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By John Darling For the Tidings February 01. 2016 8:39PM What are your favorite places to eat in Ashland? Sumara Love and her daughter Angel Love — We go out twice a month. Martolli's is the regular place we love to go, great pizza. It's a 7. (Granite) Tap House is for special times. It's a 10. We love the hors d'oeuvres and salad. We love Milagros for the organic Mexican. Chipotle also. Atmosphere is very important to us for special times out. Photo by John Darling Going out to eat! What makes it so wonderful? Is it being able to sit there, sipping vino and chatting with a friend or loved one for a couple hours? Is it being waited on and not having to chop veggies and sautee meat? Is it being able to walk away from the dishes and let someone else clean them?  All these, of course, are beautiful, even exquisite and are enough to make you want to dump your entire income into this fabulous custom of eating out, which, by the way, has become immensely more rich, varied, lavish and delicious in the last generation — not to mention the beauty of the eating environment. Remember when it used to be just surf and turf — and you could also go out for Chinese or Italian? Then came Mexican in the '70s, followed by every imaginable ethnic twist, like Blue Toba on Ashland Street, rife with the latest offerings of Indonesia — and the stunning breakfasts of Morning Glory. Don’t forget those heavenly restaurants offering only organic, non-GMO and gluten-free. They actually do taste better (that is, if they know how to cook) — and more and more chefs are winning medals and tossing out palate-seducing flavors you never imagined. Who doesn’t love these words? “To hell with it; let’s go out to eat!” It brings a lift to the heart and a slavering of the saliva glands. “Yes, let's!” And from that moment on, you only have to find a parking spot, open the wallet to expose the credit card and just enjoy the rest of the evening. It’s as good or better than the Fourth of July parade and the Festival of Lights combined! A factoid on the side: Did you know that in the past year, Americans crossed the line, spending more on restaurants than on groceries? What will become of us? So, we asked Ashlanders how often the eat out, where they go for both regular and special meals and what they love to eat. Sumara Love & her daughter Angel Love — We go out twice a month. Martolli’s is the regular place we love to go, great pizza. It’s a 7. (Granite) Tap House is for special times. It’s a 10. We love the hors d’oeuvres and salad. We love Milagros for the organic Mexican. Chipotle also. Atmosphere is very important to us for special times out.  Lucretia Smith (declined photo) — Sauce. It’s organic. I like the lamb there. It’s healthy and doesn’t have any crap in it. Alexa Bernard — I go out maybe seven times a month. I love Sauce. It’s healthy and non-GMO. They support the local farmers and growers. I like Smithfield. It’s ridiculously good, with lots of local stuff, like our chantrelle mushrooms, not portobellos people try to pass off as local. The chef actually knows what to do with them. We’re so blessed in Ashland to have so many great chefs and wonderful choices. Love Liquid Assets for special occasions. Harvest in Talent is super skilled. Lori Creevay — I go out a couple times a week. Special is Loft. It’s French. Amazing cod. Regular is the Brick Room. For every day is Flip, the best burgers ever. Occasionally the Standing Stone, the Caesar with chicken. But my number one is the Co-op deli. It’s inexpensive and wholesome and you don’t have to tip. Kanoa Jones — I go out about 18 times a month. Larks and Smithfields I love. Kathy Zavava — I like eating at home. I love the Co-op deli, though. Great prices and energy in there. Sauce is organic and delicious. I don’t like to go out and blow a lot of money. Sujanna Hansen — Sauce for regular going out to eat. It’s organic and delicious. Love Kobe for sushi. For special times, it’s Liquid Assets. The atmosphere and friendly people are great. Helga Motley — The co-op deli. It’s organic and no-GMO. Love the people I run into. Bloomsbury for the latte and pumpkin pie. Deux Chats for the amazing pastry, only open Friday and Saturday. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. Ashland Restaurant Week Ashland Restaurant Week started Sunday and continues through Saturday, with specials at 16 Ashland restaurants and the opportunity to win special prizes, including gift certificates and a culinary basket filled with goodies.To enter prize drawings, go to www.ashlandchamber.com and click on the link for Ashland Restaurant Week information and a link to the entry form. Participants also can request an entry form at participating restaurants.The website lists participating restaurants and their specials during the week, as well as lodging packages available. http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20160201/NEWS/160209977 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->