With all of the hay made over the recent steakhouse and other restaurant openings, some Atlantic City favorites that don't necessarily specialize in good old American cuisine may unfortunately get overlooked. This list will lead you on a journey to the center of AC's food earth and back again, stopping at our favorite international restaurants along the way. Atlantic City has outgrown its image as a culinary wasteland to become a city where you can find just about every variety of ethnic food. Here's a list of some of our favorites.  LITTLE SAIGON
Vietnam Chef/Owner Lien Pham has an authentic Vietnamese restaurant, but the influences on a Vietnamese menu range from French to Cambodian to Chinese. The menu includes upwards of one hundred dishes, an entire page of which is vegetarian. Little Saigon lives large on taste but is small in seats: the house only seats about 50. This small AC gem is only closed on Tuesdays, and is on the corner of Arctic and Iowa avenues, 609-347-9119.
 RED SQUARE
Russia From Russia with love comes this outstanding restaurant that the Atlantic City Press called "somewhere between excellent and extraordinary". 150 vodkas are available at the bar, and if you really want to try something different, sample their interpretation of fried calamari. It's nowhere close to what you're used to and it's also infinitely better. Beef Stroganoff and Chicken Kiev come very highly recommended. Located in The Quarter at The Tropicana.
SUILAN
France/China Celebrity chef Susanna Foo's Borgata location is one of the top joints in town for fusion cuisine. Foo's specialties are European-inspired Chinese and Chinese-influenced French offerings. It's definitely the only place in AC that one can find a grilled filet mignon with a truffle leek potato cake. (Yeah. Wait, what?) Suilan is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and opens for dinner on all other days at 5PM. 609-317-1000, theborgata.com.
CAFÉ 2825
Italy This small family-owned restaurant just off the corner of Atlantic and Brighton (2825 Atlantic Ave., 609-344-6913) has been a local favorite for many years but most times escapes tourist attention. Tables can be tough on weekends, but for the most part reservations aren't necessary during the week. They're usually closed Sunday and Monday, but call ahead to confirm. Hint: Say it "two-eight-two-five", not "twenty-eight-twenty-five" and sound like a local.
 LOS AMIGOS
Mexico Twenty-six years ago, Los Amigos opened at the corner of Ohio and Atlantic Avenues and firmly established itself as a hot spot for both authentic Mexican and more contemporary American Southwest dishes. The Mexican experience is certainly aided by the full bar with premium tequilas and Mexican-import beers. Get this: Los Amigos is popular to the point that it doesn't take a day off. Open 7 days from 11:30am, 609-344-2293.
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