All Bite And No Bark At Hog Heaven

Some friends recently returned from a wedding in southern Ohio, from the New Philadelphia area. When I stopped by to visit with them, they told me how the wedding reception had been catered by a favorite local restaurant chain, Hog Heaven. They waxed on for quite some time about how wonderful and delicious the BBQ had been. Something odd about the name stuck in my head and then I remembered that there was a restaurant of that very same name on Cleveland Avenue on the north side of Canton. I pulled out my trusty smartphone and loaded up Google. A few key taps later, I had confirmed that the restaurant I was thinking of was the third and newest location in this local chain.

Based on my friends' glowing reviews of the food, I decided to take a closer look. While I didn't realize that there would be the advantage of lunch specials the day I decided to go, I'm glad I went when I did. The Canton location of Hog Heaven was located at 2730 Cleveland Avenue NW, Canton, OH 44709 and they can be reached at 330-458-0904. Their website lists menus, hours, and pretty much all the other information you'll need. Parking at the Canton location was in a lot next to the restaurant.

Here was a shot of the restaurant's roadside sign:


Once inside, I was greeted by one of the servers and quickly shown to my booth. The interior has a definite "wood" feel to it and most of the tables, chairs, and decorations were some type of stained and polyurethaned variant of what I suppose a Texas-style BBQ joint would look like. After being handed a menu, I began to look around for the best way to try the most flavors for the least amount of money.

Here was a shot of the menu:






Additionally, since I was there during lunch hours, there was an additional placard announcing daily lunch specials:


When I saw that the pulled pork sandwich was being offered with one side for only $3.99, I made a point to ask my server about it. It turns out that it was the same pulled pork sandwich listed on the menu for $8.99, but with only 1/4 pound of meat on the lunch version. While regular diners might have scoffed at only being offered a measly 1/4 pound of meat, this was perfect for someone like me. I got to try a smaller version of the original for a much smaller price.

When I asked if any of the sides were homemade, I was informed that the only homemade item was the "real mashed potatoes" (which was how the menu listed them). Everything else, my server said, already came prepared. I ended up going for the real mashed potatoes, but because my meal was so cheap, I decided to add the baked beans as well.

I also decided to order a starter. Hog Heaven, towing the same line that many mid-level family-oriented chain restaurants do, offers appetizers mostly in the $5-$9 range. Which, if you are eating with a group makes sense because that splits out into $2-$3 per person. But eating out by yourself, it discourages a lone diner because a) it's too high of a price to pay for an appetizer at a place like this and b) it's too much food for an appetizer. Nevertheless, my sudden lunch discount made me reconsider and I ordered the much spoken of and ballyhooed Prehistoric Hog Eggs. Essentially a hard-boiled egg that was batter dipped and then fried, it was eerily reminiscent of another version, Scotch eggs, that I've had in the past.

The Hog Eggs came out quickly enough paired with a traditional Buffalo chicken wing hot sauce:


The main aroma coming off this plate was due to the chicken wing sauce (which smelled vaguely similar to a Frank's Red Hot-based sauce) and the blend of seasonings sprinkled on top of the fried eggs. The most recognizable scent from the blend was oregano, which was quite nice. I cut into an egg to check out its internals:


I was shocked to discover nary a gray or green ring circumnavigating the egg yolk. Given the plethora of pre-made sides, I was a bit hesitant to assume that they hard-boiled the eggs on-site, but at the very least, the eggs that they were using were nicely cooked. The fried batter on the eggs was thin and crispy and eaten without the hot wing sauce, these were fairly tasty. I dipped a bite into the hot sauce and while the hot sauce was good, it overpowered the more delicate taste of the egg. Personally, I think I would prefer this wing sauce on, well, their chicken wings rather than these fried eggs.

After finishing up most of my Prehistoric Hog Eggs, my lunch finally arrived. Here was a shot of my pulled pork sandwich, the real mashed potatoes, and a side of the homemade barbecue sauce:


I was happy to see that the barbecue sauce came by default on the side. This meant I could add it to my taste.


The barbecue sauce was definitely tomato based and had a more acidic taste than most barbecue sauces in northeast Ohio. This I liked. Sadly, though, it was still a little too sweet for my liking. The pulled pork sandwich consisted of a buttered bun and a mound of pulled pork. I'm not quite sure why they buttered the bun as it hadn't been thrown onto a flattop to toast it. I tasted a bit of the pulled pork just by itself and while it was tender and quite juicy, I was amazed to find the complete absence of and really assertive flavors of its own. Even the smoke flavor from the smoker was barely present. I dug around through the meat to discover the complete absence of any bark. Bark, for those of you who aren't familiar with true barbecue, is the outer layer that develops on a pork shoulder that has been thoroughly covered with a dry rub. It is usually a combination of spices, sugar, and herbs and it darkens up during the smoking process.

When the fully-cooked pork is shredded, bit of the bark are incorporated into the pulled pork itself, so that every bite gets just a little bit of flavor from the dry rub. Some purists even insist that with a good enough dry rub, there really isn't even any need for "sauce." Well, as tender and juicy as this pork was, it definitely needed a flavor boost. I added a liberal amount of the supplied barbecue sauce and it definitely helped to give the sandwich some flavor.

I turned next to the real mashed potatoes. There was definitely more here going on that just boiled mashed potatoes as they had a very rich flavor that coated my tongue. Based on the slight tang I was tasting, I was guessing at a minimum butter, but possibly also sour cream or cream cheese, too. As smooth as they were, they still had small bits of potato in them just to remind you that they were homemade. They were seasoned quite nicely and I didn't have to make any adjustments.

Finally, I turned to my extra side, the baked beans:


These were decent enough and I would order them again, but there wasn't anything particularly special about them. They were a traditional ketchup and molasses/brown sugar-based baked bean and they were sauced nicely and the beans themselves were tender.

Having completed my meal, I now had two questions in my head. First, did the barbecue sauce contain high fructose corn syrup in it? Most commercially bottled sauces do and even the fine folks at Old Caroline Barbecue, despite the fact that they are a local chain operation, obviously have their sauces bottled by a big name company because each and every one of their sauces contains the stuff. When I asked for a pre-jarred bottle of their sauce, I was surprised to learn that the label didn't list the ingredients. While I know that they make the sauce from scratch, I figured if they sold it commercially bottled, they would have to list all of the ingredients. Interestingly, no. So, I asked my server directly what the sauce contained. She confirmed with the kitchen that no corn syrup of any kind was used in the sauce.

My second question was where the pulled pork came from. She quickly answered that all of the pork, brisket, and other smoked items were done at the flagship store in New Philadelphia and then transferred to the other stores. Knowing how well pulled pork holds well in the refrigerator, her answer didn't surprise me. I think I may just have to visit the original location sometime and check out their smoking rig for myself.

In the end, I think that the Hog Heaven Canton location served up a decent-enough meal. Was it the best barbecue I've ever had? No, but it was decent enough for northern Ohio. While the Hog Eggs were an interesting appetizer, the pulled pork sandwich was definitely tender and juicy. The lack of assertive flavor just didn't make my mouth water as much as I thought it should. The sides were decent and the overall experience was enjoyable. I don't know that I'd be taking someone well-versed in barbecue here to impress them, but for your average Ohioan, it's worth the trip.

Papa Joe's And The Mystery Of The Undercooked Noodle

Contrary to what many people might think, I abhor sending food back to the kitchen. It isn't that I feel that as a customer, I should get what I ordered. It isn't that I'm afraid that the kitchen staff is going to do some unspeakable horror to my food. Having worked on the line in high school, I know that having to re-fire an order can throw your rhythm off. Suddenly the other six orders you had cooking that were running smoothly now get botched because you have to add in that extra order and that delicate house of cards called pacing can come tumbling down. That's why I am willing to live with a burger ordered medium that comes out somewhere between medium well to well but still juicy. That's why I am willing to eat food that isn't seasoned properly when it comes out of the kitchen. Of course, there are always hard and fast rules, especially when it comes to food safety. So if I ever send a dish back to the kitchen, you can be sure that something really is fundamentally wrong with the dish.

Tonight, for dinner, I decided to check out an old stomping ground that used to be a favorite of my grandfather and mine, Papa Joe's / Iacomini's. Truth be told, my grandfather's true favorite was actually Little Joe's in Bath, Ohio (where Ken Stewart's Lodge currently resides), but we ate many meals at Papa Joe's, too. Located at 1561 Akron-Peninsula Road, Akron, Ohio 44313, they can be reached at 330-923-7999. A word of warning on the website, the ever-present Flash introduction has sound, so adjust your volume accordingly.

I pulled into the restaurant at 7 PM on a Saturday night to a quite full parking lot. I knew that not having a reservation might present a problem, but I was willing to wait as I really had nothing else planned for the evening. The restaurant was definitely full and when I told the host that I didn't have a reservation, he initially seemed a little flustered. He initially told me it would take about fifteen minutes to find a table, but miraculously he seemed to scrounge one up in a matter of minutes. Granted, it wasn't an optimal table for taking pictures (as you'll see in just a bit), but at least my wait was short and sweet.

Just so you, gentle reader, are aware, all of the photos have been "fixed" by the processing software I use (a combination of the GIMP and Picasa) for legibility. The original photos would've been completely unusable without some serious contrast boosting and lightening of each one.

Once I was seated, my server dropped off a menu. Here was a shot of the front of the menu:


Fortunately, the rest of the menu is available on their website, so please feel free to check it out. The only other photo of the menu I took was of the nightly January 2010 dinner special that seemed to call out to me, the pork ragu:


Besides the pork ragu, I noticed on the specials board when I first walked in that one of the soups du jour was a sweet potato bisque. Intrigued, I asked my server about it and she described it to me and indicated that it was available in both a cup or a bowl. My dinner choices now clearly in focus, I ordered a cup of the bisque to start and the pork ragu over pappardelle for my entree. Shortly after placing my order, a basket of warmed dinner rolls and butter appeared on my table:


I never managed to find out if they bake these rolls on the premises, but I can tell you that they were warm and delicious. The butter pats were also nicely softened and spread easily onto the steaming interior of the rolls. The flavor of the rolls, while nothing extraordinary, was still very good and made for an excellent starter to the meal.

Shortly after my dinner rolls arrived, my server brought the cup of sweet potato bisque to my table:


The bisque had been topped with a dollop of sour cream that had been sweetened with a bit of maple syrup and a grinding of fresh cinnamon. I decided to smell and taste a bit of the bisque by itself, sans sour cream. It had a very vegetal smell to it, almost like vegetable soup or V8 juice, and had no hint of any kind of spice to it. The flavor, however, had just a hint of sweetness to it. I realized that after tasting it, the vegetal smell was probably due to the presence of carrots and onions in addition to the sweet potato. The seasoning was quite nice. For my second spoonful, I added just a bit of the sour cream mixture on top and the combination of the sweet, the spice, and the soup made for a very pleasant mouthful. The only real nitpick for me was that the bisque wasn't silky smooth. However, that didn't stop me from finishing the entire cup.

About halfway through my cup of soup, my served stopped by my table to drop off my salad:


While I was a bit annoyed that I suddenly felt like I was being rushed, I figured that at least I didn't have to worry about the salad getting cold. I finished my soup and turned my attention to the salad. A mixture of various greens, spinach, frisee, and radicchio, the salad was finished off with several rings of red onion, shredded carrots and a couple slices of fresh cucumber. When I inquired if any of the salad dressings were homemade, my server had responded with, "White French." Since I had ordered the dressing on the side, I was able to try the dressing first, before adding it to the greens. My initial reaction? It was very tasty. It had a taste very similar to blue cheese dressing but without the pungency of the cheese. I enjoyed the dressing both on the salad greens and as a dip for my second dinner roll. And while there wasn't any kind of chemical alchemy going on like there was during my trip to Parasson's, the fresh dinner roll made a wonderful vehicle for getting the dressing to my mouth.

Having finished my soup and salad, I ended up waiting about ten minutes for my entree. Where I had previously thought that my serving rushing my meal in order to turn the table, turned out to be more about her just having bad timing with the soup and salad. When my entree arrived at the table, I was more than delighted to see that the description that I had read on the menu translated into a tasty looking plate of food. Here was a shot of the ragu over pappardelle:


I tasted the ragu first. It had a wonderful balance between sweet, salty, and acidic. I could taste each individual component of the sauce as well as the entirety of the ingredients put together. Comprised of tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, white wine, and incredibly tender pulled pork, this was a delight on my taste buds. While the menu hadn't said if the pappardelle was fresh pasta or not, it definitely looked like fresh pasta. My mouth now watering, I used my fork to roll up a bit of the pasta and the sauce and took a bite. From that very first bite of pasta, I knew something was off. Really off. The first thing I noticed was the texture. It had a very soft and gummy texture, sort of like uncooked dough. The next thing I noticed was the taste of raw flour, which even with the flavorful ragu combined in with the pasta, I could easily taste. My mind sort of raced at this point. I wanted to be sure that before I sent anything back to the kitchen that I was absolutely sure that the pasta wasn't cooked correctly.

My thought process went something along the lines of this: If the pasta was cooked from dried and undercooked, then it would still have a hard center. If the pasta was cooked from either dried or fresh and was overcooked, then it would be mushy, yes, but not gummy and would tear in a predictable manner when stretched between fork and knife. When I took a noodle and applied a little force to elongate the noodle, it didn't tear at all, but stretched, just like a raw bread dough. To be fair, I tried additional noodles from other parts of the bowl, thinking that I might have just gotten a small pocket of undercooked noodles. Unfortunately, the pasta was universally undercooked.

When my server stopped by to check on me, I asked her if the noodles were fresh and she almost emphatically insisted that they were cooked from dried pasta. I very delicately told her that I thought that the pasta was fresh and undercooked and showed her what happened when I stretched one of the noodles. She immediately realized that I wasn't just trying to make trouble and she took the entire bowl back to the kitchen. Not a minute later, she came back, apologized, and said that not only were the noodles fresh (which she hadn't realized), but the chef agreed that the pasta was woefully undercooked.

She immediately offered a replacement entree. Since I had already had a cup of soup, a salad, two dinner rolls, and about 1/4 of my previous entree, I asked her if I could simply get an order of the penne with meat sauce to go. I have to give her credit because once I identified the problem, she immediately worked to address and resolve the issue quickly and with as little annoyance to me as possible.

After only a few minutes, she returned to my table with my take-out container, apologized once more, and left the check. Here was a shot of my container of penne with meat sauce:


Choosing the penne with meat sauce was a no brainer for me. I've had it before and always loved it. In fact, that was what I had on my mind when I initially thought of returning to Papa Joe's. However, the pork ragu looked especially enticing on the menu tonight, so I decided to forgo one for the other. Who knew that I'd end up going home with an order of it? I did have some of the pasta later on that night for a snack and it was just as good as I remembered it.

Even with my fresh pasta snafu, I still highly recommend Papa Joe's. The flavors of all the dishes were quite good and the pork ragu by itself was outstanding. Once I identified a problem with my dish, my server worked quickly to remedy the situation to my satisfaction. While I wouldn't recommend just showing up at 7 PM on a busy Saturday night without a reservation like I did, they are often much less busy during lunchtime and offer a similar menu that is even more affordable. Would I order the pork ragu over fresh pappardelle again after tonight's experience? Absolutely. Had the pasta been executed perfectly, I think Papa Joe's would've pulled off a hat trick of flavors and textures tonight. I'm definitely willing to take that chance again.

Extra Helpings: Welcome Home At Flury's Cafe

Just like with Twig's Diner, I've known the location of Flury's Cafe since I first stumbled upon it years ago when I was out for an evening walk in Cuyahoga Falls. And just like Twig's Diner, it took an outside influence for me to put it on my list of places to try out. I was mucking around on Facebook the other day and noticed that there is a group for Locally Owned Akron businesses. If one clicks on the Discussions tab, there are a myriad of topics posted relating to the group, including one on restaurants. It was here that I discovered the mention of Flury's Cafe on more than one occasion. My curiosity now piqued, I decided that a visit was in order.

From my research, I knew that Flury's Cafe was a tiny space and made a concerted effort to go when it probably wouldn't be busy. At around 1:15 PM today, I drove down Sackett Avenue until I saw this sign:


Flury's Cafe was located at 1300 Sackett Avenue, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 and could be reached at 330-929-1315. While they do have a small static website, the menu listed online was a subset of the menu I was given today. Parking was directly in front of the main entrance to the cafe, which itself was on the side of the building and not street-facing:


Once inside, I was warmly greeted. I realized I had come at a good time as there was only one other customer sitting at the counter. While I had read that the cafe was small, I was amazed when I surveyed the entirety of the restaurant; they weren't kidding! There were two tables of four and eight bar stools at the counter. Along the back wall was the convection oven, the fryer, flattop and a cold food station. While nothing felt cramped, it was definitely intimate. During the course of my meal at Flury's today, I did my usual people watching, but at some point was pulled with ease into the conversations that were happening around me. The experience was so nice that after finishing and paying for my meal, I just wanted to hang around for a bit and enjoy the genuine camaraderie and good-natured banter. It felt more like I had gone to a friend's house for lunch or dinner than eating at a restaurant. This was the kind of intimacy that corporate restaurant chains strive so hard to achieve but so sorely lack.

While some of Flury's menu is online, when my server handed me the official paper menu, I realized that I was holding a much more detailed and fleshed out menu. I managed to get a snapshot of each panel:







What caught my eye most was the multiple uses of the word "homemade" or "housemade." While breakfast was served all day, I decided today to stick with something a little more sandwich-like. It should be noted that unless stated otherwise on the menu, all the sandwiches and sides are a la carte. Looking over my sandwich options, there was plenty that looked good. I thought I might be in a burger mood today until I saw the BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich with housemade BBQ sauce. Bingo! Looking over the sides it was a no-brainer to go with the housemade macaroni and cheese.

It was amazing to watch the staff of two (cook and server) move in and out of personal and professional roles so easily. Once my order (and another customer's) was placed, the cook became single-minded and worked a solid ten minutes to produce both orders, piping hot and ready for service. While I hadn't ordered any of the fried-from-frozen onion rings, the other customer did and I have to say that they looked good.

First up was my BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich:


Adorned with a slice of February tomato, ribbons of Iceberg lettuce and some of the housemade BBQ sauce, there was a sizable amount of pulled pork topping a grilled bun. While pulled pork purists would scoff at the notion of serving the pork already dressed with sauce, this didn't bother me at all. The only condiment missing from my sandwich that the menu had listed was mayonnaise. Which, to be honest, I didn't really miss as the sandwich was incredibly juicy and moist. The pork was tender and seasoned perfectly and the tomato-based BBQ sauce added a wonderful mix of salty, sour, and sweet. My initial reaction was to remove the lettuce and tomato as they seemed superfluous to the sandwich. It wasn't until I took a bite that I realized that they served as a temperature buffer, cooling the very hot pulled pork to a level where you wouldn't burn your mouth. Also worth noting was the unusual bun, which had been nicely buttered and grilled. It turns out that the buns were from a locally owned bread shop, the Sarah Jane Bread Company. I've seen their products in my local Acme supermarkets and was excited that Flury's Cafe was using this quality product as well. The bun held up well to the rather wet filling and managed to keep its integrity from start to end.

Along with my sandwich came my side of housemade macaroni and cheese:


Lightly sprinkled with paprika to garnish, this was everything a good macaroni and cheese should be. The pasta had a nice chew to it and the cheese sauce was creamy, smooth, and well-balanced. While the portion appeared small on the plate for $3.25, appearances were deceiving. Between my sandwich and my side, I was completely full by the time I reached the bottoms of both plates. The cheese sauce was impressive on its own. I could tell that it was made with a combination of cheeses, cheddar to be certain, as there were multiple flavors assaulting my taste buds. I picked up a slight tanginess, so I'm wondering if there isn't sour cream or maybe cream cheese in there as well. Either way, it was delicious and highly recommended.

I really enjoyed my experience today at Flury's Cafe. Between the atmosphere, the fun-natured staff and the delicious food, this little cafe is a place where you can retreat from the pressures of modern living and enter a small, intimate space where you can eat and share amongst friends. There were so many interesting items from which to pick that you could go back time and again and still have a hard time eating your way through the entire menu. Personally, I plan on trying just that.

Good BBQ Is Hard To Find In Ohio

I'm not from the South. I'm not from Kansas City. I'm not even from as far south as Kentucky. But I will always crave good low-and-slow traditional barbecue. And thanks to the folks at Old Carolina Barbeque Company, you can actually find this traditionally southern cuisine right here in northeast Ohio. Currently they have two locations, one in Massillon and one in Norton Canton. They are looking to add a third location sometime soon a little further north at Chapel Hill mall in Cuyahoga Falls.

OCBC is an odd conundrum. It is a locally owned and operated company but has a chain feel to it. I can't verify that everything is made from scratch on-site, but much of it is. When you enter the restaurant, the daily specials are listed above the cashier. To the left on the wall is the menu. All your favorites are there from pulled pork to brisket to smoked chicken and more. Most items can be ordered individually or as a platter (which would include two sides).

Today I was in the mood for a pulled pork sandwich, so I ordered that as a platter with what are billed as "Simply the World's Greatest Baked Beans" and the "Southern Style Mac-n-Cheese". After ordering, the cashier will write your order number on the back of your receipt and you are free to seat yourself anywhere. The soda fountain and sauce station are self-serve, so while you are waiting for your order, take care of that little detail.

At every checkered covered table, you'll find a condiment station containing ketchup and a vinegar based dressing:


When your order is ready, an employee runs it out to you. Here is a shot of my entire platter:


And a close-up of the sauces I selected:


The sauce to the left and rear are the same, the Piedmont No. 5. It is a tomato/vinegar/molasses based sauce that has a nice tang and a capricious amount of black pepper heat. The one on the right is the Original Gold, a mustard based sauce that has less heat and more sweet to it. There are also several other sauces (5 in total) to choose from, so you can mix and match to your heart's content.

Now for the eating! First up, the Southern Style Mac-n-Cheese:


I'm not sure if the crispy bread crumbs on top make it "southern style", but this was a lovely side. Creamy, crunch, a bit tangy, this definitely felt and tasted homemade. The bread crumbs must be toasted ahead of time because the macaroni (or penne in this case) and cheese wasn't dried out on top.

Next up are the baked beans:


Now, what makes these the "World's Greatest"? For one thing, these beans aren't vegetarian. There is actually pulled pork mixed in with the baked beans. The sauce itself is really tasty. It is your classic ketchup/brown sugar based sauce with notes of mustard, cumin, black pepper, and coriander. Tangy, sweet, and spicy. The trifecta of good southern fare. Do *I* think these are the world's best? Best would be a bit much, but they are damn good.

Finally, the star, the pulled pork sandwich:


One thing you will NOT go away from OCBC is hungry. This sandwich is literally loaded with luscious pulled pork. In fact, I normally have to eat about 1/3 of the meat with a fork in order for the sandwich to be insertible into my mouth. This pork was smoky, sweet, and unctious. The only criticism I had was there were several larges pieces of fat (not a little piece that would blend in with the rest of the meat). Once I picked those out, I added my sauce and was in pulled pork heaven. The bun was both traditional and perfect, being slightly buttered before adding the meat.

Finally, I mentioned earlier that OCBC is that rare conundrum of locally owned and chain-esque. The food definitely feels mom and pop. However, the store, the signage, and the merchandising rack that was next to my table made the entire affair feel like I was in a marketing blitz for TGI McChillabee's.


Everything is for sale, from the bottled sauces (which, sadly, do use High Fructose Corn Syrup) to the t-shirts and more. I realize that in this tight economy, you need to have a multi-pronged approach to generate revenue, but this just feels so out-of-place. Eh, no matter, it doesn't do anything to detract from the food.

I would definitely recommend checking out Old Carolina Barbecue Company if you are in the position of needing a good "Q" fix. I've also had the brisket, and while good, I don't think it is quite as good as the pulled pork. Be sure to go hungry though, because you get a LOT of food for the price.

True BBQ in Medina?

Based on a posting on the Cleveland Food and Wine Forum earlier this week, I decided to spend my Saturday afternoon checking out what was purported to be a true BBQ restaurant in Medina, OH. Bullies Real BBQ is a locally owned restaurant that pulls on BBQ traditions from the various regions throughout the country. It is located at 4055 Pearl Road, Medina, OH 44256 and can be reached at 330-725-4227. No website is available at the moment.

Honestly, what I had in my mind's eye when I was picturing the place was some type of old, broken down storefront (aka dive) that had just amazing food. When I arrived at my destination, I immediately became concerned. The storefront had an eerie similarity to a Columbus/Dayton chain called Tumbleweed:


Notice that other than the name itself, the only other two words on the sign are "Burgers" and "Wings". Hmmm ...

But, having driven for half an hour to get here, I wasn't about to abandon my quest. Upon walking inside, it looked extremely "chain-y". It looked like a cross between a sports bar and a Lone Star Steakhouse. There were flatscreen TV's plastered in almost every corner imaginable and nothing but sports on those TV's. The hostess sat me at a table where I had a nice view of the kitchen. Still unsure of what I was getting myself into, I started looking at the menus that were on the table. Bad mistake.

The dessert menu started with the words "Big Lou's Desserts". And looking at the desserts listed, it read like a who's who from an Olive Garden dessert menu. Or Chili's. Or Applebee's. You get the point. The regular menu was somewhat better, but the whole experience continued to feel very "chain-y". It wasn't until the waitress finally approached me and I started asking questions that I finally began to calm down a bit.

She explained that they do all the meats on premises, smoking them between 12 and 24 hours. She walked through the sauces on the table (which I will show you next) and gave me a few minutes to look over the menu. Many of the items come as either a "Sandwich" or a "Dinner". The difference, I found out after asking, is that the sandwiches come with fresh cut fries and cole slaw. The dinners come with more meat and a side of cornbread (along with said fries and cole slaw). The thing is, that the price difference between the two was fairly substantial. For instance, the pulled pork "sandwich" was $6.99 and the "dinner" was $11.99. For a little bit more meat and a side of cornbread, it didn't seem like a good deal to me.

So, I ultimately ordered the pulled pork sandwich and got a side of macaroni and cheese to go along with it. After my waitress left, I set about exploring the sauce box. First, a shot of side #1:


From left to right are the mild BBQ sauce, the sweet BBQ sauce, and the spicy BBQ sauce. Fortunately, I had a knife so I put a little dab of each one to try it out. The mild, ironically, had dried rosemary in it. Not so much that it was the predominant flavor, but there was a mild undercurrent of it (plus you could see it -- even in the photo above). The sweet wasn't all that sweet, but had absolutely no hint of traditional BBQ flavor base ... molasses or tomatoes. Actually, it almost looked "marmalade-ish" in it's color. The spicy one in the red bottle was a nice sauce, with a heat that simmered in the background. It wasn't too spicy (although I kind of wish it kind of was).

Flipping the sauce container around, you can see the remaining two sauces:


To the left is ketchup and to the right is a vinegar based sauce. There were really no surprises as to what each tasted like, so I won't go into any depth here.

Finally, my sandwich platter arrived:


A shot of my sandwich without it's crown:


The cole slaw on top of the pulled pork was a vinegar based slaw as opposed to the slaw in the little plastic cups that came with the platter. I'm not sure if that was what added to the overall juiciness of the pulled pork, but between the slaw, the spicy BBQ sauce and the pulled pork, it was a very good sandwich. Spicy, sweet, juicy, and crunchy. The fries were not bad, probably the best example of fresh cut fries I've had so far, but they inevitably suffered from the same problem as others: some were nice and crispy, others, limp and oily. The cole slaw in the little cups was a dairy based cole slaw. The original post on the Food and Wine forum said to pay particular attention to the cole slaw, but I honestly found it to be a little boring.

Finally, a little bit on my side dish of macaroni and cheese. First, a picture:


I love a good mac and cheese, and sadly, while creamy and tender, this one was just sort of flat and one note. It was as if they had used a really mild cheese with no character at all. While this might appeal to the kiddies, it definitely didn't appeal to my adult sensibilities.

Overall, I thought the meal was pretty good with the pulled pork being the breakout star of the meal. I don't know if I would travel that far by myself again just to get a meal, but if I were making suggestions or tagging along with a group already content on eating there, I would certainly not have a problem returning.

Crooked River Cafe and the Sauce of Death

I decided to stop at a local mom and pop place tonight for dinner, the Crooked River Grill. I've had some good meals there in the past, but it had been a while and I happened to be in the area. It's a quaint little place that seats around 45-50 people. Upon arriving at my table, I began looking at the paper mat that was sitting in front of me. I liked what it said:


When Jo Jo my server arrived at my table, I began asking questions about what was made in house. I fancied a cup of soup to start with. When I asked about the chili (my first choice), she shook her head and said that all of the soups were homemade except the chili. It, in fact, came from Whitey's. So, I decided to go with a cup of the special soup du jour, the Fiesta Chicken soup.


It was quite well-balanced and tasty. You could even pass this off as a white chili. The cumin and chili powder taste was bold but not too strong. The soup was composed of corn, roasted red pepper, shredded chicken, onion, celery, and both black and navy beans. It was very good and had a nice fresh flavor to it.

What caught my eye on the menu was the pulled pork sandwich. When I asked about it, I was excited to learn that both the pulled pork and the BBQ sauce were both made on the premises. I eagerly ordered my sandwich with their spicier BBQ sauce and upgraded from the potato chips to the fresh cut fries.

Here is the platter as it came out


And a close-up of the sandwich itself. Note that the bun was a very nice ciabatta roll:


The pork was nice and juicy. It was tender. It was seasoned properly. The BBQ sauce wasn't all that spicy and had a heavy molasses flavor to it. I guess I prefer my sauces to be a bit more acidic and less gloopy than what they served above. As with most fresh cut fries, the ones on top of the heap were crispy and not greasy. As you got to the bottom, however, it was obvious where all the extra oil was. Not that great.

The one thing that I will comment on additionally is the bun. Now as a ciabatta roll, it was quite good. It head a nice crispy exterior with a nice soft crumb on the inside. The problem was that because it was so hard to bite through the crust, the contents of the sandwich basically squished out when I took my first bite. I think a softer roll is in order here.

My waitress brought around a tray of desserts for me to look at, but sadly, not a single thing was made in house. As I was already kind of full, I just declined and asked for the check. When she finally brought the check, I asked her about the "spicy BBQ" sauce. She indicated that the sauce they mix directly with the pork was the mild and then they put the spicy BBQ sauce on my sandwich (the thick gloopy maroon stuff in the picture above). When I mentioned that the "spicy" wasn't really very spicy, she said they did have one level higher, but she almost never recommended it because it made people cry.

When I asked if I could get a small taste from the kitchen, she agreed. I heard her walk back and ask the cook for a small sample of the "XXX sauce". This is what she brought to my table:


The minute I put my nose to it, I could detect the same odor as Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce. You know, the kind of sauce where not only does it include habenero peppers in it, but they also fortify it with pure capsaicin. It has almost this smoky smell to it. Carefully, I put just a dab on the end of my spoon and tried it. The first flavor that I detected was the spicy BBQ sauce that came on my sandwich. Almost immediately after that I could taste the flavor profile of Dave's (or something equivalent to it). Within seconds, my entire mouth was on fire. Now I know why she never recommended it to customers. I wouldn't either. When I asked, she confirmed that they take the spicy BBQ sauce and "do stuff to it." She seemed to think they added jalapenos to it. I'm thinking probably not.

Overall, I'd rate this place fair to midland. Certainly better than those places that use nothing but Sysco products, but not a star pupil either.