I have a friend who suggested that we go eat at a place called the Rockin Rooster in Avery, Texas. It sounded like our kind of place so we took off to Avery to see what we could find.
The Rockin Rooster is a quaint home style restaurant where most of the patrons know each other. I even knew someone there, surprisingly.
My husband spied it the second he opened his menu……………Chicken Fried Bacon. Yes. We laughed about it and when we ordered (him) fried fish and (me) a hickory burger I had almost forgotten the plate of pork death. Then, he yelled out to the waitress, ” and an order of chicken fried bacon.”
I could not begin to imagine what this looks like. When she brought it out I was shocked to see that it looked like long chicken strips. It came with a side of gravy, just in case we wanted to stare death in the eyes a little sooner. Really though, it wasn’t that bad. Not if you like greasy and crunchy drenched in gravy. Rod gave it two thumbs up. I’m making a cardiology appointment as we speak.
He said it would be great for breakfast. Dream on.
Chicken fried bacon is one of those foods that you should probably eat only once in your life. Like bungee jumping or knife juggling, you take a picture and talk about it for years to come, but it’s really only for the brave.
The fried fish was really good, as was the coleslaw. I like my fish a little more brown but he doesn’t. This was perfect for him so he was happy.
I got the hamburger with hickory bbq sauce, bacon, and onion. It was hand pressed and more than enough for two people. Yikes!
We opted out of dessert. They had everything from blackberry cobbler to fried oreos and fried twinkies. Rod had taken in his limit of grease for the evening!
I tried to call Joy and tell her of the happenings at the Rocking Rooster but part of the charm of this place is that it is kind of far from things like cell towers.
To the left….
And to the left….
You may not be able to get any signal out here, but you can definitely get a good meal!
We found a cute little place called The Whistle Stop Cafe. How could we resist?
I got a cheeseburger. Again, my expectations were smashed when I got a burger that was a hand formed patty from fresh beef. Another touch that I loved that was with each sandwich meal you got a mini dessert. Ours was a small muffin. I think that is an awesome idea because most of the time you are too stuffed for dessert but would like a taste of something sweet.
On the way to the ladies room I peeked in the kitchen and had a nice chat with the owners. They knew we were from out of town right away. Maybe we looked like tourists, or we had Texas tags on the car. Whatever it was, they were nice and they wanted to know if we liked our food. I told them I was a little surprised at the quality. Overall, a great find in Hope.
This is the type of place we love to find. They are moving to a new location next week and I’m not sure of exactly where it will be. I know it is still in downtown Hope, so if you are there, give it a try. It makes it even better if you have been driving around, singing 70’s rock for a few hours!
We celebrated our first week of summer (not official summer, just school out summer) with a trip to 
I don’t really care for big summer plans. I like to have fun each day, whether doing something big or small. I look forward to a summer of kids in the sprinkler and shaved ice, sleeping late and watermelon for lunch. I hope we find good books and good friends each day.
This is pretty much the same burger that you get in your average school cafeteria, only it’s more expensive. For as much as they charge (like $4) they could do a LOT better. The zoo has banned all outside food so if you have a hungry screaming kid, you’re stuck with this. The one saving grace was the spiral cut potato chips. These were actually pretty good, but not good enough to make up for that atrocity they called a burger.
So overall, I would say if you go to the Little Rock Zoo, eat a good meal before hand, and pack a big purse with some snacks if you just have to. I didn’t see any food police on the prowl, and let’s be serious, how do they even know where that bag of chips came from really???
