VIVA BLACKPOOL SATURDAY #6

FREAKY RECORD FRIDAY

After looking through 100's of your normal thrift store LPs (Herb Alpert, Gospel, John Denver, record covers with no records, etc), I was about to give up hope of finding anything at the local Miracle Hill Thrift Store when, what to my delight the above LP appeared near the back of the stack.

Side One: Drowning In Our Love, Love Is Like The Sea
Side Two: Dancing Inside Me, Imagine Me

FREAKY RECORD FRIDAY

Songs of Couch and Consultation sung by Katie Lee

songs: Shrinker Man, The Will To Fail, The Guilty Rag, Stay As Sick As You Are, Hush Little Sibling, Real Sick Sounds, Repressed Hostility Blues, I Can't Get Adjusted To The You Who Got Adjusted To Me, Schizophrenic Moon, Properly Loved, Gunslinger (A Ballad For Adult Westerns) and It Must Be Something Psychological

RED BRIDGES BARBECUE LODGE

Being a big BBQ fan, I always like to try out different independent BBQ places and Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby, NC seemed like it was a can't miss option. Their web site touted the fact that they had been in business since 1946 and were family owned and operated.


We both had BBQ sandwiches with BBQ slaw. The meat had very little smoked flavor AND speaking of very little - there was very little meat on the sandwich. I'm not one who has to have a large quantity of food to be satisfied, but at $3.95 each, I felt like I was getting "ripped off".

On the other hand, the hush puppies - 12 for $2.25 were priced right and mighty tasty. The potato salad also tasted homemade and was quite delicious.


On the table was a small card advertising their homemade banana pudding and we decided to give it a go, since sometimes a great dessert can help overcome a mediocre meal. The above photo makes the dish look very appetizing. The hardest thing to try and figure out is how someone could make a banana pudding and have it taste of "nothingness"! Besides the two vanilla wafers on top, nothing else about it had any taste - not the whipped cream, not the pudding, not even the bananas. I think Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge should be given some kind of special award for being able to make a banana pudding taste like nothing - I mean it had to be hard to accomplish!

FOOTHILLS DELI

After having made such a good find with Karrie's Deli and Pub, we decided to try another deli on Poinsett Highway in Greenville, SC - The Foothills Deli.


I chose The Rutherford - Thin sliced roast beef on grilled rosemary herb focaccia with spring mix, red onion, provolone cheese and house made roasted red pepper dressing.


My dining companion chose The Reedy Reuben - hot corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing piled high on grilled marbled rye.

The best thing that I can say about The Foothills Deli is that the staff were super nice. Unfortunately, while the sandwiches weren't bad, there just wasn't anything special about them that would make me want to go back to the restaurant.

KARRIE'S DELI and PUB

There are a few food items which I'm almost obsessed about: Meatloaf, Meatballs, and Reuben Sandwiches. If any of these show up on a restaurant's menu, there's a 99 per cent chance I'll be ordering them.


The Reuben Sandwich at Karrie's Deli and Pub, which is billed as "The Best In The Upstate" is for once truth in advertising. I've remarked before how is shouldn't be hard for anyone to make a good Reuben. It's a sandwich with just a few ingredients: corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1000 island dressing on grilled rye bread. The only secret to the sandwich is using the right combination of each item and using top level ingredients. Unfortunately, most restaurants have trouble doing this, but not at Karries'. Without hesitation, I can state that this IS the best Reuben In The Upstate.

You get to pick one side with your sandwich: I chose macaroni salad which was mighty tasty and pictured in the photo above. Even better was my wife's choice of potato salad with pieces of bacon mixed in....the bacon as our old TV pal Emeril would say "Kicked It Up A Notch".

The only warning I would give about Karrie's is go hungry or just order a half sandwich, since the sandwiches are larger than what you usually receive in this area. I think if you go once, you'll be thinking about your next visit as soon as you leave.....I know I am!

SOUTHERN FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

What's wrong with this restaurant:

1. The greeter/seater left us hanging while he wandered off looking for a table for us. He made us feel we were sort of a bother to him, not a good way to be welcomed into a restaurant.

2. Our server would be better off seeking a job in another field other than food service. The minimal effort she put forth on serving us and busing other tables was way below standards.

3. The floor of the restaurant was dirty with food scraps from the time we arrived until we left.

4. Pricing for this type of meal was excessive (10.00 for a meat and 2??). Luckily we had a coupon (buy one get one) making 10.00 for both of us acceptable.

5. Even though they have servers, you have to fetch your own drinks (This of course leads to unsanitary conditions, i.e. we noticed children playing with the tongs for the lemon slices).

6. Food arrived at the table lukewarm, whether this was due to the kitchen or the fault of our server not picking up the food fast enough is undetermined.

7. The crowd appeared to be mostly yuppie type families with children not kept in rein (not the fault of the restaurant, but still not your typical clientele for this type of restaurant).

8. Even though the restaurant wasn't huge, the noise was near din level.

9. The booths were big hard benches, probably to make sure customers don't linger, enabling the restaurant to turn tables faster.

What was right with this restaurant:

1. Even though the food should have been served a little hotter, it was all tasty and cooked good. I have to give Southern Fried Green Tomatoes props, since they could easily serve a lesser quality of food to the type of customers they seem to be attracting and probably get by with no one complaining.

Final Verdict:

With a 2 for 1 coupon, the meal was worth the price. Without a coupon, I would definitely recommend you spend your food dollars elsewhere.