Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Haven't been for a couple of years but I like this upscale Thai place a lot (never tried the noodle shop - I think that's new): www.lemongrassrestaurant.com/

Hot from Dom's oven
A circle of bubbling bliss.
The diet can wait

OK - I'll give you difficult, but not tasty? Come on. A good grapefruit is so tasty... and so refreshing!

And while I'm at it, what makes a peach more difficult than, say, a banana? And does anyone really think grapes are tastier than, say, cherries?

Loving the chart, questioning the judgment.

Ed, you're messing with tradition here and on a slippery slope. Pretty soon you'll be having t'giving without cranberries and sweet potatoes too. (Come to think of it, I don't like turkey all that much and rarely eat it the rest of the year either. Maybe we should just order in Chinese food.)

But to answer the question, I always skip the pumkin pie. There are just too many bettter choices on the table.

"could you do a walking tour of washington heights sometime?"

cybercita, I've lived in the heights for 18 years. It would be a short tour. It's a great place to live but we leave the nabe to shop and eat. One exception is a good neighborhood Indian restaurant, Kismet, on Ft. Washington and 187th.

The chocolate!! I can't go back to the grainy, cloyingly sweet Hersheys stuff anymore; I can't afford to buy only high-quality imported European brand names, what's a girl to do? TJ's has some of the best store-branded chocolate, most coming from Belgium, for only a bit more than generic American chocolate. :) Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Lemon Grass has excellent Vietnamese food (Mai Pham is a local legend)
Biba is also good, i've eaten there twice and had great food. Lucca, at 16th and J, is another great Italian food place. The Gov eats lunch there...it's centrally located, close to the Capitol and if you're going to the theatre, it's even closer!
My favorite is Spataro, its upscale but not too pricy. Great Italian food, friendly staff, great for clients and for a nice evening out. We had a Waiter in Training one evening, and ended up with double the service!
As blah and overdone as PF Chang's can be, they're open late, and do takeaway if you need. One of the Mikuni locations is just around the corner on 16th, as is Bistro 33 who have great sandwiches. That particular spot is small, but the menu is the same as 33rd Street Bistro on Folsom Blvd. I'm pretty certain that they do takeaway.
Mexican- Tres Hermanas is my favorite. Great food, great drinks!
Cheap Eats- Though its out of the downtown area, Haggins Freezes is on Walnut Avenue at El Camino Avenue. They make the original original Merlinos Fruit Freezes (all others are imitators!) along with some other non-fruit (Mint, Root Beer, Peanut Butter and a few others) and have hamburgers, hot dogs and the like. Great for those hot summer days in Sacto.
Sacramento Food is moving up in the world and everyday it seems like there's more good food coming into town!

I used to live in Sacramento, and now live just an hour away. Ernestos, as people have already mentioned, is a family standby. I'm trying to remember names of the other places, but my brain is not giving me anything other than locations right now. (I can get there, I can tell you what kind of food, but I can't come up with names.) Mainly look downtown. There are lots of great places in midtown, also some good ones in East Sac.

Houston? What you have there is Tex-Mex. Chicago? I think not. I have lived in both cities. San Diego, CA which is 15 miles north of the Mexican border by far, has the best Mexican in the US. Old Town is dedicated to offering you one Mexican restaurant after another in addition to all the other Mexican restaurants and taco stands located around the city. Real Mexican food is found there.

rozilla - there are some good Mexican restaurants in Nashville. Pueblo Viejo and Pueblo Real in Franklin, Las Cazuelas (can't beat the entertainment on Saturday night) or Los Arcos on Nolensville Rd. are all real good.