Right on Elizabeth.
I find the top 10 lists interesting and even have found new places to try from them as well as either affirming the fact that the place is as I thought or not.

How about the top 10 summer farmers markets, or roadside stands, or specialty markets for produce?

i am blushing.

I've never posted on this blog before, but I check in on it now and then. I'm from Wilmington (don't start on me about the tolls and the traffic, yours are just as bad) but keep a boat in Baltimore and find this blog a great source for finding local dining options. I've always found it amusing that reading the Wilmington paper online, the comments are inevitably nasty, vile, hateful stuff. I was so pleasantly surprised by the civility of the comments I read on the Sun's site. I thought yesterday's comments were an unfortunate exception to the rule. I never cease to be amazed by the friendliness of Baltimoreans generally and on your blogs in particular. I hope it's just the dearth of local Tex-Mex dining choices that brought out the worst in your readers. I also love the happy hours for over-35s idea. How about a top ten places parents can drag a sullen teenager without a battle?

According to the official No Reservations Facebook page, the Rust Belt Special episode (Baltimore, Detroit, Buffalo) will air on 27 July.

EL, maybe too obscure for a top 10 list: Top 10 places that a carnivore and a vegetarian can enjoy together. My partner almost always wants to order beef when we go out, and I don't eat flesh (but I'm not vegan). Sometimes it is hard to find a place where we can both be excited about the menu, as opposed to just happy to be eating a nice meal out with my sweety.

Hello, Julia--love your suggestion How about a top ten places parents can drag a sullen teenager without a battle? but I wonder if people can come up with even one? In any case--welcome!

Oh, I know what will really get folks stirred up: Top 10 places to go now that IXIA is closed.

Sorry for your recent thrashing on the Top Ten Tex-Mex EL. I for one enjoy your blog immensely and find it very helpful and informative. Sometimes you just have to sit back and breathe like you did today.
As for a suggestion (don't beat me up haters) I would like to see a Top Ten of the best places to lunch at a mall when you aren't done shopping yet but just HAVE to have lunch.
No offense taken if you think it's a worthless idea.

Top 10 places where you can eat outdoors.

nm, it's been done.

It's so funny how worked up people can get over completely subjective topics. I've been to Texas about ten times over the years and the funny thing is that the food never made a positive impression on me or frankly any impression. I've had many meals in big cities and small towns. Not one food memory sticks. Maybe it's a personality flaw.

Sometimes I think half of the topics here are about something psychological and not food. Now I have to go beat some eggs.

E/L I think you do a fine job with the blog, and I look forward to to the "Top Ten's" Keep 'em coming!

Someone, I think it was Lissa, mentioned lust-inducing food. Perhaps that would make a good Top Ten?

And another point to Camille!

Suggestions Camiile?

I like Richard (ntOR)'s suggestion of somewhere that carnivores and veggies can eat together. I frequently have dinner with a lovely couple, one of whom is a vegetarian, one isn't (and I'll eat just about anything that isn't an insect or an eyeball).

I'd suggest Isabella's (will do vegetarian antipasti plates cheerfully upon request) and Gertrude's (the vegetarian likes to eat there, I don't). I'm trying to remember other places we all enjoyed. Peter's Inn, I suspect, especially if the vegetarian eats fish.

Camille, I would not claim to be an expert in anything lust-inducing. Even if certain dishes or restaurants tend to elicit (I first typed "illicit," which has to be a classic Freudian slip) embarrassing reactions from me. But, on my short list would be cafe at the Native American Museum, the chicken at Chicken Rico, sandwiches from Isabella's and a bunch of stuff in Detroit and Iceland that I doubt we can stretch enough to cover.

And skyr.

Gazpacho would make a good starter.

Here's a list that could be updated every so often when fresh top ten topics are in short supply: "The Top Ten Baltimore Area Restaurant Specials." There's little doubt that readers would rapidly add to the list, based on their own experience. (For instance, I'd happily recommend the Tuesday night steak-and-bake special at the Mt. Washington Tavern which was as delicious as advertised and quite a bargain at $15.95.) Resteraunteurs might even be inspired to get in on the action, concoct fresh specials and write in. All of which would enable readers to get the most value for their dining-out dollars and maybe even discover some new venues they wouldn't otherwise have considered.

Camille, I love lust inducing foods. I would add oysters, old wives tale? I think not!

I am a frequent reader and have posted only a few times. I am feeling bad as my last post was a little bit negative. (I did not agree with your pizza suggestion at the beach.) Sorry EL, I love this blog and will try to be positive from here on out.

That said, have you ever done a "Top Ten Meals I Have Eaten" post? It could be from places all over the world as we know you like to travel. Hey, maybe some were not even in a restaurant.

They would all be at Chez Large. :-) EL

"Tex-Mex food might be described as native foreign food, contradictory through that term may seem, It is native, for it does not exist elsewhere; it was born on this soil. But it is foreign in that its inspiration came from an alien cuisine; that it has never merged into the mainstream of American cooking and remains alive almost solely in the region where it originated..."
---Eating in America, Waverly Root & Richard de Rochemont [William Morrow:New York] 1976 (p. 281)

Last word ... never! NPR's Morning Edition had a report on the origins and characteristics of Tex-Mex food that was different from anything I've read on the blog. It is already up on their website, www.npr.org under the heading "Sonoran Hot Dog Crosses the Border," (middle column, halfway down).

Did I mention that the first condiment on the Sonoran Hot Dog is bacon??

Did I mention that the first condiment on the Sonoran Hot Dog is bacon??

Canon,
Yes.

I just read about that Sonoran hot dog, Canon. I want one. Possibly two.

That is one helluva hot dog there. Sounds tasty!

The Sonoran Hot Dog story has now migrated to the top right of the NPR.org site.

Actually, I really like this Texan food. The influence of Mexican food gives it a special taste.

The 11:41 comment appears to be spam.

texaswatch, a whois search indicated that your website is based in Rome, Italy. Your website is also a bit lacking in substantial information. Can you recommend any good Tex-Mex places in the Eternal City?

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Link spam at 7:17 PM! (One of several shills for alleged electric tobacco products.)