I'm it!

I've been tagged for the Restaurant Meme that some of you have probably seen on several other blogs. Thanks to my sweet friend Sara at Miller Moments for the tag!

The rules, as such, are as follows:
1. Link to the name of the person that tagged you.
2. Include state and country you live in.
3. List top 5 favorite local restaurants.
4. Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged.

I've been in a rule breaking mood the last couple of weeks so I am going to change it a bit just for fun. These favorites are from all over the country. Mostly, places we have lived except for the last one. The last one is a restaurant we tried while we were in Las Vegas last year.

Sunny's Cafeteria, Johnson City, TN

Rich and I went to college in Johnson City and my favorite place to eat there was a little cafeteria called Sunny's. It was good ole southern cooking at it's best. And when you are a college student, a home cooked meal can be hard to come by. We would go there for their homemade mashed potatoes and pecan pie. My mouth is watering as I type this. The funniest part about eating at Sunnie's was going through the line to get our food. You would walk through and the old ladies behind the glass would dish out your goodies. Rich would usually go first and they would be totally charming, smile, and say things like "What can I get ya honey?". And then when it was my turn they'd totally change their demeanor and with a scowl say "WHAT DO YOU WANT?".


Depalma's Italian Café, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

When I was just out of college Rich and I moved to Tuscaloosa, AL where we helped start a brand new church. I had just received my major in Music Ministry and I was ready to take on the world! You guys, I was so young and naive and let's just say it was not the best experience. After a few months, I managed to talk my wonderful friend Teresa into joining us in Alabama and to take on the role of Children's Minister for the new church. I still feel bad for talking her into it and feel the need to apologize for it every time I see her. And I'm feeling the need now as well, so...I'm sorry TT! Although, I don't know how I would have muddled through that experience without you! ANYWAY, we did have some GOOD times there, too, because we were together and one of our favorite things to do to ease the pain was eat! Tuscaloosa had some great restaurants. Depalma's was my favorite. They had these humongous Calzones that were out of this world GOOD...Ooey gooey good.


Pizza Hut, Wakefield, England, United Kingdom

Yes, you read that right. My favorite restaurant when we lived in England was Pizza Hut! England is a beautiful, cultural place, but the food? Not my cup of tea, although there was a good Chippy (fish and chips) just down the road from our little flat that was quite good. I was always homesick for American food and most of the American restaurants that they had there didn't taste quite right. But the Pizza Hut? It did...it really did. The pizza tasted like home and the soda tasted like home. It was like stepping through a portal back into the US for a brief period of time. Thank you Pizza Hut!


The Story Inn in Story, Indiana

I grew up in Columbus, Indiana and right before we moved here Rich and I lived there for awhile. We found a treasure of a place in Story, Indiana near Nashville. Nashville is in Brown County, Indiana. It is an unusually hilly part of Indiana and a bit of a tourist area, but quaint. Story is well off the beaten path and the restaurant at the Inn is absoluely WONDERFUL. Rich and I celebrated all of our special occasions there. If you click on the link you'll see that on the outside it looks old and delapidated, but the inside is very homey and the food is actually gourmet and absolutely WONDERFUL!

Charlie Palmer Steakhouse, Las Vegas, Nevada

Last summer we celebrated our 10th anniversary in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel. If you ever have a chance to stay at a Four Season Hotel, do it. It is LUXURIOUS. One of my favorite parts was laying by the pool being spritzed by Evian. It was that posh. By the way, Rich also attended a conference while we were there so part of our accomodations were paid by his work...otherwise we would not have been able to stay there. Our dining highlight was definitely eating at Charlie Palmer Steakhouse. We actually planned on splurging with this meal, but ended up getting the meal for free because the hotel messed up something with our bill. Bummer, huh? Okay, so I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say the steak I ate there was DIVINE. By far the best I have ever had and probably the best I will ever have unless they mess up our bill again the next time we visit the Four Seasons in Las Vegas (because you can't always read sarcasm, I'll just let you know that last bit about visiting the Four Seasons again...sarastic...probably not going to happen). The cost of this restaurant was a bit exorbitant, but worth a try if you are in the mood for splurge.

That's all folks. If YOU'D like to partake, consider yourself tagged.