Photo TR: Jason's Roadfood Adventures

[jray21]

Yay, this thread is back! So excited to see a bunch more incredible places. The rochester white hot with the works, and the fried pies look delicious! One of these days I'll have to join you on a few adventures.

[Nrthwnd]

Sponge candy is awesome!

 

One of the franchises here (Cadbury?), has it in a bar,

covered in purple foil and labeling. What is it called again...?

[jray21]

Violet Crumble! One of my all-time favorite candy bars!

Edited May 30, 2013 by jray21

[Nrthwnd]

^ Thank you, Joey!

Not exactly an easy catchy name to remember, lol.

But that's ok. Awesome sponge candy!

[printersdevil78]

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to update this thread as much as I would have liked to this summer... but I have a good excuse! I've been busy traveling and doing "research" for upcoming posts! In the meantime, we're back in Niagara Falls. Enjoy!

Later, we stopped at Schwabl’s in West Seneca, NY, for our second dinner of the evening (well, my second… Kelly and Lauryn’s first).

The inside was dark, but homey.

Even the napkins looked old-fashioned!

But we weren’t here for the napkins. We were here for the… little article to the right of the magazine cover, proclaiming Schwabl’s beef on weck as one of “America’s 10 Tastiest Sandwiches.”

But first… appetizers! Kelly and Lauryn had never sampled poutine before, so we split an order. For the uninitiated, poutine is French fries smothered with beef gravy and cheese curds. Yum!

Lauryn decided to get a cup of chili and a side of mozzarella sticks for her dinner. By the time she finished the chili and her share of the poutine, however, she didn’t have room for the fried cheese, so Kelly and I sampled them, then Kelly took the rest to our hotel and had them for breakfast the next day. The sticks themselves were standard… but the sauce they came with was amazing! No plain marinara there. The waitress later told us it was a combination of hot sauce, mayonnaise and horseradish.

Getting back to that beef on weck… the sandwich is thin-sliced roast beef on a kimmelweck roll (a sturdy roll topped with lots of salt). In the background are German potato salad and a vinegar-based coleslaw that I really enjoyed. In the middle is a single pickled beet slice, which tasted exactly like the ones my grandmother used to make.

Horseradish is the condiment of choice for beef on weck. Schwabl’s serves it in these unique containers, with little spoons inside, so patrons may add as little or as much as they wish.

The next morning, we finally made it to Niagara Falls! (Actually, we went the night before, as well, to see the falls lit up, but my photos from then weren’t that great.)

Inside the visitors center, a candy store used jelly beans to emulate the rainbow appearance of the falls at night.

After a ride on the “Maid of the Mist,” a boat that takes tourists on a close-up view of the falls, we retired to Tonawanda, NY, where we had lunch at this outpost of the local Ted’s Hot Dogs franchise.

Ted’s has long been a Buffalo area tradition. My office manager, who grew up in Buffalo, highly recommended it.

Taking advice from online reviews, Kelly and I each got an order of onion rings, which were good at first, but kind of started just tasting like grease about halfway through. Just about the only hot dog Kelly enjoys anymore is Nathan’s Famous, and then only sporadically, so she opted for a “sea dog,” AKA a fish sandwich in the shape of a hot dog.

Lauryn got the double cheeseburger, and I ordered up a pair of chili dogs, which were tremendous! The charcoal-broiled flavor really came through. In the cups at the right is local favorite loganberry juice, which I enjoyed so much I got a second cup to go. It tasted like liquid blueberries.

Afterward, we stopped at the Tim Horton’s next door for dessert.

The next weekend, I went with my parents to visit my grandmother in Westminster, MD, for Mother’s Day. My aunt made reservations for the family at Parks Landing.

Some background on this restaurant: We also dined here last Mother’s Day, when I was on the diet that helped me lose over 100 pounds. About the only thing on the menu I could have was grilled tilapia, and when it came out, it was grilled all right… the fish was paper-thin and stuck to the metal plate it came on. I ended up having to send it back, and the replacement dish was only slightly more edible. However, it’s convenient to where my grandmother lives, and since she’s unable to travel long distances, we came back again.

This was either cream of crab soup or wallpaper paste with jagged shards of crab shell in it; I’m leaning toward the latter. At least the bread was OK.

This is a crab fluff, which is supposedly one of Parks Landing’s specialties. Basically, it’s a crab cake battered and deep fried. Only I think after they deep fried this one, they accidentally dropped it in somebody’s gym bag because it tasted for all the world like dirty socks. I took two bites and couldn’t eat anymore. The French fries, on the other hand, were fine… or at least they would have been had they been cooked the same day I ordered them. Based on their temperature at the time they arrived at the table, I’m guessing the restaurant, in an effort to keep up with potential Mother’s Day demand, made a big batch of them around Thursday and just kind of left them in the kitchen all weekend in anticipation of the big day.

So Parks Landing is 0-for-2… and I’ll probably end up back there again next Mother’s Day, anyway. Maybe I’ll have a late lunch somewhere else that day and just get dessert. Because for all its faults (and there were a LOT of them), the restaurant’s dessert menu was out of this world. I would gladly have taken seconds on this chocolate lava cake instead of my gym-sock crab fluff.

On Memorial Day weekend, I traveled to my hometown of Crisfield, MD, to help run the annual benefit bike ride that I started in 2008 and have written about before in this thread and others. I stayed over an extra day to attend the Crisfield Lioness-Lions Club’s 20th annual Soft Shell Spring Fair.

Normally it’s held here, at the City Dock; however, since the dock is still in the process of being rebuilt post-Hurricane Sandy, the festival was moved up one block this year.

I think I’ve posted a photo of Smith Island cake elsewhere in this thread. If I haven’t (or if you just don’t feel like going back and looking), it’s basically comprised of very thin layers of cake (usually 7 to 10) alternating with very thin layers of icing, fruit-infused pudding or ganache. As tasty as it is, I didn’t opt for a slice on this day.

But I did stand in line for a soft crab sandwich.

Again, for those who don’t feel like going back in the thread to read the prior descriptions, a soft crab sandwich normally consists of a couple of whole crabs dredged in a light batter and deep fried, served on white bread. Unlike hard crabs, soft crabs are small and have paper-thin, edible shells. And they are delicious!

Six days later, I met my parents at another local event, the 38th annual Fairmount Academy 1800s Festival, held to celebrate the founding of this building, a former school that closed when school districts were realigned to comply with segregation laws in 1969.

Inside, visitors get to see a recreation of what the classroom once may have looked like, some experts believe, perhaps.

This is the fire escape at the adjacent meeting hall and auditorium. Back then, they knew how to make life-threatening emergencies fun!

But this is the reason the festival is being included in the roadfood thread.

Yum! Though I must say, as good as it was, the strawberry shortcake didn’t taste quite the same as I remembered it from when I last attended the 1800s festival 10-15 years ago. I guess they’ve gotten a fresh crop of berries in since then.

 

Next up: A couple stops in Delaware, then a driving tour through the South and Midwest!

[jray21]

That roast beef sandwich looked so good! Glad to see another update!

[gisco]

I always make the mistake of reading this thread long before lunch!

[Philrad71]

I am deeply ashamed to say that I have never been to Schwabl's before and I grew up & live just 70 miles south of Buffalo. I believe that I have had their roast beef before, just not served at the restaurant on their weck rolls...that will change shortly after this trip report!

[Nrthwnd]

Sorry to hear, the Parks Landing visit didn't work out.

Again. (Except for dessert,)

 

Everything else you guys had, looked great!

Mmmm soft shelled crab sandwich. Tasty!

[printersdevil78]

Back again! I’ll let the photos and captions speak for themselves. Enjoy!

In early June, Kelly and I went to Twining’s Lobster Shanty in Fenwick Island, DE, for our second anniversary.

On the outside, it looks like a fairly ordinary restaurant…

…until you start looking a little closer.

It’s sort of a seafood-meets whimsical-meets tropical theme.

Our table overlooked the waterfront marsh outside.

Having been here before, we knew to order the lobster mac ’n’ cheese as an appetizer. It’s amazing!

And here’s the lobster! The most unique thing on this plate is the Old Bay-boiled onions, which are better than onions have any right to be.

Less than a week later, I was on a plant to Atlanta for my first vacation of the summer. And after being treated like a criminal at the Dollar Rent A Car counter (because I wouldn’t buy their insurance) and spending a few amazing hours at Six Flags Over Georgia, I made a grueling six-hour drive to Memphis. This sign, a block away from my hotel, was a welcome sight.

There was a fairly long wait to get in…unless you were traveling solo and willing to sit at the bar! I was in and had my drink in my hand within five minutes of taking this shot.

I’ve extolled the virtues of Charlie Vergo’s Rendezvous in the past (but not in this thread), so I knew exactly what I wanted: a half-rack of traditional dry-rub ribs with beans and the restaurant’s amazing mustard-based coleslaw.

After dinner, it was time for a stroll down Beale Street.

Some cool neon food-based signs before we get to our ultimate destination here.

I thought once to stop in here for one of their famous barbecued bologna sandwiches, but I was too full from Rendezvous.

I also thought about stopping at the historic Dyer's for a burger, but again, I was too full, and I've eaten here before, anyway.

This was the real reason I came down to Beale.

Getting inside was tough. Plus there was a cover, which I’m generally opposed to. Plus there was an hour wait for a table. Plus the band was way, way, way too loud. But I stuck it out for one reason.

This wasn’t that reason… but it was good! The Lucille is one of the club’s signature beverages. It was so dark inside that until I took the picture, I thought it was blue! Also, I don’t know who Vic Munoz is, but they gave me his table, and I wasn’t arguing!

The one reason I was so intent on coming to BB King’s? Fried pickles! I have eaten meals in nearly every state in the U.S., as well as parts of Canada, England and Wales, and these are, far and away, the best fried pickles I have ever had! I discovered them during my first trip to Memphis in 2008, and I was determined to make them a part of this vacation, as well. I wasn’t disappointed!

Afterward, I stopped down the street at A. Schwab, a historical dry goods store that now sells mostly tourist crap. I was delighted to find that they carried Aunt Sally’s pralines, which I enjoyed during my trip to New Orleans in 2008. Unfortunately, they weren’t as good as the ones I got right from the source.

The next day, I set out for Hot Springs, AR, to tour the national park and spend some time at Magic Springs. I was hoping to stop at the legendary McClard’s BBQ (and did end up driving right by it), but I found out in advance that it was closed on Sundays, so I started looking for alternatives. Just about every website I referenced listed McClard’s and Stubby’s as the No. 1 and No. 2 barbecue joints in Hot Springs, so I decided to give Stubby’s a try.

Wood piles are always a good sign at barbecue restaurants!

As are anthropomorphized pigs!

I was vaguely worried when I got inside and there was nearly no one else there. I needn’t have been. It was raining heavily when I pulled up, and it seemed like as soon as the rain stopped, the crowd started. I arrived just in time!

Stubby’s is set up cafeteria-style… but this ain’t cafeteria food! On a side note, as the counterman was slicing my brisket, he picked up a burnt end (in my opinion, the pinnacle of good barbecue) with his knife, and I thought “Oh boy! I’m going to get some burnt ends, too!”… right before he turned around and threw it in the garbage! I think I actually gasped out loud.

It’s just as well, as I couldn’t even finish what actually did come with the Ultimate Platter: pulled pork, ham, brisket and a huge rib, along with beans, coleslaw and a drink (I think I had root beer). It was breathtaking!

I skipped the pickles.

After a lackluster dinner at a non-descript Mexican restaurant near my hotel in Murfressboro, AR, that night and a decent lunch at a regional Mexican chain restaurant in Oklahoma the next day, I made my next Roadfood-worthy stop for dinner at the legendary Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City, OK.

The restaurant is located literally right next door to the city’s stockyards.

Are you my dinner?

Let’s go inside, shall we?

Cattlemen’s has a fancy dining room and a more casual café. Because I was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, and because I was traveling solo, I chose the café side. A word to the squeamish: if bizarre, disgusting foods make you queasy, you may want to skip the next photo.

Now, Cattlemen’s is justifiably famous for its steaks… but it’s also well known for another dish: lamb fries. I hadn’t intended to get any until I saw the guys next to me get an order… and they looked good! I heard they tasted a little like oysters, which I don’t particularly care for, but I figured I probably was never going to have a chance to try them again, so I went for it. And they were awesome!

 

Oh, for the uninitiated… lamb fries are sheep testicles, sliced then, breaded, deep fried and served with lemon and a savory marinara dipping sauce.

Normally I wouldn’t order a salad (I know, I know…), but one was included with my dinner. I had read online that the house dressing was the dressing to get… and it was! This mayonnaise-and-cheese-based dressing was amazing!

But this was the main attraction! One of the top three steaks I’ve ever eaten, hands down.

By the time I was finished with all that, I was completely stuffed. The waitress asked if I wanted dessert, and I said no… then she said the magic words: coconut cream pie. How on Earth was I supposed to resist that? I’m happy to say that, even though I was filled to capacity, it was just as tremendous as the rest of the meal. If I ever pass through this way again, Cattlemen’s is definitely on my “must do” list!

 

Up next: more Oklahoma restaurants, then north to Kansas and Nebraska.

[ginzo]

I'll have to try lamb fries some time. I don't always like offal, but I make a point to at least try it. It's interesting that they serve great steak in such humble looking surroundings.

[larrygator]

I never made it to Charlie Vergo's during my Memphis BBQ run, since I was more interested in the wet BBQ version for my comparison versus the dry rub they favor at Charlie Vergo's.

 

Jason - Thanks for sharing.

[Philrad71]

The fried pickles & BBQ look awesome, but Parks Landing...not so much!

[jray21]

All that food looked beyond amazing! I don't think they is anything better in this world than BBQ. I'm so jealous of your adventures, can't wait to see more!

[cfc]

I'll pass on the lamb fries, but bring on that steak!

[Nrthwnd]

Lamb fries, no.

Steak, yes!

Fried pickles, YES!

Coconut creme pie...

[gisco]

I'm just amazed at the places you find to eat at.

[printersdevil78]

Back again! I could run through a laundry list of excuses for not posting more in this thread, but I won't bore everyone. Instead, enjoy some pictures of tasty food!

The morning after Cattlemen's, I headed out to Classen Grill in Oklahoma City for a hearty breakfast before making my way to Frontier City.

Thunder up!

The inside was pretty typical, but I was glad I finally made it. When I plugged the address into my GPS, it took me to a carpet store about a mile away….

I passed some time reading the advertisements on the table. No carpet shops to be found.

Fresh-squeezed orange juice? Yes, please!

But this is the real reason I came here: biscuit debris! That’s biscuits covered with ham, sausage, gravy and two types of cheese, with a side of homefries. It’s every bit as good as it sounds!

After leaving Frontier City, I ventured on to Robert’s Grill in El Reno, OK. After tornadoes ravaged the area just a week or so before I visited, I was glad it was still there.

El Reno is known for two specialty dishes, one of which is its own version of the Coney Island hot dog, topped with chili sauce and a mustard-based coleslaw. This one was really good!

The other is the onion burger, a hamburger with onions pressed into the meat and fried. These come highly rated on almost all the “roadfood”-type sites, and I scoured them all to determine that out of all the restaurants in El Reno that sell them, Robert’s got the best reviews. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it had any flavor whatsoever and, after getting about halfway through, I had to cover it with ketchup and mustard just to finish it. It was like eating Styrofoam with burnt onions.

Since I was in Oklahoma City (“ooh, so pretty”), I had to get my kicks on Route 66. Specifically, my Route 66 destination was POPS, a gas station whose claim to fame is having just about every brand of bottled soda sold in the United States available under one roof. When I saw this, I knew I was in the right place!

Located in Arcadia, OK, the place looks like something out of the mod ’60s, but it actually was built to look that way… in 2007.

A close-up of the station’s exterior walls in all their bottled-soda glory!

The soda fountain in the back of the station was cool…

…but this is what I really came for!

I ended up buying 13 different sodas to try, drinking two or three a day for the rest of the trip. First was Lemmy, a carbonated lemonade my father used to drink when he was growing up. It was phenomenal! I really wished I could have brought some back for him, but I couldn’t take it on the plane in my carry-on, and I wasn’t about to pay $25 for a checked back just to take home a $2.50 bottle of soda. I had heard of Nesbitt’s (my dad used to collect soda bottles and bottle caps, and he had several Nesbitt’s), but I had never tried it. It was OK, kind of like a less flavorful Sunkist.

The next day, I sampled Nichol Kola and a marionberry-flavored soda. Nichol was another drink I knew about from my father’s collection, but had never tasted. It was sort of like an RC, but with a very distinct cinnamon-like aftertaste that was very good. The marionberry soda also was pretty good; it was like drinking a liquid blackberry.

The Brownie caramel cream root beer was amazing! Kind of like drinking a liquid cinnamon bun. The prickly pear soda was OK; my boss brought back some prickly pear hard candy for the office once when he was on vacation out west, and this pretty much tasted like that, kind of like watered-down corn syrup.

The huckleberry soda was OK, kind of like a very watered-down version of the marionberry drink. The Howdy cherry jubilee was pretty bad. It tasted like drinking seltzer water while sucking on a Sucret.

This was the absolute worst trifecta of the bunch. The candy cane soda tasted like nothing more than seltzer water, with a very, very faint peppermint aftertaste. The spruce beer was interesting and definitely the best of the three; it smelled like Pine Sol and was at least somewhat sweet. The dandelion soda tasted like Alka Seltzer, only much bitterer, so much so that I poured the last third of it out rather than finishing it.

This was the final day’s soda lineup. Not sure how the prickly pear got in there again… The peanut butter soda was much like the candy cane soda: seltzer water with a very, very faint peanut aftertaste. The Frostie ginger beer was OK. I’ve had ginger beer from other companies, and they were sweet with a nice aftertaste. The Frostie version was a little stronger, which I didn’t like as much. In all, the Lemmy, Nichol and Brownie really stole the show. They’re the only ones I would really like to have again.

After POPS, I headed north to Kansas, where I stopped by Nu-Way, home of “crumbly burgers.”

I don’t remember whether there was any booth or table seating inside, but I took a seat at the counter, regardless.

I started with the garlic salad, which is really just coleslaw with a LOT of garlic! It was really good and, in my opinion, the best thing Nu-Way had to offer.

Here’s one of those “crumbly burgers,” along with some spiral-cut fries.

So what is a “crumbly burger”? In other Midwestern states, they call them “loosemeats” “Maid Rites” or “taverns.” It’s basically seasoned, loose-fried ground beef on a hamburger bun, kind of like a sloppy joe without the tomato sauce. I got mine with cheese. It was OK, but like the onion burger before it, really lacked much flavor outside the cheese.

I also tried Nu-Way’s take on a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, which I enjoyed so much during my jaunt through Indiana in 2012. The Nu-Way version was covered with Miracle Whip (or a fair approximation), as is the local custom. I preferred the Indiana version, with mustard and pickles. The Nu-Way model was OK, but like the crumbly burger, lacked much flavor.

Besides crumbly burger’s, Nu-Way’s other claim to fame is its root beer, served in a frosted mug, which was very good.

The next day’s adventures took me to Nebraska, where lunch was at Shirley’s Diner in Omaha.

The décor inside was very eclectic and added to the restaurant’s ambience.

Each booth was decked out with memorabilia for a different band. I got the “Bumpy Action” booth, featuring ephemera from a local rock band that, according to Facebook, was the pride of Omaha from 1969-1974.

Each booth also included a jukebox system, though I’m not sure if they actually worked.

That’s not fried chicken you’re looking at; that’s an Omaha specialty: the cheese Frenchee (or Frienchie or Frenchy, depending on which restaurant you’re at and whether you take the name from the specials board or the menu).

An interior view reveals the Frenchee/Frenchie/Frenchy for what it is: a grilled cheese, slathered with mayonnaise, covered with crushed corn flakes and deep fried. Not counting the steak from Cattlemen’s, this was the absolute best thing I had to eat on this vacation! The lunch special came with two of them, plus a ton of fries, for something like $7. They were huge!

 

There was no way I could eat it all, but I didn’t want to throw it away, so I ended up visiting the local Walmart and buying a Styrofoam cooler and bag of ice to keep it cold, then ate the second sandwich and remaining fries on the road for dinner that evening after visiting Adventureland in neighboring Iowa. The cooler, coupled with some hotel ice, also came in handy for keeping my POPS sodas cold over the next few days.

For most people, a good cheese Frenchee lunch in Omaha would have been plenty. But I’m not most people, so I hopped into my car and drove over to the city’s premier Czech restaurant, the Bohemian Café.

This is what the entrance to a 1924 restaurant looks like.

“We welcome you!”

Inside, the décor was much what one would expect from an Eastern European-themed restaurant.

My meal came with a choice of soup, and nearly every online review raved about the liver dumpling soup, so I went with that.

That would be a slice of liver dumpling right there. Despite its slightly unappetizing name, it was pretty good.

Many online reviews also recommended the goulash. Those reviews were wrong. While it was OK, there was nothing really special about it, and it took up valuable stomach space that would have been better suited for the dish that was to come.

That dish was plum dumplings, which, thanks to my handy new cooler, I was able to get to go.

I had to try at least one while they were still warm. These things are amazing! It’s basically a stewed plum wrapped in a very dense doughnut, covered with butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then baked and served with a mixture of chilled sour cream and cottage cheese. I heated the rest up in hotel microwaves for breakfast the next couple days, and while still OK, it was nowhere near as good as it was fresh out of the oven.

On my way to Adventureland, I took a detour to Elk Horn, IA, to see the only Danish windmill in the United States.

Next door, I spotted this sign for Danish kringle and actually groaned. I was stuffed beyond belief… but how was I supposed to pass up a chance for real Danish kringle in Middle of Nowhere, U.S.A.?

So, of course, I went inside

In addition to the restaurant, which seemed like the kind of place I would have loved to have tried had I not already filled up on Frenchees and plum dumplings and whatnot, they also thankfully had a small bakery and gift shop.

One kringle to go, please!

Once the plum dumplings were gone, this became my breakfast of choice. It took several days to eat, and it never dried out or hardened whatsoever. The kringle they sell at Epcot is good… but comparing it to this is like comparing a McDonald’s hamburger to one fresh off your own grill on the 4th of July. It was awesome!

 

Up next: one of the barbecue capitals of the world and my most intimidating restaurant experience to date!

[cfc]

I am especially intrigued by the "Biscuit Debris."

[Coaster Cow]

It's back!!!! Those Cheese Frechees are absurd.

[Philrad71]

^ Agreed!

 

And I will have to do a search on this band 'Bumpy Action'...sounds right up my alley!

[gisco]

I'm glad lunch is only 30 minutes away after reading the last update.

[jray21]

There was some great looking food you had! It's too bad the onion burger wasn't that good, it looked amazing!

[printersdevil78]

More food pictures to enjoy. So... enjoy!

The next day, following an exceptional visit to Marceline, MO, I traveled to LC’s Bar-B-Q for what many reviewers called the best burnt ends in Kansas City — which, de facto, would make them the best burnt ends in the world! You will notice that there are no photos of the outside of LC’s (with bars on every window) nor the inside. Here’s why:

 

As soon as I entered the nearly empty restaurant, a very large, seemingly very angry man yelled across the room, from behind the counter, “What you want?” I walked a little closer to read the menu board, and as I did, the man reiterated, “I said, ‘What you want?’” Not wanting to anger this gentleman further, I approached the counter and immediately asked for a burnt ends sandwich. He responded, “For here… or to go?” making it very clear with his inflection and body language that “to go” was the correct answer. I believe the meal cost a little over $8. I handed the man a $10 bill and did not ask for change. A few minutes later, another gentleman, wearing a wife-beater T-shirt, came out of the kitchen/smoker area and thrust a plastic bag containing a Styrofoam container dripping with barbecue sauce into my hand. I knew that was my cue to leave.

I drove a couple miles and pulled into the parking lot of a Sonic Drive-In, where I spread a freebie newspaper I had picked up in Memphis over the passenger seat and carefully extracted the box from the sauce-saturated bag. It contained no napkins and no fork… but approximately one full pound of the plumpest, tastiest-looking burnt ends I had ever seen, covered with about a gallon of sauce, between two slices of white bread.

 

The kind folks at Sonic were nice enough to provide me with a plastic fork and some napkins, as well as a cherry limeade, which turned out to be very necessary as the peppery sauce almost overwhelmed every other taste bud in my mouth. I could have done with a lot less sauce, but as the reviews stated, these were, far and away, the best burnt ends I’ve ever had. And I’ll only have them once because I’m definitely not brave enough to try for seconds!

Again, for most people, a pound of smoked beef would have been enough for one dinner. But, as we have established, I’m not most people. And this people, as a certified Kansas City Barbeque Society judge, was not about to end his visit to Kansas City without a stop at the world’s famous Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.

Inside, the restaurant is fairy bare bones, starting with the ordering line.

The brisket and ribs were good…

…but the real star here is the sauce, some of the best I’ve ever had.

Following an evening at Worlds of Fun, I took a late-night drive south toward Branson so the next morning I would be within driving distance of Silver Dollar City.

Smokehouse jerky? Sounds good to me!

Yak’s on the left, kangaroo on the right. Both were good, tender and spicy.

How about some fresh-fried pork rinds before taking a spin on Outlaw Run?

This is before the Texas Giant incident… so a couple more pounds won’t make a difference!

This looks like a good place to find cinnamon bread!

Sadly, it was not. Even more sadly, the person at the counter told me they no longer sold cinnamon bread at the park. Choking back tears, I settled for a giant cinnamon roll instead.

Temperatures were in the 90s that day, so a nice Sioux City Sarsaparilla from the old general store seemed like a good way to cool down.

As I was perusing other shops on my way out of the park late in the afternoon, what to my wandering eyes should appear… but cinnamon bread! Oh the joy! The rapture! I ate half at the park and saved the other half for later.

Of course, I didn’t need it after dinner at this place!

For the uninitiated, Lambert’s Café is the “home of throwed rolls,” meaning that when you ask for rolls… they throw them to (or at) you. It’s also the home of jumbo-sized portions and all-you-can-eat side dishes. There are three locations; this is the one in Ozark, MO.

And Coke drinkers, take solace, for Lambert’s serves The Real Thing™.

The posted wait to get in was nearly an hour. Fortunately, as I’ve stated in the past, there’s rarely a wait when traveling solo. I perused this model train and other junk hanging on the walls and from the ceiling for less than five minutes before I was taken into the dining area.

And speaking of the dining area… this is it!

Even the drinks are huge (and apparently blurry) at Lambert’s!

This was my first roll. Caught it on the first try!

For my main course, I ordered the pork belly (basically a huge pile of thick-cut bacon). Also making an appearance are fried okra, fried potatoes, pinto beans, coleslaw, cornbread and sorghum in which to dip the throwed rolls. It was all splendid!

The next day, I passed through Tupelo, MS, on my way back to Atlanta for my flight home. As far as I can tell, there are exactly four things in Tupelo: Elvis’ birth home (which is so small that my current television would not fit in the building) and related tourist complex, a grocery store (in whose parking lot I made a U-turn), a traffic light and Johnnie’s Drive-In. This would be Johnnie’s Drive-In.

Thankfully, they don’t keep their barbecue to themselves.

An Elvis connection? In Memphis? Inconceivable!

The drive-in’s interior is pretty small. In fact, this is pretty much all of it.

But this is the real reason most people come here. Apparently Johnnie’s was a favorite hangout of Elvis’ when he was a teenager.

No doubt Elvis ate many of Johnnie’s barbecue sandwiches, so who was I to pass one up? It was,,, OK. About the kind of barbecue you’d expect to find at an average drive-in.

The real attraction for me, however, was the doughboy, a hamburger with dough mixed in with the beef. Johnnie’s supposedly started making them that way during World War II (though since meat rationing ended in the U.S. within a year of Johnnie’s opening, one wonders whether it was just a patriotically convenient excuse for cost-cutting). It was… unique, and I’m not really sure there’s anything I can compare the flavor to. It didn’t really taste like a cheeseburger, but it wasn’t horrible. I wouldn’t go out of my way for another one, but if I was someplace and it was on the menu, I might consider it.

Of course, as a drive-in, Johnnie’s also offers an opportunity to eat doughboys… in your car!

My last restaurant stop on this vacation was Bob Sykes’ Bar-B-Q, located in Bessemer, AL. Having just made several stops in the nearby city of Birmingham, parts of which were nice enough but much of which made me wish I had instead chosen to visit a cleaner, friendlier area — like Detroit — I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

I’m happy to report that, after being approached by a toothless panhandler in the parking lot, I found the inside of the restaurant to be quite nice. A local middle school cheerleading team was even bussing tables in exchange for donations to go to some tournament. It was very Mayberry-esque.

The open grill greets all visitors to Bob Sykes’… and as good as it looks, the aroma was even better!

The restaurant has been here for more than half a century. That’s got to be a good sign!

This is what I ordered…

…and this is what it looked like! Unfortunately, despite the welcoming atmosphere, community friendliness, longevity and heavenly aroma at Bob Sykes’, the food was just… OK. The ribs really didn’t have much flavor, and I’m not sure the pulled pork would have, either, had it not been for the sauce.

The “homemade” pecan pie reminded me of ones I’ve gotten from the freezer section of Walmart… but it was OK for what it was.

Eh… not so much. Still, a pleasant little diversion.

[ginzo]

I'm far from a BBQ expert, but I really liked Bryant's. I believe I still have a bottle or two of the sauce in the pantry.