Penny's

Damen/Pierce. Dinner. Gyoza: delicious. Vietnamese spring rolls: delicious. Hot pepper noodle w/ chicken: delicious. Pad thai w/ chicken: delicious.

CPK ASAP, San Jose, CA

SJC, American Airlines terminal. Chicken caesar salad: good, not great, dressing was a little weird. They weren't selling pizzas yet, so all I could get was a salad or a sandwich.

Thai Basil, Sunnyvale, CA

Downtown Sunnyvale Town Center. Chicken satay: pretty good. Rad na (aka lad nar) w/ chicken: terrible and flavorless.

Macaroni Grill, Milpitas, CA

McCarthy Ranch. Lunch. Filet mignon, medium: just OK, can't compare to Google's.

Max's Opera Cafe, Palo Alto, CA

Stanford Shopping Center. Dinner. Caesar salad: fine. Some kind of roma tomato and basil sauce on top of linguine: good.

Nothing too special here. Very crowded.

In-N-Out, Mountain View, CA

Rengstorff. Lunch. Double double animal style no pickles: delicious. French fries: kind of cold. Chocolate vanilla swirl milkshake: delicious.

Sushi Wabi, Sunnyvale, CA

Downtown Sunnyvale Town Center. Dinner. Sushi boat stuff: very good. Except for that one thing of white ribbed fish, that was disgusting, hard as rubber or plastic.

Google Cafeteria, Mountain View, CA

Lunch. Steamed rice: fine. Steamed bok choy with garlic and ginger: very good. Wasabi mashed potatoes: very good. Soy wasabi marinated rib-eye: delicious.

Wow!

Golden Wok, Mountain View, CA

Off Castro. Dinner. Lettuce wraps: very good. Two entrees: not that good.

Pretty empty on a Monday night.

Hunan Chili, Mountain View, CA

Castro Street. Lunch. Egg rolls: fine. Kung pao chicken: just OK, dark meat chicken, and one of the very few things on the menu that came with veggies.

A disappointment.

Scott's, San Jose, CA

Dinner. Halibut w/ Mediterranean compote: very good.

Very good food, completely empty on a Sunday night. Such is dining in San Jose.

Wolfgang Puck

O'Hare, American Airlines terminal. Caesar salad to go: very good. Big bowl of fruit: fine.

The take-out fridge is new, and a great source of good food.

Ann Sather

Milwaukee, near Honore. Open-faced Monte Cristo (2 pieces of French toast, with a huge slab of ham and a folded egg omlette on top, w/ a side of lingonberry jam): just OK.

Dunlay's

Clark/Wrightwood. Dinner. Some salad or another: good, I think. Sausage and onion pizza (thin crust): pretty good.

Cafe Matou

Milwaukee/Wolcott. Dinner. Heirloom tomato and cucumber salad w/ goat cheese fritter: excellent. Filet medium-rare wrapped w/ bacon w/ red wine sauce: delicious! Mashed potatoes: very good. Grilled red onion halves: good.

Food was excellent. Service was absent. Room was almost empty on a Sunday night. The other diners were all crazy. I hope this place stays in business, because the food is delicious ... but the service cannot even begin to compare to Charlie's on Leavitt.

Morton's

State/Maple. Dinner. Free onion loaf: just OK. New York strip steak, medium: very very very delicious, not very fatty. Hash browns (basically a potato cake): OK -- too crispy. Broccoli: fine, sauce on the side wasn't special. Molten chocolate cake: good, not great.

Room was small and raucous. Service was great, esp. water service.

Green Zebra

Chicago Ave. Dinner. Excellent! Corn soup: good. Apple soup: good. Carrots: delicious. Sweet potato dumplings w/ water chestnuts in a warm brown broth: delicious! Chicken w/ crispy honey skin: good, not great. Cream puff dessert: delicious!

Service was just OK. Our server was a real low talker. Room was crowded and noisy. Parking was a breeze early, harder later. One of the best meals ever.

Japonais

Chicago/Larrabee. Dinner. "The Rock": just OK, kind of salty. Kobe beef rolled up around asparagus and mango: very filling, but too heavy -- need to share among 3 people. Shrimp tempura roll w/ salmon on top: very good. Crab cakes: delicious. Miso soup: pretty good. Had some other stuff, forgot what it was.

Service was excellent. Our server was attentive and helpful, and she helped us make some great choices.

Edwardo's Natural Pizza

On Dearborn, near Division. Dinner. Terrible service, dirty silverware, cramped space, pizza was OK, better than Giordano's for sure, but not better than My Pie.

Merlo

Oak, near State. Dinner. Great little Italian spot, kind of fancy, but not obscure fancy, i.e., they still had lasange on the menu. Mozzarella/pork/asparagus/tomato appetizer was great.

Orange on Harrison

Breakfast. Orangle/pineapple/mango juice (freshly squeezed): pretty good, not pulpy at all. Frushi (fruit sushi): good. "Jelly-filled donut" (pancakes with strawberry/something jelly): delicious.

Pita Inn

Dempster, Evanston. Dinner. Quick, cheap, and a little unsanitary -- workers do not wear gloves. Falafels were green inside, not that good. Hummus and pitas were great.