📍 Address: 8557 Research Blvd, Ste 126, Austin

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

Small, popular ramen restaurant with a lot of veggie options: vegan mazemen (brothless ramen, not available for dinner), edamame, spicy edamame, sweet & sour fried brussels sprouts, veggie ramen (only available during Sunday dinner service), and a curry bowl! Be prepared for a wait. When I was there the line was down the sidewalk pretty far, but the line was fairly quick! Enjoyed the sake options as well!

📍 Address: 32 Church St, Cambridge

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

This place has very good Mexican food! It's always packed and it amazes me how cheap it is! Highly recommend!

📍 Address: 308 Main St, Malden

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐ (3)

This place was a disappointment. Their chicken masala was probably one of the worse masala's I've had. Their chicken was especially tough with no taste at all. Moreover, my shrimp vindaloo was extremely depressing. Not only was the shrimp overcooked and rubbery, it had that horrible seafood bite to it which basically means the shrimp was not fresh. Sadness.

📍 Address: 4200 N Lamar Blvd, Austin

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

The tacos are good but nothing really stood out.. an underwhelming experience. I was a fan of the Otto (the bacon is great) and I liked the size of the tacos but - flavorwise - I've gotten similar (if not better) tasting tacos at places back on the east coast. Throw in the fact that our Saturday lunch wait time pushed 30 minutes, this was definitely not a fast-dining pitstop. Also, if you get the chips, don't bother wasting money on the salsa. We made the mistake assuming the salsa would be different from that found at the taco salsa bar but it was the same..

📍 Address: 180 Walker St SW, Ste B, Atlanta

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5)

This was my third time at No Mas Cantina during lunch. Today, the Queso dip with chicken and beef was way too salty. The guacamole that came with my burrito was also much too salty. The waitress was not timely in refilling beverages, which did not get refilled until we had completed our meal and requested a refill.

📍 Address: 2337 E Burnside St, Portland

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5)

So I guess the word is out: I love Southern food. There's no denying it, no matter how much crap my friends give me because of it. Southern food is hearty, flavorful, not vegan or gluten-free. As Julia Child once said, "the only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook." Still, whenever I travel to visit a friend, he or she invariably suggests southern food...and I love it. So, Screen Door it is. We showed up at about 5:30 on Sunday evening and it was HAILING outside. Clearly, people were unfazed by the mother nature's cruel joke, because the line didn't get any shorter. People were real troopers. By the time we got inside, they told us the wait was going to be 45 min. "If you're not here, you'll get skipped," the host warned us sternly. Oh well. A bar next door it is. Side note: 45-minute wait makes one's expectations exponentially higher. After waiting an appropriate amount of time, we were seated in a very quiet booth away from the door and the bar. Bonus! We started with 2 flights of whiskey, just to try all of their 6 offerings. I am just going to say it: starting your meal 3 shots of whiskey is a great idea. $22 well spent. As my friend and I were looking at the menu, we noticed that EVERYTHING sounded amazing. As we were trying to zero in on a few items, we took turns saying "but I also want to try that!" Sometimes choices are tough. We started with the gumbo, the fried okra and the hush puppies. The gumbo was thick, flavorful and hearty. The okra was OK, but the hush puppies were AMAZING. They were easily the best hush puppies I've had NOT in the South. We shared two entrees: the pork shoulder and the screen door plate, which is a plate of sides. Oh, and we ordered the grits, too. The cauliflower dish was flavorful and surprisingly NOT boring. The mac 'n' cheese was divine - I could have easily had 2 bowls by myself. The pork shoulder, sadly, was a bit dry, as was the cornbread. The grits were very good, but word of warning: eat them fast or they will turn into stale cream of wheat. I cannot wait to come back here and try the chicken and the brisket, which everyone seems to love. However, if you leave a restaurant thinking "I am so full, but wish I could have ordered more stuff," you probably had a damn good meal. :-)