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Dixie BBQ-August 14, 2012

August 15, 2012

It’s a rare restaurant post in the middle of the week! This was actually supposed to be a post about spaghetti squash with sage and brown butter, but you guys will have to wait a few days for that one. Tuesday was the first day of school, and here’s how it goes down-every year: I tell myself that I’m going to cook…then I get home and I can’t even think about cooking. Today was no exception, unless you consider the fact that I told Philip on Monday night, “I have something planned to cook tomorrow night, but I’m under no illusion that I’m actually going to cook.” So….we went out to eat. No big surprise.

On Sunday there was a Groupon for Dixie BBQ-$6 for $12 worth of food. I had $5 in Groupon bucks, so I got the deal for $1 (by the way, I’m not really sure how one earns “Groupon bucks”. They just sent me an email a while back that I had some….)! My family has been eating at Dixie BBQ for years, but somehow I have never been here, even though it’s only about 10 minutes from my house. I guess I just kind of forget about it. I recently added it to my “list” on my iPhone, which I maintain to help us remember the places that we still need to go when we are out places. Tonight seemed like a perfect time to go….not very far, and we could pick it up and bring it home to eat.

By the time we walked away from the ordering window we reeked of smoked food (not a bad thing, at least in our opinion!). They have your normal BBQ restaurant fare….sandwiches, plates (meat, bread, & two sides), stuffed potatoes, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and I think there might have been chicken tenders but I can’t remember. The meats were pork, beef, and smoked chicken, and the sides that I can remember were slaw, baked beans, fried okra, potato salad, tater logs, and tater tots. I think there were a few more, but I don’t remember what they were!

I knew before I got there what I was going to order….the “killer potato”. Everyone in my family swears by this potato. I decided to order it with pork. I was not disappointed. It was gigantic and covered with cheese, butter, sour cream, pulled pork, and barbecue sauce. The pork was delicious, tender and SO smoky. I really liked the barbecue sauce….it was sweet (but not too much so) and not overly spicy. This was a great potato. The only thing I would change would be to add some chives or chopped green onions…but it really was a great BBQ potato.

Philip decided on the pork plate with fried okra and coleslaw. It also came with Texas toast (which Philip hates, no matter where it comes from, and threw in the trash). He thought the slaw was “meh”…he really loves Rib & Loin’s slaw (so do I, and I generally hate slaw) and just didn’t feel like it was quite up to par in comparison. He did like the okra, though. I tasted it too and thought that it tasted really good. We couldn’t decide if it was frozen, though….and suspect that it might be. Like me, he loved the pulled pork as well as the sauce.

The only real issue that I had on this trip was the fact that they do not take credit cards-cash or check only. I looked at the cash lying on my dresser before we left the house and thought, “Nah, I won’t need it….” I’m just so used to everyone taking cards these days, so I was a little taken aback when the girl told Philip that they don’t take cards. By this time she had already redeemed my Groupon so it was too late to back out of the order…so we ended up going to the Kangaroo station next door to visit the ATM. No big deal, though. We should have known better than to assume that they took cards-a lot of small, local businesses don’t because of the additional cost. Besides, we needed cash for the farmers market, and we needed gas, so we killed three birds with one stone (and didn’t get charged an ATM fee!). The total on our order was $13.11, which means that the total out of our pocket was $2.11.

So, if you are looking for some great smoked meat in the Hixson/Soddy-Daisy/Middle Valley area, check out Dixie BBQ. They are located at 1530 Boy Scout Road, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-842-4025. I did not think to check their hours of operation and I couldn’t find the hours online. I believe that they are closed on Sunday. They do not have a website or a Facebook page.

Nitty-Gritty Café-August 11, 2012 CLOSED

August 12, 2012

3/31/13 Nitty Gritty Café has closed.

Philip and I drive by this place every single Sunday as we go to and from my parents’ house….but since they’re closed on Sunday, we’ve never had occasion to stop in, and honestly, we forget about it most of the time. A lady at church went out of her way to mention it to me last week, though, so yesterday Philip and I purposed to try it out.

Let me say, this place is tiny. TINY. There is a handful of parking spaces (Nitty-Gritty diners may not park in front of the fruit stand next door) and I counted seven tables, a couple of them being two-person tables (which is what we chose). We were a little confused when we walked in because we weren’t sure where to sit (I guess the server/hostess was busy in the back and it took her a second to come out). I’m not trying to pick on Nitty-Gritty Café, because God knows this has happened more times than I can count….but I really just wish that all restaurants would put up a sign letting diners know whether they should seat themselves or wait to be seated. At least they had a hostess who came out after a couple of minutes and told us to sit wherever we wanted….we’ve eaten at restaurants where we had to seek out a staff member to ask them.

I didn’t catch the server/hostess’s name, but she was extremely friendly. She brought us our menu and told us the special (fried catfish). There were daily specials listed on a chalkboard-Tuscan chicken pasta, Fried Chicken, Catfish, and I think meatloaf might have been on there too. They are closed on Sunday and Monday and the special was the same for Friday and Saturday. The menu features the daily specials with country-style veggies (you can choose two or three vegetables with your meat) like mashed potatoes, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, corn, or beans, several sandwiches (chicken, BLT, fried pork tenderloin, grilled cheese), a handful of burgers, a house or Cobb salad, several topped hot dogs, and some entrées like shrimp & grits and chicken tenders. They also have a case of cakes for dessert (there’s also a “dessert of the day”, and I’ve heard that their banana pudding is great), which all looked delicious, though we did not have room for dessert on this day…..

I really wanted to try some of the vegetables but I wasn’t feeling up to it (something I ate for lunch on Friday was disagreeing with me) so I decided to try the Jack burger (I have really strange food preferences when I’m not feeling well…I like to eat things like tacos and Ruffles with sour cream & onion dip). The Jack burger is a hand-patted burger patty on a bun with melted white American cheese (I know, I thought it was a little strange that it wasn’t Monterey Jack cheese too….), a fried green tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise, with French fries. For the record, the fries were just frozen fries. A little off-putting since hand-cutting the fries would really amp it up a bit, but not particularly surprising or unusual (don’t think too many restaurants are hand-cutting their fries). They were fine. The burger patty was obviously handmade, since the shape wasn’t perfectly circular….a quality that I appreciate. It was well seasoned. The lettuce was iceberg and the bun was just a bun out of a bag (so again, a homemade or bakery purchased bun would really amp this up). I liked the fried green tomato and the cheese was very melty, not just stuck on the burger. All in all, not a bad burger….I’d order it again, for sure.

Philip decided to get the shrimp & grits. If you’ll recall, I mentioned here and here that shrimp & grits is one of his favorite restaurant meals, but he is very picky about them. These shrimp & grits were very plain looking….seasoned shrimp, crumbled bacon, & grits. I didn’t see any cheese, onions, etc., which is highly unusual. He said that the grits themselves were a little bland (not a lot of salt) but once he really stirred the shrimp and bacon into the grits they added the seasoning that was necessary. He really liked the seasoning that was on the shrimp and felt that the shrimp was cooked well. He also had cornbread and liked it fine….but I’ll be honest, if you try my cornbread recipe you’ll find that most restaurant cornbread just doesn’t measure up. It’s not their fault, it just….is. Just as a side…I’d love to see them work on their presentation. The gigantic bowl that Philip’s shrimp & grits were in was overkill and I saw several items served on styrofoam trays (they also charge $0.25 for water to pay for the styrofoam cup). Just a note. Some people don’t care about presentation but it can make or break a dining experience for others. I’m somewhere in-between….

One more thing is that they offer complimentary pinto beans to each table. Since Philip loves pinto beans (I can take ’em or leave ’em) we tried them. Again, they were pretty good….cooked to a good texture, not too hard, not too soft….but needed a little more salt, which we just added at the table. Perhaps this is their angle-everyone likes a different amount of salt. We are not salt fiends but do like to be able to taste that our food has been salted (but this can be an issue with beans, and we often have to add salt to our beans at the table at home as well). I really do want to go back and try a vegetable plate and see how their execution is on home-style vegetables. I love a good veggie plate!

So, I’ll be honest, it isn’t Blue Ribbon Café. It’s not likely to overtake BRC as the “best restaurant in Soddy-Daisy” in my humble opinion….but it’s pretty good, and seeing as how there aren’t exactly non-chain restaurants on every corner there’s definitely room for some variety in the mix. The prices are decent (our total was about $17 before tip), the food is pretty good, and they offer some unique menu items. The staff is very friendly. Give it a try!

The Nitty-Gritty Café is located at 11210 Dayton Pike, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379. You can call them at 423-531-4582. They do not currently have a website or Facebook page. I have included the menu below although there are several menu items on signs hanging at the counter and the menu that is given to you at the table is also slightly different from this (for example, you will not see the burger that I ordered on the menu below).

Lupi’s Pizza Pies (Hixson)-August 1, 2012

August 5, 2012

So yesterday’s post mentioned “those nights” that you just can’t quite bring yourself to cook. Wednesday night was one of those nights for me. I think it was the whole “last night of summer break” thing. Philip was going to be late getting home and all I wanted to do was make my lunch, take a hot bath, paint my toenails, and hang out on the couch with my laptop.

So, I pulled up the Lupi’s menu on my computer. For some reason, even though it’s been in Hixson since 1999 (and since 1996 downtown), I always forget about Lupi’s. I have no idea why. Philip and I were talking about it over the weekend and I added it to the list on my iPhone (actually, it’s a set of lists, divided up by regions of town). Wednesday night seemed to provide the perfect excuse.

It didn’t take me long to settle on an order. They’ve recently added housemade mozzarella to their menu, and they feature a margherita pizza with this mozzarella, local tomatoes, basil, and coarse salt. They also have a “take and bake” option, so I ordered that in a 16-inch with a whole wheat crust and headed on out to pick it up, thinking that would give me more flexibility as far as time went (so I wouldn’t have to go out at 8 p.m. to pick up a pizza).

Sadly, when I got there, I was handed an already baked pizza. I chose to not say anything…I wasn’t in the mood to hang out, and it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Mistakes happen, and the pizza did look and smell amazing. I decided just to take it and reheat it for a few minutes on my pizza stone (which I preheat at 400 degrees before placing pizza on it. Ten minutes and cold pizza is perfect and crisp again. This trick also works for fried chicken and French fries. I am not joking.).

I kind of underestimated how large this pizza was going to be. I think I could have gone with the 12″ and we would have had plenty of pizza for Wednesday night and plenty to have leftovers for dinner Thursday. Oh well. It was so good I didn’t really care. I was not expecting the pizza to have tomato sauce on it (since it had sliced tomatoes) but it did. Lupi’s pizza sauce is pretty sweet, but I liked it and appreciated that they didn’t put a ton of it on the pizza. The fresh mozzarella was amazing, and I liked the basil sprinkled evenly over the pizza. Believe it or not, the salt really added a lot to the pizza….it’s amazing what a little salt can do to bring fresh tomatoes to life. My only issue is that to me margherita pizza should have a very thin crust….this is the traditional way that it is served. This crust was fairly thick. I really, really liked it-it tasted great and did not have a cardboard texture like so many wheat crusts do-but just would have preferred a thinner crust here.

Here’s my favorite thing about Lupi’s: it’s about as local as you can get. Their flour comes from Sonrisa Farm, the local farm from which I buy my wheat berries at the farmers market. The tomatoes are local. I don’t know where they get their milk, but they made the mozzarella with their own hands. They buy local products whenever possible-including produce, ground beef, honey, etc.). And I love this: the money that would be contributed to advertising campaigns instead gets contributed to local schools, charities, and organizations. And you know what? I am pretty sure that they are doing okay without advertisement.

Lupi’s offers pizzas in slices as well as 12″ and 16″ whole pizzas. They offer an interesting variety of toppings…the usual assortment of meats and a wide range of vegetables, including more unusual options like roasted corn, zucchini, and avocado (I must try this). They also offer calzones and a small but fresh assortment of appetizers like bruschetta, garden salad, and homemade mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar. You can also purchase a ball of mozzarella or a ball of pizza dough. They also feature catering and the option to buy a whole lasagna, bulk salad dressings, and a large salad (but they do request a day or two worth of notice for these items).

Know this: if you eat at Lupi’s, you’re going to pay for it. My pizza was about $18….but it was gigantic, and it made two meals for two people….two hungry people. People with smaller appetites (I admit, I eat like a horse…I’m sure you aren’t surprised) probably could have stretched it even farther. My rationale is that I would spend this much if we ordered Domino’s (because inevitably I’d buy that wretched cheesy bread….it’s so addictive with its burnt, crust ends) and if we order from Lupi’s we are supporting so many local businesses and getting much fresher, much more delicious product than if we went to the big D. It’s worth it to me.

Lupi’s Hixson is located at 5504 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-847-3700. Their website is lupi.com; they also have a Facebook page. They are opened Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Delia’s Has a New Location!

August 1, 2012

Delia’s, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways….

Seriously. I couldn’t love this place any more if I tried. The taco trailer that was located in Daisy was first, then the Dayton location, then Taco Roc, which has the same owners and the same menu. Every time a hit. I make every excuse I can to get to Delia’s as often as I possibly can, and have stood crammed into the covered ordering area of their trailer with about eight other people (I am not even exaggerating!) on a rainy winter evening for at least twenty minutes.

The food is just THAT good.

When we first tried their Soddy-Daisy location, we couldn’t stop talking about how much we hoped that they would eventually move into a sit-down location. Back in June, we were driving by a building in Daisy that used to be Cheryl’s Diner (which, I can tell you now that it’s closed, was one of the restaurants that I chose not to write a review about) and there it was, on the sign: Delia’s COMING SOON. I almost peed myself, I tell you!

The new Delia’s location opened on Monday, July 9. My mom went by to pick up a carry-out order toward the end of that week and people were waiting outside for seating. Now, it’s a small place…but something tells me Delia’s is going to be successful. Like this:

Can someone please help me order something besides the taco platter when I go here? Okay, I have. I’ve had the quesadilla…I’ve had the nachos. One of these days I’m going to go rogue and order the torta (it’s a Mexican sandwich. Like, on a roll.). But most of the time, it’s the taco platter. It’s just. So. Good. Their rice and beans are perfect, and their tacos are so fresh. These are actually “Delia’s tacos”, not regular tacos. Where regular tacos come topped with pico, lettuce, and cheese, the Delia’s tacos have grilled vegetables and melted cheese (not to be confused with cheese sauce). I always order them on corn tortillas, though you can have flour….if you must. These were tacos al pastor. Al pastor is pork that is marinated and cooked in a marinade that contains chiles, vinegar, and pineapple. Don’t worry…this isn’t spicy. But it is delicious. The barbacoa (shredded beef), chicken, steak, and of course plain old ground beef are all wonderful. One of these days I’m gonna order cactus tacos. Anyway, I couldn’t choose between the Delia’s tacos (this is the first time I’ve had them) and the regular tacos.

Philip had the special of the day, which was the burrito plato, also known as the burrito platter. He, of course, had this with the chorizo (Mexican sausage), of which he cannot get enough. It really is delicious, and I do not usually care for sausage. Usually he orders the fiesta burrito, which comes stuffed with rice, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, beans, and pico. The burrito on the, er, plato only contained meat and cheese, with the rest of the fillings on the side. As you can see, there were also rice and beans. And he loved every bit of it.

One of the advantages of dining in here is complimentary chips and salsa…although theirs are so delicious that we really don’t mind paying for the (they don’t cost that much anyway). Considering the crowd that is usually here (we stopped in for lunch) we will probably continue to enjoy Delia’s mostly as a take-out treat. Their appeal, though, is understandable and undeniable. The staff is extremely friendly and attentive. They are willing to tailor your meal to suit your wants and needs. The menu contains items for the adventurous and non-adventurous eater. One of these days I’m just going to order something totally off the wall…and I’m willing to be I’ll love it. I haven’t had anything from here that I didn’t.

Delia’s new location can be found at 8363 Dayton Pike, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379. You can still reach them at 423-521-7145. Sadly…they don’t have a website or even a Facebook page. I’m thinking that probably isn’t going to matter. Go see them anyway!

Jenkin’s Deli, Cleveland, TN-July 28, 2011

July 29, 2012

I can’t believe I’ve been doing restaurant reviews here on Chattavore for nearly a year and a half and I haven’t reviewed a single Cleveland restaurant! It’s not exactly convenient for me, but there are lots of local restaurants there and I’ve totally missed a gold mine of opportunity! I have thought about (and even suggested) Jenkin’s Deli on several occasions but there was always a reason that it didn’t seem like a good idea. Finally, the fact that I didn’t have eggs with which to cook Saturday morning breakfast provided me a perfect excuse for us to have lunch at Jenkin’s (I’ve been there a few times but all before the birth of the blog)!

Jenkin’s Deli has been around since 1976 and has two locations, one in Cleveland and one in Athens. They are the number one restaurant in Cleveland on Urbanspoon…so clearly they are doing something right. When we arrived shortly after noon, they were packed out and we had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. We could have eaten at the bar without waiting but we didn’t realize that until right before we were seated anyway (by the way, they have an unorthodox approach to seating….when you walk in, instead of giving your name and the number in your party to a host or hostess, you write it down. There was a host and a hostess working and they were not only seating people but cleaning off tables as well).

The walls and the floors in Jenkin’s are very dark wood. It has a decor similar to what you used to see in Applebee’s or TGIFriday’s…lots of music and movie memorabilia plus photos of locals, newspaper clippings, etc. The restaurant has been in this location since very early on, after they outgrew their original location at the Cleveland Mall (I have no idea if that is what is now referred to as Bradley Square Mall or not). I learned this from the 1985 document proclaiming Jenkin’s as Cleveland’s official gathering place that I read while I was waiting to use the restroom….which is my only real beef with this place. It’s a single-person restroom! There was someone in the restroom and two people waiting in line when I got there…so I had lots of reading time. It might be time to figure out plan B for the restroom!

Our server, Hannah, greeted us and took our drink order very quickly. We also decided to order spinach dip off the appetizer menu ($5.99). They offer the typical casual dining appetizers…chips and salsa, fried pickles (which would normally make me salivate, but I wanted some spinach dip!), cheese sticks, and their very popular chicken salad (more about this in a minute). I don’t believe that their chips are homemade, but they were pretty good all the same. I liked the spinach dip but wouldn’t say it was the best I’ve ever had…I prefer a thicker dip with more spinach. This dip was more like a queso with some spinach and a few artichokes mixed in (I like big chunks of artichokes). It was a little spicy-I’m pretty sure there was cayenne in it-but not overly so. It definitely got hotter the more we ate. I would order it again.

I believe I have been to Jenkin’s twice…the first time I had chicken tenders (I was in a different place back then) and the second time I had a burger. I liked both and contemplated ordering a burger again today, but decided instead to go with the chicken salad, which they are known for (and actually sell in bulk quantities for people to take home)….my mom told me it was great. I went with the half-portion chicken salad sandwich, which is served on Texas toast, with the house made kettle chips (yea yea yea! House made chips!) for $5.59. I did really enjoy the chicken salad….it was creamy and perfectly seasoned, no nuts, onions (or if there were, they were very finely chopped), grapes, etc. I would have preferred the sandwich served on whole wheat bread-perhaps from the Bread Basket, which is located almost directly across the street?-but I would definitely order this chicken salad again. Or order it in bulk to try to decode the recipe myself! I loved the chips, thick-cut but not overly thick….very crispy and not too salty. Score!

Philip decided to get the Deli burger ($7.49) plus smoked cheddar for $0.50 and bacon for $1.00. He decided on the fries instead of the chips. The Deli burger is a half-pound burger (they also offer a quarter-pound burger for $5.49) that has a great grilled flavor. It is served with lettuce, tomato, and onion, plus a little paper cup of mayo on the side (ketchup and mustard are on the table). The burger was delicious and the smoked cheddar and bacon finished it perfectly. Philip was less than thrilled with the fries…not that they were bad, but they just weren’t stellar. I think they were probably frozen, which was a bit of a disappointment given that the chips were (a) homemade; and (b) delicious. Anyway, Philip was very happy with his burger.

Our final bill was around $22 before tip (we drank water). Our server was friendly and adorable (she looked like Taylor Swift) and kept our drinks filled…which is a big deal for us. We were very happy.

Jenkin’s offers an interesting variety of dishes…some your “typical” casual dining fare (chicken tenders, fish and chips, chicken strip salad) but others are a little more unusual, like chicken Florentine (topped with spinach dip) and Zippy Chippy chicken (topped with peppers, mushrooms, onions, and Monterey Jack cheese). They have a pretty varied selection of homemade soups (vegetable beef, cream of broccoli, French onion, black bean, chicken and rice, and a soup of the day) and several desserts (I noticed peanut butter pie and French silk pie on the menu board).

One more thing I have to say about Jenkin’s….if you’ve read my About, you know that I am an exceptional education (otherwise known as special education) teacher, and I have an uncle who has Down syndrome. People with disabilities are a huge part of my life, and I have a soft spot for businesses that care about their interests. Some articles hanging on a bulletin board by the restroom profiled a couple of ladies that attend the Trousdale School, a school in Bradley County for adults with disabilities, who are employed by Jenkin’s. If I knew nothing else of this restaurant, that would have won me over on the spot. This is a restaurant that cares about the community and cares about people-all people. If for no other reason than that…you should eat there.

Jenkin’s Deli is located at 88 Mouse Creek Road NW, Cleveland, TN 37312. You can call them at 423-478-1648. There is a website listed on their Urbanspoon page (www.jenkins-deli.com) but it was not working while I was typing this so I suspect it is no longer active. They do have a Facebook page. Check them out!

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