Customers Needed – Toronto, Ontario[/caption]
As I have traveled the many back roads of the U.S. and Canada I have seen hundreds of places to eat, many of the are the normal fast food places (we all know THEY are). But, there are also many other unique Mom and Pop shops, small drive ins, BBQ joints and burger places. I have covered the main stops from my last 8 or 9 years of travel, but there are many more I have passed along the way and a few that I didn’t cover in the previous three posts. I will touch on them here, though most of them with a photo and a comment or two. Enjoy!
The Leftovers – More of the Places I have been
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Taqueria El Milagro – Chamblee, GA[/caption]
I ate here in early August 2012. It was across the street from my hotel near Atlanta and I love good Mexican food. This is one of those places frequented by the migrant Mexican laborers. No English spoken here. But, the food is AMAZING and the cost was excellent.
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Huevos Rancheros at El Milagro[/caption]
The Huevos Rancheros is made with a very spicy green sauce. In fact, the lady there kept apologizing to me and I kept telling her that “picante” is better. I grew up on hot stuff. But, the faint of heat may want to avoid this one and get the tacos on fresh corn tortillas instead.
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Jac’s Coffee Shop – Harlan, Kentucky[/caption]
My wife and I visited the Poke Sallet Festival in Harlan, Kentucky a couple of years ago and, of course, while there we had to try out some Poke Sallet (The term is an old Southern reference to the cooked young leaves of the poke weed. Sallet comes from Middle English and refers to a mess (another Old or Middle English term) of greens cooked until tender.)
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Poke Sallet Menu[/caption]
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Poke Sallet – must be double cooked to get rid of all the toxins from the Poke Weed[/caption]
Not every place you stop to eat at is a real building. There are those food wagons and trucks that serve a variety of goodies. There are plenty in Canada as well. I frequented one place in Paris, Ontario just for the one and only thing he made – poutine. Poutine is a common Canadian dish (originally from Quebec), made with french fries, topped with brown gravy and cheese curds.
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Barber’s Fries – Paris, Ontario[/caption]
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Mr. Barber showing off his craft[/caption]
Poutine must be the original heart attack on a plate (or styrofoam container). The rich mixture of thick brown gravy and melted cheese curds on top of a heaping pile of greasy fries is yummy and fattening as can be.
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Poutine – Pure yummiferousness[/caption]
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Yes, Sumoflam did enjoy Poutine in Canada[/caption]
Speaking of interesting food, how about Pea Meal? Yes, that is another Canadian specialty. I got my best taste of a Pea Meal breakfast at the
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Texas Country Restaurant – Dundas, Ontario[/caption]
Pea Meal is actually a type of bacon that can be found in Ontario. The name reflects the historic practice of rolling the cured and trimmed boneless pork loin in dried and ground yellow peas, originally for preservation reasons. Since World War II or so, it has been rolled in ground yellow cornmeal. It is low in fat, and slow cured and really really good!! I thought I could not find anything as good as sausage from our local producer. They take choice meat, order casing from dcwcasing.com/ and produce sausage that reminds me of a homemade dish.
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Pea Meal Breakfast[/caption]
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Pea Meal Breakfast[/caption]
Some Interesting Places I Should Have Visited
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Peculiar Drive In – Peculiar, Missouri[/caption]
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Uncertain General Store and Grill – Uncertain, Texas[/caption]
The above two places may be peculiar and even uncertain, but get a load of these three Chinese restaurants I have come across in my travels…
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Yummy House Chinese – Idaho Falls, Idaho[/caption]
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Greedy Kitty Restaurant – Chinatown in Toronto[/caption]
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King Fong Chinese – Omaha, Nebraska[/caption]
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Hung Far Low – Portland, Oregon[/caption]
I think Hung Far Low is a real winner for a Chinese Restaurant name. By the way, it is only about 2 blocks away from Voodoo Doughnut in Portland.
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Stinky’s Country Well – Gilboa, Ohio[/caption]
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Stinky’s Sign – Gilboa, Ohio[/caption]
Then there are the American places with odd names like Stinky’s (above) and those below.
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Sorehead Cafe – Rudyard, Montana[/caption]
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You Are What you Eat Cafe – Boring, Oregon[/caption]
We all know about Popeye’s Chicken, but, how about Wimpy’s Hamburgers? I’ll gladly pay you Thursday for a hamburger today 9though I’ll bet that deal doesn’t work at this Wimpy’s!!)
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Wimpy’s Burgers – Keller, Texas[/caption]
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Frog Pond Bar-B-Que – Frog Pond, Tennessee[/caption]
I hope they aren’t making BBQ Frog…. And how about a few more places….
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Hot Box Cafe – Toronto, Ontario[/caption]
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Choo Choo Bar & Grill – Superior, WI[/caption]
Eat in a caboose at Choo Choo!!
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Choo Choo Bar & Grill – Superior, WI[/caption]
Apparently there is another Choo Choo Bar in Omaha, Nebraska. No relation to the one above.
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Dam Site Inn – Hell, Michigan[/caption]
OK…you gotta go to Hell (MI) to eat here….and here is what they offer you….
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Dam Site Inn – Hell, Michigan – Dam Fine Food[/caption]
And here are a couple more places
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The Feed Barn Cafe & Market – Greasy Creek, Kentucky[/caption]
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Waylan’s Hamburgers – Home of the Ku-Ku – Commerce, Oklahoma[/caption]
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L.A. Franks – Cambridge, Ontario[/caption]
This is the home of the Holey Burger, but they also have hot dogs and ice cream cones. Yum…
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L.A. Franks Menu[/caption]
Then, there are the BBQ places that I wish I could hit up. These have some great names…
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Soulman’s Bar-B-Que – DFW area of Texas[/caption]
Soulman’s mantra: ‘We’re Not Stingy With Our Meat!”
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Soulman’s Sign[/caption]
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Big Bubba Buck’s Belly Bustin’ BBQ Bliss – Munfordville, KY[/caption]
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Big Bubba Bucks store front[/caption]
Big Bubba apparently also runs a Catfish place down the road…
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Big Bubba Bucks Catfish – Munfordville, KY[/caption]
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JT’s Stovetop BBQ Company – West Union, Ohio[/caption]
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Missouri Hick Bar-B-Q – Cuba, Missouri[/caption]
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Hog Wild BBQ – who knows where this was? I think it was in Arkansas[/caption]
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Riscky’s Bar-B-Q – Fort Worth, Texas[/caption]
And just a couple of more places I have passed over the years
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Scotty’s Hamburgers – Idaho Falls, Idaho[/caption]
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Babe’s Chicken Dinner House – Granbury, Texas[/caption]
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Rose Marie’s Family Restaurant – Shakespeare, Ontario[/caption]
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Martha’s Cafe – Blackfoot, Idaho[/caption]
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Million Dollar Cowboy Bar – Jackson, Wyoming[/caption]
And the famous neon cowboy on top of it….
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Cowboy Bar Neon[/caption]
And finally…how about the Chuckwagon? They have a “4 Meat Buffet”
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Chuckwagon Buffalo Burgers – Jamestown, ND[/caption]]]>
