Roadfood, Gourmet, and in-between

I'm on my third review of Roadfood places for my local area (Long Island, NY). They are definite roadfood style places: a little shack tucked off the side of the road that serves impressive BBQ, a local fastfood hamburger mecca that hand-cuts its fries and whose burgers shame the chains', and a Caribbean place that overwhelmes with choices of splendid dishes.

And yet, two of the places I'd like to include the most, don't perhaps qualify. Or do they? I don't know if this is the purpose of the "Gourmet" checkbox in the Submit Content screens, or if that's even necessary.
One is a Japanese place, focusing on sushi. I haven't been to criminally priced places like Nobu, but I've had sushi in plenty of locations, and this place is the best. There was even a NY TImes review that stated that the two best Japanese meals the reviewer had on Long Island were in this place.And yet, it's not very well known. It's hardly fancy: you can get takeout here, too. The restaurant itself is nice looking, but it's not the sort of place that has a maître d’. Sushi, of course, isn't inexpensive.

The other is a Thai place that's almost a hole in the wall. Clean and very nicely decorated, but my kitchen at home is about the same size. Service is by the owner, who madly dashes about trying to serve everyone, and/or by someone who looks like her young daughter. And so far, it has been the *only* place I've been to that actually makes the food as spicy as I ask for. And, of course, they do takeout. Lunch is generally cheap ($6-$7), and dinner isn't much more.

So, are places like that generally not usable for formal review?

In Knoxvillle, there are a couple of places that come to mind. First is the Phillipine Connection on Magnolia with great Lumpia and the second is Mary's Tamales on Magnolia with great tamales with Missippis origon.

Both are super and I have personally tried them.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Scott,if you post them in the forums, roadfooders will come. Trust me.

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

In Knoxvillle, there are a couple of places that come to mind. First is the Phillipine Connection on Magnolia with great Lumpia and the second is Mary's Tamales on Magnolia with great tamales with Missippis origon.

Both are super and I have personally tried them.

I'm not certain how that relates to my question.