What type of "exotic" ethnic restaurants are in your area?

[Denninmi]

By "exotic" I mean something other than your run of the mill Chinese/Italian/Mexican.

We have some interesting ethnic restaurants in the Detroit area: Nepalese, Ethiopian, Korean, Brazilian. A new Macedonian restaurant just opened in the region a couple of months ago.

Ironically, I rarely eat out, but when I do, I definitely enjoy something out of the ordinary.

[Shagbark Hickory]

1. All of it. Ethiopian, Viatnamese, Korean, Indian, Brazilian. Well all of it except for Italian...

For some reason we don't seem to have any italian restaurants here in the atlanta area.

We don't have any kosher delis either except for one or two.

[GoCubsGo]

2. Nothing anywhere near that exotic here.

The most "exotic" restaurants we have here are Thai and Indian. There are one or two Korean restaurants about 20 miles from here. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the Indian restaurant is still going. I'm guessing it's due to all the transplants here.

[bigwillq]

3. New Haven, CT

has a really good selection of exotic and ethnic places.

[Odin2005]

4. There is a little West African restaurant here in Fargo.

I have never went there, but I want to.

Right in downtown Fargo there is a Vietnamese restaurant that is amazing. the only place in town where I have found authentic spring rolls.

[alphafemale]

5. There's a combo German/Thai place in a nearby town.

Neither one all that exotic on it's own but it is a pretty need place.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Mama Luiga's Tex-Mex Kosher Curried Sushi.

:P

[MorningGlow]

39. Do not mock

There was a place near where we lived a few years ago, Luigi's Pizza, that diversified--split the restaurant in half and started serving Chinese--oh wait "Chinese" (the MSG-laden stuff that comes in gallon tubs)--on the other side. We started calling it Luigi's Chinese, even though I don't think that was the official name of the restaurant.

[Generic Brad]

7. Kurdish

That is correct. There is a Kurdish restaurant in walking distance to my home. It is strictly vegetarian.

[nolabear]

8. Greek, Korean, Vietnamese, Ethipoian, Cajun, Indian Thali, Thai vegan,

Asian Fusion Street Food, Pho, Japanese, Indonesian, French, Spanish, and a bunch I can't remember. It's heaven.

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. Vietnamese and Thai restaurants are my favorites -- and we have quite a collection...

.
.
.
... of those in Tucson (I have my favorite of each that I always go to).
.
.
We got our second Ethiopian restaurant -- I highly recommend a visit to
one. No silverware, so go with someone whose hand-washing habits you
trust... as you'll probably be sharing dishes and tastes.
.
.
Here's the original restaurant's website. We got sampler platters like
that so we could try everything. The tortilla-looking thing that the
food is sitting on is injera -- a thin spongy pancake. They serve the
meal with extras and you tear off a piece and wrap it around a portion
of the food and bring it to your mouth. Much reaching and sharing -- FUN!!!
.
.
We brought our own wine -- most Ethiopian places (if they don't have a
liquor license) allow that.
.
http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/arizona/zemams.html
.
.
.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. You name it.

A lot of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants, several Indian places; some others I've eaten at include Tibetan, Ethiopian, Afghan, German, Korean, Greek, Cuban and Peruvian.

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. Soul food. So far as I'm concerned, chitterlins and ox tail are super-exotic.

On the other side, I love sushi, although Uni is a challenge.

[JesterCS]

12. Does Chinese count? n/t

[AsahinaKimi]

13. San Francisco?

ALL OF THEM!! Name a country's cuisine, its there.

[mulsh]

29. East bay has the only Iranian/Italian restaurant I've ever seen.

I Squared, http://www.i2squared.com/. the have even won an award for the "best Iranian/Italian dish" although I suspect they gave them selfs that one.

[AsahinaKimi]

31. Iranian?

Pretty sure there is one in the Haight Asburry area now. I seem to recall some one mentioning one there. Could google it..but I am not going to waste an effort trying to find something that I probably won't even try. (Its difficult to eat out these days, with SF prices!)

[mulsh]

36. Persian. I know of a couple of Persain places in the bay area

but as far as I know I Squared is the only "Iranian/Italian" restaurant.

[AsahinaKimi]

38. okay lets see..

Lavash
4.5 star rating
499 reviews Rating Details

Category: Persian/Iranian
511 Irving St
(between 6th Ave & 7th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset

[phone]
www.lavashsf.com

menu:
http://www.lavashsf.com/valentinespecial.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alborz Persian Cuisine
Categories: Middle Eastern, Persian/Iranian
1245 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA 94109
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
[phone]
www.alborzrestaurants.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maykadeh Persian Cuisine
Category: Persian/Iranian
470 Green St
(between Varennes St & Grant Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94133
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
[phone]
www.maykadehrestaurant.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zaré at Fly Trap
Categories: Mediterranean, Persian/Iranian
606 Folsom St
(between 2nd St & Hawthorne St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
Neighborhood: SOMA
[phone]
www.zareflytrap.com
menu: http://www.zareflytrap.com/menus_1.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annar
Categories: Persian/Iranian, Food Stands, Middle Eastern
Island Earth Farmers Market
101 4th St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: SOMA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's five in the city that have Iranian menu.

[quakerboy]

49. I think you missed their point

I think they felt it was the combination of Iranian and Italian that was the stand out interesting nature of the restaurant they named.

[AsahinaKimi]

52. I was under the impression

that it was stated, that there were no Iranian Restaurants in San Francisco. If that was not the statement, than I misunderstood. I simply stated before, that in San Francisco, you can find nearly every country's type of cuisine here in the city. (Good example is Ethiopian, its lovely food!) That includes, as I have provided, a list of Iranian Restaurants.

[whistler162]

14. There's a Scottish place McDonald's or something like that

an a couple of Italian places including some fancy place called Pizza Hut(there are or where other real Italian places), a Chinese place, and a Mexican place(Azteca Mexican Grill). But that is only within about 5 miles of Camillus NY.

[Chan790]

19. No Canadian?

Even back in CT, we had diners that put poutine on the menu...and once a month or so, someone would bring some Tim Hortons around.

[whistler162]

21. They sell Tim Hortons at the local supermarket but

no Tim Horton's within a 5 mile or so raidus.

Had Canadian T-Day dinner there one year when I travelled up to Toronto, who knew they have strange days for holidays. Not a bad soup and sandwich.

[AngryAmish]

15. If there is a cuisine that is not available in my area I am not aware of it

Definately one of the perk of living in the big city.

Walking distance is ...halal butchers, Afghan, korean places out the wazoo, greek, thai, phillipino, ecuardorean, Pollo Campanero (great chicken chain from Guatamala), ukbek, indian, pakistani, some african joints, vietnamese and a host of other places I have forgotten about.

[hobbit709]

16. Here in Austin you can find just about anything.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Olive Garden, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut.

Those are all exotic ethnic restaurants to me. :P

Seriously, I've lived my adult life in major urban areas and there's never a shortage of new cuisines to try.

[rurallib]

18. I live in a small town that is half latino - so we have many Meican restaurants

they are small mom and pop places and the food is not the usual taco bell schlock. Food from home. Some really good, some I don't care for.

[bif]

20. Yemeni & Polish

Both in Hamtramck.

[whistler162]

22. Always forget about the Polish place the next town over....

[kentauros]

23. In Houston, the entire world is represented here.

Look under the "Search by cuisine" fly-out on The Houston Press' Restaurant section, and so far, every country I've stopped on had at least one restaurant by that country's cuisine. Houston is a very international city, so no shortage of exotic foods :D

[hifiguy]

24. We have pretty much everything

in Minneapolis.

Countless Vietnamese places, Thai, Cambodian, Korean, West African, Brazilian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Lebanese/Middle Eastern and that's just with a moment's thought.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

25. Subway.

I live in the middle of east Shitholia.

We have a Subway sandwich store and a Dollar General store out on the bypass.

[Taverner]

26. If I head West, I get Ethiopian, Kenyan, and Zulu food

If I keep heading West I get Burmese, Hmong and Mayan

[RebelOne]

27. There are lots of exotic restaurants in Atlanta.

I live just outside of Atlanta and do not want to brave the traffic to try them. But there was an excellent Thai restaurant in Marietta near where I used to work (was laid off in 2010). You could get get your food spicy hot or extra spicy hot. I always ordered the extra hot because I love spicy foods. I love Ethiopian food though I have never eaten in an Ethiopian restaurant. I was fortunate enough to have a friend in Miami whose husband was from Ethiopia and he would cook quite often. It was also hot and spicy

[cemaphonic]

28. Malaysian

Unsurprisingly, it's kind of a blend of Indian, Chinese, and Indonesian food.

We've also got all the ones on your list, except for Macedonian.

Also, about a million Thai and Indian restaurants, but they both seem to be on their way to being as ubiquitous as Chinese.

[applegrove]

30. There are lots of Indian restaurants nearby.

[Deep13]

32. I think we've got an Olive Garden.

The Midwest is a cultural desert.

[oneshooter]

33. Does Waffle House count? n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Minneapolis/St. Paul has lots of Vietnamese and Thai restaurants

as well as Ethiopian, Russian, Korean, Taiwanese (as opposed to regular Chinese), Polish, Brazilian, Cuban, Indian, Greek, Malaysian, Afghan, Lebanese, Nepali, Tibetan, Turkish, Caribbean, Spanish, and a few others I can't recall offhand. Few German and no Scandinavian, oddly enough. When I lived here in the 1980s, there were Sri Lankan and Cambodian restaurants, too, but I don't know if there are any now.

In Portland, I had Moroccan and Nigerian food, in addition to some of the ones mentioned for Minneapolis.

The oddest one I ever saw was the Chinese-Jewish Delicatessen in New Haven, Connecticut.

[Rhythm]

35. Morgantown has a Kenyan restaurant...

http://www.kenyancafe.com/menu.html

Gets great reviews from the local food critic and customers!

[annonymous]

37. Baltimore has Nepalese, Jamaican and Afghan eateries

There are also Vietnamese, Thai, Brazilian, Mexican, Dominican, Peruvian and Persian restaurants. I have never been to any of them but that's because I'm broke and can't afford to eat out.

[MorningGlow]

40. Exotic? Aaaahahahahaaaaa

Well, we have two different pizza places in our village. Does that count?

[frogmarch]

41. Here in my western Nebraska

town, no one thinks of the local Chinese Restaurant as exotic, but we all agree that the newly opened New York Pizza is.

[expatriate2mex]

42. Well here in mexico I guess it would be

Chili's.:) Just kidding, a very good brazilian bbq and japanese place nearby.

[femmocrat]

43. Just a biker bar here.

We used to have a roadhouse, but it burned down.

[Ikonoklast]

44. This foreign investor just gave our city council his plans for a new restaurant.

When asked about what type of cuisine he'll have to offer, he answered that it would be like nothing we'd ever had in our town before.

He also mentioned that he'll be doing lots of charitable work in partnership with nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and for some reason, the county morgue, as a way of giving back to the community.

We are all very excited.

[Kat45]

45. My small, 4-square-mile town has 3 Persian restaurants.

That's probably not too common. If I go into nearby cities/towns, most ethnicities are probably represented: Afghani, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Haitian, Dominican, Moroccan, Armenian, Argentinian, Brazilian (many), Turkish --and that's just off the top of my head.

[SwampG8r]

46. we have an irish place

mcdonalds
its not very good

[u4ic]

47. I had a kangaroo burger tonight

Topped with beets, tomatoes, lettuce, and an egg. Most exotic thing I've had in a long time.

The city in which I live is quite multicultural - every year we have a massive festival with 80+ different cultures represented, including their foods, dances, merchandise, pavillions, etc. I can find almost any world cuisine here.

We have a very large East Indian population, sooo many fantastic Indian restaurants. But I don't consider it exotic, nor Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Afghani, Jamaican, etc.

The roo burger...different story. ;)

[Ikonoklast]

51. Eeeewwwwwwwwww!

You eat beets?

[Patiod]

48. NW Phila: Gullah and Persian

We're big fans of "Geechee Girl Rice Cafe", which serves delicious mash-up of Creole, African, and Southern food in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.

A little further out on Germantown Pike, in Lafayette Hill, we also like the Persian Grill. What was funny was that this restaurant has been around for many years, and saw no downturn in business during the Iranian hostage crisis, because people didn't associated Persian = Iranian!

One of the joys of living in a major metro area is the wide range of delicious options.

[LeftishBrit]

50. In Oxford, lots...

Besides the nationalities you mention: Indian (which is common here); Greek, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Slovakian, Turkish, Lebanese, Moroccan, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Nepalese, Malaysian, Mongolian, Jamaican and other Caribbaean, Brazilian, etc.