A Personal Guide to Restaurants in Gainesville

A Personal Guide to Restaurants in Gainesville

I have lived in Gainesville since the age of seven to my college years and thus have a pretty good feel for the city and how it has evolved over time. Being the seat of the University of Florida, Gainesville has a bit of a different population demographic than most other cities in north-central Florida or even other Floridian cities its same size. Due to this situation, Gainesville has a slightly different retail and food services basis than other cities in our region, too, and that certainly makes living here and dining out all the more interesting and varied in the choices at hand. We have most of the major chain place you'll find elsewhere: Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, Red Lobster and what have you . . . in fact, about the only chain we are missing is P.F. Chang's Asian Bistro which I would certainly like to see Gainesville have but am unsure of just where it would go in as far as location is concerned.

But hey, you can visit these same chains where-ever you are: when in Gainesville, you'd be far better off trying some local places that stand out and to that goal I have collected the following list of my personal favorites. Be aware that this is a personal, albeit educated and I think highly reasoned, opinon. Also understand that while I eat out a lot, I don't go to the higher-end "fine dining" places very much because it's just not my style and you can often find just as good food at less cost elsewhere. Therefore, some of the very places other Gainesville locals may consider the best in town may not have made my list here and that's really no reflection on their quality but just the fact they are not places I visit often.

Gyro Plus Grocery
1011 W University Ave
Gainesville, FL 32601
(352) 378-1891

Gyro Plus is a small Middle Eastern fast food place on University Avenue not too far from the University of Florida campus and serves gyros and a variety of other Middle Eastern staples. Despite the "grocery" in the name, these days their selection of Middle Eastern canned products and dry goods is rather paltry, but what draws most people in is the yummy gyros and the other goodies such as banana, milk, and honey smoothies and superb hummus. The food is always fresh and, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, they do the best French fries in town . . . not what you might expect but they really are wonderful and I am not even much of a fan of French fries!

Leonardo's Pizza of Millhopper

The interior of Leonardo's Pizza of Millhopper.

4131 NW 16th Blvd
Gainesville, FL 32605
(352) 376-2001

I love all the Leonardo's locations: the somewhat posh 706, the pizza place near campus, and the joined Bistro, also. The Millhopper location carries forth the same anti-establishment vibe and quirks of the pizza joint near campus. In fact, the use of the very small space at Millhopper is amazing: the decoration is simple and with a massive amount of wood, stained glass, and a local classic rock station on the radio you get this feeling (at least I do!) of being transported back to 1987 . . . or earlier years. I can't describe it really but it's very retro in a strange way.

The food is also simple but very good: good pizza, great rolls (Leonardo's is known for its rolls and garlic butter!). And the service is amazing: laid-back college kids who are attentive but never rush you in the least. Plus, it's close enough I can ride my mountain bike there and low-key enough I don't feel bad about being sweaty and looking like my little gutterpunk self when I go there thus for lunch. And they have nightly specials!

Bento Asian Café
3832 W Newberry Rd
Ste 1J
Gainesville, FL 32607
(352) 377-8686

Bento is a great concept and the food nearly always matches up to the idea behind it: serve a variety of Asian staples in bento-style lunch boxes with white steamed rice, noodles, green salad, green beans, and a small dessert at a decent price. They also have top-quality sushi and sashimi bowls plus Asian noodle soup bowls (think of udon noodles in a broth with sliced beef, shrimp tempura, or some other meat). While the bento box concept is of course Japanese in origin, Bento Café also has Thai, Korean, and Chinese variants including such favorites as General Tso's chicken or Cantonese duck. You can also get sushi in several different bento box combinations or order it as rolls and/or nigiri as you would at more traditional sushi bars. The interior of the Newberry Road Bento is all silvers and blues and is very fun; they often have animé playing on the flat-screen televisions and it's a location popular with students and families alike.

Bento also has another Gainesville location on Archer Road and a newer location in Orlando.

Mi Apa Latin Café
114 SW 34th St
Gainesville, FL 32607
(352) 376-7020

The staff is very friendly and the food is always tasty and for a smaller place such as this, the variety is impressive if not comprehensive. They always do a good business, and you'll note that on weekends it seems the majority of customers are Hispanic so they must be doing something right to draw in people who should know what good Latin food is all about. Mi Apa opened I think circa 2003 and it's been going strong ever since. It reminds me of small, neighborhood, Latin places in Tampa or Miami. The arepas are really, really, good and taste even better than those a friend has made (though to be fair, he's cooking his on a Tostyarepa so that could be the difference from preparing them the traditional way).

Le Tienda Latina
2204 SW 13th St
Gainesville, FL 32608
(352) 367-0022

Some claim this to be the only "real" Mexican food in Gainesville, and if you desire truly Mexican cooking over Tex-Mex style, I would say this is the place to go. Mexican favorites are cooked up in a variety of combinations and prices are certainly more than fair. Plus, a variety of Mexican soft drinks may be purchased by the bottle here and the feeling is one of being in a really authentic Mexican restaurant frequented by Mexicans who long for a taste of home. Often busy and packed for lunch, it's a good bet though for an early dinner.

Tim's Thai
501 NE 23rd Ave
Gainesville, FL 32609
(352) 372-5424

Tim's Thai has been in Gainesville quite a long time and is, from what I've heard, both loved and hated in equal shares. Those of us who love it will say that it has the best Thai cooking in town while those who dislike Tim's will mention the often-slow service, remote location, and perhaps will claim the food wasn't even all that great. I feel the food is superb and I've eaten my share of Thai cooking and in fact cook mainly Thai and Viet dishes at home, so I feel a bit more prepared than most to stick my neck out and comment on this aspect. It is true though that the service can be slow but the restaurant itself admits as much and even has a notice up on the door warning patrons that this isn't a chain place and to expect a small wait as the dishes are prepared from scratch. Still, I have never experienced an undue lag in service at all here.

The food itself is very authentic and if you ask, they can make things seriously as hot as you please and you can wind up with some really good, fairly rare to find, Thai dishes. Having eaten Thai food in San Francisco and other major cities, I believe Tim's to be right up there with the best. The atmosphere could use some work but at the same time may be taken as part of the place's charm: it appears little has changed since the 1980s and the carpet and chairs could be replaced but you really feel like you've stumbled upon a hole-in-the-wall not known to just everyone.

Dragonfly Sushi & Sake Company
501 NE 23rd Ave
Gainesville, FL 32609
(352) 372-5424

Dragonfly has been known for about six years as the best sushi in Gainesville, though I feel they have slipped over recent years from their once-lofty repute. Still, the food and atmosphere are pretty good and if you're looking for a place to get sushi in a date-worthy atmosphere this is about the best Gainesville can offer. Shooting Star Sushi, which is nearby, has decent sushi and other dishes but their service has been downright poor each time I've been there . . . and by poor I mean the server has confused dishes and served me the worng thing and has not known very much about sushi in general . . . and we're talking about several different servers here, too. Dragonfly, on the other hand, has pretty good service and innovative rolls. The fish and other primary sushi features are of high quality but never reach the level of fresh taste I enjoyed whilst living in San Francisco, but then, it's fair to say that the American sushi experience is very different from the traditional Japanese one which is less about creative rolls and more about how fresh and pure of taste the fish is . . . and San Francisco is a rare exception of having a large enough Japanese-American population to support places dedicated to more traditional sushi. In Gainesville, sushi is more a trend and a very Americanized experience but still an experience

Mike Walker

worth having now and then.

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MIKE WALKER is a writer based in Gainesville, Florida, who writes about ecology, natural history, and social history for this and other news media. In addition, he is a poet and his most recent publication is in the Tipton Poetry Journal's Fall 2008 issue. He may be reached via: cloudrace@prontomail.com