February 26th, 2010
by Dena
For months we’ve been trying to get to the Green Tomato in Texarkana. They boast that they are “home of the greatest burger that ever lived.” We had to see about that. In addition to being intrigued about that claim, one of my good friends happens to be the aunt of the owner.
Janelle, wearing their motto.
We ordered the special, and with that comes an appetizer. We couldn’t decide so we got fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. Both were a very good decision. They were light and crispy, which is not always an easy thing to accomplish when you are frying veggies.
I ordered a salad with grilled chicken. It was perfect. I hesitated because I am very very very picky about the chicken that goes on chicken salads. All too often restaurants use some sort of rubbery mess that comes frozen out of a bag, but this was fresh and delicious.
Rod pretty much always gets a chicken fried steak or a burger, but he surprised everybody by ordering a chicken breast smothered in ham, cheese, and onions; a sort of deconstructed chicken cordon bleu if you will. And again to everybody’s surprise Rod enjoyed his meal.
Boo was the only one to order a burger at the place that claims to have the best, and she chose the Green Tomato Burger, which places a fried green tomato in place of a raw red one.
Not only was it delicious according to her, it was so big that Rod had to take up the slack and finish the other half of it.
Did I mention that our special came with dessert? Boo got her usual ice cream (not part of the special) and we split a homemade sopapilla cheesecake. It was delicious.
The special was an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert for $12.99. We think that’s a steal, especially considering the great taste and portion sizes. This restaurant is the kind of place that has a friendly diner atmosphere and eclectic clientele that give it a unique ambiance to match the food. Visit their Facebook and then visit them in person!
Blazing Hot off the Presses. | 
4 Comments »
January 14th, 2010
by Dena
I spend a lot of time at restaurants that have some sort of theme. They have some sort of ethnic or regional flair, you can throw peanuts on the floor, they set stuff on fire at the table, you get the idea. Now I have nothing against these places (many of which are chains), but for all the pomp and circumstance, I sometimes find that these places are missing once critical component……soul. They have decent food, but it’s massed produced and largely blanded down so that people’s palates won’t be offended by salt or pepper. The problem with this is that I grew up eating Mama’s food, which always had plenty of spices and usually a decent amount of heat. So no matter how fancy a place is and what kind of gimmick they sell, more often than not I find myself shaking out some salt and asking for some hot sauce.
Well, FINALLY I have located a place that cooks not only the kind of food I grew up eating, but it’s also so well cooked I don’t have to add a thing to it. Kitchen Express at 4600 Asher in Little Rock has made me nothing short of ecstatic. When I first walked in to the cafeteria style restaurant, I was greeted with the sight of some of my favorite things; fried chicken, fried catfish, and smoked turkey legs. Yes, giant caveman sized turkey legs. Then on down the line to the sides, they have greens, REAL macaroni and cheese, black eyed peas, and one of my personal favorites, candied sweet potatoes. I went for the fried chicken, with greens, mac and cheese, and the sweet potatoes. I also had a roll, which was perfect for dipping into the delicious greens juice.
Every bit of it was a good decision! The greens were perfect and I’m going to jump out there and say that they have the best greens in Little Rock. They are seasoned to perfection, and don’t have that weird chemical taste that the big chain restaurant greens have sometimes. The chicken was crispy and juicy, the sweet potatoes were fabulous, and the mac and cheese is REAL. It’s not that fake stuff from a box and it’s for sure not the big #10 can of cheese dumped over noodles. It’s cheesy and perfect. Then as if all that wasn’t enough, they have a peach cobbler that is so good I just wanted to eat a giant plate of nothing but cobbler. Seriously, it was a perfect ending to a delicious, well-made meal.
http://thekitchenexpress.com/ is their site so you can scope them out online. I went to their site and was beside myself to see that they have breakfast!
and they do catering……..I feel an excuse to party coming on!
Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
December 31st, 2009
by Dena
When I was little, we used to go see my great-grandmother every weekend. She lived in a neighboring town about 35 miles away, which was on the other side of the earth as far as my parents were concerned. Anyway, we always stopped at this little diner sometime during the trip. It isn’t there anymore but I do like to find out of the way diners like this and let other people know that sometimes the best meals can be found where you least expect it.
One example is the Redwater Diner in Redwater, Texas. Now, there isn’t much to be found in Redwater. There is a nice school, a few small stores, and a popular gymastics arena. In fact, taking my daughter to gymnastics was the reason for my very first stop at the Diner.
We decided last night to go back and see if we could get a decent meal.
There weren’t a lot of people dining in, but the drive through was busy the whole time we were there.
My daughter and husband are both chicken fried steak fanatics.
She always gets fried okra.
In an effort to be healthy, he a salad as a side.
I got the chef salad and it was more than I could eat. In fact, they both tried to finish it out.
Everyone was happy with their meal and the best part? They are the most reasonably priced place around. My chef salad was $4.50. Yes. It was. All together, with drinks and everything, our bill was $20. Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about getting the most for my money. I certainly think we did tonight.
7A3JFDBP8H86
Blazing Hot off the Presses. | Comments Off
