86131 Thu Aug 26 02:33:48 -0700 2004 9 3 California 0 475769 hey all, i've lived in lathrop in the san joaquin valley for about 3 years. i've discovered some good places, but woefully few. got any reccomendations? sac's too far away. i'm open to all kinds of cuisines, from hole-in-the-walls to bistros. in the interest of sharing, here are favorites i found so far... burgers- wallies's in tracy and manteca. a GOOD GREASY BURGER joint. no flashy decor but burgers are nice and greasy. known for their GIANT cake size burgers. mexican- la morenita in manteca. consistently good homestyle mexican retaurant. - la costa in tracy. a good taco shack. beef quesadillas are awesome! japanese- cocoro in stockton'e miracle mile. a japanese bistro, fusion type place. they serve the best beef teriyaki... (tho not as good lately... everything else is still is pretty yummy). not your mommy's sushi -blue fin in tracy. more traditional place. serves a MEAN katsu-donburi. vietnamese- saigon in stockton in their miracle mile (not to be confused with the one in tracy). homestyle vietnamese cooking. soooo good! (i'm talking about their dinner menu) breakfast- country kitchen in latrop. like denny's or ihop, only better and cozier. -waffle shop in manteca. nice breakfast joint. honorable mention- finley's along airport road. come for their brunch... -garlic brothers in stockton. nice place to bring friends. oysters and sausage is simple but tasty! good eating -mike Thu Aug 26 02:33:48 -0700 2004 0 mike 1 475787 In Stockton, except where noted: Mexican: Xochimilco (San Joaquin St. just south of Main) is my personal fave, altho I think they must have cut back dramatically on the amount of lard, because the food is not as good as it used to be. Still good, tho. Also, Mi Ranchito (Center St. at Church?) does a good picadillo and chicana. Azteca (California St. between Miner & Channel, I think), is also really good. I do NOT recommend Arroyo's (March Lane & Quail Lakes Drive)...their food always seems too bland to me. And Carmen's (Lincoln Center North) nearly always wins the Record's 'Best of' contests...'nuff said. Chinese: Dynasty (Pacific & Ben Holt) is way better than most in town. There's also a pretty good place in the shopping center at the southeast corner of March Lane and West Lane, but I can't remember the name at the moment. If you want Americanized Chinese food (see the thread in General Topics), go to Dave Wong's. Very popular, very...American. (Another perennial Record 'Best of' winner.) Thai: Taste of Thai in Lodi (Turner Road & Church) is very good, altho it'd be a bit of a drive for you. Vietnamese: Le Kim's (Center & Park, across the street from the main library) is very good, and the owners are the kindest, warmest you could expect. Don't be dissuaded by the location/appearance. Greek: There are two Greek places in town, and both are very good. Yasoo Yani is around the corner from Xochimilco downtown, and in fact, they share a back parking lot. The other one, Papapavlos, is on the north end of town (Pacific Avenue between Rivara and Edan). Supposedly, it's Alex Spanos' favorite restaurant, if that means anything to you. The Shadows (Pacific Av. about 200 yards north of Papapavlos) has great prime rib. I don't know what else they serve, 'cause that's the only thing I ever order there! Cocoro is owned by an acquantaince, so I won't comment on it other than to say that I'm happy for him that they're doing well. That should get you started. Thu Aug 26 16:45:27 -0700 2004 475769 0 ricepad 2 475806 thanks ricepad. ever try the mexican (not sure if it was mex, definitely latin) restaurant at lincoln plaza? the one in font of sho-mi japanese restaurant? we atr at stockton joe's once. it was ok... not outstanding enough for the price. or am i missing something? -mike Fri Aug 27 01:00:00 -0700 2004 475787 0 mike 3 475809 That 'Mexican' place by Sho-mi is Carmen's, and, well, let's just say I'd rather eat at Taco Bell. The last time I ate at Carmen's, I'd swear the chicken came straight from a can. Stockton Joe's used to be pretty good, but I haven't been there since they moved to their current location. OTOH, in Lincoln Center there's Ernie's On The Brickwalk, and that place is REALLY good. Now that I think of it, Lincoln Center has several 'hound-y options. Dynasty (see my earlier post) on the south side, and Sho-mi, Ernie's, and Bud's Seafood Grille (my wife likes it, altho for some reason, I've never been) on the north side are all pretty good. Fri Aug 27 10:24:13 -0700 2004 475806 0 ricepad 4 478734 wow, lucky me. i recently moved to Stockton and live a couple blocks from Lincoln center. i guess thats the place to be. some of my Favs in town are: Dante's Pizza - giant california style pizza with great, fresh toppings. i'm more of a thin crust guy, except when it comes to Dante's. It is soo good. they have a full menu and the food looks good, but i can't go there and not get the pizza. (on Thornton, north of Hammer). Ginghis Kahn (sp?)- really good mongolian BBQ. the best i've been to in any city. (just off March Lane, behind MARSHALS) Chuck's diner- a greasy spoon type place that is the best for breakfast. simple and lots of food. try the omelette and hash browns. (on Pacific Ave) Manny's - more california style fare here. everything on the menu is really good. Deli sandwiches, fantastic hamburgers, best fries in town, Bucket of Chicken, you name it. there are a number of these around town. the one on the Miracle mile is more trendy and does have a bigger menu. the others are more of a burger joint, but still good. Tepa Taqueria- i'm a huge fan of burritos. nothing anywhere comes close to any burrito you'd get in the Mission district in SF, but Tepa does hold me over until I can get to the city. best taqueria i've found in the area. this is on March lane next to Mervyns. please keep the Stockton suggestions coming because i'm always hungry. thanks! Thu Jan 13 20:23:40 -0800 2005 475809 0 TonyR 1 476093 Manteca: 1. La Morenita on Yosemite and Union (well, in the big strip mall on Yosemite and Union anyway). Good Mexican food. They also have a few of these in Modesto and other parts of the valley. 2. Forum, a Chinese restaurant, in the Raley's at Union and Lathrop Road. 3. There's a fairly new Japanese restaurant in the same Raley's center whose name I cannot remember (I want to say Yukimi, but I don't think that's right), but the food is excellent. They're part teppan grill, part sushi bar. 4. Waffle Shop on Main Street. Good for breakfast or lunch. Reasonable prices. 5. De Vega Bros., 515 N. Main St. Very good Italian food. Modesto: Lots of good food here, I'm told, but I don't get around much because I work weird hours. I'll give you a link that goes to other people's recommendations: http://www.modestoview.com/food/default.asp I also found this link: http://www.recordnet.com/daily/lifestyle/reviews/restindex.php but some of the links seem out of date (the one to the Waffle Shop, for instance.) Fri Sep 10 05:11:05 -0700 2004 475769 0 lunza 2 476100 I wouldn't take the Record reviewer's word on much...it's been my observation that he tends to prefer Americanized versions of ethnic places, for starters. Fri Sep 10 13:22:38 -0700 2004 476093 0 ricepad 3 4015428 When I saw that the Record had named Dave Wong's as one of the Best of restaurantts, I knew that either the guy knew nothing about good food or it just might be that there aren't really any great restaurants in Stockton. I thought Dave Wong's was okay but the worst Chinese restaurant in San Francisco is better than Wong's. I found that Kinder, Manny's and Chuck's are good places to eat but none of these restaurant have the "wow" factor. My eating out policy is that if you can cook the same dishes of a restaurant with equal or better quality than you should not eat there. Sun Sep 07 12:36:33 -0700 2008 476100 224491 wahadwowy 4 4015791 "If you can cook the same dishes of a restaurant w/equal or better quality then you should not eat there." Sometimes there may not be a choice. i.e. my son goes to college in Stockton so when I visit him, we always go out to eat. Cooking in his tiny, and I do mean TINY, apartment is just not an option. A restaurant doesn't have to have a "wow" factor for us, sometimes the restaurant picked depends on such factors as, is it convenient to campus, time-efficient (for his schedule), and (for me) budget friendly? Oh, and if he has already eaten a certain cuisine (pizza, Mexican etc) that week, he doesn't want to eat it again. Those things matter more than whether I can cook the same dishes at home. Which is why we ended up at Old Spaghetti Factory (explained in another post in Chains) a few weeks ago. Once bitten, twice shy.... This is why I love Chowhound. I can find restaurants wherever I need to go, and weed out the truly bad places from the rest. Sun Sep 07 15:54:48 -0700 2008 4015428 14447 rednails 1 1740085 Isadores and Devega Brothers in Manteca are both great. Be sure to try the Thai Cafe in downtown Tracy. It is wonderful and not expensive. Wine and Roses in Lodi has wonderful upscale dining in a beautiful setting...also a great Sunday brunch buffet. Cheers! Kathy http://www.cheers2wine.com Wed Jul 12 14:41:25 -0700 2006 475769 11800 howefortunate