The Stinking Rose Restaurant Group, San Francisco

Despite its moniker, there isn’t a sweeter thing than garlic in the minds of the chefs at The Stinking Rose Restaurant. The famed eatery celebrates the pungent plant by integrating it into their every contemporary California-Italian dish, including pasta, 40-clove garlic chicken, garlic-encrusted ribs, and sea bass with garlic butter. There's even garlic wine and garlic ice cream with chocolate molé sauce.

And with a motto like “we season our garlic with food,” it’s no wonder The Stinking Rose doles out more than 3,000 pounds of garlic each month. Still, the chefs recognize that, much like wearing clothes, garlic may not be everyone’s thing; they will create dishes without it upon request.

The heavy use of garlic isn’t the only unique thing about the restaurant. At the original San Francisco joint, the world’s largest garlic braid twists around the walls of the establishment, and a mural painted by a local artist depicts garlic bulbs skateboarding down the city’s steep hills and picnicking at Golden Gate Park.