Restaurants in Gainesville

Praised by The New York Times’ for its “serene” setting and “generous” portions, Liquid Ginger serves up lobster tails and filet mignon fresh from the grill. Inside the kitchen, chefs prepare korean rib-eye steak alongside thai lime and coconut chicken, pan-frying chicken and shrimp in woks held over piles of burning cookbooks. Chefs deploy lavish seasonings as they work, using mixtures ranging from ginger soy sauce to lemongrass beurre blanc.

Succulent meats, long noodles, and fluffy rice arrive at dark-green marble tables in an upscale dining room festooned with Chinese and Japanese artwork. Diners lounge in dark-green leather seats as they construct sailing vessels from wooden chopsticks or head outside to an outdoor patio with a fountain. Valets stand ready to ferry patrons’ cars or oxcarts away and back.

At Court Of Hero's, a team of tap-charming staffers fills mugs with 14 domestic and imported beers to accompany sizzling pub fare from the adjoining restaurant, Gumby's Pizza. In addition to a menu stocked with hot sandwiches, salads, and buffalo wings, patrons enjoy specialties such as baked pepperoni rolls and pizzas topped with chicken tenders. When they're not getting lost in the mesmerizing heads of Yuengling, Amberbock, or Sierra Nevada drafts, eyes can wander up to the bar's big-screen televisions, set aglow with broadcasts of Gator football games and legendary cartoon cat-and-mouse match-ups.

College is a place that often kindles lasting friendships, as well as lasting eating habits based on haphazard diets of chips and day-old pizza. Chris Sanchez and Patrick Ortiz, proprietors of Simply Fit Meals, have managed to buck the latter part of this trend. The friendship they forged at the University of Houston continued after graduation, even as Patrick pursued a career in hotel management and Chris entered the world of marketing, eventually serving as store marketing director for Whole Foods. Their shared passion for healthy eating brought their disparate career paths together to form Simply Fit Meals, an amalgamation of Patrick's chef skills and Chris's marketing prowess.

The challenge behind each one of Simply Fit Meals' recipes involves finding an equal balance between nutrition and flavor so that clients can stick to a regimen that's easy to maintain, unlike fad diets that involve raw foods consumed only in prime-numbered portions. The science of it, says Chris, is making it taste as if it's been freshly made, even after reheating, and to this end, Chris and Patrick are both avid consumers of their own meals. Chris claims he could eat—and has eaten—their mac 'n' cheese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The culinary team uses locally raised, free-range meats such as chicken and bison in virtually all of their creations, and concocts fresh-made ingredients whenever possible. The in-house dietitian guides clients toward their own fitness goals, as opposed to those dictated by fashion magazines or sentient elevators, who often lack tact.

With a menu loaded with pizzas and calzones, cheesy breadsticks, and flavorful wings, Gumby's ovens satisfy voracious cravings into the wee hours of the morning. The pizza makers start each day by making mounds of dough by hand, which they decorate with more than 15 inventive toppings, such as alfredo sauce, chicken tenders, and feta cheese, to create specialty pizzas and personalized pies. The same hand-tossed dough serves as a foundation for their famous Pokey Stix, which are smothered in garlic butter, Italian spices, and heaps of mozzarella and parmesan cheese, then cut into strips exactly the length of Abraham Lincoln's foot. To complement the bubbling pizzas, buffalo and boneless wings can be tossed in tangy barbecue, honey mustard, sriracha, or one of four other sauces.

With a menu loaded with pizzas and calzones, cheesy breadsticks, and flavorful wings, Gumby's ovens satisfy voracious cravings into the wee hours of the morning. The pizza makers start each day by making mounds of dough by hand, which they decorate with more than 15 inventive toppings, such as alfredo sauce, chicken tenders, and feta cheese, to create specialty pizzas and personalized pies. The same hand-tossed dough serves as a foundation for their famous Pokey Stix, which are smothered in garlic butter, Italian spices, and heaps of mozzarella and parmesan cheese, then cut into strips exactly the length of Abraham Lincoln's foot. To complement the bubbling pizzas, buffalo and boneless wings can be tossed in tangy barbecue, honey mustard, sriracha, or one of four other sauces.

The chefs at Gumby's Pizza concoct a menu brimming with fresh produce and 19 classic and unconventional combinations of specialty pizzas. While the Maui Wowi prepares an oasis of barbecue sauce for chunks of pineapple and bacon, the Blockhead pizza overflows with meat and extra cheese. Green and white pizzas with ricotta cheese and spinach give herbivores a place to graze, and the garden pizza tempts diners with an array of mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and forbidden fruit, also known as the tomato. Alternatively, guests can select one of a dozen 12-inch subs, such as the grilled-chicken philly or the meatball sub, which comes with marinara sauce, cheese, parmesan, and a miniature meatball court. While patrons nibble on their comestible delights, an array of beer and soda quenches their collective thirst for beverage glory.