One of the goals of our website was to find out of the way diners and restaurants that weren’t part of a chain and write about them. I’ve come to realize that many sound the same. How many ways can you write about a chicken fried steak? Is there really a difference to be found?
I would say a most certain YES. I came to this conclusion a few days back when we found ourselves in DeKalb, Texas. It’s very much the kind of town where the churches outnumber the restaurants, but it does have a few little cozy places to grab a burger and a soda.
You might even see a few people on horseback as you cruise town looking for a bite to eat.
We stopped to eat at a little place called Varsity. Once we got inside, we saw it wasn’t as little as we had thought judging from the outside. We got our usual type of orders, with only Boo branching out. She got a Philly Cheesesteak and sweet potato fries. Both were delicious. (Of course I tried it!)
Rod got the burger he had been craving. I think its called the Varsity Burger, and it was met with approval from Rod, who as I have said before, is a very discriminating eater.
I got the chicken fried steak. And then it hit me, wow, we write about chicken fried steak a lot…………how many different ways can I explain it? What makes it different? First of all, every little place does something a little bit different in terms of breading, and frying etc. But what really makes each place special is the nuances in service, the people you see, the managers, and the ambiance.
That home-grown feeling is what we are looking for when we try these places, and this one had plenty of that (and a good chicken fried steak to boot!) The manager came over to visit with us as she did the other patrons. In talking to her we found out that they have Friday Night Fish Night (YEAH!!) and a breakfast buffet on Saturday. Of course, we plan to sample the fish as soon as we can.
I love that we are going out of our way to try places that are locally owned. You just can’t get the food or the service in a chain that mass produces and covers their servers in flair! I hope that you find yourself trying the same when dine out. If you are in DeKalb, try The Varsity. And if you find yourself missing a dining partner, email me because I would gladly go back!
