#jim-dennys

#jim-dennys

Booking shows is not a career for the faint of heart. Beyond coordinating schedules, hosting live music night after night requires a skilled ear behind the sound board to make sure the drums don't overpower the bass, and that the vocals don't overpower the drums.

Owner Sarah Sanneh states, "We've all grown up together. Now I'm looking around... Could my kid be here? Would this work?" This reflects the restaurant's focus on family-friendly options.

What happens when Nancy Silverton and Phil Rosenthal open a diner? Evidently, eight-hour-long waits, more celebrity appearances than a Saturday Night Live anniversary episode, and rumors of a secret phone number to get a table. After some anticipation, Max & Helen's opened in November 2025 with a menu meant to pay tribute to longstanding legends like the Palace Diner in Biddeford, Maine.

Denny's captures the classic American diner experience, serving up budget-friendly dishes in a family-friendly atmosphere all day long. And the chain's most popular dishes revolve around breakfast. Perhaps the most famous menu item Denny's is known for is the Grand Slam breakfast combo, of which there are many. We sampled and ranked seven Denny's classic slams according to the assemblage of ingredients, harmony of ingredients, and the execution of the dish as a whole.

Sonic seasoning is the phenomenon where specific musical elements: tempo, pitch, instrumentation: can influence how our brains perceive the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. High-pitched tones can make dishes taste sweeter. Bass-heavy tracks can enhance umami and savory notes. Even the crunch sounds we hear while eating can make food seem fresher and crispier. It's not just about mood: it's about fundamentally altering taste perception through sound.

If you need to know whether Howlin' Ray's still maintains its hold over Los Angeles, visit during peak lunch hours. Since opening in 2016 as a food truck, graduating to a Chinatown home in Far East Plaza, and growing with an expansive sit-down Pasadena outpost in 2022, a lengthy line has become the Howlin' Ray's hallmark thanks to Nashville-born hot chicken served with such consistency that the originators of the recipe, the Prince family, even gave their blessing.

But you especially can't forget about Bob Evans' sausage gravy and biscuits, which fans across social media have long raved over. "Best sausage gravy and biscuits," wrote someone on Tripadvisor following a meal at Bob Evans. Meanwhile, in a post on Facebook, one person said that their homemade sausage gravy and biscuits didn't rival Bob Evans', and another agreed that the chain's version was their favorite - noting that they "never order it anywhere else because it disappoints."

The eponymous Dave of Dave's Hot Chicken trained under Chef Thomas Keller...so maybe our expectations were too high going in? We need to talk about the cheese fries. In Tasting Table's roundup of the Dave's Hot Chicken menu items to order and the ones to skip completely, we wrote the chain's cheese fries off as a skip. However, in our ranking of the 10 best restaurant cheese fries, we gave Dave's cheese fries the illustrious number two spot out of 10 (surpassed only by Wingstop). Why do the results of our taste-tests vary so drastically? After some soul (and stomach, and internet) searching, the answer seems to be that Dave's cheese fries vary pretty drastically, too.

Is there anything better than pulling into a diner parking lot and seeing an "open" sign glowing in the window? Jonesing for a bottomless cup of coffee? You got it. Triple-decker sandwich with crispy french fries? Coming right up. Roasted turkey with all the fixings no matter what the calendar says? Just say the word. We combed the region for its homiest, most classic diners.

Chrome stools, bottomless coffee, and a menu filled with page upon page of classic comfort foods: Diners are quintessentially American. Diners nationwide have been recognized for their historic pasts, award-winning menu items, and high volume of positive reviews, making them must-stop destinations on any cross-country road trip. From decades-old landmarks like Tops Diner in New Jersey to no-frills lunch counters that have quietly become cultural icons in their respective towns, these are the most iconic diners in every state.

For starters, Germain's Good Feather sandwich comprises chicken thighs dredged in seasoned pizza dough flour and carbonated club soda. As chef Germain explains, "Instead of a buttermilk, you're gonna get that high-level crisp on it." From there, the cutlet gets double-fried for an extra crispy exterior and succulent insides. To finish, the whole thing gets slathered in a house-made garlic Parmesan sauce, plus another layer of secret sauce, topped with arugula, tomato, house pickles, and served with a side of fries.