What's your favorite place to eat out, especially if you have company?

the nearest Döner shack.

LOL, I did the same question albeit slightly differently!

I just changed the title

Diner, Cheesecake Factory, depends on the mood and the crowd.

I live near a good mexican restaurant that has a really nice outdoor patio with fountains and flowers and a stone wall covered in morning glories and trumpet vines. They make the most excellent guacamole and it is my favorite outdoor summer place. It’s also great because I can have a couple of Coronas and am only 3 blocks from home. haha

@Dan_Lyons Oh, you sure did. Good thing they’re slightly different contexts.

Our area is known for great Mexican food so we usually take guests to one of the many yummy Mexican places in town. If it’s just us, we’ll occasionally go to the neighborhood Italian restaurant, one of my favorites. We spend a bit of time in Hometown Buffet, because my Dad loves it. I also like going to Souplantation (otherwise known as Sweet Tomatoes in other parts of the country). For my birthday, I like going to the buffet at one of the casinos. I don’t gamble, but I love to eat.

Dona Tomas in Oakland, for nuevo Mexican food. Jardiniere in San Francisco before a performance near the Civic Center. Boulevard in San Francisco if it’s just for dining.

Wherever there is a river, redwood or pine trees and wild deer.

Chepos. Usually with my sister.

There is a good Indian place here, as well as a diner serving vegetarian burgers. When I’m with friends, it’s mostly these two and – on occasion – Pizza Hut. With my family, a local pancake place is another favourite.

I love to eat Indian food so when we have guests who are likely to like that, that’s what we do. Some of my friends are foodies so I can always count on them to go ethnic and adventurous.

Betwixed the wife’s legs

I can see this place from my computer desk. Living so close is one of the reasons I moved in here. It is by far my favorite place to eat out here with or without guests. It is sort of expensive for me but I usually eat there a few times a month. I consider 15 bucks for a bacon cheeseburger and fries and a pint expensive.

Depends who is visiting, where I am living, and the types of foods the person likes.

I like Cheesecake Factory, especially if the person has never been to one. I also like J. Alexander’s a lot. Both are good for basic American food with lots of choices. They are both chain restaurants though, so no real local flair.

If the person doesn’t mind a buffet style the salad bar at Texas de Brazil is incredible. We used to buy a $60 card that gives you 12 meals at 50% off and it was worth it. It’s a churascarria (they come by your table with all sorts of meats). With the 50% off I never felt like I needed to get my money’s worth and overeat. It still is not cheap, but very readable for a steak dinner. That also happens to be a chain.

If dessert happens to come up I take them to TooJays for lunch, it’s a NY style deli, and make sure they try the Mounds cake as long as they like coconut. TooJays is a FL chain. I like their rye bread better than Stage Deli in NY and the Pastrami is just as good. Forget that the Mounds cake is the best cake ever.

With my parents I would take them to somewhere Asian like Vietnamese, Thai, or even Sushi. We might try somewhere new and be expiremental or somewhere we have tried before.

In Delray Beach, FL Terra Fiamma is so delicious sometimes my husband and I eat there two days out of the two days we might be in town. They used to have a different restaurant that closed and they reopened in a new location under a different name, but basically the same menu. It is the best Italian food this side of the Atlantic hands down. When we lived there we often took friends or family there.

In Memphis we liked to bring in Gus’s fried chicken. It’s been written up as a food you have to try before you die, up there with restaurants in France and Italy. The sides suck! So we like to bring it back home and make our own sides. The chicken is incredible.

In Clearwater, where I live now, if they like grouper I take them to Frenchy’s. A local place where everything is fresh (they catch their own fish) the place is totally laid back and it is very Clearwater Beach to me.

In St. Petersburg we go to Paciugo for gelato because to use the same cliche again, it is the best gelato this side of the Atlantic. That is a franchise, there might be one near you.

@johnpowell I went to the McMenamin’s Kennedy School for breakfast just a few weeks ago! I flew up from San Francisco to go to a concert the night before at the Crystal Ballroom. I have a friend who lives on NE 34th Street.

If it’s just for relief from the kitchen, it’s Jus’ Grill, right around the corner. If it’s for something specific, it’ll be the local Greek, Mexican, Italian,or any of a number of phở shops. If it’s for experience and atmosphere, it’s Mataam Fez for great Morroccan food, family friendly belly dancing, and an incredible tea-serving dance.

Keep ‘em coming folks. These places sound wonderful!

Eating out here costs a second mortgage on a house here. I usually make some local delicacies in my own home for guests. I’ll make reindeer or whale. There is a local hotel that serves a fantastic breakfast buffet that seems worth the 250NOK for (41USD) some visitors who don’t mind spending that on a breakfast. They have many locally made and sourced meats, fish, preserves and lovely in-house made bread.

There’s a wonderful little Greek restaurant in my city called Kosmos, the staff are friendly and welcoming, the food is reasonably priced and absolutely wonderful.

Montana’s steak house.

These days, if a place uses fresh potatoes over instant, they’re all fair game!