Saxapahaw General Store, NC -- Shall We Try Again?

Broke: You know I really really want to like this for all the reasons you mention. And we were so delighted the first time, everyone looked forward to a revisit. Still, I'm not going to drag a dozen friends for something I am not sure about that takes an hours round trip. And note they were not slammed the last two times we went.

I may try it myself next fall.

BTW, no chickens or laying hens are ever fed hormones as far as I know. Antibiotics are used as growth stimulants instead. Not acceptable, but not hormones.

birgator in Southeast

Suggestion for fine dining near Sheraton Downtown Atlanta

Oh, I do like ESS but haven't been in a while and forgot about it. There is mention of the tasting menu on their website, lower right corner.
http://empirestatesouth.com/pdf/dinner-menu.pdf

Heads up: Don't know when you're planning to eat, but looks like Friday May 11 is a "special dinner" prix fixe.

birgator in Atlanta

Suggestion for fine dining near Sheraton Downtown Atlanta

My favorite hidden gem is One Eared Stag, conveniently located across from the Inman Park/Reynoldstown MARTA station. Lots of small plates, lots of variety, and I think spot on with everything I tried from pig to mussels.

I don't think I've seen much about OES on CH. Perhaps someone else has and can weigh in.

Not over the top expensive, but really really good, inventive, and well executed. It's no Bacchanalia or RE, but it's about as good as it gets in a town where I have yet to be REALLY wowed. Whether it meets your criteria for "fine dining" I'm not sure, but you may check out menu and see if it does anything for you (which changes daily if I recall).

birgator in Atlanta

Road trip from Atlanta, GA to Amelia Island, Fl

Failure to read here -- completely missed the departure time. AND forgot something needs to be vegetarian... Sorry!

I'd probably pack something in that case -- seems to me the route is pretty much a wasteland, and I doubt you'd want to go into Macon proper.

birgator in Southeast

Road trip from Atlanta, GA to Amelia Island, Fl

I can vouch for Tuptim Thai (thanks to beteez) which was wonderful, and VERY easy on and off 95.. A little further up, exit 49 at Darien is B&J Seafood, which has wonderful fried shrimp. The buffet may be too much -- the baskets are huge. Best shrimp I've had in a long time and surely a good intro to coastal dining.

birgator in Southeast

Saxapahaw General Store, NC -- Shall We Try Again?

We didn't go. No one really was in the mood to put 60 miles RT on two vehicles without being assured of a better meal than last year.... I'll check back in September. Week end at Liberty, as usual, was wonderful -- it's everyone's favorite antique show!

birgator in Southeast

Saxapahaw General Store, NC -- Shall We Try Again?

Last two times we ate the Sax General Store, not the pub, (last spring and fall) we were progressively less delighted than when we first tried it two years ago. Looked like the owner left things in the store to the staff who produced some overcooked, oversalted, and inconsistent dishes. But it appears that there may be more attention to the store, or at least I see FB updates regularly.

Heading for Liberty tomorrow, so shall we try the Pub, or can we safely dine at the store? It's a half hour ride ... What do you hounds in the area recommend?

Thanks from what will be a bunch of hungry, tired and thirsty antique dealers!

birgator in Southeast

Restaurants near Atlanta airport?

Zab-e-Lee used to be a mainstay for me when I did the Lakewood market back ten years ago. Went religiously, sometimes twice in a weed end, and then suddenly it changed hands and was not very good. Is it back to being very good again?

Spondivits is obnoxiously loud, and I don't think the food is as good as the time we ate at the Buford location (is that one closed?). Actually, I'm not sure I think it's all that terrific, and it's pricey. I see their on line menu is price-less. Be prepared for a wait. Sometimes a long wait. Used to go with a handful of friends for the shark's platter which was really great fun and quite good for sharing. Ordering off the menu seemed less successful and the last visit was not fab, so we stopped going.

Friends who stay near the airport go to the MA every month, sometimes more than once in a week end and can't be budged to try anything else. Sounds like an endorsement to me!

birgator in Atlanta

Finalizing Hubby's 40th Bday Eats in Charleston. Help!

Sorry, just had to smile -- that's what MY messages look like, so I was pleased to see I wasn't alone in the lack of proficiency with those things!

birgator in Southeast

Softshells in Charleston

Well, Port Royal (outside Beaufort, SC) has their annual softshell crab festival on April 21, so hopefully they'll last that long and come out of the water, not the freezer.

Thanks for the heads up, Sue! On the agenda for this week for sure. How is 17 North overall?

birgator in Southeast

Finalizing Hubby's 40th Bday Eats in Charleston. Help!

Looks like a smartphone/ipad text to me ....what might a "a sa-weet filetbwith" be pray tell? Hehhehehe!

birgator in Southeast

Indian Redux

Anyone been to Cardamom yet? I see lots of buzz on CL.

birgator in Atlanta

Eating on a Sunday between Savannah & Chapel Hill - What's Open?

Really depends on when you leave Savannah. If shortly before noon, you may want to try Duke's barbeque in Walterboro for a substantial lunch (closes at 2) then stop at Saxapahaw General Store along 87 north (get off 95 at Fayetteville and head towards Sanford on the way to Burlington and I40)) for a lighter snack or brunch for supper.

Duke's is easy to find, stupidly cheap, lots of locals, and there should be something for everyone there. SaxGen might be interesting for a small bite and a place you may not normally hit. I see the owner is blogging and I am getting emails, so perhaps there is new vitality here now.

birgator in Southeast

Need Reco's for St Simmons

Beetez steered me to a fab Thai place since I was staying in Brunswick -- absolutely trust his/her recos. Sadly, one recommendation that I missed (not for want of trying) was Moocow ice cream on the island. Looks like a must do in between other eating... and in fact, I could most likely make a great lunch out of that one.

birgator in Southeast

Smoked salmon (lox): Goldbergs vs SAMs Club

Since I don't have a club membership, I buy mine at TJoes -- I get the "pieces" which are not itty bits or scraps, just smaller slices. Seems it's 6.99 for 8 oz. and it's just fine.

birgator in Atlanta

Charleston Restaurant Week Round 3: Anson

Thanks for your great reviews (they always are, of course) of two places I've now added to the sometimes tired repertoire. Both Anson and Tristan get little mention here, and it sounds like they should be getting more attention!

birgator in Southeast

NYC Hound returning to Charleston--ISO Sunday Brunch for New Year's Day

Good choice. I always enjoy High Cotton's brunches!

birgator in Southeast

Looking for advice for Charleston, SC

I've always been fond of Moe's Crosstown Tavern ... and I like their burgers AND their BLTs. Most convenient location is Cumberland, downtown. Open for lunch.

birgator in Southeast

Places with good chow near the Fayetteville area?

If not this trip, then your next visit. Nothing I know of in Fayetteville (the only place I found after a movie was Arby's ...), but head up the pike a few minutes and try the Landmark Diner in Hapeville. Skip the food and head for the cakes -- OK, try their chicken. If you like Mexican, Tacqueria Oaxaquena, at the corner of Tara Blvd and Mt. Zion Road in Morrow is wonderful. What's your hankering, coming from Detroit and all?

birgator in Atlanta

Wow...this years SC oysters are intense!

Saturday night's local blue crabs were the best I've had this year ... I thought it was my skilled cooking and seasoning .... Now I have to get some oysters!

birgator in Southeast

Mt. Pleasant area lunch recommendation please

Boulevard Diner. Kid friendly menu. And quick and reasonable.

-----
Boulevard Diner
1978 Maybank Hwy, Charleston, SC 29412

birgator in Southeast

Darien GA -- Fried Shrimp or Oysters for dinner?

Back to a real keyboard -- don't do the iPhone well yet. Perhaps my fingers are too fat, not the least from the copious number of shrimp I polished off on Friday night.

Stopped at Southern Pickers in Darien, and he tried to send me back almost an hour to Speed's, but agreed since I was heading south that B&J's would work. I got there early, which assured quick seating; I believe the week end night seafood buffet brings a packed house. Nothing special about the interior, and it's seat yourself, pick your table and your dining neighbors. No one drank anything but tea and soda, but I believe beer is available.

Not really a buffet person, but since a shrimp dinner was about the same price as the buffet, and I watched the shrimp pan refilled several times while I read the menu, I opted for the buffet. Not cheap, at $18 and change, and no oysters, the shrimp really were good, excellent in fact. Large, fried in a light batter that barely coated the shrimp, letting all that flavor shine. Perfectly fried, really exceptional -- BIG difference between fresh caught wild and imports and I don't mind paying a few extra bucks for local shrimp -- shrimpers are sadly decimating faster than you can imagine. Your choice of tartar sauce, which was also good, or a very dark, horseradishy cocktail sauce. Both appeared to be home made.

I tried the clam strips, fried a little too hard for me, but good sized bites. Stuffed crab shells with lots of breading, some chopped peppers, and if there was crab in there, I couldn't taste it. Think Chinese buffet. Bullet sized scallops in a heavier breading than the shrimp tasted just a tad bitter. There was a pan of crab au gratin. Appeared to be crab mixed with lots of butter, not much filler, with a very soft, almost runny texture. Very finely shredded/picked claw meat, perhaps local perhaps not. Again not much flavor despite the apparent largesse with crab. More seasoning, a bit of lemon would have helped.

Frogmore stew had corn, potatoes and sausage in one pan. Broiled shrimp were in another vat -- also spectacularly good with great snap and bite, just perfectly cooked and not suffering from a warming tray. There was also flounder, but I didn't want to waste space on fish -- it looked good and crispy.

There is also an unexceptional salad bar, some sort of steak in gravy, pole beans, grits, biscuits, collards, mac and cheese, and perhaps more I overlooked, but none of which I tried.

The cole slaw was not overly mayonnaisey, very finely shredded, and a good contrast to all that fried shrimp. Banana pudding, sometimes listed as a vegetable on Southern menus, was very fresh, and quite good.

If I did this again, I'd probably just stick with a shrimp dinner. Portions were more than generous, judging from my local neighbors, who also had a steak which looked quite good. It is indeed possible that the seafood platter is the stuff of legends and perhaps the way I should have gone but I may have been shortsighted and too frugal ...

Had to pass on the ice cream ( couldn't find a place to park -- holiday week end) but next time!

If the green curry at Tum Tim is any indication, this place is a winner. The best green curry I've had in a long time, slippery egg plant in there, and made Thai hot as requested and a very large portion for takeout. Some people use Pad Thai as a measure of a restaurant; mine is green curry. I'll stop there again on my way through. Thanks for that tip!

birgator in Southeast

Darien GA -- Fried Shrimp or Oysters for dinner?

Actually doing the antique show in SSI so I will have will have ice cream!

birgator in Southeast

Darien GA -- Fried Shrimp or Oysters for dinner?

Thanks--went for shrimp which were great. The rest notso much . Thai tomorrow. Better report after I get off this phone

birgator in Southeast

Darien GA -- Fried Shrimp or Oysters for dinner?

If I recall, there are a few restaurants with killer fried shrimp in Darien, GA. Heading that way tomorrow, and wonder if Chowhounds have any recent input from either B&J or perhaps somewhere else to recommend.

Will be staying in Brunswick till Sunday. Anything chowworthy there? I could really eat some Thai or sushi but don't want to pay St. Simons prices if I can help it.

Thanks!

birgator in Southeast

What kind of turkey to buy, & where?

I once worked at a kosher poultry plant. The owner always said a "frozen turkey is always fresher than a fresh turkey." For shelf life, a "fresh turkey" is generally kept at close to at freezing temp anyway until it hits the store, and then who knows who long it sits. In which case "fresh" means "not frozen" -- but fresh SOUNDS better ....

birgator in Southeast

Lemon dessert similar to pudding or curd but not exactly...

Posset is more like a syllabub ... I have antique posset cups from which you drink.

Sounds very much like our special occasion Swedish "citronfromage" -- or it could be a variant of a Bavarian cream. Google the Swedish version and see if if sounds like that could be it. Wonderful stuff!

birgator in General Chowhounding Topics

Saxapahaw General Store (between Triangle and Triad NC)

A group of us looked forward every year to head to Saxapahaw on a Friday night twice a year. The first time was incredibly good, the subsequent visits became less fabulous each time. I don't think we're going back -- I got the feeling most of the energy is heading to the new pub they opened in an adjacent space. We never had to wait for a table, but it wasn't raining -- dining time was about 7 or so. . I'd be curious what you think. I was so pleased to have found it, and the last time I was embarrassed to have brought the group (two out of 8 entrees were good, six had issues of overcooking, oversalting, or being cold -- nothing was killer even though it all sounded like it should be). The very last time it wasn't busy at all -- about 8 or 10 tables on the porch were all empty. It may be better for lunch?

birgator in Southeast

Charleston: fast, fresh, and delicious on the peninsula

Or how about Amen Street for one of the newer restaurants that you may not have been to? Lots of fish and seafood to pick from ...as much or as little as you want for lunch.

birgator in Southeast