I consider myself a huge lover of foods, and I’ll try anything once. But I had to ask myself, how adventurous was I when it came to restaurants? I’m a sucker for old favorites, so the answer was “maybe not entirely, all the way, 100% adventurous not at all”. Since I was obviously already in the adventurous spirit while in Atlantic City (and because we planned NOTHING beforehand), we turned to yelp to give us all the answers we needed. Both times, it was amazing.

#1 Britanny Cafe:

First of all, when you’ve been out all night, drank a bit more than usual (which for me, is anything besides water)..then slept for two hours on the beach and woke up covered in sand…you just want some comfort food for breakfast. You know, actual eggs, actual coffee (not really), actual bread (also not really, but play along) and actual hash browns. I searched for the best breakfast in AC, and my brothers wanted #1. So, we made the hajj to Brittany Cafe.

Okay, so it was about a mile away from the boardwalk. It was also about 95 degrees outside. But! Definitely a bonding experience. And the food? Completely worth it. Cheap, quick, delicious, REAL. Egg white and broccoli omelet with a side of bacon and hash browns? I’ll take two. My brothers would probably like to add that their over-easy eggs were executed perfectly.

#2 Pancho’s Mexican Taqueria

Yelp appreciation, however, was firmly established after finding our lunch destination. Sure, not exactly the best area…but at least the back alleyways were too small for violent crime:

Curious as to what sold us? Scan this review:

A restaurant whose owners are ballsy enough to not serve what you’ve ordered? I like it. Count me in. Really, don’t sweat that. The ambiance? Nadda. Entertainment? You DO get to watch this little lady making tortillas from scratch (in the interest of full disclosure, she seemed less-than-thrilled we stopped by and interrupted her own lunch to handpress ours. Ignore that and just go with it; if anything, it adds to the experience).

Not wanting to stir the pot (and understanding we’d get tacos no matter what), we obviously ordered tacos. I’m not fluent in french and therefore not 100% sure what “taqueria” means, but lets be honest, it sounds a lot like “taco”. Why order anything else? As expected, they were the jam. 

While our tacos were cooking away (on a not-exactly clean looking stove [again, don’t sweat it]), we enjoyed some unidentified spicy salsas, awesome guacamole (at no extra cost) and seriously good chips.

And by the jam, I mean BEST TACOS EVER. Go to Pancho’s. Don’t expect a nice neighborhood, don’t expect decorations, don’t expect english, don’t expect total cleanliness, don’t expect ambiance. Just expect tacos. JUST tacos.

Next time you’re looking for an awesome restaurant, remember that you can’t always have your cake and eat it too. Do you want atmosphere or do you want awesome food? I’ll take the latter. Moral of the story: blind individuals are better able to enjoy dining out. KIDDING. Moral of the story: get adventurous. Next time you’re in a new city, do a quick search for the hidden gems. Apparently, it’s well worth it. #HowIDoAC

~A~

What now?

• Cross country road trip restaurants. Now THAT’S my kind of road trip 
• No matter what type of cuisine, how to make health conscious menu decisions while eating out. 
• What’s been your experience with Yelp/Urban Spoon? Have they ever failed you? 
• In case you’re wondering: I didn’t author that hashtag, it’s on the billboards