s/d: Southern Food

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So I just visited my girlfriend's parents, who just moved to NC. I wanted to check out, and to treat her foodie dad to some good soul/southern cooking. We tried Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill, which has a reputation but was pretty disappointing. Everything was sort of mass produced and cafeteria tasting. Maybe Mildred Council cashed in on her success and lowered the quality in the process, I don't know. Much better is Comfort Bistro in my decidedly non-southern hometown of Jersey City. Where else can I go to get collards, fried chicken, black eyed peas etc. that will knock my socks off? Anywhere in the US is ok.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 04:59 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I always wanted to check out Comfort Bistro. That's the one on Grove Street, right?

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:02 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, it kicks ass. For $11 you get fried chicken or other such entree and a generous portion of two sides, plus the atmosphere is nice. Desserts are phenomenal also -- at least the apple cobbler was.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:07 (twenty years ago)

mmmmmmmmm

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:11 (twenty years ago)

mmmmmmmmmmm... a...pull... cob...lur...

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:13 (twenty years ago)

s: crawfish. goddamn am i stuffed. who the hell thought to eat these weird insect looking things in the first place? so cool.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

PULLED PORK SAMMICHES

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:21 (twenty years ago)

Sylvia's in NYC might be coasting a bit, but their/her mac 'n' cheese is beyond reproach.

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:21 (twenty years ago)

I buy Sylvia's hot sauce from time to time -- pretty tasty.

I like those pulled pork carolina bbq things, but what's the best place to get them?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:22 (twenty years ago)

not sure how "southern" it is, but Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in LA is the bizzness.

― JaXoN (JasonD), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:23 (twenty years ago)

Locally, you're guaranteed a great chicken fried steak from Tip Top Cafe (off Fredericksburg Rd.), which also serves excellent onion rings. But it's more of an old-fashioned diner establishment than an actual "Southern" restaurant.

My favorite fried chicken comes from a place that's known for that and its Mexican food -- the Malt House Cafe (on the corner of Zarzamora and Buena Vista). Thing is, though, they serve you a BIG platter of THREE pieces of chicken, a slice of bread, a roll, butter pats, and fries, so you best get there feeling FAMISHED. (Oh, and all this is for under $4. Which is mind-boggling.)

Unknown about the rest, at least locally in restaurants. I can make a really good homemade pot of black-eyed peas, but seeing as though I'm not a commercial establishment, I'm automatically disqualified from this thread.

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:24 (twenty years ago)

I am so excited I am taking a road trip across the south and can eat at Waffle Houses.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:26 (twenty years ago)

Waffle House is teh poo. Take a big whiff.

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:27 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I like Waffle House in moderation. I can't do it too many times though. I'm all about getting the scattered smothered covered chunked etc. hash browns. Also the pecan waffle is excellent.

What's up with the huge price variation in Waffle Houses?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:27 (twenty years ago)

For barbecued ANYTHING, you cannot possibly beat the quality of Rudy's BBQ in Leon Springs, TX. I have never tasted barbecue ANYWHERE that can compare with the quality of the barbecue there, and the sides, from potato salad to cole slaw, are FANTASTIC. Extra bonus -- the "sause" isn't that sweet and actually has a bite to it!

I, however, can't complain with Grady's BBQ, which is a local chain with two easily accessible from downtown locations on Fredericksburg Rd. (close to Tip Top) and San Pedro Ave. They serve barbecue plates as well as sandwiches and their potato salad and beans are GREAT.

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:28 (twenty years ago)

i can only really do it once a roadtrip, but yeah. Whaddaya mean price variation? I've never noticed it.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:29 (twenty years ago)

(Is one of the requirements for being considered part of the South that there be at least one Waffle House in the area? If so, S.A. is SO not in the South, because I've never run across a Waffle House! At least, not anywhere in this area, and not that I can recall.)

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:30 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I can see how Mamma Dip's can be a bit meh these days. Next time you're down there, try Allen and Son. It's one of the famous places for BBQ in the area, pulled pork and the like. A little north of Chapel Hill.

― the krza (krza), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

I toured the south and noticed some Waffle Houses weren't really teh cheap.

Waffle Houses are definitely found as far north as Maryland, and maybe even Delaware and Pennsylvania, I think.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

Dip's BBQ sauce was good, nothing else was special. Chicken was dry, fried green tomatoes were lousy, greens were soggy, beans flavorless.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:33 (twenty years ago)

btw I'm driving through S.A. later this week, so maybe I'll try one of these places you mention.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:35 (twenty years ago)

Waffle Houses are definitely found as far north as Maryland, and maybe even Delaware and Pennsylvania, I think.

I dunno about all of PA but I don't remember there being any on I-80 when I drove across it in November. I think maybe the first one we came to (and where we had dinner that night - I had a grilled cheese with tomato and a double order of hashbrowns, smothered, covered, topped and peppered) was in Ohio. It might've been the cheapest meal on the trip, cheaper than Taco Bell even.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:37 (twenty years ago)

I've had decent chicken there not too long ago, so it might be hit or miss. But they used to be across the street from where they are now, in a smaller, darker, and dirtier location, which bodes far better for a place in my book.

(xpost)

― the krza (krza), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:38 (twenty years ago)

(Than the big, well-lit, cafeteria-style thing they have going on now, I mean.)

― the krza (krza), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:39 (twenty years ago)

Hurting your menu sounds like a classic soul food menu, or it could also be a real hillbilly menu too I guess. I can't think of a lot of places in the South that put so much focus on those particular dishes, and even the ones that sort of do, don't put near as much sugar in everything as you get up North. It can taste kind of bland in comparison I guess. A lot of chain "country places" just count on value for money to leave people satisfied. Country Kitchen, Robert's, etc blechh. Luby's.

Buddy's BBQ is good for chain stuff, I love their pork sandwiches, hushpuppies etc. But the best stuff you make at home obv!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:44 (twenty years ago)

I'm so hungry.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:46 (twenty years ago)

Waffle House is as far north as Ohio (personal experience)

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:46 (twenty years ago)

yeah i just wrote that.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:46 (twenty years ago)

tho in indiana for some reason they're not waffle house, but waffle & steak.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:47 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, duh... (late here as you know)

― Jimmy Mod always makes friends with women before bedding them down (ModJ), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

For low-end ubiquitous chains the House has to take it doesn't it? What else even comes close? Cracker Barrel? Please. Swenson's?

I remember being so disappointed when I found out that Stuckey's wasn't a place to eat.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:49 (twenty years ago)

I make my own collards sometimes, but not really southern style -- I steam them a little and then saute them with garlic and olive oil, maybe add lemon afterwards.

As far as chains, Iron Skillet is pretty good, but I don't remember if that's a particularly southern thing or not.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:51 (twenty years ago)

Cracker Barrel sucks and is homophobic in personell policies to boot.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:53 (twenty years ago)

"What else even comes close? Cracker Barrel? Please. Swenson's?"

Wait, holy shit, is that as in the Ice Cream parlor Swenson's?

We had one in DC, but I never thought it was a chain, and it closed down many many years ago.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 05:59 (twenty years ago)

Nevermind, I just googled it. It's something else.

BTW Bojangles makes me shit like nothing else.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:00 (twenty years ago)

Luby's can be pretty much hit-or-miss. You can either get great food at a Luby's, or food so vile that you would rather be dead than have that nasty aftertaste in your mouth for one more second in your life. There's a Luby's, again on Fredericksburg, north of the aforementioned places, that is DISGUSTING. Ugh. I shudder every time I think of it. But, at the same time, the downtown Luby's on N. Main is, like, super-fantastic, and one of the highlights of getting to go to a high school downtown was that, after the parent-teacher conferences/report card handout sessions my mom and I attended, we would go over to that Luby's for dinner.

STENCE! You're breezing by S.A.??? PLEASE PLEASE go out of your way and go to the Malt House for the fried chicken!!! And then, after you're finished there, PLEASE drive over to La Poblanita (it's further north on Zarzamora, near the intersection of Zarzamora and W. Woodlawn) and pick up an empanada de camote!! Those empanadas are my absolute favorites!!

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:06 (twenty years ago)

Oh man Dee. You realize this means I'm going to have to try out the next Luby's I see in the hopes that it's a good one. Cause they give you an awful lot of food. I could just fill up on okra alone.

Yeah Hurting that rings a bell.. I feel like there used to be a place called Southern Skillet that was pretty good but maybe the skillet's iron and my memory's gone south.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:12 (twenty years ago)

They DO serve a lot of food up, yes, unless you go for the Luann platter, which is "just right" portion size-wise. I do hope you end up landing on a good Luby's, hon. (Um, at least the cherry pies are always good.)

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:28 (twenty years ago)

How is the chicken-fried steak where you live Dee? My grandfather drive us out to this totally unobvious almost-shack off the highway a few years ago in Fort Worth that he said was the best chicken-friend steak in town, and now he tragically can't remember where it was or what it was called.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:32 (twenty years ago)

I wasn't kidding about making stuff yourself though. I mean my grandmother would steam greens all the time, there's no one particular Southern way to do things. My dad's big "heritage" dish is tamales from the can. My mom did rebel against the vegetarian stranglehold my sister's got clamped on the family this Christmas though and do turnip green soup the real way, with a big old ham hock broth. Made from cooking down the leftover bones and stuff from the annual spiral-cut honey-baked ham, naturally.It was great and my sister didn't get to have any. A lot of rules got bent when I was home. I think I set it off by buying a big pack of bacon to put in some salad. I saved it off on one side, so my sister didn't have to have it. I saved the bacon grease too, to make cornbread with it. but a couple of days later it was missing. I think my sister "disappeared" it. My mom's right though, you can make great cornbread without bacon grease. She makes it with what she calls "better butter," a combination of butter, powdered milk, lecithin, and maybe a couple of other things. I have no perspective on whether this concoction is any good or not since it was basically on intravenous injection, delivered atop a slice of toast, for the duration of my childhood.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:43 (twenty years ago)

yeah yer moms or granmas will be best, if in downtown athens check peaches (my fave) or wilsons or weaver ds or maybe even five star day cafe in a weird way. that place gladys knight has in atlanta is supposed to be good.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 January 2005 06:53 (twenty years ago)

man i've never had real southern food!! help me i am canadian and deprived!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 10 January 2005 07:13 (twenty years ago)

Try the CHICKEN FRIEND STEAK it's delicious.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 07:45 (twenty years ago)

Search: Turducken.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Monday, 10 January 2005 07:53 (twenty years ago)

That is a monstrosity.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 10 January 2005 07:54 (twenty years ago)

The chicken fried steak ranges from edible to sublime. The aforementioned Grady's serves up a chicken fried steak platter that looks pretty darn good, but I'm kinda unnaturally afraid of trying out the gravy there. I do know that the chicken fried steak itself is pretty good, because I've had it in sandwich form. The Luby's chicken fs is decent, but nothing to write home about. Tip Top does have a fabulous chicken fs, the best I've ever tasted. And pretty much everything else is in between, though I've heard that the chicken fs from Lulu's Jailhouse Cafe is at least equally legendary.

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 09:07 (twenty years ago)

("chicken friend steak"? How can you even think of making a steak out of a chicken you've decided to befriend? And I didn't even know there was a cut of chicken meat that *could* be made into a "steak"!)

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 January 2005 09:09 (twenty years ago)

Around here (northeastern Mississippi) it's getting hard to find good home cooking outside a home. When I lived in Oxford, Ruth & Jimmie's in Abbeville was the hot ticket for a meat&three, mainly for their awesome fried okra. Word was that the cook left to go to Ray's Truck Stop, so Ray's started getting crowded and Ruth & Jimmie's closed down. When I left Oxford, the Ajax Diner on the Square was trying to inject some hipster cachet into the meat&three — I think they're still at it.

For great smoked pork, in the late 80s there was a place in Tupelo called the Korner Kitchen that was the equal of anything in Memphis. And their homemade pies were absolute heaven after a huge pile of 'cue and beans and fries and slaw. But the elderly couple who ran it retired. There's still a BBQ joint in the building, but I'm afraid to try it.

There's an old place in Tupelo at the corner of Main and Lawndale that's been open and closed forever -- you can't miss it if you've ever been to a Coleman's BBQ or Top's BBQ, it's that kind of square glass-metal box. Lately it's back open under the name KJ's and usually has a few cars in the lot. I think it's more a soul food place than usual, so the main dishes might include stuff like neckbones along with the steak & gravy and meat loaf.

― I Am Curious (George) (Rock Hardy), Monday, 10 January 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

i ate at an iron skillet in pennsylvania. the gimmick is that everything is served in an iron skillet, except for drinks. there are little chilled skillets for the salad bar, tiny deep ones for the soup, big shallow ones for entrees. guess what? IT'S DISGUSTING. one of the worst restaurant meals i've had in recent memory, and i can get down with some pretty gross food. also, the other patrons gave us the fear something awful: "i think we're going to be drugged and raped and ground up for sausage" was my companion's view.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 10 January 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

Anybody ever eat at a restaurant chain called PO'FOLKS? They would do all-you-can-eat specials on different entries depending on which day it was (like, Friday = country-fried steak, Monday = fried chicken, etc), which they would bring to your table (rather than the usual all-you-can-eat buffet tactic). They also served beverages in MASON JARS.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 January 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

Where the Waffle Houses are :

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
New Mexico
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 10 January 2005 16:28 (twenty years ago)

I think southern food is rub.

Bloody jellied eels.

And SAVELOYS! Oy oy!

― Starry (hello chickens), Monday, 10 January 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

dee thanks for the tips. I don't eat fried chicken but if I get the chance I'll try that empanada place. Don't have much choice in the matter though, the 'rents picked out the route/hotels/etc.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 10 January 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

Doesn't Chick-fil-a have a patent on the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich? How is McDonalds getting away with this? You can't serve someone a chicken breast fried in peanut oil, with dill pickle slices, on a buttered bun and not be a Chick-fil-a, can you?

― iiiijjjj, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 23:49 (seventeen years ago)

The Amazon order I got today had a coupon for a free one of those. Also one for the new chicken biscuit.

― Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 23:59 (seventeen years ago)

I'm pretty sure you can't patent a sandwich. They might have a patent on some "process" involved in making the sandwich

― Hurting 2, Thursday, 8 May 2008 02:34 (seventeen years ago)

SWEET TEA.

Hallelujah, my prayers have been answered. A Chick-Fil-A miraculously appeared in Redondo Beach!

― felicity, Thursday, 8 May 2008 02:49 (seventeen years ago)

Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too on 110th near Central Park is a reliable standby. Mac n cheese especially.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 8 May 2008 04:42 (seventeen years ago)

wait someone fill me in on the mysterious nyu chick-fil-a?

― tehresa, Thursday, 8 May 2008 04:58 (seventeen years ago)

the one in the dining hall? i've eaten there

― impudent harlot, Thursday, 8 May 2008 05:29 (seventeen years ago)

it's in a dining hall on university place right by wash sq park and is only open during the school year. you're supposed to have an id to get into the building, but both times i've gone no one seemed to care. it's quite busy, so you can kind of blend in with a group as you go in.

― lauren, Thursday, 8 May 2008 13:35 (seventeen years ago)

Mama Dips... I'm right at positive my cousin took me there a couple of years ago when I went to visit. It definitely did NOT live up to her hype. "cafeteria tasting" very much otm. I kept my mouth shut though.

― will, Thursday, 8 May 2008 14:32 (seventeen years ago)

I also cleaned my plate. Because I am a p-i-g pig.

― will, Thursday, 8 May 2008 14:32 (seventeen years ago)

shrimp & grits?

― phil-two, Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:10 (seventeen years ago)

my three fave little rock soul food/country cookin places:
1. david family restaurant
2. your mama's good food
3. yancey's cafeteria

all three will require naps after. good lord they're good. and there's several more places i eventually need to hit in and near town that are probably as good. for me, soul food is basically the best food on the planet. with bbq a close second. and speaking of bbq, we've got whole hog cafe here, so i basically stay constantly full and satisfied.

also, lolz to "COUNTRY FRIEND CHICKEN" upthread.

― andrew m., Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:37 (seventeen years ago)

lol my friend from my hometown who also lives here now had a hell of a time trying to explains shrimp & grits to a vendor in chelsea market once.

― tehresa, Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:42 (seventeen years ago)

someone mentioned po' folks restaurant up there. i totally remember that place. had one in jackson when i was young. probably shut down in the mid80s. there was also a similar chain called poor richard's. same stuff. kinda the precursor to chains like the black eyed pea (also defunct?) and dixie cafe. lotsa chicken friend steak and vegetable plates. real after-church hotspots.

just remembered. the po' folks in jackson shut down in about '88, just about the time when this crazed guy with a rifle stood outside of it and started taking shots at cars passing on I-20 and the surrounding area. cops came and shot the dude.

― andrew m., Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:50 (seventeen years ago)

dunno about this shrimp and grits business. new orleans?

― andrew m., Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:52 (seventeen years ago)

woah dude I think I remember that

x-post Shrimp and grits is awes.

― will, Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:53 (seventeen years ago)

Speaking of cafeterias, Morrison's: C or D? (This one's for the oldtimers, Morrison's is long gone.)

x-post Shrimp and grits is awes.

Oh yeah.

― Rock Hardy, Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:56 (seventeen years ago)

we had a morrison's in my town, but i don't think i ever went.
i think we also had a po' folks.

― tehresa, Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:57 (seventeen years ago)

i remember morrison's well. swallowed up by the 'dilly, no?

― will, Thursday, 8 May 2008 18:58 (seventeen years ago)

i ate at the columbus, miss., morrison's approximately 1 million times with my grandparents. science fact: old folks love morrison's. luby's too, for those west of the mississippi. they're essentially the same.

― andrew m., Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:00 (seventeen years ago)

swallowed up by the 'dilly, no?

I didn't know about this, I just figured that their clientele got old and died (andrew otm). Also, the business model seemed to have big probs.

― Rock Hardy, Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:03 (seventeen years ago)

If you ever find yourself in Sikestown, Missouri, Ozark, Missouri, or Foley, Alabama, go to

http://www.throwedrolls.com/images/norm_color.gif

Lambert's Cafe, The Only Home of the Throwed Rolls.

http://www.throwedrolls.com/images/roll_ani.gif

― felicity, Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:07 (seventeen years ago)

haha, there was a "throwed rolls" place in Tupelo in the 1980s. Can't remember the name, but it wasn't Lambert's.

― Rock Hardy, Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:13 (seventeen years ago)

Maybe Earl and Agnes put a hit on them so they could be the only home of throwed rolls.

Not only do they throw rolls at you but they walk around with buckets of sides like okra and cinnamon apples. It's like dim sum.

― felicity, Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:18 (seventeen years ago)

I'm looking forward to having dinner here this weekend.

― jaymc, Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:24 (seventeen years ago)

http://thelinkery.com/img/CrooksCorner.JPG

― mookieproof, Thursday, 8 May 2008 19:26 (seventeen years ago)

fifteen years pass...

Brits will never recover from this pic.twitter.com/LW0KpGCaBo
— The Sigma Female 🔆 (@The_sigma_fem) February 24, 2024

Can someone tell me what "sike" means here?

― Alba, Monday, 26 February 2024 22:09 (one year ago)

Oh OK it's nothing to do with seasoning

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/say-sike-right-now

― Alba, Monday, 26 February 2024 22:13 (one year ago)

except properly it ought to be "psych!" which originated as "psych out!" and it always meant "Lol, I was just messing with your head, man."

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 26 February 2024 23:10 (one year ago)

I knew what they meant, but I've never seen that 'sike' spelling

― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 26 February 2024 23:14 (one year ago)

this is what happens as origins are obscured or erased by successive iterations, like when you photocopy the photocopy of a photocopy. future generations will never know that "sike" has its roots in ancient Greece.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 26 February 2024 23:20 (one year ago)

(frowny face icon)

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 26 February 2024 23:21 (one year ago)

“Sike” is a very 1993 spelling tbfair

― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 27 February 2024 05:33 (one year ago)

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