Tallahassee, FL

[aberrant]

... but we definitely have lots of restaurants...

 

i have to disagree with this particular statement even if you counted all the chain restaurants possible on W. Tennessee and W. Pensacola.

 

There are some restaurants, but you shouldn't expect that they are all high qualities or authentic. Given that you are/lived in SF, Chinese food here will generally disappointed you, with the exception of one or two places.

[EdYouKateOr]

i have to disagree with this particular statement even if you counted all the chain restaurants possible on W. Tennessee and W. Pensacola.   There are some restaurants, but you shouldn't expect that they are all high qualities or authentic. Given that you are/lived in SF, Chinese food here will generally disappointed you, with the exception of one or two places.

I disagree! You must step away from FSU, but there's are several quality restaurants as close as N. Monroe that are NOT chains! Midtown is booming and the Killearn area has several as well!

[aberrant]

I disagree! You must step away from FSU, but there's are several quality restaurants as close as N. Monroe that are NOT chains! Midtown is booming and the Killearn area has several as well!

Haha. Well, not walking distance = big minus (e.g. lunch, or even dinner if you have to work late). I'm pretty sure no one is willing to give up their parking space for lunch (at least from my experience talking to people who drive and stay on campus until 5 pm or after).

[EdYouKateOr]

Haha. Well, not walking distance = big minus (e.g. lunch, or even dinner if you have to work late). I'm pretty sure no one is willing to give up their parking space for lunch (at least from my experience talking to people who drive and stay on campus until 5 pm or after).

No one eats quality food at those times anyway! actually, Mr. Robotos is walking distance and very good!

[aberrant]

No one eats quality food at those times anyway! actually, Mr. Robotos is walking distance and very good!

... i would only say it's okay, given that my favorite from Mr. Roboto is katsu curry.

[EloiseGC]

Ok, I'm here to pitch in my two cents.

 

I'm a born-and-raised Tallahasseean, and I went to undergrad at FSU. If you look at Tallahassee as a couple-of-bars-and-two-or-three-movie-theaters type of town, it sucks. But it's so much more than that! You just have to seek it out.

 

There are sinkholes to swim in (too deep for alligators and snakes, but fresh water! Score!), good bars with craft beer to drink at (Fermentation Lounge, Skyline Motor Lounge, Leon Pub [a smoking-friendly dive bar], and our speakeasy, Alchemy), and shenanigans to be had (movies at the dollar theater are nice, the comedy performances at the Mickey Faust Club House are a hoot, and the First Friday Gallery Hop is great). Tallahassee doesn't openly reveal itself to you, but when you actively look for it, there is a vibrant, locally-oriented culture there to experience and enjoy. 

 

A bit of advice: don't live near the campus if you don't have to. Have a car. Live in the Lafayette Park area, Indianhead, Myers Park area, near Lake Ella, or in Midtown. That's where most grad students reside (at least the ones worth knowing). Waterworks is another good bar- they have Science Salons every Thursday with a visiting lecturer and usually neat demos. The Hop Yard is a bar operated out of an old abandoned Coca-Cola factory from the 20's, and they play old movies on a projector on the side of the building. Visit the local museums, and if you go to the Knott House, ask them to show you their ghost photograph. Wakulla Springs is the best place to go on a hot Saturday. You might spot a manatee! Creature from the Black Lagoon was shot there, as were the old Tarzan movies. Lofty Pursuits has the best homemade ice cream in town. You can see all of Tallahassee from the viewing room at the top of the New Capitol, and you should tour the Old Capital museum sometime. The Tallahassee Museum is AMAZING, and you get to see a bunch of Florida wildlife. Mission San Luis is a DOG FRIENDLY MUSEUM! Black Dog is the best coffee shop in town, and it's on this fantastic little lake called Lake Ella that has an organic market every Wednesday afternoon. All Saints Cafe is the hipster Mecca, as is most of the Railroad Square/Gaines Street area. Crepe Vine is a local chain secretly owned by frat bros. I don't trust it. 

 

If you must go to the mall, go to the Governor's Square mall, not the Tallahassee Mall. The Tallahassee Mall is pretty empty and scary, though it has the only new bookstore in town, the better movie theater (besides the dollar theater), and the best and cheapest nail place. The Paperback Rack is the best used bookstore in town. 

 

Some of my favorite *local* restaurants:

 

Far East Cuisine (Vietnamese/Thai)

Tan's Asian (Chinese/Indonesian)

Ming Tree Cafe (THE BEST CHINESE FOOD I'VE EVER HAD OUTSIDE OF CHINA)

Kool Beanz Cafe- good for dates

Sage- good for dates

Mosaic- fancy restaurant with a surprisingly cheap and delicious lunch menu

Sweet Pea Cafe- nice little vegan cafe

Samrat- best Northern Indian cuisine

Mayuri- best Southern Indian cuisine

New Times Cafe- surprisingly delicious southern buffet. You wouldn't expect it, but it's really good. Go on Fridays or Saturdays for their fish fry.

Shell's Oyster Bar- tiny little oyster shack, weird hours, only takes cash, great food.

Bird's- dive bar with cheap oysters and an amazing burger and veggie burger. Get them with blackened seasoning. Trivia on Tuesdays, Comedy on Wednesdays, Karaoke on Thursdays.

Mockingbird Cafe- date restaurant/good brunch spot

Momos/Decent Pizza/Gaines Street Pizza- best pizza places in town.

 

Befriend locals or been-here-long-enough-to-be-locals. We know where the cool stuff is at.  

Edited May 15, 2013 by Mary Queen of Scotch

[EloiseGC]

Here's a good guide to some nearby natural and historic spots. I wouldn't suggest doing as many in a single day as the guide suggests!

 

http://www.floridabigbendscenicbyway.org/explore/other.php

 

 

Here's a pretty good swimming guide. Check out the rest of the website, too- it's for one of our local food co-ops.

 

http://www.newleafmarket.coop/newsroom/newsletter/julaug-2008/how-make-splash-local-spots-take-dip

Edited May 17, 2013 by Mary Queen of Scotch

[saul goodman esq]

great stuff, mary - thanks!

[EloiseGC]

great stuff, mary - thanks!

 

Saul, if you're headed to FSU for philosophy, send me a pm. I'm friends with a bunch of people in the philosophy grad department, and I can hook you up with them.

[EloiseGC]

I received a very generous offer from FSu and loved my visit there. But wanted to ask more about the town and jobs in general. If I go there I will be moving with family. How is the job market there? Especially in the food related industry? Where are the best neighborhoods for apartments? What do natives think about the town overall? I come from a big city so the small town feel was definitely something different!

 

My fiance has worked in Tallahassee's food industry for a decent amount of time. If you're looking for more culinary-advanced restaurants, here are the places to look at (for this list, I'm only naming local places. We have some upper-level chain restaurants, like Ted's Montana Grill, Shula's, and Harry's Seafood, but I'm not sure that's what you're looking for):

 

Cyprus, Sage, Kool Beanz, Mozaic, Clusters and Hops, Mockingbird Cafe, A La Provence, Marie Livingston's, Z Bhardi's, Avenue Eat and Drink, Andrew's 228, 101 Restaurant, Reangthai, Jasmine Cafe, Anthony's Wood Fire Grill, The Sidecar, The Front Porch, Food Glorious Food, Bella Bella, Masa, The Governor's Club, and apparently there's a new tapas bar called "Juicy Blue", but I've never been there and can't attest to its quality. 

 

If you're looking for work as a bartender, try Cyprus, Alchemy, The Sidecar, Clusters and Hops, Fermentation Lounge, Skyline Motor Lounge, the Governor's Club, Proof, Andrew's, The Filling Station, Tomahawk, The 5th Avenue Tap Room, or Level 8. I think Front Porch has a decent bar, too. Bird's isn't a bad place to work, either. Whatever you do, DO NOT APPLY AT WATERWORKS. You'll get a job, sure, but they don't pay their employees. Even if living off of tips works for you, you don't want to be working there when The Man catches up with the owner.

[socioholic]

Im leaving Tally just because its time for a change but I wanted to concur with Mary in that there are a bunch of events in Tallahassee if you look for them. I stay farther north of the areas she mentioned (trying to avoid the students); the cost of living is low and im experiencing serious sticker shock when researching areas around the schools I applied to. The weather is mild and perfect most of the time. It is NOT the big city-definitely more country/rural-but there is an eclectic mix of people. Good place overall.

[Authorization]

Hello!

 

Recently finished my B.S. in International Affairs at FSU and soon embarking on my journey towards an M.A. in Asian Studies (also from FSU).

 

I've actually been living here a while (since before starting college actually), but I'm curious to hear news about student employment opportunities as well as about affordable housing for graduate students. 

 

In exchange, for those of you new to Tallahassee, I can tell you that the best restaurants in Tallahassee are without a doubt Super Perro's, Pho 7, Kool Beanz and Siam Sushi. If you want really good junk food, Gaines Street Pies. For bars, nothing beats Fermentation Lounge. A bit spendy but worth it for the environment and fun conversations with strangers. Most convenient coffee shops (not counting the two Starbucks on campus) in reach of campus are Atomic Coffee and The Sweet Shop (or FSU's best-kept secret, the Grindhouse cafe in the Student Life Center). All Saints Cafe is best if you're in more of an artsy mood though. 

[socioholic]

Hello!

 

Recently finished my B.S. in International Affairs at FSU and soon embarking on my journey towards an M.A. in Asian Studies (also from FSU).

 

I've actually been living here a while (since before starting college actually), but I'm curious to hear news about student employment opportunities as well as about affordable housing for graduate students. 

 

In exchange, for those of you new to Tallahassee, I can tell you that the best restaurants in Tallahassee are without a doubt Super Perro's, Pho 7, Kool Beanz and Siam Sushi. If you want really good junk food, Gaines Street Pies. For bars, nothing beats Fermentation Lounge. A bit spendy but worth it for the environment and fun conversations with strangers. Most convenient coffee shops (not counting the two Starbucks on campus) in reach of campus are Atomic Coffee and The Sweet Shop (or FSU's best-kept secret, the Grindhouse cafe in the Student Life Center). All Saints Cafe is best if you're in more of an artsy mood though. 

 

Super Perro's!?? LOL   I've been wanting to try Pho 7. Gaines Street Pies is right down from my job- delicious. Siam Sushi is the best.

Edited December 11, 2013 by socioholic

[Authorization]

It's one of my favorites but to each their own. Pho 7 has a limited menu but what they have is pretty good. 

 

Also, if one is into going to concerts, keep track of the  show schedules for Club Downunder, The Side Bar, and Rehab in the off-chance that your favorite band miraculously decides to play a show in Tally one day. 

Edited December 12, 2013 by Authorization

[aberrant]

The weather is mild and perfect most of the time. It is NOT the big city-definitely more country/rural-but there is an eclectic mix of people. Good place overall.

No. Just... no.

 

 

I can tell you that the best restaurants in Tallahassee are without a doubt Super Perro's, Pho 7, Kool Beanz and Siam Sushi. If you want really good junk food, Gaines Street Pies.

Super Perro's is the best? I'm not sure about that. Cut to the chase -- they served a lot of hot dogs that are small portion and overpriced. Other items on the menu have good portion, but the environment (cleanliness) is questionable. That one time when my friends and I went there to try out restaurants in Tally, there was a giant cockroach on the wall that was creeping up to this group of people that were sitting at the booth. Long story short, a woman freaked out and cried, a man slammed the roach with his bare hand, and we were looking at them the whole time while during our dinner. Not to mentioned that horchata that they served was a trap -- for $3.50 (they tried to charge me $4.00 before I confront the waitress with the menu on my hand), they gave me a box of ready-to-drink horchata that is available in Walmart for less than $2.00. The place is quiet for reasons.

 

Pho7 is reasonably price. If you know how a "house fried rice" should taste like, then do not order their fried rice -- it was a disappointment. Your safe bet is always the pho. ps. If you have relatively authentic Pho elsewhere, such as California, you may find it unimpressive. However, this is the best you can have in Tallahassee.

 

Never been to Kool Beanz, although I have been told that they serve good food, it's just too expensive for me ($12-$20 per plate). Never been to Siam sushi neither, but I have a scout from MD to determine whether there are good Japanese restaurants in town (aside from Osaka); my other friend from New York concluded that "there's no good sushi in this place".

 

If you are looking for Chinese food, I would recommend either China Delight (walking distance from campus, they serve good combo fried rice; they serve more dishes from the Northern China than the South), Bamboo House (buffet, pretty much all the dishes and soup are homemade-like [a.k.a. food that are commonly consumed in a dinner at home, as opposed to restaurants]), or AZU Lucy Ho's (they actually serve both Chinese and Japanese food; items on the chinese dinner menu are usually filling; fancy place, good dining place for a date). You can expect to spend anything above $9 for a quality meal.

[Authorization]

Hah, well I guess I'm alone in liking an unpopular restaurant.

 

Forgot to mention some fun events in town. If you're on campus, international coffee hour on Friday is pretty cool (who doesn't like free coffee?) and the Student Life Center usually has film screenings (free for students) on the weekends and in the latter half of the week - occasionally this includes screenings of Rocky Horror close to Halloween, which are super fun. We also get some pretty decent guest speakers at FSU - have seen both George Takei and Spike Lee appear as guest speakers on campus, which was pretty cool. 

 

Off campus, check out the art walk in Railroad Square on the first Friday of each month. All Saints Cinema is great if you're into foreign/arthouse cinema. Also, if you're into video games/science fiction/anime/other nerdy stuff, Tallahassee has AltCon, FreeCon, and Gli*Expo - all of which are pretty small events but worth going to imo. 

[EloiseGC]

Pho 7 is alright if you're on that side of town, but Far East is a much better Vietnamese restaurant. The only problem is that it's pretty far from campus. Pho 7 has a tendency to to rip you off on vegetables, and the menu is much more limited. It's not bad, though. Better than most college-area food places.

[EloiseGC]

Also, Siam Sushi has fantastic sushi rolls (which you wouldn't expect from a place that joins the words "siam' and "sushi" together. But seriously, YUM. Get the "trust me roll", The sushi chef, Krishna, will surprise you with something epic.). Sakura and Jasmine are also incredible, Sakura for the more straight Japanese sushi and nigiri, and Jasmine for the really inventive combinations. 

[MJA87]

I've worked either at the capitol or in state government since graduating from undergrad (~3.5 years ago), so I'm happy to field any questions about that or just living in Tally more generally. Also I just wanted to add that Mary has been spot on regarding restaurants and everything else she's talked about.

[EloiseGC]

I've worked either at the capitol or in state government since graduating from undergrad (~3.5 years ago), so I'm happy to field any questions about that or just living in Tally more generally. Also I just wanted to add that Mary has been spot on regarding restaurants and everything else she's talked about.

 

Heh, thanks!

[winiznayne]

Does anyone have any info on Tallahassee? What kind of city is it? Is it conservative, liberal? Where do most grad students live? 

[aberrant]

Does anyone have any info on Tallahassee? What kind of city is it? Is it conservative, liberal? Where do most grad students live? 

 

In terms of politics, it is not California-liberal (specifically, not LA, not SD, not SF liberal). The city itself, in my opinion, is a mixed of both. Mainly because a lot of people who work at school are liberal, but outside of school and decent proportion of undergraduates (that are from elsewhere of Florida) are conservatives. In terms of culture, I think this place is generally liberal, but unless you are a minority, then you may find it a bit different, where some people would give you a weird look just because you are a minority. (At least that applies to me.) It has a significant influence from the southern culture (if, not already a southern culture).

 

most grad students commute to campus. There was a grad student housing but they are shutting it down this summer because it is far and poorly managed. Grad students that I know are typically live very close to campus (like myself) for convenience, or far from campus (+2 miles away) for a quieter atmosphere.

[allinthefoam]

Hey, just accepted an offer for the French Lit program at FSU, and looking to find an apartment. I'm hoping to find somewhere close to campus (I'll have a car, but hope not to have to commute with it daily), that is relatively quiet, and is also pet friendly (for a cat). (Safety and affordability are also obviously important.) Can anyone give me any recommendations as to apartment complexes or neighborhoods to look in? 

 

Also, how is the public transport? I know there's a campus bus system; is there a city bus system as well? Does it run generally on-time? I was reading about some bad traffic in certain areas of town -- how does this affect the bus schedule?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Authorization]

Also, how is the public transport? I know there's a campus bus system; is there a city bus system as well? Does it run generally on-time? I was reading about some bad traffic in certain areas of town -- how does this affect the bus schedule?

 

 

The city bus system was made somewhat more decentralized a few years ago, which has created more problems than it has solved. Unless you live close to campus and can walk or take the campus bus, the city buses, especially those which run a route to or from campus, are incredibly convenient unless you live somewhere on one of those two routes. However, even if you do live on one of those routes, it will easily take you two hours through completely random places/the middle of nowhere before you get to campus. You are better off driving or finding someone to carpool with for the sake of efficiency (although parking on campus is reportedly rather difficult). 

[sbish]

Hey all, I am moving to Tallahassee from across the country to start a program at FSU and won't be able to make it to the city before I move to look for an apartment. I've been searching on the web, but obviously I have some major reservations about renting something without seeing it in person.

 

So, my question is twofold: 1. If I arrive in the middle of August, will I have a difficult time finding a studio or 1 bedroom on such short notice? I need to live within walking distance from the east side of campus, and I'm concerned that there will be very few vacancies due to the high influx of students renting at the beginning of the semester. And, 2. Are there any apartment communities/areas that you can recommend, for which I can sign a lease in good confidence without seeing it in person first? As I said earlier, I need to live within a mile or two of the east side of campus. Franklin Pointe comes up a lot in my search, as has Parkwood Apts and some other places on Park Blvd. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated!