best Chili
Wendy’s
A small chili plus a baked potato is $2.33 at the drive-through.

Best Hamburger
Hardee’s
The much-advertised “Philly Cheese Steak Thickburger” seems aimed at the 23-year-old construction-worker crowd. For the rest of us, it’s a fun semi-annual craving reliever.

Best Pizza
Imo’s
Saying it may cause Bruno Gargiulo to have veins pop out of his forehead, but we love us some St. Louisan cracker-thin pizza. Bring on the provel.

Best Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings
The wings here are spun in 14 sauces. Our favorite is Mango Habanero.

Best Italian
Zio’s Italian Kitchen
Zio’s wine list, which is heavy on New World wines, has some Italian whites and reds for around $20 per bottle.

Best Donuts
Krispy Kreme
Pioneer of the seasonal donut, as well as flavors like dulce de leche, but we like the plain ones.
Runner-up: LaMar’s

Best Coffee Place
Starbucks
Starbucks is now carrying a 100-percent organic espresso called Espresso Regalo.

Best Steaks
Doe’s Eat Place
Home of the 4.5-pound sirloin, this steakhouse, with its origins in Mississippi, is a perennial reader favorite. Bon Appétit magazine also honored it in its September 2007 issue.

Best Takeout Delivery
Steak Out
Think Steak Out is just a steak sandwich delivery service? Nope. You can get a T-bone with shrimp, baked potato and salad.

Best Smoothies
Smoothie King
The best smoothie here? Try the Island Treat, with its mix of banana and papaya.

Best Fried Chicken
KFC
Home of the half-chicken meal, our favorite.

Best Branson Restaurant and Best Mexican
Cantina Laredo
Cantina received many accolades this year. If you haven’t tried its Mexican Sunday brunch or the mole enchiladas, do so.