Carnival of Dining Out IV - Taste of Chicago Edition

I am posting this entry from the great City of Chicago after attending "Taste" (as the locals call it) yesterday. It was crowded. It was fun. It was really crowded. Lots of tents had corn. Have I mentioned the crowd? I will probably do a separate write-up, but this was a heck of a foodie experience.

On to this month's posts, where the selected theme was "summer vacation," so the first section will be reserved for those posts highlighting a road trip or "destination" food travel.

Summer Vacation
Foodette says Kopp's "is one of my favorite hometown restaurants that I make sure to visit each time I go back to Milwaukee, WI." Check out her other posts at Restaurant Review World.

Even though Jason is a new poster, he clearly knows that the way to get prime real estate at this carnival is to have killer pictures of your food! Cafe Roka is the review; which he describes as "the best restaurant in Bisbee, Arizona" during their recent vacation to southern AZ."

My own submission this month is titled Deep Fried Jacksonville. This was from my own recent road trip up to see the ACC Baseball Tournament last month. Go Heels!

Counters, Cafes, Joints, Huts, and Shacks
Despite a geographical location nowhere near any of the great BBQ belts of this country, New York City has had a relative BBQ explosion in the past few years. Hrag Vartanian talks about Feeling Like a Fat Pig at Williamsburg's Fette Sau posted at Hrag Vartanian.

Regular contributor Mary Jo Manzanares must know what a burger hound I am, because she is talking about Find Seattle’s Best Fast Food Burger at Dick’s this month at The Seattle Traveler. I tried to go to Dick's in Capitol Hill on my last visit to Seattle. I am OK with the "cash only" thing - but, keep in mind that their burgers ONLY come their way - no special orders. I am a guy who doesn't like a lot of "stuff" on my burger, and everything they offered had some kind of mustard or other goo. I was disappointed only because I had heard the many good things that Mary Jo reports and was looking forward to finally trying one of these tasty burgers.

Fine/Upscale Dining Experiences
I think I have mentioned in a past post that sushi just doesn't really work for me, so this trip to Chicago will not include Amanda's pick, Blu Coral Sushi Chicago posted at Eat... and Be Merry. If you are more of a sushi fan than I am, check it out. I know that I will recommend it to my sushi-lovin' Chicago host!

Multicultural Dining Experiences
I wouldn't know Burmese food if it crawled up next to me and took a bite out of my leg, but howidiedtoday wries about Since You Can't Go To Burma, Go To Burma Superstar In San Francisco posted at Travel Betty. Travel Betty says, "For anyone foolish enough to visit San Francisco in the summer, this place is the perfect vacation eatery. She recommends for visitors to San Fran, but her post says that the restaurant is located in the Richmond district, away from the touristy Union Square. If the locals go there, it probably can't be all bad!

Vegetarian
Last month, Jul was our very first veggie-friendly post. This month, the Veg Heads get their own section! Check out Jul's latest from the Fatherland - Munich: vegetarians delight and beware posted at Veggie Chic.

National and Regional Chains
I have had Sonic Drive-Ins in my world for as long as I can remember, but Sonic just entered the market in Idaho recently. shinie tells us about her first experience there in Review: Sonic posted at "Well, I guess this is growing up". Shinie - next time, try the Cherry Limeade!

The Junky's Wife presents Cook Out: Charlotte's Best Milkshakes! posted at Charlotte Blog.

A post about Denny's is not something that would usually get my attention. First-timer, bobbarama, however, offers a humorous look at dining out at this American icon - Steaking out my favorite booth.

Dining Out in the News
I love the "Dining Out in the News" section (I may have mentioned that before). We had more posts submitted for this section than ever before, too! Newcomer, Moneywalks, puts a "dining out" spin on the great debate of Frugal vs. Cheap posted at moneywalks.

My blogging buddy Lazy Man critiques an article from 'Self' magazine (his fiance gets it - yeah, right!) in Healthy Restaurant Eating. There is some good health information posted over at his site, Lazy Man and Health.

Another newcomer, Dan Harris, debates Chinese Food And Seconding The Call For Dumpling Diplomacy posted at China Law Blog. I debated whether this should go into the multicultural section, but since it is really more of an analytical piece bemoaning the lack of good Chinese food in the US, it really is more of a news article - a good one, at that.

Gal Josefsberg has unfinished business on the mind, in the article Don't clean your plate posted at 60 IN 3.

Aspeth's article is not specifically about dining out, but the lessons learned in Getting Past the Color Barrier can be useful both at home and in a restaurant.

It must be heading up towards bikini season (for those of you unfortunate enough to NOT live near me, where it can be bikini weather in January!), because healthy eating was a big theme this month. Mark25 gets an Editor's Choice pick for Tips For Dining Out While On A Diet.

Miscellanea
Praveen presents Your Age By Diner & Restaurant Math posted at Math and Logic Play.

I don't know where else to put this, so it goes here. It is not a blog post - and I am not even sure that it is at a restaurant (thus, meeting the "dining out" portion fo the carnival), but it is one cool picture of a plate of food - and you know what that does for me!

We had a record 25 submissions for this month. Unfortunately, some of them had absolutely nothing to do with dining out, and they were subsequently omitted. I gave the benefit of the doubt where I could, but an article about analyzing your body fat percentage just doesn't cut it. Eating healthy is great - but, this is about dining out. I probably could have brought back the Carnival of Bad Carnival Submissions this month, but seeing as how I am blogging while on vacation, I just couldn't be bothered! :-) If you want to play in the sandbox next month, please submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Dining Out using our carnival submission form. Since August is National Catfish Month and National Peach Month, posts featuring fish and/or fruit (in the context of dining out) will be given the primo real estate. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.