Restaurant Critic Roundup: New York Restaurant Manzanilla 'Extends Less Than A Firm Handshake'

This week in restaurant reviews, The New York Times critic Pete Wells reviews Manhattan's Manzanilla. "As Mr. García's introduction to New Yorkers," he says, "Manzanilla extends something less than a firm handshake," and "the strain of running a kitchen in an unfamiliar city occasionally shows."

Near Los Angeles, critic Jonathan Gold makes a trip to M.A.K.E, Matthew Kenney's raw-vegan restaurant in Santa Monica Place. "If you are the kind of diner who gets hung up on first impressions," he says, "M.A.K.E. ... may not be for you... It is not just on the dining deck but actually in the mall's food court, so to get to it you have to pass by any number of gadget shops and cheese counters. Its open-walled design makes it difficult to figure out where the food court ends and the dining room begins."

Near Washington, D.C., restaurant Old Angler's Inn has been undergoing renovations since 2005. With the entrance of chef Nick Palermo in 2011, "just about every edible reminder of the inn, save Caesar salad and crème brûlée, has been erased from the menu." According to critic Tom Sietsema, "Three recent dinners from his revamped kitchen reveal a chef to watch and a restaurant to reconsider."

As always, the ratings range from stars to bells to beans, but every review offers specialized insight into the food, atmosphere, and service of eateries in each city's dining scene and the critics eating at them.
 

Restaurant Critic Roundup: 4/17/2013

Click here for The Daily Meal's "Top Chefs Review — and Rate — America's Food Critics."

Tyler Sullivan is The Daily Meal's assistant editor. Follow her on Twitter at @atylersullivan.