Congratulations are in order for Tim Love’s Woodshed Smokehouse, which landed on The Daily Meal’s list of America’s 101 best restaurants this past week. It was the only Fort Worth restaurant to make the list, and one of four restaurants in Texas. Oddly enough, Chow Baby wasn’t impressed when visiting there last year. I haven’t eaten there yet myself. (Did any of you readers think I was Chow Baby? I’m not.)
I was surprised to discover how many restaurants on Daily Meal’s list I have eaten at, even though I don’t consider myself a food tourist. I remember a spectacular French onion soup at Congress (No. 89) in Austin, though it appears that that place has changed its entire format since I was last there. Spiaggia (No. 46) in Chicago served me the perfect caprese salad. Seriously, it was the platonic ideal of caprese salads, with exactly the right balance of tartness and salt. (The wild boar gnocchi and gelato that followed it made it one of the most memorable meals I’ve had.) The five-spice duck at Seattle’s Dahlia Lounge (No. 86) is no joke, it’s terrific. The same goes for the duck breast at Commander’s Palace (No. 18) in New Orleans. (Yeah, I do like a good piece of duck.) You may wind up waiting a couple of hours for a table if you turn up at Phoenix’s Pizzeria Bianco (No. 77) on a busy Saturday night, but the brick-oven pies there are worth the wait.
Weigh in below, readers. How does our Woodshed stack up to the other restaurants on the list? And what should I order when I do visit the Woodshed?
