Fast Food Shouldn’t Take an Hour

My little hometown has been undergoing construction. The major thoroughfare, Highway 15, is being expanded to four lanes, and I hear that the latest segment should open by next summer, but in addition to that, we just got a new fast-food restaurant. A new building was built to house Kentucky Fried Chicken (we already had one of those, but it moved to this new building) and Taco Bell. Needless to say, this is major news for a small town, but opening day was quite crazy around the new restaurant.

I really hope KFC did some business this week, but the majority of the traffic through there was for Taco Bell. Rumor has it that a Dairy Queen will be moving into the now empty KFC building. It’d be nice to have a DQ so we can get good ice cream whenever we want it. On Wednesday of last week, several students asked me if I was going to Taco Bell, and they were surprised when I said no. I pointed out that it was just a Taco Bell, a fast-food restaurant, and I can’t think of any fast-food chain, not even the DQ, that I like well enough to wait over an hour to get food just to say I was there on opening day.  So, what restaurants would I wait over an hour for on opening day? If any of the following were to open in Jackson, I’d probably be crazy enough to wait as long as it took to get to eat there on opening day.

1. Johnny Carino’s – In fact, when the students asked if I were going to visit Taco Bell on opening day and I pointed out that it was just a Taco Bell, a fast-food restaurant, Johnny Carino’s popped up in my reply as well. I told them if Johnny Carino’s was opening, I’d be there.

2. Saul Good – Since I wrote about the top places my husband and I like to eat, we’ve been to a Saul Good in Hamburg in Lexington. I thoroughly enjoyed the nachos appetizer and the bacon cheeseburger entree, but the desserts are incredible. My first visit, I, along with my friends, got the fondue plate for dessert. It came with melted milk chocolate to use for dipping and about six or seven different foods to dip, including bananas, strawberries, pretzel sticks, rice krispie treats, waffles, and a couple other things. The second time I ordered the banana split brownie with chocolate. Let me just say that is the best chocolate I’ve ever had in my entire life. It is chocolate worth waiting in line for over an hour for.

3. Malone’s – This restaurant has the best steaks around, and it would definitely be worth waiting in line for.

4. Old Chicago – I love Variety Pizza here in my hometown and do believe it’s among the best pizza I’ve ever had, but Old Chicago is amazing as well, and if I want a deep dish Chicago-style pizza, this is the place to go; if one opened here, I’d definitely wait an hour to get that pizza.

And, honestly, that’s about it. Short of one of these restaurants opening in Jackson, I can’t think of any others that I’d be willing to wait for more than an hour to get my food, just to say I was there on opening day. I definitely wouldn’t for a fast-food restaurant, and as you can see from the short list, I wouldn’t for most sit-down restaurants either. I’d love to see either of these four restaurants open in Jackson, but I sure won’t hold my breath waiting on it. Rumor also has it that we might actually get an Applebees and/or a Ponderosa, and it’d be great if we did, but if we do, I won’t be planning to visit them on opening day.

Patience is the one virtue that I have in short supply. I loathe having to wait for anything, especially food. It’s great that we have a new restaurant, and hopefully we will be getting more, just don’t expect to see me there waiting on opening day. I’ll just let them work out the kinks and visit after all the hoopla has worn off, and if they don’t last that long, then I haven’t missed anything anyway.

We Never Travel on an Empty Stomach

My husband and I love to eat out. Whenever we are planning to travel, one of the first things he does is to look online to see what restaurants are available in the area. When he finds one that piques his interest, he will pull up the menu to see what food choices are available. After that, he will send me a link to the restaurant’s menu and ask if I’d like to eat there. Over the years, he has found some very good places to eat. I’ll share a list of some of our favorite places to eat. Trying to rank this list became nearly impossible, so I’ll just list them alphabetically.

Aunt Catfish’s in Daytona Beach, FL – Located on the Halifax River, Aunt Catfish’s serves traditional seafood, catfish, steak, gator, crab cakes, and soups and salads. If you need a suggestion, try the catfish and the crab cakes.

Bucca di Beppo in Louisville, KY – This restaurant serves traditional Italian dishes, family style. The portions are huge, and you will definitely need to get a to-go box when you leave.

Calhoun’s in Pigeon Forge, TN – Our first visit to this restaurant was on our honeymoon. The loaded potato skins appetizer (stuffed with bbq pulled pork) made Jimmy ignore his no potato peels rule. The steak dinner was also amazing.

Dustin’s BBQ in Daytona Beach, FL – We ate here for the first time this past summer while on vacation. Our waiter had a wonderful Australian accent, but the best part was the food. The portions are huge, and the bbq pulled pork was fantastic.

Fat Patty’s in Huntington, WV – This is another new addition to our list of good places to eat. The prices are very reasonable and the food was really good. Portions here are also huge. They serve a variety of burgers; we tried the Burger on the Bayou. The onion rings provided a great side dish, and Nicole ordered a West Virginia Steak Sandwich – fried bologna and cheese – which she said was very good.

Five Guys – If you want a hamburger, forget McDonald’s or Wendy’s, you need to go to Five Guys. They make their burgers fresh as you order them, and they don’t use pre-made, frozen patties. You can order a wide variety of toppings for your burger, and the French fries are great. Jimmy will even eat some of the fries, in spite of the fact that the skins are still on the potatoes.

Japanese Steakhouse in Pigeon Forge, TN – Our honeymoon provided us with our first dinner at this restaurant as well. The Hibachi-style food is fabulous, especially the fried rice. After eating this rice, Jimmy looked for a recipe, found one that was close, and now we can have great fried rice whenever we want. I’ll warn you, though, that after having their fried rice, plain, steamed, white rice just won’t do.

Johnny Carino’s in Lexington, KY – This is my favorite of all the places on our list. I always order the same thing – Bowtie Festival. Jimmy will try different things, but I love the Bowtie Festival too much to order anything new.

Malone’s in Lexington, KY – This is Jimmy’s favorite of all the places on our list. It’s probably my second favorite. The filet mignon is definitely what you should order from here. Have the waiter butterfly it, and don’t be afraid to tell him to cook it well-done. The meat is still so tender and juicy and has such a great flavor that you’ll never want anything but a well-done steak again.

Old Chicago in Lexington, KY – For a variety of pizzas, this is the place to go. We generally get the supreme. These pizzas are loaded with toppings, and you’ll need a to-go box when you leave.

Outback Steakhouse – As you know, you can find an Outback almost anywhere. You can’t go wrong with a good steakhouse. The one thing you have to get at Outback, though, is the bloomin’ onion. Others may have a version of this wonderful dish, but Outback has the best.

Penn Station – Again, this is a place you can find all over the map. For sub sandwiches, Penn Station is the place to go.

Peking’s in Pikeville, KY – When we’re in Pikeville, Jimmy always takes me to Peking’s for a great Chinese buffet. The crab Rangoon won-tons are among the best I’ve had, as is the Mandarin chicken.

TGI Friday’s – This is another huge restaurant chain that can be found almost anywhere, and if you get the chance you should try their Jack Daniels steaks, with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. It’ll be one of the best meals you will have.

Variety Pizza in Jackson, KY – The only place from my hometown to make the list, Variety Pizza is locally owned and operated. The supreme pizza with everything (except mushrooms) is the best pizza they have, but even the one-topping pizzas are the best in town.

One of the great parts of a vacation is finding a good place to eat. I hope if you’re ever in the areas listed above that you’ll give these restaurants a try. If any of these are also among your favorites, be sure to let me know. And as we are always looking for another good place to eat, if you have a favorite that’s not on my list, please share it with us.