Southern Restraunt Sightings.

[Gawdzillers]

Lesse... the ONE thing I've noticed no one can get right outside of my area. A good old Philadelphia Cheesesteak.

ONLY thinly sliced beef may be used, no chicken, no turkey, and certainly no hoity-toity meats like veal or venison. The bead, a good old hoagie roll. NO veggies except for onions and MAYBE green peppers. The cheese must be cooked with the meat.

I thought a true Cheesesteak used Cheez Whiz sauce rather than real cheese.

[LostMyMind]

Now I'm faced with grits, which I haven't tried yet as no one who's from the area can tell me a good place to get them,

No grits is better than bad grits. Nothing is as nasty as bad grits (well almost nothing). So easy to turn grits bad, and it's not the place it's the cook. Really there no way to tell, you just have to order and try it. You'll know if it's good or bad.

[zzapp the witch]

My grandma's family is from Alabama, so I grew up on a lot of the good stuff. Here in Oregon, if I want sweetened tea, I let em know I want it "Georgia sweet," otherwise they have to bring me a pile of sugar packets and all of the other patrons look at me like I'm nuts. You can't get decent grits here, you have to make your own, and I prefer gold hominy.

I did my army basic training in South Carolina, the Drill Sargeant was impressed that I was the only northerner that put salt and pepper, and my eggs and bacon in my grits. Apparently, I'm pretty smart for a yankee.

Once, in the chow line, there was a choice of veggies and I was trying to figure out wtf this pile of goopy dark green was. DS came up behind me and hollered, "What's the hold up here, soldier?" "DS, what are collard greens?" "Where the HELL you from, private?" "Oregon, DS." In a calm voice, "Oh, those are the weeds that grow on the railroad tracks." I later found out that that DS was from a town here whos school was in my school's league.

Pickled pigs feet aren't that bad.

When I was meeting my late hubby's family in upstate NY (Jeffersonville for anyone that knows the area) I was pregnant and had a horrible craving for a beer dog (AKA Hot Mama's or Big Daddy's around here), went all over the place trying to find something like what I was describing to my hubby---red dyed casing, fat, spicy sausage. No go, until he just went into a bar to ask, the bartender laughed and said, "Oh, you want a Pickled Deer Dick." and handed me one from a jar under the bar.

We bought five more.

[Dreamstalker]

Sushi with chile: This one *still* turns my head. We have a sushi place that sells what they call New Mexico Rolls, which are avocado and chile (and possibly some other veggies, I don't recall) in rice and nori. I can't really speak to the wisdom of this one.

I think I know the restaurant of which you speak...that roll actually isn't bad at all. If it's the place I'm thinking of (Izmi on St. Michael's Dr in Santa Fe), they also have green chile tempura which is interesting.

I used to have seemingly endless debates with The Twit about the whole chili/chile spelling thing.

[AFpheonix]

their ice tea must have sucked.

My favorite thing is trying ice cream by area. Because in arizona you can get the classic places the water stores or the interesting ice cream joints and they all have different kinds of ice cream and i love the different feel they all have.

We have good ice cream around here, but my god, the best ice cream I've ever had was in Madrid. Drooooooollll.......

[VicSilver]

KFC Employee: What wrong wid you? I say you he dead.

Oh, god, that just cracks me up everytime I see/hear that. I didn't see the episode, but my sister (who is awesome at impersonations) told me about it. Just hearing her say it cracked me up that I had her do it over and over, to the point that my mother and husband threatened to hurt us if we didn't stop.

God, I just started snickering all over when I saw that...of course, hubby wanted to know why, so when I shouted, "I say you he dead!" he just groaned....

[VicSilver]

Besides, why would anyone want unsweet tea? That's just wrong.


This message brought to you by a born and raised Southern boy.

My husband is a southern boy, but will drink either. He won't "change" unsweetened tea into sweetened though...if it was made without sugar, he drinks it without sugar... He's real funny about adding anything after it's brewed. Says it just 'don't taste right'.

[JustADude]

I thought a true Cheesesteak used Cheez Whiz sauce rather than real cheese.

There are two places in Philly right next to each other that, IIRC, started selling them at nearly the same time and are still both going strong. One uses cheese sauce, the other uses slices, and both are abso-f*cking-lutely delicious.

[Skandranon]

My mom made some of the best grits. Every summer, 6 am to 7 pm, we'd spend at the local swim club exhausting ourselves. Usually skipping lunch along the way. So when we got home, while we took our bath, mom made her grits. A bowl as big around as a plate for each of us, filled to the brim with grits. She mixed in cheddar, eggs, and honey. It was sweet sweet ambrosia. And tell you what, grits will fill you up like nothing else.

I've only had one I'm-a-tourist mistake travelling, that I remember. Was in the NW US, touring the parks, and we stopped into a breakfast place to eat. I asked for buttermilk pancakes. I guess they didn't know the term, or I had too much accent, b/c I ended up with blueberry.

[Pagan]

We actually shop at Pike Place Market, we actually live and work in all those ancient buildings downtown,

Please tell me you're being a little sarcastic about the "ancient" buildings! Just because I'm sitting about 60 miles south of the City Different. The oldest continuous capital in the US (not to mention the oldest church and house)

I lived in Santa Fe New Mexico for 7 years and I have seen the tourist reaction to local food more times than I can count.

yuppie tourist with a superiority complex comes into the five-and dime (makes the best frito pies in town) and says 'I was told if I came to Santa Fe I had to eat a frito pie!' So they are given one---in the original frito chip bag. They look at the person incredulously, their lip curling. 'Umm...can I have it in a bowl?'

breakfast burritos---more street food. A flour tortilla with a slice of canadian bacon, a serving of hash browns, eggs cooked anyway you like, and green chile sauce inside.

Chiles Rellenos Norte Nuevo Mexicanos---New Mexican green chiles, roasted over an open flame, stripped of the blackened skins, cut open, filled with cheese, then beer battered and fried, served smothered in green chile sauce with rice and beans on the side.

Tomasita's has a sign saying, in effect, that sometimes the chile is hot, and no, we're not going to cater to the damn tourist tender mouths!

The five-and-dime is still there and still doing a land-office business on the the frito pies.

The best way to have breakfast burritos is with a cup of hot chocolate whilst freezing your ass off waiting for the balloons to start inflating at the Balloon Fiesta.

That's the way we make Chiles Rellenos in southern NM, too.

Hey, yet another New Mexican!

I'm racking my brain for classic New Mexican food that just doesn't exist other places, but I think you got most of it. All I've got are funny stories and weird foods involving green chile.

Pizza with chile: It's actually a good idea. As suspicious as I was of it when I first came here from New York, a dozen years ago, the chile really does add something -- especially in combination with pineapple.

Apparently, Californians look at you *really* oddly when you ask for your burrito with green chile. I suspect it's the standard chile vs. chili problem.

See, now, being a native New Mexican, I'm surprised when pizza doesn't have chile!

When I lived in Lake Tahoe one summer, I went into Reno and had lunch at Chili's (of all places). I ordered what I normally would in Las Cruces, which came with green chile. However, when it came, it had chili (beans and meat concoction) all over it. I made a face thought I had ordered wrong. When I asked the waitress, she looked at me funny and asked why I would want that on a burger!

Actually, that's how I kept my roommates out of my food. I'd put green chile in everything!

I used to have seemingly endless debates with The Twit about the whole chili/chile spelling thing.

Oh, my f*cking Goddess, don't get me started! "Chili" is a Tex-Mex meat concotion. "Chile" is the fruit of the capsicum! (Try this: http://spectre.nmsu.edu/dept/welcome.html?t=CHILE) I'm a little touchy about it too, being an alumnus of NMSU!

And then there's the difference between southern and northern New Mexico! The biggest one is enchiladas. It seems to be peculiar to the southern part of the state, but we make them flat down there. Up here, they're rolled. The World's Biggest Enchilada, (http://www.zianet.com/sunny/html/36.html) just wouldn't have the same impact if it's rolled. (BTW, Roberto's makes the best flour tortillas) And then there's the biscochos. Up here, they are called biscochitos, which is diminuative. I'm sorry, but a cookie that's 3" across are not little! Damn, now I want enchiladas and biscochos.

[CancelMyService]

In Pittsburgh, it begins and ends with Primanti Brothers.

[Sofar]

Please tell me you're being a little sarcastic about the "ancient" buildings! Just because I'm sitting about 60 miles south of the City Different. The oldest continuous capital in the US (not to mention the oldest church and house)

Don't you rag on our effing architecture! A century and a half is pretty goddamn old for the west coast, especially when most cities just pull the things down and have done with it. You know nothing in this country measures up to Europe anyway.

[justZu]

As for especially strange foods in the Northwest, geoducks anyone? And let's hear you pronounce that, we are famous for counterintuitive spellings.

Aren't they pronounced "gooey ducks"? Those things are *scary* looking.

[CRXPanda]

as one of african descent...in the south...our tea was not only iced SWEET, it's sooooo sweet, it can cause diabetic shock (as well as "drink"...orange drink, grape drink, coolade-not kool aid...u get my meaning) if the instructions are one cup of sugar for every half gallon, it's translated to one cup of sugar for every quart...and if you freeze it to make honeydrippers, double both the sugar and drink mix and half the water...

just thought i'd reflect.

anyone else have a way their grammas made their drink as a kid?

[traylk]

I'm originally from Michigan but moved to Texas about 10 months ago.

I get made fun of by my co-workers all the time because of the "Yankee" way I talk. I get funny looks everytime I ask them to clean the pop machine. (I refuse to say soda.....in MI we drink pop and bake with soda) Now I just say the drink machine.

I also miss Faygo...Vernors...White Castle(best after the bar)...Cheryl's Place(best breakfast in town 12 yrs running)...and all the yummy cherry items at the Traverse City Cherry fest(salsa, jam, jelly, pies, BBQ sauce, marinades, wine). My favorite pizza has always been Hungry Howies which I thought was a northerner thing but I just found out there are 2 within 15 miles of my house! WooHoo!!!

The shocker for me was when I lived in Hawaii and everywhere sold spam. I actually like it fried with white rice on the side. I remember the weirdest one I saw was spagetti w/ mini spam balls. I never tried it though.