Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

most of my pet peeves are on there: too many tables crammed in together making it impossible for anyone except a skinnyA** model to sit there (once a chair was literally up against a pole with less then 8 inches to the table from the back the chair!); too noisy unless it's supposed to be like a club or sportsbar; too kid friendly (we didn't go out much when we were kids but when we did, we were expected to act like little adults because this was a special experience); live music that overpowers the room (once a waiter told me to hold my conversation while the pianist was playing); tables next to the bust station; dirty is just a NO all the way; too kitschy; having to ask for water; home style food that is overpriced; so dark you can't read the menu.

likes: clean table cloths; attentive friendly wait staff, good lighting, spacing, tasteful clean decor, fresh food.

sklyline chili, marion's pizza, max & erma's, cold beer & cheeseburgers

I love sweet sue's too but the pancakes I still dream about are the buckwheat pancakes at the Black Dog Cafe in Martha's Vineyard.

Lower East Side or my kitchen

Naomi's in Kew Gardens, Queens

love this blog...my favorite burgers that I've tried so far this year are:

Bonnie's Grill in Park Slope and Dram Shop in Park Slope...different animals but good in their categories....

One of the best fast food burgers I've ever had was in Sante Fe, NM at Lotta Burger with green chile sauce.

i thought clafouti but usually not in a skillet...but it's somewhere between dutch/german/swedish pancake and clafouti....goes to show you that food all over the world is the same...just takes on different clothes...