The best calamari in America

A return visitor to The Drafting Room , in the Springhouse area of suburban Philadelphia, always arrives in anticipation of an amazing dining experience. It is worth flying to Philly just to order the calamari. The small sea dwellers are lightly floured and served with a garlic chive aioli. For $8.95, it's the best calamari I've had on both coasts.

For those with a picky palate for beer, disappointment is impossible at the Drafting Room. In addition to food that inspires, The Drafting Room has a world-class selection of handcrafted beers, micro-brews and seasonal releases with over 100 different bottled beers with a strong commitment to the beers of Belgium.

For the Scotch lover, The Drafting Room surpasses many restaurants with a vast selection of single malt Scotches. With over 70 different single malts from all regions of Scotland, sampling them all over time (because of reasonable pricing) is not unthinkable.

Whenever I get close to Philadelphia, my Pavlovian response prevails and I find myself driving up "the blue route" from the airport. The Angus burgers are just that memorable. On my most recent visit, I ate the entire calamari appetizer by myself, as my brother watched, so I made a entree detour and ordered the Moroccan Spiced Chicken salad, topped with couscous, cashews, red peppers, mandarin oranges, scallions, and served with preserved lemon vinaigrette for $8.95. It was the best detour I've ever made in my life.

The menu, far from formulaic with a diverse selection beef, chicken, and fish entrees, is enough to create a cadre of "regulars" in the Philadelphia area. I'd like to consider myself "a regular" even though I live in St. Louis.

I am fully aware that some have argued that the best calamari can be found at Cafe Lucky Noodle in Eugene, Oregon but The Drafting Room's blend of flavors with this fried squid, and the aioli on the side, is enough to start a different kind of east coast/west coast rivalry. It's the best calamari in America.

My move away from gluttony has developed an interest in quality and aesthetics over quantity. Restaurants like The Drafting Room make the transition from filling food to good food very easy. Oh yeah, The Drafting Room has natural-cut and sweet potato fries too!

Where is the best food item you experienced in a restaurant in America?