The Northgate Soda Shop - Greenville, SC

 
The Northgate Soda Shop has been serving Greenville, SC since 1947. Nowadays it's a throwback; a nod to a bygone era. Besides being a local institution, it's also one of the best places to get a Pimento Cheeseburger in the area.

Inside you're greeted with all manner of mementos and local memorabilia.

 

Once you're seated you'll notice a few of the tables have small brass plaques attached them. These small plaques are there to commemorate some long time customers.

There are many things I've come to appreciate about living in the south. Two of those things are Pimento Cheeseburgers and Slaw Dogs. The first is obvious, the second may not be but the clues are right there in the name. A Slaw Dog is just that, a hotdog served with some standard condiments and coleslaw. All I can say is if you get the chance you should try it.

Carolina Slaw Dogs

 

Northgate Soda Shop's Famous Pimento Cheeseburger

The original slaw dogs here feature chili, onions, mustard, pimento cheese and slaw. But you can definitely have it your way. If the original seems like overkill feel free to change it up.  The slaw dogs shown here are being served with just pimento cheese and coleslaw per request.

The Northgate Soda Shop and the Pimento Cheeseburger are featured in the book Hamburger America. If you're a hamburger fan at all you'll find a lot to love in this book. The burger at the Northgate Soda Shop is served with lettuce, tomato, mayo and pimento cheese on a great grilled bun. The only downside is possibly the doneness of the burger. If you like your burgers on the rarer side (as I do) then you may find the burger a tad overcooked. There is so much flavor and so much more to recommend it that I find I can overlook that for this one iconic burger.

Truth is there are many places where you can get a pimento cheeseburger around here. But for me the Northgate Soda Shop will always be my first stop when slaw dogs and pimento cheeseburgers are what's for dinner.

Happy dining!

Fall in the Carolinas

The Dining Companion, me and the 4 Pound Wonder are still getting settled here. Hard to believe we've only been here a little better than a week. It's fall in the Carolinas and the weather has been really wonderful. Warm days and cool nights, so refreshing and enjoyable.

I was wondering out loud the other day how can it already be November? Seems like it was just summer on the Gulf Coast. (Probably because it still feels like summer on the Gulf Coast)The Dining Companion reminded me that with us living in three states in the past year it's no wonder time feels like it zooming by. It's a whirlwind but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Now that things are calming down a bit we'll be back to normal programing here soon. Thanks so much for stopping by and following along with our crazy journey.

à votre santé!

Another Sunrise, Another Beginning

We had a nice trip through the south. The weather was good and our newest family member proved to be a great traveler. We really couldn't have asked for more.

Ready to hit the road!

Along the way we enjoyed some beautiful scenery.

We even managed to make time to stop for breakfast at my favorite breakfast spot in the country, The Red Eyed Mule. Love!

Best breakfast sandwiches ever - The Red Eyed Mule - Marietta, GA

And now we're back in the land of the biscuit breakfast. Not that I'm complaining. There's definitely an art to great biscuits and there are no shortage of wonderful examples here.

And all of this for the princely sum of $3.50

To say nothing of the Pimento Cheeseburgers, Shrimp and Grits, Low Country Boil. I'm happy to be back in the South. And just to be on the safe side I've added some extra time to my workouts cause you know, Southern Food!

It's nice to be in familiar surroundings and also interesting to see how things have changed over the years. I'm sure we'll revisit some favorite places and discover some new ones along the way. I'll be posting my thoughts and impressions as well as thoughts on the places we visit and the great food I know we'll be eating. Now pass the biscuits and lets get this party started!

Happy travels!

Note: The title is a quote: Another Sunrise, Another New Beginning ~  (Jonathan Lockwood Huie)

Onward we go...

I wanna die with a worn out passport
In the pocket of stolen jeans
On a beach somewhere I've never been before
Full of people I've never seen

And I want my body filled with
More alcohol than blood
Don't take this as self destructive
Because this wish is filled with love

So we drank and talked for hours
About the places you wanna go
I suggested every country in the world
And I never heard a 'no'

(-Worn Out Passport- The Copyrights - abridged )

Is it scarier to be at the mercy of the winds or to fight the ocean for the course you choose? It's hard to tell some days but this much I know - in order to have a chance at either you have to set sail.


Happy travels!

Note: Travel will take us through the gulf states soon. Stay tuned for more stories, new places and if we're lucky, some delicious food.

Sau Paulo's Restaurant - Austin, Texas

 

Ad for a local market

 This past weekend found us in Austin again. No BBQ stops this time but we did stop in for dinner at a favorite of ours. 

While we were there we got talking with our waiter and the conversation turned to authenticity and Brazilian food in general. Our server, I can't believe I didn't get his name, had just come back from a trip home to Brazil visiting family. I noted that we wished Fogo served feijoada (fesh-wah-duh) and he promptly told us about a Brazilian restaurant in town that did serve it and also something called coxinha (co-shee-nya) and did we know about coxinha? Umm no. He said that they would be hard to explain and what we needed to do was give them a try. 

Which is how we wound up at Sao Paulo's the next day.

 
Sao Paulo's is a Brazilian restaurant but not a churrascaria. That is to say it is nothing like Fogo or any of it's kin. The menu at Sao Paulo's gives a nod to the local Tex-Mex cuisine and also has a burger and a few sandwiches listed. We were there for two things: the feijoada and the coxinha. We looked over the menu for one other entree to add and we ordered the Galinhada which is a Brazilian take on paella. 

First up were the coxinha. These are pear shaped fritters made of cornmeal that are stuffed with different things.We had some that were stuffed with spicy chicken and a type of cream cheese. Very flavorful. We really liked this dish and could honestly eat these by the dozen.

Coxinha

Sorry about the photo but this was the best shot of the stuffing in the coxinha

 Next up that delicious stew. Feijoada is a black bean stew made with various meats. It's served with rice, greens and farofa as accompaniments. 

Feijoada

The first time I had this dish was at a small churrascaria in Sioux Falls, SD of all places. It was love at first bite. While most of the Brazilian steakhouses we've been to have black beans on the menu very few of them have this lovely stew. Because it's so hard to find on any menu I learned how to make it myself. Definitely worth doing. The feijoada at Sau Paulo is perfection. Hearty, full of deep rich flavor, pure comfort in a bowl. The perfect antidote for a cold winters day.

Next up was the galinhada, a one pot rice dish similar to paella. The rice and shrimp were perfectly cooked and the saffron struck just the right note.  This was a lovely plate of food but with so many choices we'll try one of the other entrees if we get back here.

Galinhada - Jasmine rice seasoned with saffron, onion, cilantro, tomatoes and mushrooms with shrimp

But I'll definitely get the feijoada and the coxinhas. Everything else will have to fight for a place on the table. 

The Austin area may be well known for barbeque but don't be fooled. Hidden gems like Sao Paulo's are out there waiting to be discovered. If you're at all interested in Brazilian food outside of their steakhouses give this place a try. You'll find a lot to love.

On another note we came across this while we were out walking the dog...

 A free public solar powered charging  station. You can charge up a cellphone, tablet or what have you. How cool is that? And what a great idea.

So that was the weekend. We had a great time walking around the city and eating some good food. If you're looking for a unique experience give Austin a try. It's a great city served with a big dollop of fun and a side of weird. Just perfect if you ask us. 

Happy travels!

 

Willie G's - Galveston, Texas

Willie G's is a small chain seafood and steak place. They have three locations in Texas and one in Colorado. We stopped in for lunch when we were visiting the Galveston, Texas area.

This statue is called High Tide and features a boy with seagulls

Galveston is a popular destination with both tourists and locals. There's the beach of course, some nice resorts and lots of places to eat and drink.

We decided on Willie G's due to its proximity to local attractions we were visiting. Willie's has nice open spaces and a large deck that overlooks the water. We skipped the deck and had lunch inside the sunny dining room.

After drink orders were placed we took a minute to look over the lunch menu.

I went with the Willie Burger and the Dining Companion had seafood salad on a croissant. The food was good; typical lunch fare.

Seafood Salad Sandwich

Willie Burger

We enjoyed our lunch but with so many other places to try it might be a while before we make our way back to Willie G's. If you plan on visiting the Galveston area you'll have no trouble finding lots of good places to wine and dine.

Future plans will take us back to Galveston. There's the awesome Sunday brunch at the hotel Galvez, harbor boat tours, an old submarine and lots of other local attractions. Watch this space for more.

Happy dining!

T-Bone Tom's - Kemah, Texas

T-Bone Tom's is a local Kemah institution. It's a smokehouse that has a little bit of something for everyone on their menu.  It's been a local fixture here since 1974. We were there for their version of that perennial bar favorite, the jalapeno popper. T-Bone Tom's features a couple of unique varieties billed as Shark Eggs and Armadillo Eggs. The Shark Eggs are poppers filled with a shrimp and crab and the Armadillo Eggs are filled with smoked brisket.

"Shark" Egg and "Armadillo" Egg Jalapeno Poppers

While both of these versions were good my favorite was the brisket popper. I'll be back for that one.

Tom's is, for the most part, a BBQ joint and they feature all of the usual suspects; brisket, ribs, pork and sausage. They also do steaks and fried chicken. We'll get back there to try their BBQ and other items but on this visit it was all about the jalapeno poppers and the burgers.

Jalapeno Cheeseburger

Cheeseburger

The meat for T-Bone Tom's burgers is ground fresh daily on premises. The care they take with the meat definitely comes through in the burgers. Perfectly grilled half pound burgers on a really great toasted bun. A surprisingly good burger and one we'd go back for again. To top off the great burgers we had the homemade bread pudding with hard sauce. Perfect note on which to end our meal.

Homemade Bread Pudding

While the space is nothing fancy it's comfortable and what you'd expect from a homey place like this one.

Tom's is also a live music venue. Tom's Backyard is located alongside the restaurant and features live music several days a week.

A lot of the local touristy beach areas are filled with chain restaurants. T-Bone Tom's is a bright spot in that landscape. If you're in the Kemah, TX area looking for a good lunch or dinner option give this place a try. It won't disappoint.

Note: This place was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives back in 2009.