Since I mentioned this in yesterday's post, I figured y'all might actually want to know what we ate. Here's a picture of the menu:
I thought it was nice and simple. Classy. In that "we do so much volume that we laminate our one page menu" kind of way. Thought the prices were a bit high though.
Here's the bread they brought around to everyone:
On top is a lightly flavored and super fluffy cheddar biscuit. On bottom is a pan fried (and I do mean fried) pancake. I think this is her hoe cake. It was really quite good, but really quite greasy.
We started with Fried Green Tomatoes (a South staple):
These were not spicy at all. Now, if you're a Yankee, you might think they have a little kick, but really they don't. The white stuff in the middle is pickled onions. I thought that was weird until I tried it. I'm not much for raw onions but these were really good. Slightly sweet with a bit of zip. They also added something nice to the fried green tomatoes, which were fried well but a bit bland.
My sister had the Crab Stuffed Shrimp:
You can't see it, but these suckers are wrapped in bacon. Good smokey bacon. I am not a fan of anything with crab, but they were quite tasty. The bacon balanced the sweetness of the crab out well. The shrimp kind of held it all together and gave more texture to the bite. I didn't try the rice or asparagus, but my sister really seemed to like it.
And, I had the Shrimp and Grits:
It was creamy goodness with a touch of spice at the end, but also a bit bland. It really needed some depth of flavor to round it out. However, I did add some of Paula's hot sauce (provided at the table) and that truly helped. I'm not normally one for Tobasco-type sauces, but it really made a difference in the fullness of this dish. However, the shrimp were still badly overcooked.
The grits were also quite bland, which is disappointing. They were true grits, which is good as sometimes you get the cheap nasty grits at restaurants (aka crap they try to play off as grits but is really instant stuff), but they were just not really seasoned. I truly expected some exploding butter flavor from Paula Deen's restaurant and that was absent. As was salt.
So, my review of the restaurant is that it was good, but not stellar. Little touches were there though. Did you notice the doilies below the plates? I thought that was a nice touch and one you never get in restaurants. The ice tea also came with lemon and even a mint sprig. That's not a common touch in Texas. Of course, neither is having to remember to order unsweetened tea!
The waitstaff was very friendly and attentive as well. It's a bit hard to get in (likely because it's such a tourist attraction), but it wasn't that hard. We just walked up and made reservations for an hour or so later. Oh, and when you go, don't forget to read the WWI letter they found during the renovations. It's something! It's on the wall across from the ladies restroom (and on your way to the store).
And let's not forget the most important thing - it's Paula Deen's restaurant! Woo hoo! That alone makes it worth going and I clearly am not alone in that thought. People were flashing cameras both inside and outside the restaurant the entire time we ate, and I know it's not because they think I'm someone famous!
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