Tasty Travels & other Stories

In my search for places to eat in Nashville, TN,  Arnold’s Country Kitchen was always on the top of the list.   Rating 5 stars for the food is all I care about (as Suzanne will attest to)  atmosphere is secondary and Arnold’s proves that.

Arnold's 5 Stars in my book

Located at  605 8th Avenue South  (Googled),  Arnold’s is in an industrial ares of Nashville, only open for lunch on weekdays.  I would suggest you arive after 12:30pm or else you may have to stand to eat your lunch.

Walk in the door and your already in the food line, cafateria style with different choices every day of the week.  Since it was Friday, catfish was on the menu although Suzanne chose the meatloaf and I took the roast beef, greens and potatoes.

Corn bread cakes, corn bread cooked like a pancake was a treat I had never had and of course we had to try the Ches Pie (too sweet for both of us.

I would say 1/3 of the crowd was from out of town.  We sat next to a couple from Ohio who read about Arnolds in a magazine.  Over all, I’ll be back!  It’s just my type of place.

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Since I can’t resist a Brewery / Restaurant, I had to go to MacTarhahan’s Taproom with friends from Quilt Market. A little out of the way, we finally found it thanks to ‘Helga’ their Garmen GPS. Unbelivable weather in Portland this week led us to the decision to eat outdoors which turned out to be a good choice.

This was the first place that gave me a choice of a 7 glass or 10 glass sampler of the beers. A NO BRAINER, I choose the 10 which included all the MacTarnahan brands but a number of Pyramid Brands as well since this is their brewery house. All had their good and bad but by the time I finished them all, they started to all blend together. I lucked out and got an extra IPA, not sure why but whose complaining.

Dinner was wonderful for the most part. Started off with the ‘Garlic Fries’ which we good but expected a non deep fried version. Suzanne had the mushroom ravioli with no regrets. I had the Scottish Pie and enjoyed every bite. Don’s port tenderloin was dry but flavorful and Mary’s enjoyed her Garlic Chicken Pasta.

Critics were not but if a good time with close friends is what your after, try MacTarnahan’s Taproom.

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On our way home from moving Justin to MI last weekend, we stopped in Michigan City, IN to shop at the Lighthouse outlet mall. Unfortunately it closed sooner than we thought it would on a Saturday night.

On the way down I-94 we saw a sign for Shoreline Brewery in Michigan City. We asked 4 clerks in the mall and none had heard of it till a customer in the back of the line said “it’s across the street’. And it was, you could see the mall from the Brewery.

Located in an old warehouse, the entrance was different as you came in through a maze of walkways, by the kitchen, passed an enclosed room (which we think was for families with children, not a bad idea).

Seated in the open room, a complete list of beer was on the wall as well as the beers ‘on deck’. Since all the beers were ale’s, I had Suzanne order a margarita while I ordered a sampler.

Their sampler was 6 – 5oz beers, 3 darker, 3 lighter. One was a lager and was the worst of the 6. The IPA wasn’t too bad and the English Pale ale was OK as well. The rest were OK and I probably liked the ‘Smokestack Porter’ the best of the darks.

The food was over priced. There were plenty of ribs that were tender but lacked flavor. The fries were soft and limp, not what I like at all. I did have a soup for which was OK. Suzanne had the Fish & Chips which was uneventful. Although very crisp, the batter lacked flavor. She too had soggy fries and her French Onion soup had a beefy flavor but lacked in preparation.

Overall, it will be awhile before we are ready to try the Shoreline Brewery again, although it’s hard to find a place to eat in Michigan City, IN.

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While Christmas shopping yesterday i Orland Park, I noticed that an Italian restaurant that we had frequented a few time was now a Mexican restaurant, the Casa Margarita. I asked the clerk at the Dollar Store we were getting stocking stuffers if she had eaten there? After getting a No from her and 2 other staff, a gentleman from south of the border behind us said ‘Casa Margarita, good food!’ One recommendation is all it takes for me to try a new place so off we went.

As it turns out, this is the a second restaurant, they are also located in La Grange. The sign out from advertised that a buffet lunch was available so we commented on how we were here at the wrong time. It is had to find a Mexican buffet when there is a Chinese one on every corner, go figure.

Walking in was a wonderful transformation from the Italian bistro to a Mexican cantina. A festive place just what you would hope for. We were quickly served chips, salsa and a veggie mix of carrots & cauliflower that had the flavor of giradillie; both were on the heat scale of about 3 to 4. Or waitress was a little slow getting to our table although I think she may have just taken the order from a larger party near by. When she did arrive, she was friendly and attentive. We were ready to order, not going to wait for drinks first as we weren’t sure how long that might be.

Sangria was our choice this evening since they had it by the glass, 1/2 carafe, and carafe. Since we had a long drive yet ahead of us, 1/2 carafe was the choice since you can usually get a glass & 1/2 out of that. WRONG. They had filled the carafe 1/2 full of ice before the sangria. We each got one wine glass full of liquid (which by the way was very good) and that was with ice in the wine glass as well. Both of us sipped our drink before the meal arrived like we were dying of thirst in the desert knot knowing when our next meal would arrive.

For me, the pork tamale dinner was my choice. Few Mexican restaurants offer tamales as a dinner option. They had a great flavor but lacked in the meat department which eventually caused them to seem dry. I told Suzanne they needed some Pappasito’s tamale sauce on them.

Suzanne had a combo with pork Tamale, chicken enchilada, and beef taco. She commented on how each had their on unique flavors. Too often Mexican places use the same sauce & filling for everything and you can’t tell one thing from another. She was very pleased.

I forgot to mention that for an appetizer, chicken soup was served. Neither of us saw this on the menu so it was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, we would try it again. But probably not till we tried the other 15 places we haven’t tried on our list in the Orland Park area. (Unless we’re there at lunch for the buffet) Oh yea, Harrison’s, that’s top on our list in the area. We just don’t get there often enough.

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My regular restaurant research revield many reviews of Boudreaux’s Cajun Kitchen so I decided to give it a try.  After landing at hobby and Suzanne getting her ‘Sketchers‘ fix at the Sketchers outlet, we headed to Boudreaux’s at Gulfgate Center.  As it turns out, we had eaten in this same area when we at at Pappas Bar-B-Q last year. 

Walking in we didn’t know what to expect and found it to be an efficient, semi fast food restaurant.  You place your order at the counter and they call your number when it is ready.   Only bottle beer was available from the food counter but they did have a bar so I assume you could go and get other drinks and have with your meal.   I ordered Cajun, Suzanne ordered a dinner salad,  Suzanne won.

I had 1/2 shrimp, 1/2 crawfish etouffee.  The shrimp was over regular rice and the crawfish over dirty rice, piles of rice.   This was plenty of food, the etouffee had good flavor as did the dirty rice.  I also had a bowl of jambalaya which was disappointing;  good flavor but all rice with 1 piece of shrimp and micro pieces of andouille sausage.  Boy am I glad I didn’t order that for my meal.

Suzanne had a wonderful Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad.  A whole half breast of pecan crusted chicken, sliced over a salad that contained dried cranberries & mandarin oranges with a sweet/sour dressing and large spiced pecans.  A real hit!  She also had a bowl of red beans & rice, a great side.

It appeared that most of the other eaters were getting the deep fried shimp, fish or other combo.  Guess they new something I didn’t. 

I would eat again at Boudreaux’s Cajun Kitchen if I was in the area, but not one I will drive far to find again.

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Don’t, with a capital D, go to McGinnis pub in Michigan City at an off hour. Suzanne and I arrived at 4:00pm local time to find ourselves the only ones in the restaurant. 3 guys at the bar kept the attention of the bartender who was also our waitress.

The beer selection was nothing special with no unique Irish beer other than Guinness, so I ordered a Blue Moon which came with a lemon wedge instead of the new craze of an orange wedge and arrived after waiting a longer than expected. Suzanne ordered a margarita on the rocks which evidently was not something regular for McGinnis. We were informed by our waitress / bartender that she needed to go to the basement to find some tequila. Now time moved long passed acceptable as I watch our bartender / waitress server the locals at the bar. Finally, after I passed even my level of patients, the margarita arrived.

We ordered sandwiches because evidently the dinner menu doesn’t come out for another 1/2 hr. I had the Ruben which they served the dressing no the side; Nice Touch! Suzanne had the Italian “Irish” beef with mozzarella cheese. Both of us had “Treks”, a thin sliced potato chip that was deep fried and battered. Also good. The menu mentioned chili for dipping so I guess we needed to order that.

The sandwiches arrived quickly in comparison to our drinks which improved our attitude. Overall we enjoyed our visit to McGinnis and would try it again, only at a time when it was more convenient to them than us.

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