Marie’s job had taken her back to Ohio, setting the stage for our biggest road trip since we started the blog, since our honeymoon expedition to Montreal and back, in fact. She flew to Dayton on a Sunday for a week. On the following Wednesday morning, about three minutes after the baby finally spotted a photo of Marie on the wall and remembered who it was he’d been missing – “Mommy! Mommy!” – the car was packed, and the baby and the teen girlchild were strapped in and we were off to join her. Continue reading “Hoskins Drugs, Clinton TN”
Category: tennessee
Mojo Burrito, Chattanooga TN
We got a very late start home from Nashville on Saturday afternoon. Part of the problem was that the baby had been cranky and fighting a cold most of the time. He wasn’t horrible, just clingy to Marie, and not a particularly fun guest. After lunch, he cheered up tremendously, and while the clock said we should’ve already left, we just didn’t want to strap the little stinker in the car when he was finally showing signs of his usual, playful self for Tory. So we let him run around the yard for several minutes, and he gave good hugs and kisses. He was also breaking Marie’s heart just a little. He’s calling me “Dada,” and her “Daddy.” This prompted some – I hope – good-natured grumbling from Marie. “I want to be Mommy,” she pouted, but it sure was funny watching him run across the length of Tory’s yard bellowing “DAH-DEEEEEEE” and jump into Marie’s arms. Continue reading “Mojo Burrito, Chattanooga TN”
Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant, Nashville TN
It was a very silly set of circumstances that led us to Puckett’s. Tory first suggested it when my daughter asked whether we could get some fried chicken in Nashville, only not, she underlined, the crazy hot lava death kind that I enjoy so much. I mentioned that to Tory and she said that Puckett’s would work for us. Unfortunately, they were closed for a private party on Friday evening, which is how we ended up at Tazza instead. Then at some point, my daughter, mercurial as ever, decided that she didn’t want fried, or any kind of chicken whatever, at any time in her life ever again. She lasted about a week; Marie’s chicken alfredo pasta was enough to shake the girlchild out of her reverie. Continue reading “Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant, Nashville TN”
Tazza, Nashville TN
Since we don’t live in Nashville, and since that city has a very active blogging community of its own, it always surprises me when we make it to a restaurant and give it a writeup before anybody else seems to have. Then again, what reputation Tazza has tends to be negative. It isn’t a place that has made much impact on hobbyists, and the user reviews at Yelp and Urbanspoon are fairly tepid. Continue reading “Tazza, Nashville TN”
The Pharmacy Burger Parlor, Nashville TN
I only had one particular restaurant in mind for our trip to Nashville, and decided that when we got to town, we’d let our friend Tory pick where we ate, but only after we stopped by The Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden. I had read about The Pharmacy, a very trendy and popular burger joint and biergarten – so trendy that the predictable backlash came almost instantly – in East Nashville, and, on our last visit to town, when we stopped by Mas Tacos Por Favor to enjoy some of their Friday fish tacos, we saw the very long line of people waiting to get in. I figured we’d wait a little while, for the fad to cool, and stop by during some off-peak time to try the burgers and see what the fuss was about. Then I read a little more closely and learned they make their own sodas from an old-fashioned pump. This suddenly became very promising. Continue reading “The Pharmacy Burger Parlor, Nashville TN”
Slick Pig Bar-B-Q, Murfreesboro TN
When it’s feasible, I like to do a little bit of advance reading about a restaurant before we visit. The best way to do that, once we’ve picked a place, is to pop by Urbanspoon and read the blogger reviews. Once in a while, though, we run into a joint that seems untouched, and I don’t really have the time or the inclination to go a-Googlin’ for blogs that don’t yet affiliate themselves with that service. Once in a while, in other words, I deprive myself of an experience that sounds really good. Continue reading “Slick Pig Bar-B-Q, Murfreesboro TN”
Taco Mamacita, Chattanooga TN
One of Chattanooga’s most popular restaurants these days is a fun little drinking hole, just a little bit naughty-minded, within a short walk from the main drag along the North Shore. Taylor and Mike Monen opened the first Taco Mamacita in 2008. It’s in a really curious location. They found a dying strip mall, anchored, sort of, by a Family Dollar, and opened the restaurant in the corner slot. It has been a huge success, allowing the Monens the chance to not only branch out into burgers via their popular Urban Stack, but also expand to other cities. The second Taco Mamacita opened in Nashville in late 2009, and a third opened on South Carolina’s Sullivan Island last summer. Continue reading “Taco Mamacita, Chattanooga TN”
Marie, Let's Eat! 