PROMPT: Best Restaurant

Posted on August 15, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

Which is the best restaurant in your city?

I haven’t tried them all. Supposedly, there could be as many as 6,600 restaurants in the greater metropolitan area (but there are at least 2,700.) I eat out once or twice a week when at home, so… Plus, I have no idea what constitutes “best,” and I don’t trust single experiences as evidence. I once thought I’d had the best fried chicken in the world from a vendor cart in Bangkok. The chicken was probably okay, but I think the fact that I’d walked ten miles and hadn’t eaten in as many hours pushed said chicken into its exalted spot. And I very much don’t trust hype. Long story short, I guess we’ll never know.

DAILY PHOTO: A Grand Cafe, Frankfurt

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Photograph of a restaurant in Frankfurt am Main's City Centre (Altstadt.)

PROMPT: Favorite Restaurant

Posted on April 14, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite restaurant?

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I can’t tell you, precisely, but I know it has one location, is authentically itself, and is what some might describe as a dive. Interestingly, you can find it anywhere in the world if you know where to look.

PROMPT: Crazy Business Idea

Posted on January 11, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

Come up with a crazy business idea.

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I had a restaurant idea I was going to call “Git It Yo Own Damned Self.” It would extend the Korean Hot Pot / BBQ concept in which one has to do one’s own cooking to include getting your own food from the kitchen and then bussing your own table and washing your own dishes. I realize one couldn’t charge as much, but in the US I think you could still collect 20 – 25% gratuities for the imaginary waitstaff to offset the lesser meal cost.The best thing would be responding to bad reviews with: “Don’t look at me, they did it their own damned selves!”

PROMPT: Expensive Meal

Posted on August 6, 2025 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?

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I can’t remember, but it’s never been worth it. Seems like the more one pays for a meal, the hungrier one leaves it. Enjoy your “foam reductions” if you like, but it’s not for me. I’ll take street food any day — cheap, filling, flavorful street food. It’s got character and doesn’t try too hard.

My palate may be unrefined, but — also — I’m no sucker.

PROMPT: Risk

Posted on April 25, 2025 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

When is the last time you took a risk? How did it work out?

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I had lunch at a hole-in-the-wall joint with a truly astounding population of flies yesterday.

The meal was delectable.

PROMPT: Favorite Restaurant

Posted on April 14, 2025 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite restaurant?

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I don’t have a favorite restaurant, but I do have a type: mom-and-pop hole-in-the-wall that only does a few things but does them all exceedingly well. I don’t care for frou-frou places, and it drives me batty when a place has a thirty-page menu and you have to play the “guess what they actually have” game. I always loved watching Monty Python’s “Cheese Shop Sketch,” but have loathed reprising the John Cleese part in so many restaurants.

Chains have their place in the travel pipeline or in a busy schedule, but I generally prefer a novel experience over a cookie cutter one.