Back to Local
Finding new dishes and restaurants along life’s literal highway can be fun. The thing is, it can take a while to get to those places. We have enjoyed a good bit of that this summer in a state far, far away. But we’ve also found good eats closer to home.
When Niece Roo was here visiting from North Carolina,
Daughter decided to meet a friend for lunch in Tupelo. We weren’t meeting the friend - we just got to come along for the ride. While they met at Chick-fil-a (not a shock, really), we took the opportunity to eat somewhere that only exists in Tupelo: Sweet Tea and Biscuits. Perhaps you’ve heard Paula Deen’s sing-songsouthern voice on radio ads for this unique place, tucked in the back corner of Joyful Creations gift shop. That’s your landmark by the way - it’s a little hard to find otherwise.
The menu is mostly sandwiches and salads, and a daily plate lunch special, which we missed by just a few minutes. No problem, though - I wanted the fried green tomato BLT. Their version also had a slather of homemade pimento cheese that upped the ante, an ante which had already been enhanced by the fried green tomato. Truth be told, a regular ol’ BLT with regular ol’ bacon, a regular ol’ tomato slice, and regular ol’ iceberg lettuce is just fine. But I’m me, and me likes it when traditions get mixed up a bit, and truly, there is not yet enough pimento cheese in the world.
On a side note - literally - every plate came with a tiny little biscuit, even with the delicious toasted sourdough bread all our sandwiches were made with. And though we planned to hit Crave later for a skillet cookie (which we did), I could not pass up the opportunity to try a piece of their buttermilk pie. If that’s not familiar to you, it’s very much like chess pie - rich, buttery, decadent. And it didn’t spoil my appetite for more dessert later.
As I said, we did land at Crave for dessert after the girls did some hard shopping. But instead of the classic skillet cookie, we split a skillet “brookie” - half cookie, half brownie. The four of us split one and we were all satisfied, though I’m usually not against ordering at least one more dessert for the sake of diversity.
Down the road a piece in Oxford, The Wife and I went for a reunion, and took an opportunity to eat at Ajax Diner on the Square. I’ve been there before, but it’s been a long time and I was in a mood to get reacquainted. She chose the chicken and dumplings, one of her go-to dishes, and was very pleased. I had a harder time making a decision. It’s a shame I wasn’t hungry enough for an appetizer and two entrees, but it wasn’t one of those days. I settled on the Three Cheese Turnip Green Lasagna, a veggie-centric dish featuring the obvious (greens), mushrooms, roasted poblanos, and squash - all under a thick layer of cheese browned under the broiler. There was so much flavor going on I didn’t miss the meat at all.
And now back to our own fair city. I do eat here. Recently I ate at the first Bud and Burgers event put on by Mitchell Distributing and the GSDP. And this time I had a posse: Son, Daughter, and Son’s Girlfriend. You can probably guess what we had to eat: burgers. Quarters of burgers, anyway. Most of the teams were representing local restaurants, but at least one- the first place winning team, in fact - was just a couple of guys who happen to be good at grilling. That’s an understatement, actually. Wes and Wes (Shelton and Gordon), who called themselves W2 (that’s W-squared, not the tax form), have entered contests involving grills and smokers before in some form or fashion, and have done quite well. Their burger was a fresh ground mix of ribeye, brisket and chuck, on a bun with homemade pickles, garden tomatoes, cheese and their own version of Shake Shack sauce. Each layer of flavor was unique, but the star was the meat. As it should be.
Second place was Moe’s Smoked Bacon “Chee-burger” with original burger sauce. A bacon cheeseburger is one thing - but when you throw the smoke factor in...well, that just kicks everything up a notch. Zachary’s of Columbus came over to Starkville to participate and took home two trophies - third place burger, and best of show. I think it was the tie-dye. (There was lots of tie-dye.) And they seemed really excited to be there. Their “Munchees Burger” had a lot happening, too: angus beef, guacamole, onion, colby and bleu cheese, spring mix, jalapenos and candied bacon.
Daughter really liked the Cake Box Eatery’s entry, the Hawaiian Burger. This one was seasoned ground chuck cooked in a teriyaki barbecue glaze, topped with bacon, sharp cheddar, mozarella, and grilled pineapple. Grilled fruit really doesn’t get its due. Commodore Bob’s burger was a mix that included lamb and was topped with Red Dragon mustard beer cheese, so it really stood out - lots of good chatter about that one. Bulldog Burger soaked their patty in hot sauce and added a dollop of fruit salsa - hot and cool in one bite. Elite Physical Therapy even came out with a meatball burger!
And of course, our family has eaten many, many Starkvegas Snowballs this summer. It may have had a little to do with Daughter working there, but we were fans way before that. The Matriarch has definitely done her part and more to keep them in business.