1 Ocak 2013 Salı

Cooley's Corner Cafe Review

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The restaurant is very small, probably not more than 30 people could be seated comfortably in the two dining rooms. This is not a smoke free diner; however, the only one I saw smoking was the server when she took a break. The restaurant is connected to an old-fashioned country store, a throwback to the Mom and Pop stores of the 70’s.

They have a full greasy-spoon menu: breakfast all day (but no biscuits after 10:00, only toast), lunch plates, burgers and sandwiches. The big deal on the weekend is the all-you-can-eat catfish (Friday/Saturday/Sunday), and you have your choice of whole or fillet. It comes with fries, hushpuppies, and slaw, all for $9.79. Another popular item is the chicken tender plate, with a price tag of $7.50. The local patrons tell me that the hamburgers are very good, but we opted for the fish on our visit. The hushpuppies would have been better, I think, had they been fried half the size they were. They reminded me of fried cornbread. I do not recommend the tea, which tasted like a mix instead of freshly brewed, nor do I recommend water with lemon, as the lemon was juice, and not a fresh wedge.
The service was slow, but the food was pretty good. However, we waited a long time for our food, and it wasn’t busy when we ordered. The server finally brought my food, but not my husband’s. After the long wait, my food was only warm, not hot. When my husband’s food finally arrived around five minutes later, it was hot. He had whole fish, I ordered the fillet. Both of us liked our lunch, even with my handicap of it being only warm.
If you’re looking for fine dining, you won’t find it here. However, if you’re in the mood for some southern deep-fried food and friendly atmosphere, this could be your place. Everyone knows everyone else, and they call you by name. If they don't know your name, they bother to find out. One gentleman stopped to introduce himself to us on his way out, and chatted away for a good ten minutes. The tables around could hear our conversation, and answered the questions we asked each other when we obviously didn’t know the answer, such as where the restroom was located. I am not a people person, but it was interesting to find out how many people these folks and my husband knew in common.

I only saw the one server, and I assumed she did the cooking as well, but I asked one of the local patrons, and she clarified that there was indeed a cook. The dining area was as clean as it could be for a greasy-spoon, the health department rating was 95.

They accept local checks only. You can use a debit card; however, they run it through the store, not the restaurant. No 100’s before noon.

When I see a sign like this, it throws up a red flag. When I asked an employee if the sign meant that certain people were not welcome, she assured me that the owners, Leonard and Geneva Rainey, reserved the right to not serve people with no shirt or shoes. (Maybe that's been a problem for them in the past.)

Restaurant Hours:Monday – Thurs. 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.Friday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.Sunday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Address:8250 County Road 189
Florence, AL 35633(256) 760-1762


Montagu's and Frostbite Frozen Treats

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Montagu’s is a little sandwich shop on North Pine Street, right off of Chisholm Road in North Florence. They offer Philly steak sandwiches, Reubens, chicken sandwiches and burgers…each for under $5.00. You can opt for a grilled or fried chicken salad, or you can get a Philly steak salad. They also offer fried pickles and hot dogs (Polish or chili cheese). Their Alabama Department of Public Health rating is currently 100.

Inside, they have stools at a small bar and a couple of tables, but there is a larger dining area outside on the deck. If you choose to eat outside, you can watch one of the two TVs while you wait for your food, which they bring out to you when it’s ready. The deck is located between Montagu’s and Frostbite Frozen Treats.

I’ve heard some very positive comments about Montagu’s, so my co-worker and I decided to have lunch there this week. My coworker ordered a hamburger, which she said was a very good (she rated it an 8 out of 10). Another co-worker (who wasn’t with us on this visit) swears Montagu’s Philly steak sandwich is the best in the Shoals. I ordered the chicken, bacon, and ranch specialty sandwich and fries. The fries, I thought, were very good; unfortunately, my sandwich was mediocre. The “bacon” was the color of sauerkraut and not full of bacon flavor, the lettuce was a little dry. When I ordered, the cook tossed a frozen chuck of white meat on the fry-grill along with a hoagie roll, which eventually became my sandwich. In my humble opinion, you’ll find a better chicken bacon ranch sandwich at Domino’s or Subway.

After our meal, we went next door to Frostbite Frozen Treats, where you can find yogurt in such flavors as Mountain Blackberry, Snicker Doodle Cookie Dough, Rocky Road Chocolate, Vanilla Bean, Pink Lemonade Sorbet, Blueberry Acai Tart, NSA Strawberry Banana, Triple Chocolate, and Mango Sorbet. They offer different flavors on different days, and there are little cups available for you to try out the various flavors. There are lots of toppings to choose from including nuts, fruits, candy, and crushed chocolate bars.

My visit to Frostbite was a little bit of a disappointment. It’s expensive (you pay by weight), melts fast, and is watery (instead of creamy) when it melts. I got a small helping of yogurt, crowned it with caramel topping, and sprinkled it with crushed Snicker’s, which cost me $2.38. For my money, I’ll stick with McDonald’s low-fat ice cream caramel sundaes, where I get more for only $1.00. If you're all about toppings and different flavors, you may want to give Frostbite a try at least once.

Montagu’s1611 North Pine StreetFlorence, AL 35630(256) 275-3851http://www.facebook.com/montagushttp://www.facebook.com/frostbitetreats


Wayne's Catfish Haven

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This is the last "fried review" for a while because…TBR is on a diet! Yes, unbelievable, I know! My reviews will soon include reviews of some healthier choices.
However, before I went on my diet, I wanted fried catfish, on a Sunday, which is not an easy task to find in the Shoals. However, right outside the Shoals, in Russellville, is a place called Wayne’s Catfish Cabin, and their specialty is...you guessed it...Catfish!



These are both medium plates, the fillet (above) and the whole (below)

The hushpuppies and fries were good, too.

The prices for catfish (whole or fillet) are $8.95 for a small plate, $10.95 for a medium plate, and $12.95 for a large. They also offer the fillet grilled, but it costs just a little more...a large grilled is $13.75. You get hushpuppies and your choice of fries or a baked potato.

They have a full menu including chicken fingers and chicken sandwiches, barbeque sandwiches, steaks and hamburger steak. You can order shrimp, scallops, or oysters, or just choose the Seafood Platter, which is another popular item that includes not only fish, oysters, shrimp, but a stuffed crab and two sides for $14.95.



One thing I think is "cool" is the art on the walls. While it is advertising, the artwork is pretty good, and painted scenery covers two walls of the restaurant.





In my opinion, the drive to Russellville was worth it. 
If you like catfish, I believe you'll like this place.


Wayne’s Catfish Haven

18437 Highway 43
Russellville, AL 35654
256-332-9947
Email: waynescatfishhaven@lbu.com

Hours of Operation:
Monday: ClosedTuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Thursday: 11: a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Saturday: 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.



Logan's Roadhouse

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What’s not to love about Logan’s Roadhouse?   All the peanuts you can eat, yeast rolls that melt in your mouth, and a palatable menu with enough choices even picky eaters can find something to nibble.   Dieters can also find some tasty items.  
 (Dieters beware!)
For our most recent trip Logan’s, the Mister chose the mesquite wood grilled pork chops and a sweet potato.  It comes with baked cinnamon apples.  

I chose the wood grilled Tilapia with southwestern seasoning from the Health Nut menu.   Portion sizes are certainly enough to have a nice lunch the next day. 
Tilapia choices also include fried nuggets, and Tilapia Santa Fe, which is topped with a roasted corn and black bean salsa and a cilantro-chipotle sauce.   The Health Nut menu also has healthy options for sides including a house salad made with Romaine lettuce, tomato, and shredded carrots, and served with a fat free Vinaigrette dressing on the side.   I chose the regular house salad because the house dressing, Parmesan Peppercorn, is some of the best in the Shoals.   

Dipping French fries in the Parmesan Peppercorn can be interesting (but not very diet friendly).  Other healthy side items include seasonal vegetables and vegetable or mushroom skewers.    
The appetizer choices include Buffalo wings, fried mushrooms, the Enormous Nachos, which are definitely enormous and super good, sampler platters, Bayou popcorn shrimp with fries, cheese dip, onion petals, and chicken tenders.   Desserts come in mini Roadhouse buckets for one, or enough-for-two full sizes.    Monday – Thursday, you can choose from over ten items for $7.99.   Every day, from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m., you can get two entrées for 15.99, or a three course meal for 19.99, which includes one appetizer and one dessert to share, or two mini desserts.    The entrée selection for these deals is surprisingly very good. 
The Mister and I routinely sit in the bar area where seating is first-come-first-serve, and the service is typically good.   There are 8 TVs, most of which are showing a sport or sports news.    As they are available, you can choose a booth or a high top table, or eat (or drink) at the bar.   The main dining room and the side dining rooms also have TVs so you won’t miss any of the big games. 
Obviously, this is not the place for anyone with a nut allergy, nor if you have a problem with shells and nut debris all over the floor, and sometimes even on your seat.  
Sign up for the Nut E club with your email address, and you will periodically find a buy one get one free or some other nice coupon to use for a limited time.
Logan’s Roadhouse2890 Florence Blvd.Florence, AL 35630256-764-5011

31 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi

Mr. Keet's 2 - Redeeming

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A few months ago I wrote a blog post on Mr. Keet's in Maurice, LA. Little did I know that a few weeks after my post I found out that the owners of Mr. Keet's would be opening a new location in Lafayette in the old Ryan's building. 
It took me a while to finally decide to try the new restaurant. When I received an email from Living Social about a discount deal I said, well I guess I will give it a try with the discount, because I didn't want to be disappointed like the first time. 

Last Tuesday, I was out running errands and I had an hour to kill before having to pick up my baby girl from school. Since I was in the area, I decided to give Mr. Keet's 2 a chance. Though I had the coupon, I was really hoping that the food would be much better. For two reasons, one I was starving, two I didn't want to have to write another bad review about their restaurant.

Mr. Keet's 2 looked great from the outside. Though Ryan's was there for so many years, it was good to see someone take over the old building and transform it into a great looking place.  Inside I loved the Cajun theme with The Rajun Cajuns being the center of attention.


I started with an appetizer. There were several to choose from like fried or grilled shrimp, oysters, crab fingers, catfish bites, etc..I  decided on the fried rice dressing balls. The fried balls are like boudin balls. The balls are made with rice dressing, battered and deep fried. The rice dressing balls were huge!





The balls were pretty good. The dipping sauce was awesome, but in my opinion would have been superb with catfish or shrimp. The balls were fried perfectly. The sauce wasn't a tartar sauce but similar to one. Pictured below.


The appetizer was slow coming out, but I will say it was pipping hot. It was fresh and wasn't just sitting in the back waiting to be placed on my table. The portion size was large. I only ate one ball because I wanted to save room for my entree.



After looking at the menu and trying to decide on what entree to choose, I decided on the Catfish Po-boy & onion rings. The food looked awesome. The Catfish Po-boy was served on french bread with a special sauce, lettuce and tomato. The catfish was grilled perfectly and seasoned to perfection. The house sauce was delicious. They definitely need to bottle that, I would buy it. 
My only disappointment was that the Po-boy could use a little more house sauce on it. I asked for a little more but it never arrived at the table. Lol.. 

The onion rings were homemade. The rings were golden brown and crispy without being over fried! I loved the onion rings at Mr. Keet's. 
One thing that I didn't like is there were no lunch specials. Which could be a downside for some who are going for lunch. Having a lunch special would help to draw a bigger crowd for lunch. Some of the entrees were overpriced for a lunch meal. Because most people don't want a large portion for lunch. So they could also offer a smaller size of the entrees.
The Po-boys and salads were reasonably priced. I will say, I am usually not much of a poboy eater because the poboy bread is usually hard, but Mr. Keet's 2 passed the test because the bread was fresh and soft. The portion size as you can see in the picture above was awesome. I only ate half of my poboy and a few of my onion rings because I wanted to save room for dessert.  The portion that I was served was enough for me to save for Brian to have as a snack after work. Kmsl.

The day I dined at Mr. Keet's 2 they were running a special, if you check in on Facebook at Mr. Keet's 2, your dessert is free. My mind was already set on trying dessert, but it was great that I could try on their dime. You could choose from the cheesecake or bread pudding. I love bread pudding so I choose bread pudding. The bread pudding was made from scratch with homemade rum sauce. The flavor of the bread pudding was superb. The only downside was that I like my bread pudding warm and the bread pudding was cold as well as the rum sauce. I would suggest to warm up the pudding and the sauce as well. But it was definitely tasty. One thing that was different about the bread pudding was that it had a topping that was similar to that of a meringue. A little different but delicious. 

Overall I was very impressed with the new restaurant. There are some areas that they need improvement in, but I would definitely recommend Mr. Keet's 2. 
One of the things I didn't like was that waitress who waited on me couldn't take her own order and the lady who I am assuming was the head waitress didn't have a very good attitude. Also my dessert was bought out while I was still eating. Which is definitely a no no for me because I like to enjoy each course without one sitting waiting. Lastly, my ticket was placed on the table way before I was finished eating. I felt a little rushed, so I asked one of the ladies who came out what time they closed? She said not till 9pm, I said oh.. I did feel rushed but I took my time and even wrote my notes before leaving. 
The setup near the bar area and the back of the restaurant was nice. There were 3 or 4 flat screen TV's which is perfect to watch the game. Allowing the people who may not want to watch the game to be separated on the opposite side of the restaurant. For those who drink, there is a nice bar area with TV's as well. 
Mr. Keet's 2 serves BBQ on Sundays, though I have never had the BBQ I will definitely pick up a plate one Sunday after church. The restaurant also serves seasonal seafood like Crab, Shrimp, Crawfish, Alaskan crabs, King Crab & Dungeness crab.  
My experience at Mr. Keet's 2  was much better than the Mr. Keet's in Maurice. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the quietness. The food was outstanding compared to the other location. I was pleasantly surprised that the food was so good. I can't believe I am saying this, but I would definitely recommend you give Mr. Keet's 2 a try.
Mr. Keet's 2 is located at 3253 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Lafayette LA, 534-4345. The hours of operation are Sunday-Thursday from 11am-9pm & Friday-Saturday from 11am-10pm. 



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Jammin' Java - A New Spot

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Jammin' Java is a new speciality Coffee & Ice Cream Shop in Youngsville, LA. In passing, I had seen this shop a few times and said that I would dine in one day. A coupon for Jammin' Java was sent to me through Living Social Deals, so I decided to purchase the coupon.

When I entered, I was very impressed with the set up. The decor was like a Malt Shop combined with a coffee shop. The lady greeted me with a warm smile. She was very friendly and handed me a menu to look over before ordering. I looked around quite a bit before ordering.

The Coffee Shop is not very big, but spacious enough to really enjoy your dining experience at Jammin' Java. The owner and I began to chat a little about her business and how long they had been opened. She reminded me a lot of the mom in your neighborhood that everyone would want to go over to her house to enjoy her cooking. 

The coffee shop is a great place for a meeting, to take the kids after school, for young people after a game or a place to pick up breakfast before you head to work. The menu offers a variety of items. You can stop by anytime of the day to dine in and you would find something on the menu to accommodate your food needs. 

Breakfast examples are stuffed biscuits, breakfast paninis, scones, muffins or biscotti just to name a few. On a separate occasion, I had an opportunity to try the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Panini. The panini also had a special sauce and jalapeno cheddar cheese. It was very good. A little on the spicy side but it was delicious. It wasn't too hard, pressed perfectly. I enjoyed it.


Jammin' Java also serves Coffees, Teas, Cappuccinos, Smoothies,  Frappuccino & bottled drinks. The menu items may not be as extensive as your typical coffee shop but there is definitely many items to choose from. 
I also ordered a Caramel Latte with Caramel drizzle (not pictured on a separate occasion). I was  impressed. The Latte was delicious. It was sweet enough, I didn't need any sugar. The caramel was potent enough. It was shockingly good.














One thing I like I love is that there is an area for the children. I am always looking for places to enjoy with lil mama. There are crayons, color sheets & paper for the children to enjoy. As well as the big chalkboard with chalk for the children to have a blast!


As far as for lunch a few options are the Chicken salad sandwiches on white, wheat or a Croissant, a Turkey or Spinach & Feta Panini.

I decided on the Chicken salad croissant with lettuce and pressed on the panini machine (pictured above). The chicken salad was homemade and pretty good. It wasn't dry, there was more than enough chicken salad on the croissant. She definitely wasn't stingy with the chicken salad. 

To drink, I ordered the root beer in a cold mug. Reminded me so much of a Malt Shop. I loved that she offered this with cold mug. More places should sell the drinks that way. If I had time, I would have ordered a root beer float.



Can't leave without a dessert, so I ordered a small ice cream. There were about 20 or so ice creams & sherbets to choose from as well as assorted toppings (pictured above & below).


I decided to keep it simple and order the Caramel Swirl which was vanilla ice cream (pictured below) The ice cream was delicious. Very creamy and the caramel was so yummy. A great afternoon treat for anytime of the year. 

Overall I will say, I enjoyed my experiences on both occasions at Jammin' Java. The Coffee/Ice Cream Shop is nice and cozy. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. I will say that there is room for some growth for Jammin' Java. I would recommend offering soups with the sandwiches instead of chips. Maybe adding a few more items to the list, like lunch or breakfast specials.

Jammin' Java is located at 3366 Verot School Road Suite 100, 337-857-6955. Opened 7 days a week Monday-Thursday 7:30 am - 9:00 pm, Friday 8:00 am  - 10:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday 8:00 am - 9:00 pm. In addition, Jammin' Java has a drive thru, so if you don't have time to get down, place your order at the window without getting out of your car. What a great thing!! Check them out on Facebook!! Be sure to ask her how she came up with the name, pretty cool!!



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