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El Maguey (Middle Valley)

June 21, 2017

El Maguey Mexican restaurant opened in 2016 and is located in the Middle Valley area of Hixson, Tennessee. They serve local Mexican restaurant standards.

Have you ever had a restaurant that you drove by all the time but you, for whatever reason, never even really thought about stopping? I don’t know why, but for some reason that’s been my experience with El Maguey. It’s been open for several months now and I’ve heard only good things about it. I drive by there several times a week, whether for work or just to try to avoid Hixson Pike…but for some reason we just haven’t made it there.

I finally decided that we needed to make the effort to stop in after seeing several friends post about it. We stopped in at around 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night, and while there was a pretty good crowd we were seated immediately. It’s a very nice space, located near the Save-A-Lot on Middle Valley Road (I can’t remember for the life of me what was located there before) and decorated tastefully. Our server grabbed our waters and we ordered a queso fundido ($4.99). Unfortunately, there was some sort of mix-up and we did not get our queso fundido. Since it would have taken a while to make once the mix-up was realized, our server brought us an order of regular cheese dip on the house. It was good cheese dip, pretty much par for the course as far as cheese dip goes. The chips and salsa were good as well. They bring out separate bowls for everyone at the table, which you probably appreciate if you like to double dip.

I decided to order the flautas ($7.50) with shredded beef. For those of you who are not familiar with flautas, they are tortillas rolled around some sort of meat and fried. The flautas at El Maguey are served with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and rice. The meat was well-seasoned and tender, like a very slow-cooked roast, shredded very finely. The tortillas as well as the ends of the meat were crispy and delicious. I enjoyed the rice as well – it was just rice with flavorings, no additional vegetables, and it was very flavorful and well-cooked.

Philip was going to go with his standard Mexican restaurant order (chimichanga with ground beef) but at our server’s urging decided to go instead with alambre ($10.99), a choice of chicken or steak (Philip got both) cooked with onions and bacon and topped with cheese. The alambre was served with rice, beans, flour tortillas, and salsa verde. The meat was delicious – Philip compared it to a Philly cheesesteak with chicken and bacon added. He also enjoyed the rice and the beans, and said that the salsa verde did not have much flavor to him. I tasted some on a chip and thought it was mostly tart and just a little spicy – not a lot of tomatillo or chile flavor. The portion of this meal was huge and Philip brought half of it home to eat for lunch the next day.

So…was El Maguey a standout among local Mexican restaurants? Well, I didn’t think it was better than Delia’s, but it was as good as El Metate. It’s a little bit closer to our house than either one, so I am sure that we’ll go back when a taco craving strikes (as they often do). If you live in the Hixson/Middle Valley area, you should definitely give El Maguey a try!

El Maguey is located at 7001 Middle Valley Road, Hixson, TN 37343. They are open Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can call them at 423-475-5763. For more information, you can check out El Maguey’s website or like El Maguey on Facebook.

Ricko’s Pizzeria and Italian Cuisine (Lakesite, TN)

June 14, 2017

Ricko’s Pizzeria is a pizza restaurant in Lakesite, Tennessee (Soddy-Daisy/Hixson) that serves pizza, pasta, & sandwiches & has quickly made a name for itself!

Usually, when I write about a restaurant, it’s the first time I’ve been in. That’s not the case with Ricko’s Pizzeria and Italian Cuisine, though. Ricko’s Pizzeria opened back in March and, since it’s just a couple of miles from my house, we’ve eaten there several times since they opened. I’ve mentioned plenty of times that I like to give new restaurants some time to get their flow before I write about them, though, so we decided to wait.

Ricko’s is in a spot that has been a handful of other restaurants in the 15 years that we’ve lived in this part of town, most recently occupied by Ron’s Pig Out, a barbecue restaurant. The interior is pretty basic. You order at the counter and they call your number out when it’s ready. If you’ve ever dined at a Rafael’s in the area, the menu will be familiar to you – it’s very similar to the menu at Rafael’s, right down to the buy-one-get-one-free pizzas (excluding the personal pan pizzas). It is my understanding that the family that owns it was previously connected to a Rafael’s restaurant…not sure how.

Anyway, we placed our order immediately when we walked in and our food was out in about ten minutes. Philip wanted to try the garlic knots, so we got an order of those. The garlic knots were a little crusty on the outside, soft on the inside. I prefer them just a little bit softer on the outside than these were, and would have liked for them to have a little more garlic. Still pretty good, though. They were served with a basic marinara sauce for dipping.

On this visit I decided to have the Italian cheese steak with mushrooms for $6.45. Sandwiches are served with fries and a pickle spear. The Italian cheese steak is tender sliced steak with melted provolone on a crusty Italian roll. You can order it with peppers and onions or with mushrooms (I am sure they would do both, but I haven’t asked). I am pretty sure there is a little mayonnaise under the steak. I really like this sandwich. It’s flipping huge (I ate half that night and the other half for lunch a couple of days later) and very flavorful. The only complaint that I have is that I am fairly certain the mushrooms are canned, and I am just not down with canned mushrooms. They are not a deal-breaker, though. The fries are basic frozen fries – pretty good but not anything that sets them apart.

Philip was in the mood for a pizza so he went with the personal pan pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms ($5.25 for a two-topping pizza). The pizza here has always been good when we’ve ordered it. The crust is not too thick or too thin and they don’t over-sauce it (something that drives me crazy). Again, canned mushrooms…but not a deal-breaker. We definitely choose Ricko’s over the national chain that’s just a little further down the street. It’s very convenient to call it in and have Philip stop on his way home from work.

Ricko’s Pizzeria is a welcome addition to the Lakesite/Middle Valley area. They serve sandwiches, salads, pasta, and other entrees in addition to pizza, and the staff is always very friendly. We’ve never had a long wait here, even on days that they are busy (which they often are). It’s nothing fancy, but it’s good. Judging by the number of cars we usually see in the parking lot at dinner time and after church on Sundays, I think that Ricko’s Pizzeria will be around for a while.

Ricko’s Pizzeria and Italian Cuisine is located at 8615 Hixson Pike, Hixson, Tennessee, 37343. They are open Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. You can call Ricko’s at (423) 682-8050. Ricko’s does not have a website, but you can find more information on their Facebook page.

Farm to Fork (Ringgold, GA)

June 7, 2017

Farm to Fork is a popular restaurant in Ringgold, Georgia that serves fresh, homemade, Southern-style food in a friendly environment.

Every once in a while, I will actually go to a new restaurant and decide not to blog about them, for no reason other than it just doesn’t fit into my schedule at the moment. This was the case when I first tried Farm to Fork in 2014. I was getting ready to start a new job, car shopping (the kind of car shopping that involves watching YouTube videos, reading Consumer Reports, and generally doing everything you can to make sure you choose the right car), and kind of losing my mind. I really liked the food but just couldn’t quite get myself in the mindset to write about them. I think I even took pictures! I definitely did not intend to take three years to get back down there.

Philip and I drove down to exit 348 this past Saturday to give it another go. The current location of Farm to Fork is in a strip mall behind the Ringgold Cracker Barrel. They have two parcels of the strip, between Rock Bridge Church and the Rock Bridge offices. The space is warmly decorated, with wood tables and country-style decor on the walls. A bar serving beer and wine is in one space with tin (or faux tin, I didn’t get close enough to tell) tiles on the wall. We arrived at around 1:00 and while it was still fairly crowded from the lunch rush, we were seated in a booth immediately.

Usually I am really good about getting our servers’ names, and if I forget, the name is usually on the receipt. This time, I didn’t, and it wasn’t. Our server was a sweet girl with curly dark hair. It took her a few minutes to get to us, since it was so busy, but she was very apologetic and we were not in a rush. She got our waters and took our appetizer order. We decided to try some fried green tomatoes ($7.00); they also have fried pickles, an appetizer portion of onion rings, and pimento cheese with pita points, along with a few other apps. The fried green tomatoes were served with a dressing on the side. The menu didn’t indicate what it was but I think it was a Russian/Thousand Island sort of deal – creamy and a little orange/pink, a little tangy and sweet. The fried green tomatoes were coated with a panko crumb coating and crisply fried, well seasoned. They were very good; my only suggestion would be that they could have been blotted a little bit before plating – there was a lot of oil on the plate.

The menu includes appetizers, soups and salads, entrees, burgers, baskets, and sandwiches. For my entree, I vacillated back and forth between the pulled pork tacos (2 tacos and fries for $7.95, or another side for an additional $1) and the loaded chicken breast ($11). I ended up deciding on the chicken, which was an 8-ounce grilled chicken breast topped with barbecue sauce, bacon, and cheddar cheese, served with a choice of 2 sides. I decided to go for the hand-cut fries and a side salad (which is an additional $1.50). The salad was made with mixed greens, bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese, served with Farm to Fork’s homemade dressing; I decided on ranch. The salad was excellent – very fresh, with real bacon (not bits) – and the dressing was delicious. My salad actually got to the table before the fried green tomatoes, so I ended up dipping some bites of my fried green tomatoes into the ranch dressing.??

The chicken breast was well grilled, with a great grilled flavor but still juicy. It had enough sauce and toppings to give it good flavor without overwhelming the flavor of the chicken itself. The fries were very thick cuts – I would almost call them potato planks – and I was honestly a little concerned that they would not be done all the way through. I needn’t have worried. They were perfectly soft in the middle, just a little crispy around the edges, and perfectly hot and well seasoned. They were excellent dipped in the smoked mayo that Philip got for his onion rings.

Philip contemplated getting the hamburger steak entree ($11) but decided instead to get the jalapeño, bacon, and cheddar burger. This burger is a gigantic (half pound!) burger grilled and served on a bakery bun with cheddar cheese, bacon, and fried jalapeños ($12.25). The grilled flavor was excellent, and the portion of fried jalapeños was very generous (I had to dodge them to take a bite). He ordered onion rings as his side; the onion rings come with a side of jalapeño ketchup or smoked mayo, but we paid and additional 25 cents to get both. The jalapeño ketchup was fairly standard – ketchup with a little bit of a jalapeño flavor/bite – but the smoked mayo was fantastic – mayo with a smoky hit. Philip didn’t care for the batter-dipped onion rings and ended up eating quite a few of my fries, but I really liked them. I love light, battered onion rings, and these were well cooked and well-seasoned. I think that Philip might have just been on fried food overload.

I regret that I didn’t pay any attention to the dessert menu, because I would have loved to take some of their Hawaiian cake or coconut cake home (they also have banana pudding, brownies, and floats). But, alas, I didn’t, so I will have to make it a point to go back sooner than three years from now…even more so because they will be moving into a new space soon. Sometime hopefully in July, they will be moving a little farther north into a much larger, free-standing location off of exit 350, where they will be able to have patio seating, space for large groups, opportunities for live music, and a full bar.

Our total, pre-tip, was 34.24. Our server was very friendly and much more apologetic than needed for a little bit of a wait for our food. The food was very good and everything was very fresh – nothing frozen or packaged. No matter where they are located, Farm to Fork is worth the drive to North Georgia for some great food!

Farm to Fork is located at 118 Remco Shops Lane, Ringgold, GA 30736. They are open Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday – Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (they serve breakfast these days), and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can call Farm to Fork at (706) 937-3675. You can find out more about Farm to Fork on their website, FarmToForkGA.com, and you can also follow Farm to Fork on Facebook.

Henpecked Chicken

June 1, 2017

Henpecked Chicken is a restaurant in downtown Chattanooga that serves smoked or fried chicken and boasts “sober chicken and drunken milkshakes”.

Okay, let me know start by saying that I usually give restaurants two or three months to be open before I write about them. The folks from Henpecked, though, had invited me first to the soft opening, which ended up being cancelled, then to a little media party they had. I at first accepted the invite to the media party then canceled because I had family in for just a few days. I promised I’d get in ASAP to try out their chicken, and Sunday proved to be the day.

We had thought about going to the Chattanooga Market, but it had rained and it was sooooo muggy, then I saw a picture of the crowd on Instagram and that sealed the (no) deal. Philip was curious about Henpecked so we decided to make good on my word.

It was around 1:00 on Sunday afternoon when we arrived and while the place was nowhere near empty, there was no one in line. We perused the menu for a bit (you can grab a paper menu from a little pocket hanging on the half wall or look at the big menu boards on the wall) and the cashier, Lauren, kindly answered our questions, explaining to me that the drunken milkshakes could be ordered at the bar and also explaining that, because it was our first time in, we got free house made frozen custard (??????). We placed our order and took our number to our table. Our food was out in less than five minutes.

I decided on the Coop sandwich ($10) – a fried chicken thigh served on a soft bun with pimento cheese, Henpecked sauce, jalapeño bacon, and sweet pickles. The sandwich was huge…I ended up eating only half of it in order to save space for my frozen custard (because yes, I drank probably over half of the milkshake and ate the free frozen custard). The breading on the chicken was delicious and a little bit spicy. The pimento cheese was creamy and pretty traditional. Henpecked sauce was similar to Zax sauce or another slightly smoky, peppery dipping sauce, and the jalapeño bacon was, well, hot, at least for my pedestrian tastebuds. I had the crinkle cut fries on the side plus a side of Alabama white sauce. The fries were pretty standard crinkle cuts…a little crispy but still a little soft. The white sauce was spicier than what I make at home with a more vinegary hit than mine, which is more horseradish and garlic.

Philip decided on the 1/4 Nashville hot chicken ($9.50) with a side of cheddar grits and fries (he initially asked for coleslaw but was told that they were out – a sign over the counter asks for understanding when they run out of their homemade sides). The hot chicken was served in the traditional way – on a piece of thick white bread, which he didn’t touch (he never does). The quarter chicken was a leg and a thigh, and while it was well-cooked and he didn’t not like it, he said that he probably wouldn’t order it again. Essentially, because the sauce that coats Nashville hot chicken is oil-based, he feels like it makes the chicken a little more greasy than he prefers. He liked my sandwich more than his chicken, and enjoyed the fries and the grits though he felt that the grits could have used more cheese.

As for the frozen treats, it was worth a trip just for those. My Bushwacker drunken milkshake ($9.83), with homemade custard, Kahlua, creme de cacao, and dark rum, was delicious, albeit maybe a little dangerous because it didn’t taste alcoholic at all. That said, it might not have contained that much alcohol, so unless you can down several milkshakes you’ll probably be just fine. The bartender, Wes, described it to me as “basically a mudslide” but I describe it as “basically fantastic”. The frozen custard that we got for free for being first timers was amazing as well. It is only available in one flavor (vanilla) but if you get it in a bowl you can also get strawberry or chocolate syrup on it (the syrups are homemade as well). It was creamy and custardy (duh) and had a deep vanilla flavor. I would have preferred a sugar cone to a cake cone (I’ve never cared for cake cones) but it was free and hey, beggars can’t be choosers!

Henpecked Chicken is a tasty, casual restaurant that serves a variety of chicken dishes at reasonable prices, and their ice cream (ahem, frozen custard) is worth a visit. Their staff was extremely friendly. We’ll definitely make a trip back.

Henpecked Chicken is located at 405 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN. They are open Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday – Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. You can call Henpecked Chicken at (423) 710-1951. You can find out more about Henpecked Chicken on their website, henpeckedchicken.com or on their Facebook page. You can also follow @henpecked423 on Twitter and on Instagram.

El Jinete (Ooltewah, Tennessee)

May 20, 2017

El Jinete is a Mexican restaurant in Ooltewah, Tennessee. It’s owned by the same group that owns area El Metate restaurants.

For someone who lives in Soddy-Daisy, I spend a surprising amount of time in the Ooltewah area. A lot of the kids that I see are in that part of town, so I drive through there a lot. Several months ago, I noticed a Mexican restaurant named El Jinete. I looked it up and realized that their menu was essentially the same as El Metate, one of the Mexican restaurants that Philip and I frequent on “don’t feel like cooking” nights.

Philip and I decided to go to El Jinete last weekend after he got off from work. It was about 4:15 when we got there and we were seated immediately, but there were not many tables available so we were seated at the largest booth in the house. It was pretty comical, actually. I immediately noticed that the place is quite a bit smaller than the El Metate restaurants in Hixson or Soddy-Daisy but the decor was very nice.

Naturally, the chips and salsa were immediately delivered to our table. They were definitely the same chips and salsa – crispy but sort of non-descript chips and just barely spicy salsa with a heavy hit of oregano. Our server, Dalia, quickly brought our waters, and we ordered some cheese dip (of course). The cheese dip was pretty standard – drippy American cheese dip with a little bit of jalapeño. Just what I was expecting…cheese dip is my pig-out food.

I usually just order tacos when I go to El Metate, unless I’m feeling sassy enough to get a taco salad or some nachos. On this visit, though, I decided to get the Pollo Charro ($11.99): seasoned grilled chicken breast topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and cheese. The pollo charro was served with flour tortillas, a side of rice, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. There were two thinly pounded grilled chicken breasts topped generously with grilled onions and mushrooms, with cheese sauce. I was honestly surprised at how delicious it was. The chicken had a great grilled flavor and the vegetables were perfect. I will definitely order this again.

Philip decided to go for his usual Mexican restaurant order: a ground beef chimichanga ($10.49). For those of you who don’t know (I’m sure that you all know), a chimichanga is basically a fried burrito. The chimichanga at El Jinete is served with cheese dip, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and sour cream, with a side of rice and beans. Philip finished the chimichanga, which I’ll take as a sign that he enjoyed it. I mean, how can you go wrong with a meat-filled deep fried tortilla?

The total for our order: cheese dip, pollo charro, and a ground beef chimichanga – was $28.92 pre-tip. The food took a little bit longer to come out than I am accustomed to at El Metate, but it was definitely very tasty food. If you’re looking for Mexican food in the Ooltewah, Tennessee area, El Jinete is a great place to find it!

El Jinete is located is 5559 Little Debbie Parkway, Ooltewah, Tennessee, 37363. They are open Sunday – Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. You can call El Jinete at 423-713-5400. They don’t have a website, but you can find El Jinete Ooltewah on Facebook.

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