Last week T and I went to the barbecue restaurant downtown. It is hard to eat healthy in my neck of the woods unless you are cooking at home, going to an expensive restaurant, or you are willing to drive to Orlando. It takes 30-40 minutes to get to Orlando. The traffic is terrible, and we're retired so money is tight.
Usually we cook at home. We are both decent cooks, and we like our fruit and veg. Sometimes we babysit late for our 4-year old grandson, N, and just want to grab a quick bite on our way home. Unless we're feeling flush with money burning a hole in our pockets, our inexpensive choices between there and here are pizza, subs, burgers, Mexican, Thai, or barbecue.
Barbecue is good, cheap, and right downtown. Everyday people own and run this place. When you live in the Land of Mouse, where chain restaurants reign supreme, Mom & Pop owned bakeries, cafes, and restaurants are a big plus. All their meats are heavenly, lean and lightly seasoned so you can apply as much or as little of their 3 different homemade sauces as you like. The problem is their side dishes, which are seemingly designed to kill you on the spot.
I carefully ordered beef brisket, green beans and coleslaw. I tried very hard not to eat the grilled Texas Toast that came with it. "Tried" is the key word. FYI, the green beans were cooked perfectly well (i.e., not overcooked) but came smothered in butter. You know I tried to order healthy-ish, but whattayagonnado? Next time I'll know better, although I have no idea what other side I could possibly substitute for the green beans that would be a better choice. Baked beans, maybe? Fried okra? Aaack.
I must confess I have become a connoisseur of coleslaw since moving to Central Florida. Every place does it differently, and every place seems to have it. I would not have ordered it in my former life up north, mostly because it would not have been on the menu. Here it is often the only "vegetable" on the menu, besides french fries... And if you're going to eat pulled, barbecued meat, you need some coleslaw!
Much to my horror, T ordered the "Man Salad" listed on the menu. What is a man salad, you might ask? A massive platter of french fries covered with beans, cheese, and pulled pork. Don't forget the barbecue sauce, baby. Sorry - he wouldn't let me take a picture of the "salad." I wanted to. He said it wasn't very good. I bet. I'm sure he felt a little sick afterwards.
Here's a picture of the Bar-B-Que joint. I don't know anyone in the picture, but there are always lots of people standing in line at the take out window. If you are a barbecue aficionado the meat here is really, really good. Inside, the ordering counter and the seating area in the back are funky as hell. Check out the fake gas pump/fuel dispenser out front. These restaurateurs are dead serious about their ambiance. I don't know about you, but I wonder why both the bald guys are wearing orange shirts and navy blue shorts?
I would not order baked beans; they are prepared with a lot of sugar, which is not food, but which your body turns gleefully to fat. I would order green beans. If they come out of the pot with butter, blot some excess with your napkin. I, however, would devour the whole serving, butter and all. Butter is food. Your body knows what to do with it--make energy.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they don't offer beans and greens. The food of the gods.
Beans and greens would be good. They don't sell collard greens, either - which is standard fare in lots of barbecue places.
Deleteand I will absolutely take your advice and blot the excess butter off the beans. Good idea.
DeleteThe guys look like their in uniform, like valets or something. ::hmmm:: The Land of Mouse, LOL I wonder if it is possible to ask for the green beans sans butter (or so much of it) or if they can simply steam them. Since I have good barbque brisket so infrequently I usually go with fried tomatoes or pickles, cole slaw, and french fries. The man salad sounds hideous to me, mainly because I hate having my french fries smothered. Quaint little places like that are golden.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love this place. If I ate like this all the time it would most certainly shorten my life, though. They do offer fried pickles, mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, fried okra, baked beans, cornbread, and baked potato, among a few other things. I suppose the baked potato wouldn't kill me as long as they don't fill it up with sour cream and bacon.
DeleteWe stopped at a cafeteria-like barbecue place in South Carolina a couple of years ago that was the real deal. Not only was there multiple meat options, but they had home cooked sides like stewed tomatoes, collards, beans, mashed sweet potatoes, and of course - cole slaw. I still dream about that place.
DeleteThat sounds divine. So hungry now. :-)
DeleteHahaha, that was funny.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a bit of a posh place (not terribly) and L and I always wonder how we got here - a miracle rent!
Oddly, for such a posh place, there are nothing but pizza, Mexican, Chinese and more pizza restaurants. Oh yes, and one very greasy breakfast place. Sadly no BBQ. I must admit, somewhat shamefully (but not much) that I love all this stuff.
We eat very, very healthy at home - salads, veggie saute's, fresh fish and white chicken and fresh fruit. Jeez that sounds boring doesn't it? And it can be! So when we eat out, but mostly we get take out because these places are always packed, we don't feel so bad. Here's the catch though...we do that way more often than we should. But it just dang-well taste's so good.
We are a junk food nation and anything else ( dining out) is so expensive. No wonder there is an obesity crisis. With wages so low and food $$ so high how can we not be. Going to the farmer's market has become the Really big treat because the farm to table stuff is way up there! What can you do? I say eat what you want and use your brains to temper it. But enjoy it all!
And that place looks like it has some good old BBQ!
You are so right - the cheap and fast food restaurants need to bear some responsibility for the obesity crisis. And kids get started so young that they grow up thinking it is normal, comfort food.
DeleteYour husbands choice of a salad sounded so practical - until you wrote what was in it. I would definitely need a few Alka Seltzers and a stomach transplant after that. I try never to eat in chains, but rather go to Mom and Pop places. Besides them being my neighbors, I would rather give them my money instead of a corporation.
ReplyDeleteI think he's been cured of the man salad. It made me sick just to look at it. But, hard not to order it at least once with a funny name like that. I totally agree re: Mom and Pop places.
DeleteI just finished a lovely dinner of country style ribs – no coleslaw! – And yet your post has inspired in me a desire for yet another plate of slow cooked meat. Nummm.
ReplyDeleteStew season is behind us, it's all full steam ahead towards BBQ. I envy your ability to avoid coleslaw. It's becoming a bit of a problem down here - for me, anyway.
DeleteI LOVE pulled pork! I also love non-chain places! We simply must dine at Harry & Larry's when we visit you & T!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a plan!
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