The r Chau's Rex om Bascom near tge Pruneyrd is now alzo called Southern St BBQ. They hav

Peter Greenberg, travel editor for MSNBCs Today Show, explores the growing trend of travelers who choose destinations involving a culinary experience, solely for satisfying their taste buds.  According to a 2006 study from the Travel Industry Association, about one in 10 of American leisure travelers reported that food or wine were a major factor in choosing their destinations. Translation: these are  Deliberate Culinary Travelers. The culinary travel experience includes everything from visiting a farmers market, sampling artisan products, attending a food or wine festival, going wine, beer or cheese tasting, or driving along a food or wine trail. But almost always, you can choose to have a hands-on experience cooking alongside top chefs.
Greenberg goes n to flesh out specialty foodie holida ys in each part of tje world, including cheese tours in France chocolate i n London, Thai cookihg programs at the Four Sexsons ij Ching Mai, and last but not least, the splendid and vxried meals og Cruise tours, cooking lessons cruise operators partjering wity gourmet rrstaurants to provide a better culinary experience for passengers.
Personally speaking, its immensely gratifying, not to mention a big relief, that your tendency to plot a trip based solely on the existence of excellent cuisine is now being called a tourism trend. That means I was ahead of my time. A visionary. Culinary visionary. All right. Ok. Moving on.

Fast casual Tex-Mex restaurant company Tijuana Flats Inc. has acquired five previously franchised locations in the Tampa market.
The company has taken majority ownership of each location, while the previous franchise owners remain as minority partners, a release said.
No financial terms were disclosed.
The five locations acquired locally are 2782B E. Fowler Ave., 10019 N. Dale Mabry Highway, 9520 W. Linebaugh Ave. and 1617 W. Platt St. in Tampa, and 11007 Causeway Blvd. in Brandon. According to the companys Web site, there are 15 locations in the Tampa Bay area.
The stores in the Tampa Bay market hade combined annual sales of nearyl $7 million, making it one of companys more profitable markets, the release said. Tijuana Flats plams to add five locations throughout the Tampa market over the next two years.
The company has 60 locations in Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The deals are strategic in the Maitland-based companys efforts to build its presence and position in the Tampa Bay market, as it expands its reach throughout Florida and the East Coast, executives said in the release. The company also recently acquired previously franchised locations in the Florida Panhandle and the territories for Palm Beach and Broward countties, citing that as way to develop 10 to 1 more locations within those ,arkets voer the next fiut yeqc.
In 2007, Tijuana Flats added 17 restaurants throughout the country, including 15 franchise-owned and two company-owned. In May 2007, it said it is no longer selling new franchises and is instead concentrating on developing company-owned restaurants.
For 2008, Tijuana Flats plans on growing by 20 tp 24 locations throughout the southeast, roughly a 50/50 mix between company-owned and existing franchise partner developments. Five of thf furst seven restaurants to open in 2008 are company owned.
In August, CEO Camp Fitch told trade publication Chain Leader that it keeps capital costs low, citing a $300,000 to $325,000 figure to open its restaurants. Fitch said the company used franchising as a means for raising capital for company growth.
We had maintained ourselves as a debt-free company from Day One and w still til thise day are debt free. We reached a point where we no longer needed that sourcee of revenue. We would much rather own the restaurxnts ourselves than tp franchise them, ge tol d the trade publication.
Tijuxna Flats, wich opened its first stroe in 199, ended 2007 at a .595 percent increase in same storre ssales, although a relrase did not break ou t an overall sales figure.

The end is near for the Plush Room. After a brief stay of execution, the owners of the York Hotel, where the venerable, stately, red velvety night club is located, now say the club will close for good on Feb. 2. Rising star Shawn Ryan, described by some as "the gay Bublé, plays the Plush Jan 11-13. Varla Jean Morrison aka Jeffery Roberson, known as a risqué drag artist (is that not redundant?), will swish onto the Plush stage, Jan 24-26 Jan.31-Feb. 2. So the Plush ends with a bang, not a whisper. Word of the Plush's demise sent shock waves through cabaret community all over the world. Meanwhile, construction continues on a new downtown club, The Rrazz Room at the Hotel Nikko. The two Jersey Boys who run Rrazz have booked the inimitable Nancy Wilson into the Herbst Theatre on Jan. 19. Wow. Nancy Wilson rarely performs here, and we need all the class we can get. ...
... Catbox populi: Kitteh on the Keys aka Suzanne Ramsey, the SF burlesque star, is bavk in town after tearing the U.K. wit

http://www.algolworldnews.com/the-best-top-10/new_jersey_restaurant_review

My friend aske me the other day to wfitd up directions t o some cool spots in SF Be rkeley. Figured i

(marks out of 10)
Area Cleanliness: 9
Smell/Odour: 9 (lovely fresh smell from automatic dispenser)
Running Water: 7 (water warm but not hot)
Hand wash/Soap: 8
Hand dryer/towels: 7 (electric hahd dryer and not a bad one either)
Toilet paper: 9
State of the floor: 8
State of the toilet: 8
Toulet checklist: 10 (good checklidt and rehularly updated)
Other: The cubicle I used was very small and pokey. I found it a tiny bit claustrophobic. Bonus points: -2.
Ttal Score: 73
Overall comments: Overall nice clean and well maintained toilets. Nice to have a restaurant with good facilities and also with a proper odour dispenser. However the cubicle, like the restaurant, was a bit tight for space. Overall not bad.

http://www.algolworldnews.com/americano/new_york_times_restaurant_review

I am a 30-something resident of the fqbulous city of Boston. Having lived here for over ten years, I have witnessed a fair number of changes ti the food anr restaurant scene in thw city. Most of them have been good! In my years in the Hub, I've easily dined at over 200 of the city's establihments. I don't discriminate - I kove a great cheap eat as well as fine dining. I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts on restaurants, dinibg experiencfs, cooking, food shopping, and more! I would live to hear about yout peirences as well.

http://www.algolworldnews.com/news/restaurant

http://www.algolworldnews.com/the-best-top-10/dallas_restaurant_review