Non-park food

okay guys & gals, I had a crazy thought: We all chat about which parks have great, good & crappy food, but what about those places you like to eat OUTSIDE the parks. National chains shuch as McD's, Ruby Tuesday's, and Sonic are out, but i'm taling about the little "mom & Pop's" joints you can't miss year after year.

By in the area, how about 30 minutes drive away?

For example, while in Sandusky, I develped a taste for the perch sandwiches at the Sandusky Fish Co. downtown.

As for up here in New Hampshire, it's the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, NH, which is about 25 minutes north of Canobie Lake in Salem, NH.

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From the Disney resort in Anaheim: Take the 5 South, 22 West, Brookhurst South, Bolsa West (right turn). Try just about any of the little Pho shops there in Little Saigon. Mmmmm Pho....just 30 minutes away.

Say "Hi" to Martin Sheen....er...Captain Willard when you are down there. ;)

*** Edited 4/1/2008 7:21:30 PM UTC by janfrederick***

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Technically, at one time didn't the Alamo at Knoebels used to be "outside" the park? hehe.

There is a little Mexican place in Sandusky called Two Brothers or something which is pretty good. There is a really good Mexican place in Williamsburg near an ihop, I forget the name though so I am no help.

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In Danville, not too far from Knoebels, is Brews & Bytes, a little internet cafe with a very eccentric, but good, menu. (Weird hours though.) http://www.brewsnbytes.com

For Sandusky, OH, I'd recommend Toft's Dairy for great ice cream at low prices (for the amount of ice cream you get). There's a pizza place in town too called Chet & Matt's Pizza which has OK pizza but the atmosphere is pretty cool. There's a huge wall mural that is painted full of local community people, OSU and Browns players, and other Ohio-bred celebrities.

Two words: Zankou Chicken!

If you are ever in Orlando, there is an awesome seafood restaurant on Sand Lake Rd (about a mile off of I-Drive) called Moonfish. It aint cheap, and may not technically be "mom and pop" but it's the best food I have ever had. Anytime I am in Orlando, I try to have a meal there.

If you are ever in Wildwood, NJ, Sam's Pizza on the Boardwalk is a classic "mom and pop" pizza joint with some of the best pizza you will ever have.

toast and jams in Muskegon, MI (Michigan's Adventure).

Superdawg or Portillo's in Chicago, IL (Kiddieland)

Fatman's Inn or Backyard Steak Pit in Gurnee, IL (Six Flags Great America)

Florida Seafood in Cocoa Beach, Florida (Kennedy Space Center)

Sienna Flats pizza in Celebration (Kissimmee), FL (WDW)

White Wolf Cafe in Orlando, FL

There's a Couple of :) ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT :) Brazilian Restaurants on International Drive near Kirkman Drive in Orlando. They go by the names of CAMILLAS and VITTORIOS. A Meal will cost you about $ 12.00 plus Tax & Tip. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND either of them if you are visiting the Theme Parks in the Orlando Area. (You can, Literally have TWICE the food for HALF the price of food in the theme parks! :)

Answer my Prayers, Overbook my next flight!

Chet and Matt's in Sandusky!

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I forgot about Chet & mats! Somebody slap me silly!

Another good joint in Sandusky is the ORIGIONAL Margaritville.

Another place I loved in Sandusky was Toft's dairy out on Route 6. Their SMALL (for about $2.95) ice cream is about the size of most places LARGES!

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Any lake/bayside dining in Sandusky?

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There are a couple of burger joints and custard stands along the lake adjacent to Seabreeze. We always walk to them when we spent a day at the park.

^ Charlieburger! (Although I think that's somewhere around town, not right near the park)

Yeah, I don't think that's one of the places near the park, although I should probably check it out. I want to say one of the places near the park is called Don's...?

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eightdotthree said:
Any lake/bayside dining in Sandusky?

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Damon's in downtown Sandusky @ Battery Park. Great view of CP across Sandusky Bay.

Pretty good food also.

Other places for good food;

Mexican - Casa Fiesta (Sandusky)
Italian - Marconi's Italian Restaurant (Huron)
Pizza - Cameo Pizza(Sandusky)
Steak/Chops - Red Gable Mesquite Grill (Sandusky)
French - Zinc Brasserie (downtown Sandusky)
Japanese/Sushi - Samurai Japanese Steak House - (Sandusky)
Family Style - Berardi's Family Kitchen - Sandusky

-Tambo

*** Edited 4/2/2008 2:17:06 PM UTC by tambo***

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Hopman said:
National chains shuch as McD's, Ruby Tuesday's, and Sonic are out,

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Living in New England now I'm not able to subject my body to some of my favorite non-national chains.

So as a serious foodist myself I'm with you on the mom 'n' pop shops but if I'm in an area with a Chick-fil-A, White Castle, In-N-Out, Checkers/Rally's, Gold Star, Skyline, etc....MMM MMM get outta the way of this fat boy.

I'm not a big fan of restaurant chains either, but I am big on ones that I can't normally visit. There are no In-N-Outs in NJ, and while we do have scattered Chick-Fil-As and Carrabbas, they're not close enough to me to visit with any regularity. I'll gladly go to a chain restaurant that I like, especially if it's something I can't normally visit.

I really only travel for the food. The coasters and parks are secondary.

In general:
Libertyland, SFAW/SFoT, and PCar were parks I visited for the local BBQ joints. ;)
SFFT/SWT are good to visit for TexMex (as, oddly enough, was Lakeside/SFEG).
SCBB was near an absolutely incredible chinese restaurant (hottest and tastiest twice-cooked park I've ever had).
SFEV/Fun Forest/Puyallup - smoked salmon and scones.
Coney Island - Pizza and Nathan's dogs.
Funtown/Splashtown/Old Orchard Beach - lobster rolls.
Mt. Olympus/Timber Falls - Mt O has the yummy gyros, but there's also a dee-lish Culver's right near the interstate. We don't have Culver's here.
DL/Knott's - as Moosh said, it's all about the Zankou... :)

Barely have time to ride rides... ;)