Beer, Bikes, and BBQ, oh my! (AKA requiem for a pig)

Sadly for those of you interested in seeing if I tried something new, I only partook of one of the items in the title - the BBQ. I went to Mac's Speed Shop (multiple locations in the Charlotte area) on South Blvd. for the Big Pig Sandwich. Their BBQ sandwich comes in 3 sizes, the Lil' Pig, the Big Pig, and The Mac Daddy. For some reason, the one listed in the Charlotte Magazine was the Big Pig, probably because it's big enough to fill you up but not SO big you wouldn't want dessert. The BBQ is hand-pulled pork and served on a bun with cole slaw on top and a choice of "sidecar". I chose the green bean casserole for my side.

I was afraid of the pickle!

The food came out SUPER fast and was very good. The BBQ places that I really like are those that give you a variety of sauces to choose from so you're not stuck with whatever they put on it. They had a choice of a red sauce, SC mustard sauce, vinegar sauce, and one more that I can't remember (!). My favorites were the mustard and vinegar sauces, which I think means I really have moved to SC and am not in TN anymore. I really liked how you didn't have to use cole slaw as one of your sides because who eats BBQ WITHOUT cole slaw? Weirdoes, that's who. I ALMOST asked if there were pickles on it because that seems to be a recent theme but I gambled and lost. Thankfully I was able to wipe the pickle juice off the top of the bun. Whew...Crisis averted! 

The sandwich was really good. Would I say it's the BEST in Charlotte? I don't know. I haven't eaten at too many BBQ places in Charlotte, so only time will tell. The green bean casserole was good but was very different than what I'm used to. They added cheese, which was really nice, but the green beans were (I think) French green beans, which left a little less "bean-y" taste. Overall a very nice meal and a great experience. This was a Tuesday night and the place was PACKED! Maybe next time I'll ride my hog in and down a brew during dinner.....or maybe not....we shall see.

Twice in one night??

My mom visited me this weekend and was kind enough to indulge me in furthering my Top 100 goal. We went to Lebowski's Grill and Pub in Dilworth. I had a rough day at work so I begged my mom to drive so I could have a drink. I'm very literal about the whole thing - no drinking and driving. I don't drink very often so I worry about even having one drink and driving. My mom was kind enough to acquiesce so we set off toward the pub. The thing I love about this list (if I haven't mentioned it before) is getting to know Charlotte and driving near places I've been before, like, "Oh yeah, that's where Andi and I ate the bacon-wrapped tater tots" and "Oh, this is close to Elizabeth Creamery".

Dilworth is a really cool area because there are tons of places to eat. Lebowski's itself shares a building with an oyster place (that my mom tried to go into before I stopped her saying that wasn't where we were actually eating). Lebowski's is pretty small but there were quite a few people there. Here is an example of how much I don't drink. I had no idea what to order but did manage to get out "margarita?" When the waitress asked me what kind of tequila I liked, I had no answer for her. She was very kind and took care of me and this is what I got:

My day suddenly got better

Onto the food! Maude's Meatloaf:

Home-cooked goodness

The meatloaf was almost like meat cakes but that sounds pretty unappetizing so I'm glad they stuck with what works. It was served with mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, 2 onion rings, and some pita wedges, along with gravy. This stuff was DELICIOUS! From my first bite, I was in love. The meatloaf is more gravy-y and not so tomato-y which was nice. The veggies were cooked perfectly and had a nice seasoning to them. The potatoes had chunks of potato in them and were so tasty. The pita wedges? Wonderful! They had some garlic and what seemed like coarse salt to make them extra tasty. This was a pretty big plate so I ended up taking about half of it home, making it dinner for the following night. It was equally as delicious the second day.

When my mom and I were leaving, we were going to go to a yogurt place until we happened to see Dolce Ristorante. I remembered they had something on the list and lo and behold, it was tiramisu. Who wants dessert? Um...we do! We went in for just dessert, which I was pretty sure disappointed our waiter on a Saturday, but we couldn't handle another meal! The food in there looked great though. I'd love to go back for dinner. I had the tiramisu and my mom got the lemoncello cake.


I'm better than you!

 I am sad to say that I have been forever ruined by Mike's Pastry Shop in Boston. No tiramisu will ever come close. Dolce's was VERY good and, if I hadn't had Mike's, I may even say one of the top ones I've ever eaten, but Mike's beat it by a mile. My mom's lemoncello cake was really good, tart and tangy, perfect for a summer night. I would recommend both of the restaurants and all the food I ate tonight. Good job, Charlotte Magazine!

No I am!!



Isn't gluttony a deadly sin?

Ahhh, Fran, how you have tempted me and I have fallen. Are you sure you weren't in the Garden of Eden with an apple? Your menu is so delicious it makes me feel like I need to repent!

All right, back to reality....

Andi was kind enough to join me for dinner last night at Fran's Filling Station (hey, wouldn't it be nice if I put the websites in? Sure! http://fransfillingstation.com/) OMG, this place was AMAZING. My dish from the list was the bacon-wrapped tater tots. Oh yes, you heard me correctly. These little suckers were wonderful!


Presentation? A+!


 The description: Bacon-wrapped tater tots with maple rosemary black pepper glaze. They also have jalapeno-wrapped sweet potato tots with a Tabasco honey glaze. I am not a fan of sweet potatoes, so I went with the original. If you think about breakfast when you have some leftover maple syrup that kind of washes over your bacon and hashbrowns, that's what these tasted like...but better. They were so warm and the bacon was, of course, delicious; the tots were perfectly fried....amazing! I would only have one TINY complaint that on a few of the tots, the bacon was a bit fatty and slightly soft. I like my bacon almost black and burnt so that was a little disconcerting. I ate them anyway because, heck, they were good!

I made a mistake though. Andi and I were so intrigued by the specials that we had ordered and had our food delivered before I remembered that I was supposed to order the tots! Here's why. The special that night was a BBQ sandwich on a potato roll with homemade slaw, served with a jalapeno creamy mac and cheese, baked with a cracker crust...or at least that's most of it....I fainted when she started talking about it so I forget some of it. This meal was so delicious. We each ate some tots and then could only eat half of our meal. The upside? Leftovers for lunch the next day! The downside? No room for dessert! =0(  The waitress started talking about some sort of peanut butter dessert and I had to tune out because I knew I would be won over and they'd have to just roll me home, I'd be so round!

I will definitely be returning to this restaurant to try some of the other items. Let me just give you a taste of what's on the menu (although not literally because obviously that's impossible) - pan-fried sweet corn nuggets with goat cheese ranch; reuben-style fried chicken sandwich with pastrami spice, russian dressing, and slaw; maryland style crab cake trio with spicy remoulade........
.........
.........
Ok, I'm back. I just fainted again. Dinner anyone???

This ain't your grandma's chicken salad

Firebirds Woodfired Grill, an interesting (if not redundant) name. This is the restaurant I traveled to on Monday night for the next item on my Top 100 list. I elected to do take-out as I had no desire to sit after work in a restaurant by myself. I'm glad I made that decision too, because the place was HOPPING! I mean, is Monday the new Friday? Come on!

I had the Colorado Chicken Salad. The description says a it's a mixed green salad with sugar roasted pecans, grilled chicken, bleu cheese crumbles, dried cranberries, green apples, and a raspberry chipotle vinaigrette.


Garden of yumminess


I had my reservations about this salad because I'm a big fan of the apple pecan chicken salad from Wendy's and I thought, "Why am I paying $11 for a salad when I can get one at Wendy's?" Well, they certainly showed me. It was like I was on auto-pilot eating that thing. I didn't stop until it was all gone. I honestly think my favorite part was the dressing. I knew it had a little kick to it but wasn't sure where it was coming from until I re-read the description. I could have had a FEW more bleu cheese crumbles because that creaminess goes really well with the tart apples and cranberries, but this was a SUPER good salad and definitely a meal in and of itself. The best part? They gave me a whole thing of bread that I suppose maybe was for sharing? But no, it's just me and the kitties and they're not getting it. The bread was great and a perfect finish to the meal. Good job Firebirds!