| FOOD Best Middle of Nowhere Restaurants

TerryP said:
When I was living in Memphis, there was a place on Winchester that couldn't have been more than 12'x12'. That's probably an overestimate. No tables, nothing but a guy making burgers. The old guy only worked about four hours a day...opened around 11, closed around 2, maybe 3ish depending on the traffic.

But good god almighty...those cheeseburgers were to die for. This was in the late 80's...dude was charging six or seven bucks for a meal. BUT, it was a ground sirloin burger.

That French fries thread I started...he used some type of popcorn seasoning on his fries. I still don't know what it was.
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Chapel cove area????
I was at UT Martin in the late 80’s. My girlfriend’s mother lived over in that area and she would get us burgers from a little place like what you’re describing. I never went she would get it when got in town without fail!!!
The seasoning on the fries rings a bell with me!!!
 
Rsedge72 said:
Chapel cove area????
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No. Other side of town. On the airport side of Winchester. If I got into a car I could drive you to the location. But, I can't tell you what a cross road was.

Geez, man. This was before I went to UA. I was running the marketing/customer resolution department for Chemlawn. It was my lunch joint: literally and figuratively.

It may have been TDR. I can't remember...one POTUS that had all his hamburgers made of ground steak. Same deal with his place.

I rarely make burgers without using ground sirloin. If I do, it's with Bison.

Just looked...Walmart (where I don't buy my meats.)

Ground beef. 1lb, $7.77
Bison: About $9. WELL worth the difference.
Ground Chuck. $6 or so.
$10 for about a lb of sirloin. They grind it, free of charge.

Shrimp runs about $5 a lb now. Just stupid pricing...

There's a pork tenderloin for $8...eight pork chops for $13. There's 10-12 pork chops in that tenderloin. Ya just have to cut it up.

It's just become funny.
 
PurlJam said:
Got one of those back home (Frosty Mug in Cordova, AL. off old Highway 78). Spot on saying you know it would work there. This one's been there as long as I can remember and it's one of the best.
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Every time I drive by the Mug, I comment on how that’s the way to run a fast food place.
Cash only, no inside seating, 3-4 employees at a time & they kill it. Packed out all of the time.
 
Secondand26 said:
Every time I drive by the Mug, I comment on how that’s the way to run a fast food place.
Cash only, no inside seating, 3-4 employees at a time & they kill it. Packed out all of the time.
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I read an article the last few days about a lot of Taco Bell's going to AI ordering systems. Mac D's went that way a few years ago, and then now they are scaling back.

Here's my point. KISS. Keep it simple. Do one thing, and do it the right way.

We've been discussing a "one item menu" as a concept. IE: The ONLY thing served on Sunday's is fried chicken. A Friday with fish. A Thursday with Chicken' and Dumplin's. Instead of a "Prayer Wednesday, " it'll be a rare Wednesday: surf and turf day.

The location we wanted, and old church close to the base, was purchased by a group of Mexican's before we could jump. Sunday school rooms are now spice rooms. It's a grocery store, with a steeple.
 
TerryP said:
No. Other side of town. On the airport side of Winchester. If I got into a car I could drive you to the location. But, I can't tell you what a cross road was.

Geez, man. This was before I went to UA. I was running the marketing/customer resolution department for Chemlawn. It was my lunch joint: literally and figuratively.

It may have been TDR. I can't remember...one POTUS that had all his hamburgers made of ground steak. Same deal with his place.

I rarely make burgers without using ground sirloin. If I do, it's with Bison.

Just looked...Walmart (where I don't buy my meats.)

Ground beef. 1lb, $7.77
Bison: About $9. WELL worth the difference.
Ground Chuck. $6 or so.
$10 for about a lb of sirloin. They grind it, free of charge.

Shrimp runs about $5 a lb now. Just stupid pricing...

There's a pork tenderloin for $8...eight pork chops for $13. There's 10-12 pork chops in that tenderloin. Ya just have to cut it up.

It's just become funny.
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I get all my beef from a friend of mine, he keeps around 35-50 head of cattle I am on the list “a lot of people are on the waiting list. My brother and I split a cow once a year, and a half a cow once a year. So I get 3/4 cow a year. I get it whether I need it or not. I don’t want to lose my spot!!
Sausage I head up to evergreen to the conecuh sausage plant. I’m trying to get on a “pig” list so I don’t need to get bacon or anything like that from the store. I don’t really eat much chicken at home. I gave several friends I can get eggs from.
I may try my hand at growing some of my own veggies this coming year.😬😬😬

My shrimp I buy off the boats, when I buy them. There is nothing better than fresh “gulf” shrimp!!!!
 
Rsedge72 said:
My shrimp I buy off the boats, when I buy them. There is nothing better than fresh “gulf” shrimp!!!!
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I'd have to look to be sure. Based on what I "know," high tide will hit tomorrow morning about ... 7'ish? The small, "brown shrimp" are running right now. If I hit the water in the jon boat, say 6 or so, with a cast net...by 8 or 9 I've got 24 quarts or more.

NOW!

I'd have to look to see when bait season starts for white shrimp. There's a TV show, Dirty Jobs. That's bait shrimping. Pluff mud STINKS!!! Mixed with bait? Geez.

With the DNR limit, it takes longer to get there than it does to fill the limit. We've literally hit 48 quarts, with no ice in the cooler, in less than an hour.

That being said...there are a few boats I'll buy shrimp from. Geechie has his own trawler that's out all the time....true fish market. He had 71-90 at $5.19 an lb the other day. De-headed, de-veined.
 
Rsedge72 said:
I get all my beef from a friend of mine, he keeps around 35-50 head of cattle I am on the list “a lot of people are on the waiting list. My brother and I split a cow once a year, and a half a cow once a year. So I get 3/4 cow a year. I get it whether I need it or not. I don’t want to lose my spot!!
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I've done that. I have a commercial chest freezer I snagged from the bar sold just after Covid. I think it's 19 cubic feet.

I don't have room for that anymore...even if we split it three ways. Get this now. One of my best friends mother has more than a dozen all the time. She'll do that with two, three, once a year. She lives in the mountains in Tennessee. You can NOT get there in a vehicle (her house.) You have to park, then take a walk or four wheeler. Her "perch," in the mountains, is some of the craziest stuff you'll ever see. It''s Mayberry, mixed with Elon Musk.

I get all my meats from a place that's about five miles from here...10 minutes, or so. It's the same place I buy my dairy (eggs, milk, etc.) because of where it's coming from. In other words, I'm not buying milk from a place the South Carolina prison system runs.

It's a meat market in EVERY sense of the word.
 
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