Yes, ANOTHER list! I know, this time of year we practically are drowning in them.  I read most and though I find many interesting, funny or informative, I also find some to be utterly ridiculous.  Like a list I just read for top new restaurants in Phoenix for 2011.  One had JUST opened ( I am talking December, people).  Another I had eaten at and let me tell you, “best” is not a word I would use to describe ANY part of my experience there.  So,  being an obsessive list maker myself, I figured I would go ahead and add my two cents.  What follows is my list for my best and worst meals of 2011.

I will start with the best.  Sadly, there weren’t many.  Living in a small town has something to do with that, but even when we took trips into the city, we had many disappointing meals.   My first best meal of 2011 was at Oregano’s in Scottsdale, AZ.  The food was great as usual, but it was more than that.  As many of you know, food is just part of what makes a meal good or bad.  Service, atmosphere and whom you are sharing that meal with also play a part.  So this meal at Oregano’s hit on all of those… We sat outside and the weather was perfect.  Had a great server.  And I was eating with my husband.  All came together to make it a best.  We ate thin crust pizza with fresh tomato & garlic, Caesar salad and an over the top artichoke dip.  I drank a very nice Zinfandel and for those two hours, all was right with the world.  My next best meal also occurred in Scottsdale.  It was breakfast at Chompies.  A N.Y. style deli with huge portions and a fabulous wait staff.  We went for lunch.  My husband ate a Fowl Ball Reuben.  It is a classic Reuben with thousand island and sauerkraut, but instead of corned beef, it comes with roasted turkey.  We shared some of the best french fries I had eaten all year.  Not greasy, fluffy on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside.  I ate wonderful house-made cole slaw and a HUGE Chef’s salad with even more of their decadent thousand island Dressing.  On the way out we bought fresh bialy (they were still warm!) and giddily ate them in the car.  The third and last ( I make short lists!) was just recently in Flagstaff, AZ.  Sad, ALL of our best were out-of-town meals… But I digress.  We had appetizers at Little America & looked at their spectacular Holiday light display.  We sat in the bar at a window table with a perfect view of the decorations.  We both had Caesar salads.  Crisp lettuce with a lemony garlic infused creamy dressing.  We also split sweet potato fries and a caprese salad that came with asparagus and a balsamic reduction.  The service was great. The Malbec was smooth. And the Holiday lights were a perfect backdrop to this relaxing meal.

Now to the worst… Sadly, I had a lot more trouble just picking three for this list.  So here are the three worst.  The first was at a new family owned  Italian restaurant in Scottsdale.  First, let me say the decor reminded me of a movie set.  It all seemed VERY temporary. Our server was doing his best, but he was lacking.  Didn’t know the specials, couldn’t open a bottle of wine and basically needed to “learn” how to serve.  The bread was ice-cold with burnt onions on top.  The mussels were not hot enough & came with crostini that was so hard, it could have been used as a weapon.  My salad was billed on the menu as coming with a red wine dressing & shaved vegetables.  Instead, I got warm lettuce, doused in straight balsamic with julienne carrots.  Husband’s chicken was dry & tasteless and my pizza was covered in ash.  Time to clean the oven! Really, one of my worst meals ever.  The second worst meal I had was at a new local steakhouse.   Nice decor and friendly service.  Too bad the food was so awful. The cheddar biscuits they serve were hard, cold and tasteless.  My husband ordered a steak and I ordered a grilled Portobello sandwich on toasted sourdough.  My husband’s steak was mealy and had super salty sauce on it.  The sauce tasted like REDUCED soy sauce.  My sandwich and fries were cold. And the bread was not only not toasted, but was completely soggy and falling apart.  We left and got pizza.  The last worst meal (oh, we had more, I just want to keep my list evenly distributed) was at an Italian restaurant in Jerome.  We went for our anniversary.  We were one of only three seated tables in the restaurant.  The server was nice enough, but to be quite honest, he needed a bath.  His hair was greasy and he was wearing filthy jeans about three sizes too big.  They only had a few wines by the glass and the chianti I ordered was warm and sour.  It took us 20 minutes to get bread.  Served with rock hard butter that tasted like an old freezer.  Another 20 minutes to get our salads.  They were supposed to be Caesar, but they had SPROUTS and shaved carrots.  We should have paid and made a break for it then.  But it was our anniversary, so we stayed and waited another 45 minutes for our entrees.  My husband ordered Chicken Parmesan.  What he received was one of the oddest dishes I have ever seen.  A bowl that looked like it was filled with Bolognese sauce.  We later determined that it wasn’t meat in the sauce, but breading from the chicken. No cheese, except for some ricotta and it was a treasure hunt through the sauce to find the burnt chicken.  My pizza had no sauce and was on a commercial crust.  Really? 45 minutes?  The piece de resistance was when the Chef (I use this term loosely) walked around the dining room in dirty clothes, coughing and asking how everything was tasting…

Looking back on a year’s worth of meals is interesting.  You relive every bite, both good and bad. And every restaurant moment.  I realized I spend a lot of time eating out!  And that  I will happily go back to every one of my best restaurants in 2012.  In fact, I will make a point of it.  The bad? No. I am not a masochist.  As I write this, we are planning where to go out and eat this Friday.  My last restaurant meal of 2011.  Would like to say we are going to try something new, but I can’t.  More than likely an old favorite.  Because who wants to end the year with a bad meal? Not me!