Restaurant withdrawal/sadness...

[JayHawk]

I happen to move ever 3 to 5 years for the last twenty and spend a large amount of the time travelling from where ever my home happens to be at the time.

While you may never replace the Chinese place you love you will find an alternate entertaining night out. Some people never get over that kind of loss of the familiar however I relish the new experience.

You'll find a new place, whether it be a simple bistro or a chain place that has an extraordinary staff. Half of the fun is in looking.

 

[JOHN B]

Actually, the opposite happened for me. There was a GREAT 24 hour place in town, and I found it about a year before they...CLOSED! It was a family restaurant. One day it was there. the next day it wasn't. They had the best grilled chicken you could ever find! Yum.....

 

[Lukeee]

Talk to the owner and see if they want to open another restaurant in the new city. It might be successful and become a chain and then you can eat their food anywhere you go.

Or steal their recipes.

 

[MercuryJones]

I haven't had that experience.

But I have had the experience of a restaurant I loved closing. We had a neighborhood Chinese place that had quite good food - a lot more fresh and firm tasting than run of the mill Chinese geared to American palates.

And they had instant delivery. I swear, the doorbell would ring practically as you were hanging up the phone after ordering.

Then one day they closed.

Goodbye Jade Monkey. We mourn your passing.

 

[gsdx]

I would think it would be an adventure, checking out all the restaurants in the new town and deciding between you which is your favourite. You can't replace the one you're leaving behind, but I'm sure you'll be able to find a reasonable facsimile.

 

[spooger]

i feel your pain!

in louisiana ... good food is KING! i've lost several places to the difficult economy or other causes .... but

as mazda3boi said, "While you may never replace the Chinese place you love you will find an alternate entertaining night out. Some people never get over that kind of loss of the familiar however I relish the new experience."

who knows --- the new place you find, whether chinese or something else, may be even better!

good luck with your move .... where is the new place?

 

[bankside]

YES. Best Greek food ever, and now it's gone. WAAHHHH.

Actually, this was in Calgary. The economy is kind of weird there. It is incredibly strong, but it also churns a lot. So there's a lot of turnover, and even good restaurants come and go quickly.

 

[G-Lexington]

I know of what you speak, but I always try to look at the positive. I feel every place has something amazing and special to offer. And while I do dislike having to leave a favorite restaurant behind, I do love searching for new favorites. So know that there's a kick-ass Chinese place in your old hometown, but keep searching for a great restaurant in the new city. Searching is half the fun. You might find some killer German food, or a brilliant deli, or an amazing sushi place. Keep looking.

Lex

 

[LilBit]

I know exactly how you feel. There's this little strip of awesome ethnic restaurants reasonably close to me, and I was just telling my friend last night that if it were to ever be under threat of closing down, I would chain myself to the front of the place and go on a hunger strike.

"I'M NOT EATING AGAIN UNTIL I CAN HAVE SOMETHING FROM LA TOLTECA!"

OHMAHGAW! My sister and I HAVE to eat at La Tolteca every time I'm in Delaware! Not that we don't have good Mexican restaurants in my area...

As for me, I left a lot of good restaurants behind when I left Switzerland. There was a fanTAStic Italian place in my village, and several good fondue places in Geneva. Oh, and the Chinese place down the road from my office.

I ate well there...

 

[frankfrank]

Birmingham...OK, I can't suggest anything...I know nothing about the restaurants there.

Some places, if you were moving to (such as Michigan, Toledo, Indianapolis, or New Jersey), I could have suggested some great eats.

I know that Birmingham has a weekly free entertainment paper, but I forgot its name. I'd be very surprised if they do NOT have an annual "Best of Birmingham" poll. That would be a starting place, but unfortunately those "Best of..." polls rarely uncover the obscure hole-in-the-wall places with good food, because there may not be enough people knowing the place for it to get the votes.

 

[Swellegant]

I've never moved away, so I don't know... I'm more familiar with the favorite restaurant that closes down. There was a place Grandmother and I used to go when we were shopping (always eat before you shop for groceries, you buy less), called Emil Villa's Hick'ry Pit (barbecue, naturally); there are some surviving branches of the chain, but that one was our Emil Villa's... it must have closed down ten years ago, and every time Grandmother and I go grocery shopping, we look over at where Emil Villa's used to be and sigh a sad sigh.

Anyway, you'll never find a Place like the old Place, so don't try. Find something entirely different for your new Place, or you'll always be comparing it to the old Place and you'll never be satisfied.

I recommend something Italian.

 

[Red Storm]

I know exactly how you feel. There's this little strip of awesome ethnic restaurants reasonably close to me, and I was just telling my friend last night that if it were to ever be under threat of closing down, I would chain myself to the front of the place and go on a hunger strike.

"I'M NOT EATING AGAIN UNTIL I CAN HAVE SOMETHING FROM LA TOLTECA!"

Is this La Tolteca in Bel Air? One of the best Mexican restaurants I've gone to.

 

[TickTockMan]

I don't have that problem. I travel 2 1/2 hours one way to "visit people" and I stop and eat there all the time.



It's sad. I have been told I am one of their best customers and I never fully lived there.

 

[looseliam]

There was this place in downtown Winnetka. M&H Grill was the name, but we called it "greasy mama's" because of how the paper bag would look. I took my first boyfriend to lunch there once.

And one day, it closed. I had gone there for lunch 4-5 times a week for 4 years. When they closed, a little part of me died. Years later, as I was walking up the stairs last Thursday it hit me: "Mmm, I'd love some greasy mama's." I still have cravings.

(actual pic)

 

[BearBoi]

Similar, but not quite.

There was an Indian restaurant not too far from my place and it had the best food. Very nice atmosphere, too. Then they sold to a new owner who ran it into the ground. Utterly depressing.

After years of never finding a place like it, a friend recently introduced me to a new Indian place that feels just like the old one. Only better. The prices are amazing (lunch buffet for $7!) and the food is wonderful.

Damn, now I want some Indian…

 

[JOHN B]

While most people eat to live, ....I live to eat! I can't afford it, but go out rather than eat a T.V. dinner in...or worse yet,...have actually COOK something!

I have a few favorite haunts, and they know me as soon as I come in the door. The waiter/waitress brings me a menu in one hand....and my Iced Tea in the other. lol.

Worse than a restaurant I like closing it's doors,...is one that changes hands (management wise) and the food starts to suffer, and sometimes even sucks!

Has anyone here ever fallen out of practice to going to a great restaurant,....only to go back years after you were first there, and find out that it is no where as close to good as it once was.........?

 

[Jayden]

My fave place closed a couple of years ago.. I still miss their pork ribs.

 

[freefall]

Not exactly what happened to me; some great restaurants I eat on for years and suddenly they change chefs and the taste changes forever...damn.

 

[frankfrank]

Similar, but not quite.

There was an Indian restaurant not too far from my place and it had the best food. Very nice atmosphere, too. Then they sold to a new owner who ran it into the ground. Utterly depressing.

After years of never finding a place like it, a friend recently introduced me to a new Indian place that feels just like the old one. Only better. The prices are amazing (lunch buffet for $7!) and the food is wonderful.

Damn, now I want some Indian…

WHERE? Just in case my travels happen to take me there...

 

[geloge]

I used to like a bar very close to my house, good music, good food, and I knew the waiters who was very friendly. But there are new owners, now is a shitty place

You are moving but at least you can go back to that restaurant, I can't go back to my favourite bar