Wagonwheels and Snake Tattoos: A Restaurant Review
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I knew I was in for some shit as soon as I saw the sign out front. Right beside "OPEN: come in and enjoy some great food!" was a sign that read "Notary Public!"
The interior was festooned with tchotchkes, nicknacks and trinkets my grandmother would've considered "old-timey." Everything in there predated cable television. Above the flat top were Texas longhorns, some Dallas Cowboy stickers and hoods that were at least two presidential administrations behind on their power washes. Manning it was a gruff, non-speaking cook with arm tattoos he likely didn't pay for. If he hadn't spent time in prison, I'd have bet money he should have.
There were only four tables, all of which were open. So we sat down beside the wagonwheel.
The waitress came around to get our drink orders. I asked if they still had coffee from the morning.
"No, but I can go over and brew a pot."
"Is that too much trouble?"
"Naw. What you won't drink, he will." The waitress thumbed over to the cook, who affirmed.It was proper ass diner coffee: forged from a heat-stained Bunn automatic, loaded up with Folgers and set to ten thousand degrees. The mug it was served in was of the standard-issue hourglass variety, hefty enough to double as a masonry hammer.
Then came the food. The kid's mac and cheese was made in the oven. My wife's pulled pork came from the barbeque out back. I ordered the chicken sammich special, which was breaded by hand with a handful of in-house spices. It was juicy on the inside, with an outer mantle crunchier than an Utz sourdough pretzel. But the toppings, man, the toppings. The onions were caramelized on a flat top that had grilled up countless prior omelettes, country fried steaks and burgers. Each bite was culinary archaeology, unearthing long-forgotten delicious artifacts.
When we left, there was a sign by the door that said "ring the bell if you liked the food!" Ring it I did, and the cook and I locked eyes. He gave me The Nod, I responded in kind, and then I made my way outside.
I did not have any documents notarized.
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I especially appreciate the nod at the end, and the gumption to put that bell there. An affirmative request to state your opinion. That's ballsy, and speaks to a confidence and a care for the craft.
@Horace said in Wagonwheels and Snake Tattoos: A Restaurant Review:
I especially appreciate the nod at the end, and the gumption to put that bell there. An affirmative request to state your opinion. That's ballsy, and speaks to a confidence and a care for the craft.
Aside from whatever unmentionable skills may yet reside in the man's hands, he can also craft a fucking incredible chicken sammich.
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Okay, where? And I assume they have breakfast?
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Okay, where? And I assume they have breakfast?
@LuFins-Dad said in Wagonwheels and Snake Tattoos: A Restaurant Review:
Okay, where? And I assume they have breakfast?
You bet your ass.
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We were out driving about the countryside today, going to a farm market and generally trying to be out in the sunshine after two days of solid heavy rain. After the market we decided to go for lunch at Bourbon's Craft Kitchen in Middletown (J.D. Vance's home town). Good burger, good shrimp tacos, great tap.
Nice to see the sunshine and find another good place to eat. I cannot say it was as interesting as Aqua's, but it was a welcome diversion.
We did like the wooden bunny head there in the bottom right.
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That's awesome, Mik. Seems you had a bit of a crowd with you?
This should be a continuous thread idea.
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@Catseye3 said in Wagonwheels and Snake Tattoos: A Restaurant Review:
Aqua, I appreciate your writing on this -- especially the food description paragraph.
Thanks, cats. I can only hope that Hunter S. Thompson would approve.
Please love yourself.
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@Catseye3 said in Wagonwheels and Snake Tattoos: A Restaurant Review:
Aqua, I appreciate your writing on this -- especially the food description paragraph.
Thanks, cats. I can only hope that Hunter S. Thompson would approve.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. ]] Hunter S. Thompson
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Listen up, class...
The coffee cup AL is fond of, is most likely a copy of a Victor mug. And therein lies a story...
Navy guys being Navy guys, they like their coffee. In WW2, the U.S. Navy put out a contract for a heavy ceramic insulating coffee mug. The Victor company in New York, being in the electrical insulator business, knew how to make and fire insulating ceramic, so they bid on the contract. They got it. The mugs were heavy with an unglazed bottom that didn't easily slide around on a ship's table.
After the war, Victor decided to attach a handle to the mug and the iconic diner coffee mug was born. And the Navy still used them. Victor probably made those mugs 40 years or more.
A sidenote on a tradition with the mugs...If you were far enough up the feeding chain in the Navy where you could hang on to your own mug, the tradition became to never wash it. Rinse it out with water, but never wash with anything that would mess with the stain. You could tell how long a CPO or officer had been in, by how dark his mug was on the inside A 15-year guy might have a mug with a bronze interior.
But back to our story...As with all things, the DamnChinese (one word, like DamnYankee) got into the business with cheap knock-offs. They could make, ship and sell at wholesale a mug for less than what the Victor company could fire the mug in the plant. Victor took the machinery out of use and it probably still sits in a warehouse, somewhere.
So now, Victor mugs have become a bit collectible. There are even some colored ones and a few different designs that the company made up looking to increase sales. Look on the bottom for the word "Victor" stamped into the mug before firing. Since each worker had his own stamp, some employees would modify their stamps a bit, maybe taking off a leg off of the R or an arm off of the Y. That way they knew who made the mug.
Now, the DamnChinese, being the clever Orientals they are, tended to stamp the word "Victory" on the bottoms of their knock-offs. Kinda hard to tell if you've got a Victor or a Victory (with a smudged Y) with just a glance.
Which brings us to Etsey, Ebay and the local bric-a-brac shop...Because of the WW2 connection and because of the numerous Chinese mugs, people started to refer to the mugs as WW2 Victory Mugs, somehow fusing the American and Chinese mugs into a single style of mug. If you decide to buy one, do your research and make sure you are getting what you pay for.
And enjoy your coffee...
