OpenTable Diners’ Choice winners for American grub

Once your barbeque is finished and you’ve cleaned up the long, you’ll probably want to leave the house for your next meal. You’ve done your share of cooking and coped with the mess. When you’re looking for a restaurant to make your life easier tomorrow, check out OpenTable‘s list of top shops for Best American Cuisine. The winners come from 2.5 million OpenTable user reviews of more than 9,000 restaurants. And, since these are quintessentially American restaurants, you’ll extend your celebration of independence by an extra day.

Since all this is so close to July 1, you can also use it as a way to stretch Canada Day a bit. The food really isn’t any different anyway, except for a few moose dishes, I suspect.

Caroline Potter, billed as OpenTable’s dining expert, calls this “a great time to be an aficionado of American cuisine. From a melting pot of culinary influences, today’s chefs have created a cuisine that is truly our nation’s own.”

So, ready a long list of restaurants that will blow your independence-oriented mind? Look for them after the jump.

I was surprised by how few states are represented. There are 53 restaurant winners on the list, but only from 22 states. I guess Montana, Idaho and oregon don’t have much to offer … though I doubt that’s true. There are some fantastic restaurants in New Hampshire, but none made the cut. So, take this list with a grain of salt. After all, nine of the winners are the Capital Grille.

New York and California, unsurprisingly, led the way, each occupying 11 percent of the results, though neither was able to top the Capital Grille’s 17 percent. Missouri, Colorado and Maryland followed with nearly 8 percent each.

The 2009 Winners of OpenTable’s Best American Cuisine Awards

• Abacus – Dallas, TX
• Aria – Atlanta, GA
• Blue Hill – New York, NY
• Blue Hill at Stone Barns – Pocantico Hills, NY
• Bluestem – Kansas City, MO
• Café Trio – Kansas City, MO
• Capital Grille, Atlanta – Atlanta, GA
• Capital Grille, Boston – Boston, MA
• Capital Grille, Chicago – Chicago, IL
• Capital Grille, Denver – Denver, CO
• Capital Grille, Kansas City – Kansas City, MO
• Capital Grille, Lombard – Lombard, IL
• Capital Grille, Minneapolis – Minneapolis, MN
• Capital Grille, Orlando – Orlando, FL
• Capital Grille, Tampa – Tampa, FL
• Charleston – Baltimore, MD
• Charleston Grill – Charleston, SC
• Cheevers Cafe – Oklahoma City, OK
• Chez Betty – Park City, UT
• Dal Rae – Pico Rivera, CA
• David Drake – Rahway, NJ
• Eddie Merlot’s, Fort Wayne – Fort Wayne, IN
• Eddie Merlot’s, Indianapolis – Indianapolis, IN
• ELEVEN – Pittsburgh, PA
• Eleven Madison Park – New York, NY
• Fearing’s – Dallas, TX
• Flagstaff House – Boulder, CO
• Gayle – Philadelphia, PA
• Gramercy Tavern – New York, NY
• Lahaina Grill – Maui, HI
• LJ’s and the Kat Lounge – Hagerstown, MD
• Lola, A Michael Symon Restaurant – Cleveland, OH
• MICHAEL MINA – San Francisco, CA
• Mulvaney’s B&L – Sacramento, CA
• Murray’s Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge – Minneapolis, MN
• Niche – St. Louis, MO
• Paseo Grill – Oklahoma, OK
• Per Se – New York, NY
• Providence – Los Angeles, CA
• Sweet Basil – Vail, CO
• The Dining Room at The Langham Pasadena – Pasadena, CA
• The French Laundry – Yountville, CA
• The Prime Rib, Baltimore – Baltimore, MD
• The Schoolhouse at Cannondale – Wilton, CT
• Tilth – Seattle, WA
• Tristan, Charleston – Charleston, SC
• Vie – Western Springs, IL
• Vintage Tavern – Suffolk, VA
• VOLT – Frederick, MD
• White Barn Inn – Kennebunk Beach, ME

Recession vacations: do more with less

Vacation plans are changing. This isn’t exactly a surprise. With layoffs mounting and a careful eye trained on every expense, long vacations are becoming short, and short trips aren’t straying as far from home. For some destinations, this is actually paying off.

A handful of smaller cities are pulling in visitors that normally would set off for grander locales. Charleston, SC and Fort Meyers, FL, for example sustained double-digit growth rates in January 2009 (relative to January 2008), according to American Express Travel bookings. Tuscon, AZ, Palm Springs, CA, and Portland, OR have also seen surges – 12 percent, 13 percent and 38 percent respectively.

Even Philly is on the upswing, which makes sense when you think about all those New Yorkers who need a quick break from the city.

So, why do these numbers look so good? Well, it’s hard to say. Drops in airfare and room rates are obvious drivers. Or, it could be some sort of marketing savvy. When you look at the data, there’s no common thread.

What is universal, it seems, is that everything is getting smaller. Trips are shorter, people are spending less and the destinations aren’t as far from home as they used to be. With the many bargains that are available, we may be able to do more with less, but overall, we’re still doing a hell of a lot less.

Aside from places like Fort Meyers and Tuscon, there are a few silver linings. “Girlfriend getaways” are still going strong, but the ladies are stretching their dollars. Renting one car instead of several, chipping in for a vacation home and picking a day spa over a destination spa are popular cost-cutting measures.

Home port cruises are on the upswing, as well. Guests can drive to the port (instead of flying), cutting down on the total cost of the trip. Like everyone else, these folks are cutting some deals, too.

Pick your corner of the travel and hospitality business, and you’ll find more than a handful of bargains. The decisions we make come down to what travelers can afford – rather than what they want. But, we’re still getting out on the road.

[Via MSNBC]

Check out some of these other wacky laws, place names and signs from around the world!