I've said it before and I'll say it again-- your friends suck at being guides.
Yeah, they do, the lady in Austin was the same (different lady). I've had much better luck out on my own semi-guessing at places. We had a lunch in NO without our friend at a place I picked that was pretty good but not anything special. My wife is convinced I have a sixth sense at picking places to dine, but much of this is from being in France.
I really have had excellent luck in France, go figure. That could have set my bar too high.
One thing that really turns me off when dining is high noise levels. It gets me to disliking a place right off. We tried a highly regarded sushi place here called Eight Sushi and the noise level was ridiculous. We had great difficult even ordering anything. The waiter was Japanese and wearing a mask, I could not understand a thing he said.
Not going back.
One other thing with me is food often is really "OK", it's edible, maybe even flavorful, but not memorable or elevating. It's Crackerbarrel to me, or bar food, or Olive Gaarden, or Chipotle (which my wife likes). I much prefer the place near us called Willy's for "Mexican". It's consistent and fun. Anyway, I guess I'm a tough out.
