Your average Columbian would likely agree with us if we claimed that Michelle Wang's "M" restaurants have the overall best Chinese food in town. I say average Columbia, because there are always outliers (like Hot Pockets), who will take issue with any sweeping claim that we might make. However, the best sushi?!? I was a little skeptical that Columbia would agree with this humble blogger that Miyo's/M-Vista/M-Cafe also has the best sushi in town. In reality, I believe it is the sushi rolls that garnered the "M" restaurants nearly 30% of your votes, placing the "M" restaurants #1 in our sushi poll.
Notably, for the first time ever, we had a three-way tie at second, between Camon, Saki, and Tsunami, obtaining 10 votes and 18% of the support apiece. I agree that Camon and Saki are right at the top. In fact, if I am craving sashimi or nigiri instead of sushi rolls, I prefer Saki over the "M" restaurants. Maybe it is simply psychological, but Saki's sashimi seems the freshest to me. Sakitumi came in a distant third, obtaining only 6 votes; Sushi Yoshi, often heavily criticized by the Lunchmen landed 3 votes, and Fujiya only obtained 1 vote (ouch).
Michelle, please keep up the delicious work!
What a response to this poll! Columbia, we might not be New York or Chicago, but we sure love our pizza. The Lunchmen have received weeks of praise and abuse for this poll. Some natives loved the inclusion of LaBrasca's (13 votes, 14%), while other responders railed us for not placing Za's, the Mellow Mushroom, or Z-Pizza on the list. I disagree that those other places should have been included, as I think that gourmet pizza is really its own category. However, I am sure most of us can agree on one thing - the Pizza Joint has failed to impress (8 votes, 8%), and it probably did not belong in the top five poll.
The most popular pizza spots made it a photo finish for the top prize. After jumping out to an early lead, Dano's was even momentarily overtaken by the Village Idiot (29 votes, 31%), and the two Pizza giants ran neck-and-neck right up until the end. Even the loyal Pizza Man (23 votes, 25%) supporters came out to keep us on the edge of our seats into the final days of voting. However, when the smoke cleared, Dano's (31 votes, 33%) was victorious.
Can I say that I am happy with this result? You'd better believe it. Dano's white Sicilian with meatballs - that's right, delicious, sliced meatballs - is my personal favorite pizza in town. I'm going to go have one this weekend, along with a cool pitcher of Bass, just to celebrate Dano's victory. Congratulations, Dano's, keep the good pie coming.
- Tank
We asked, you (a few) answered. Chipotle's appearance in Trenholm Plaza prompted this poll. The point of the poll, as its overtly critical title suggested, was to ask whether Columbia really needed another chain "Fresh-Mex" restaurant serving massive burritos. Based on the votes we received, apparently the Fresh-Mex restaurants we already had were pretty boo. Only three people jumped in to support Moe's; only two of you voted for Qdoba; and Salsarita, well, its just the dorky kid at the party, leaning against the wall and sippin' a Capri Sun, and just hoping that someday somebody will like him. Chipotle wins by a landslide.
The Publican, Rabbit and I gave Chipotle a shot a couple of weeks ago. Its not bad. The burrito is not really my thing, but I can see why you all liked it best. My play there is the barbacoa tacos; Rabbit, as you may imagine, he likes the salad. Hey, welcome to the neighborhood, Chipotle, Columbia is glad to have you.
Food does not get much more controversial than barbecue. There are places in the Carolinas where people will argue for hours over the merits of vinegar vs. mustard vs. tomato-based Q. However, Doc's Barbecue has clearly made an impact the past couple of years on Columbia pork-lovers. Doc's is good enough to impress our Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and its good enough to persuade our readers that it is the best Q that Columbia has to offer. Second place, well, I was surprised to see that it wasn't even close. As we suspected, Palmetto Pig, Hudson's, Little Pigs, and Shealy's all had some support. However, at the end of the day, and perhaps due to good sidekicks like the catfish bites, the collards, and the tastiest (and probably most unhealthy) potato salad in Columbia, Doc's pulled pork has won the hearts of our readers - Congratulations Doc's, we'll be seeing you next Saturday as we load up for the Carolina/Clemson tailgate.
Thanks to all of you who voted in our inaugural poll on one of the most important topics facing Columbia today - where we can find the best hamburger. Garnering 40% of the total votes, you have indicated that I was right all along - Five Guys Burger and Fries puts out the tastiest burger in Columbia. Although I'm slow to endorse any chain, when food is this good you can't knock it just because it is produced in multiple cities. Five Guys have elevated the chain hamburger with the use of never-frozen beef, freshly sliced produced, custom-ordered buns, and all the fixings a burger-lover could desire for the same low price. My burger is usually a 1000-calorie creation consisting of two beef patties, bacon, cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, mustard, mayo, and A-1 sauce, and it is so unwieldy by the time the speedy staff of Five Guys is done building it that it ends up looking like a train wreck. If only all train wrecks were so delicious....
In our estimation, famous Columbia establishment Rockaway's and flashy new-comer Pauley's Front Porch put out the second-best burgers in Columbia. You agreed, giving both establishments 23% percent each of the remaining vote. The Rockaway burger, which comes topped with the best pimento cheese in town, is so good that former President George W. Bush could not resist its lure during his last trip to Columbia. As for Pauley's, well, we have already dedicated an entry of this blog to rave about the nifty burger creations they are cranking out, but these burgers are so good that they deserve another shout-out here. If you want to ride the next wave of burger innovation, saddle up to the bar at Pauley's and experience a burger that you could not have dreamed up on your own.
Apparently, we have overlooked some favorites. It was inevitable, considering how many tasty burgers our restaurants serve up. 11% of you thought that Columbia's burger was simply not on our ballot. Please post a comment and let us know which ones we missed, because I'd hate to think that somewhere here in town is a hidden jewel of a burger that the Lunchmen have yet to tackle!
