Travels in the South

Last week I told you about a restaurant that mom/dad went to with Aunt Tina a couple of months ago while visiting Chicago.  This is the second half of that posting.

On this night, mom/dad split a meal.  They do that a lot.  On tonight’s menu it was a Fontina Pork Chop.  I know – I know.  I was shocked too.  Thank goodness I’m not that kind of pig!

This pork chop was boneless, had fontina cheese, garlic and prosciutto ham and a mushroom marsala sauce.  Mom said it was the best pig that she ever had…besides kissing me that is – snorts and rolls with piggy laughter.

They served it with garlic whipped potatoes and one of dad’s favorites – crab fried rice – which dad absolutely fell in love with!

This was the first time that mom/dad had visited this restaurant but they say they will be back for sure!  Wait until next week to see the dessert – oh yum ❤

 

Travels in the South

Do you see that yummy shrimp?  It’s called Bang Bang Shrimp.  The shrimp are crispy and tossed with a creamy spicy sauce.  AND they serve the shrimp with chopsticks.  How cute is that?  Mom/dad said they were awesome!  Can you guess what restaurant it is with the fish in the lower left hand corner?

Aunt Tina took mom/dad to this place when they last visited in May.  What an awesome place it was… or maybe it was the awesome food… or MAYBE it was just the AWESOME COMPANY they had at dinner.

 

Travels in the South

 Sometimes you just want to try a new restaurant.  Daddy has been seeing a certain restaurant on the television for weeks now and telling mom about it.  With that being said, this another week that I’m going to let daddy discuss his thoughts – take it away daddy!

Thank you Bacon.  I’m glad you understand these things when it comes to food.  After seeing this advertisements on television and pestering asking the wife to go, we looked the restaurant on line to see where the closest one was to the Hotel Thompson.  The closest one was about 25 minutes away from us several towns over.  Now we tried to go on several different occasions but something always came up.  Maybe that was an omen we should have listened to?  You decide.

So we get to this place and it’s a barbeque restaurant where you order in one place, pay and then pick up your food.  We told the person at the counter when we ordered we had never been there before.  They said, “Ah, okay, what would you like”.  And that was that.  No smile, no welcome, no greeting.  Okay, so customer service is not their best.  Some of the best food can still be found in places like this.

I ordered waffle fries, potato salad (I know double potatoes – LOL), ribs, pork and brisket.  The food came out lukewarm.  It was okay – nothing to write home about or put on your list to visit again.

The wife unit ordered something called a frito pie.  It had Frito’s on the bottom, covered with pinto beans and brisket and topped with onion strings and barbeque sauce.  She ordered it the same time I did mine; however, it literally took them about 20 minutes to put something together that the ingredients were all ready.  I personally think they forgot about her and was thinking the next person was going to do it, etc.  It doesn’t look appealing but she really enjoyed it.

So this wasn’t a place we would visit again anytime soon.  Maybe they were having an off day.  We might try it again but it will definitely be some time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travels in the South

Oh boy, has daddy got a good one today for you my friends.  For obvious reasons, I’m going to let daddy explain his choice to you – snorts with piggy laughter.

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Thank you Bacon – now you scoot along and be a good piggy.  You certainly do not need to see this.

Hello friends – Look at this burger!  Can you say in the famous words of Bacon, “Oh my piggy heavens?!” 

On a recent outing with the wife, I came across the burger.  The menu called it The Boss.  I nicknamed it The Caveman.  It was *almost* too much for even me to handle… but I did. 

The pictures don’t do it justice – it is HUGE! 

Are you asking yourself what is in this creation?  There is a hamburger patty on the bottom, topped by smoked brisket, tender rib meat, jalapeno cheddar smoked sausage, bacon and cheddar. 

 

I could barely wrap my hands around this burger.  And once I did get my hands around it, I wouldn’t dare put it down because it would fall apart on me.  And that my friends would be horrible. 

So I picked it up and dug in.  This burger was so piled with goodies inside that they kept falling out and onto my tray. 

And see those french fries on my plate.  I’m sure they would have been good but I had no room left to enjoy them. 

And if the sandwich was that big, do you think I could wrap my mouth around it?  Barely – that is the word – barely!

And it was good until the last bite!

 

Travels in Chicago –

 Did

 you think I was done highlighting some of the wonderful food mom/dad tried when they were visiting Illinois last November?  Of course not – snorts with piggy laughter.  How could

any visit be complete to the Chicago area without trying some of their famous Chicago deep dish pizza?  And of course, there was only one place they had to go for that –

Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

First up, Aunt Tina said they had the best calamari.  So everyone ordered the Calamari Fritti which was lightly breaded and fried to perfection.  They serve this delectable appetizer with a side of cocktail sauce.  Of course, Aunt Tina made sure to spritz lemon all over these yum-yum’s before everyone dug into them.

And then everyone dug into some salad.  See even Aunt Tina made daddy eat some vegetables – mom was so proud.  Of course mom told daddy he had to eat the salad because the pizza takes time to cook.  That’s right.  Deep dish pizza takes longer to cook than the regular pizzas you might order from your fast food place.

 Then after a while, mom/dad/Aunt Tina said they heard angels singing and their individual pizzas were delivered.  Instead of getting one huge pizza, they all got individual ones with side salads.  These pizzas had sausage and black olives – and lots of sauce.

What did mom/dad think about this Chicago style deep dish pizza?  Dad is a huge pizza person.  He said that he ‘thinks’ he liked it but he would have to try one again to be sure.  That sounds like dad, huh?  But in the end, he said he would give it about an eight.

Mom said it was okay.  Mom is not a fan of a lot of sauce on her pizzas and of course this one is fully loaded with sauce.  And the crust is thick and a there is a lot of it surrounding the pizza.  Mom said the crust was kind of hard too.  There was lots of flavor but this pizza left mom on the it was okay side.  So for these reasons, mom gave it about a four.

But overall, everyone had a fantastic time at a famous landmark.  Would they go back again – of course they would!  There is more to the menu than just pizza.  And if you know anything about my mom/dad, they are professional eaters – snorts with piggy laughter.

 

Travels in the South

Daddy is doing Travels in the South today – take it away pops!

Sometimes you get the craving for some really good barbeque.  And for obvious reasons, we don’t tell Bacon what really good barbeque can be.  So the other day, I took the wife to a local place that has the best ribs.  As you can see in the picture above, you get a lot of food for just a little over $12.00 – and it’s good and solid food.  You can get the ribs in different flavors too – regular barbeque, bourbon or you can add more pork to it in the form of little pieces of bacon on top of your ribs.  I showed some respect for the pig and didn’t get bacon added to it.  I just couldn’t do that – LOL.

 

Travels in the South

Oh my friends – mom/dad found the *best* local seafood restaurant.  It is called Fishers of Men and they are located at 1500 Mt Zion Road, Suite 20, Morrow.  They are open everyday except Sunday.

Mom/dad went there one Saturday night to check it out and they have since been back repeatedly.  Why?  Let me tell you why mom/dad like it so much.

The food is authentic.  As you’ve read on my blog, mom/dad like to travel and they like to eat.  They’ve eaten everywhere.  And this place can hold their own with some of the other restaurants they’ve been to all over the world.

The atmosphere is home. You go in, order and pay for your food.  Then you  find a comfy spot and wait smelling all of that deliciousness being created in the kitchen for your order.  There’s no rush to herd you out of the restaurant like some places do.  Everything is cooked fresh to order so it comes out sizzling hot.

And let me tell you one more thing.  You may go in as a stranger but you will leave as family.

When mom/dad went the first time, they ordered two of the whiting and shrimp dinners.  That’s four pieces of whiting and thirteen shrimp with fries.  They didn’t have any clue how much food they would get.  Look at all of that food!  And yes, dad said they snorted it all down – can you believe that?

There is a LOT of pictures below that mom/dad wanted to share with you – no they didn’t order everything at once – snorts with piggy laughter.  As I’ve said, they have been there many times in the past couple of weeks.

As they like to tell one of the owners Arlene, they are working their way through the menu.  Today, I wanted to share with you some of their fabulous food.  And, if you are in the area we highly suggest you try this place.

You will not regret it!  In fact, as mom/dad try more of their food, you might see them here again on Travels in the South.

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Now try not to get too hungry looking at these gorgeous pictures!

In no particular order, the following pictures are:  scallops (sweet, succulent and flaky on the inside like they should be); crab sticks (we had to ask what these were too!  crab meat breaded and fried); oysters and catfish; whiting and shrimp; whiting and the best seafood salad and clams.  And let me add by saying there french fries are crispy and there onion rings are out of this world!!  Mom/dad have also tried their wonderful cole slaw and grits.  Yes grits are good for you!

 

#fishersofmen #seafood #oysters #crabsticks #whiting #scallops #shrimp #clams

 

Travels in the South

Last November, mom/dad traveled to Chicago, Illinois.  Or should I say, mom planned a trip and told dad absolutely nothing about it until the car came and picked them up at the Hotel Thompson the morning of departure.  Mom had already packed everything for their adventure.  Why Chicago?  Well first up, my Aunt Tina lives there with my cousin Sherlock Bones.  Second up, daddy has *always* wanted to go to Ditka’s Chicago.  Are you asking yourself what is that?  Well Mike Ditka is a former football player, was an awesome coach and a television commentator.  He coached the Chicago Bears back in the day which was one of dad’s favorite teams.

In the next couple of weeks, we will be highlighting some of the food that everyone enjoyed during their trip to Ditka’s Chicago.

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Have you enjoyed these past couple of weeks my friends sharing in mom/dad’s adventure at Ditka’s Chicago?

Today we leave with the best picture of them all – dessert.

On the dessert menu, it was so hard to decide on something to share.

And we had to share – we had so much food!  We settled on peanut butter pie – licks lips.  It had whipped cream, peanut butter mousse, chocolate and caramel sauces.

By splitting this wonderful masterpiece, mom/dad said they all had split the calories too.  And they said it was wonderfully sinful!

And trust me, everyone had so much food!  Look at all of the leftover boxes that they went home with to eat later ❤

 

Travels in the South

Last November, mom/dad traveled to Chicago, Illinois.  Or should I say, mom planned a trip and told dad absolutely nothing about it until the car came and picked them up at the Hotel Thompson the morning of departure.  Mom had already packed everything for their adventure.  Why Chicago?  Well first up, my Aunt Tina lives there with my cousin Sherlock Bones.  Second up, daddy has *always* wanted to go to Ditka’s Chicago.  Are you asking yourself what is that?  Well Mike Ditka is a former football player, was an awesome coach and a television commentator.  He coached the Chicago Bears back in the day which was one of dad’s favorite teams.

In the next couple of weeks, we will be highlighting some of the food that everyone enjoyed during their trip to Ditka’s Chicago.

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Doesn’t this dish look mouth watering?  We saved one of the coolest things we experienced at the restaurant for last.  A lot of times, mom/dad split meals when they go out.  This night was no different.  Mom/dad decided to split the 16 ounce slow roasted prime rib.  This plate comes with burgundy mushrooms (that melted in your mouth), horseradish cream and an au jus.  Mom also had the steak added with a horseradish crust.  They were expecting to get one giant steak delivered to the table to split.  But no.  The restaurant was so awesome that they went ahead and ‘split’ the steak in the kitchen and delivered two dishes like the one above, one for mom and one for dad.  Wasn’t that awesome?!  And the steak was so tender that you didn’t need a knife to even cut it.  It was juicy and had the best flavor with the horseradish and mushrooms.  Dad said he would give two thumbs up for sure!

 

Travels in the South

Last November, mom/dad traveled to Chicago, Illinois.  Or should I say, mom planned a trip and told dad absolutely nothing about it until the car came and picked them up at the Hotel Thompson the morning of departure.  Mom had already packed everything for their adventure.  Why Chicago?  Well first up, my Aunt Tina lives there with my cousin Sherlock Bones.  Second up, daddy has *always* wanted to go to Ditka’s Chicago.  Are you asking yourself what is that?  Well Mike Ditka is a former football player, was an awesome coach and a television commentator.  He coached the Chicago Bears back in the day which was one of dad’s favorite teams.

In the next couple of weeks, we will be highlighting some of the food that everyone enjoyed during their trip to Ditka’s Chicago.

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Doesn’t this look amazing?!  It’s on the menu under shareable sides called King Crab Risotto.  It looks mouth watering and out of this world!  The risotto was creamy and the crab meat sweet and tender.  We all got some of this delicacy.  Mine was great.  However, my hub unit’s first mouthful was full of shell.  WTH?!  It would be the blind guy getting shell.  So we thought it was just a chance thing.  That’s when all of us starting getting shells in every bite.  We had a collection of shells by the time the waitress came by to check on us.  The waitress was concerned and brought the manager over to talk to us – we didn’t ask for him.  This is when you can tell the difference in an upscale restaurant.  He immediately was taken back by the amount of shell’s in our King Crab Risotto.  Yes, there might be an occasional shell due to the amount they are putting out but *never* something like this.  He was very apologetic.  Would we get it again?  Absolutely!  Never make a judgement on the first time – we will definitely try it again.  Stay with us next week to see what else we ordered here.