Our favorite restaurants

Last night, Matt and I tried to come up with a list of our favorite 10 restaurants in the world (alas, we couldn't think of any outside the US worth putting on the list). Here's roughly what we came up with: (order is approximate)

1. Frontera Grill - Chicago
2. Alan Wong's - Honolulu
3. Chuy's - Austin
4. Pepe's - New Haven, Connecticut
5. Royer's Round Top Cafe - Round Top, Texas
6. Portillo's - Schaumburg, Illinois (or other locations, but that's the one I've been to)
7. Cooper's - Llano, Texas
8. Mi Nidito - Tuscon Artizona (Matt) - Daniel's Bagels, NYC (Becky, just because I've never been to Tuscon)
9. The Flatbread Company - Paia (Maui) Hawaii
10. Kreutz Market - Lockhart, Texas
    

These restaurants range from places that are about 3 miles from our house (Chuy's) to things that are across half an ocean (Wong's). They contrast real Mexican (Frontera) with tex-mex (Chuy's) and Sonoran (Mi Nidito). They contrast beautiful interiors with professional wait-staff and places you order at a counter or don't get any forks. Pizza is represented twice (Pepe's & Flatbread) and BBQ twice (Cooper's & Kreutz). We came up with this list after an excellent meal at Royer's Round Top Cafe, which serves up amazing gourmet comfort food in a town of only 77 residents.

These are all places that unconsciously make us smile. :)

Runners up would be:

• Mi Tierra at Market Square in San Antonio. Yes, I believe there's a place for cheese-covered, gloppy Tex-Mex (said by someone who really likes true Mexican cuisine). Mi Tierra satisfies my classic Tex-Mex-tooth better than any other place we've found.
  
• Chef Lupe's in New Mexico, but mostly because it's filled with happy memories of eating with family. (though the New Mexican style food is amazing)