Home eatin'

While we were in Tennessee we ate at some of my favorite food establishments. I know for some people that isn't a big deal, but see, I left the South and headed to California a decade ago. I thought I might starve. There were other problems there, but that would be way too much information to put into this blog.

So, back to food.
Let me begin by saying none of these food establishments, or their parent companies, employees, managers, servers or anyone affiliated with them are paying me to blog about them. I got nothing free, no coupons, no compensation whatsoever. They are just my personal favorites.

I didn't get a picture of Taco John's, but that place holds a lot of memories for me. My mom and I used to go there on Taco Tuesdays when tacos were something like 59 cents, I can't remember. It is also the first place I found that would do a special order for my vegetarian tastes. Their Taco Bravo is my favorite, with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, black olives and sour cream stuffed into a hard shell and cased in a soft shell. mmmm. yummy.

I must have been slow with the camera when we first arrived, because I forgot to get a picture of Pal's. Pal's is a fast food place with a huge hot dog on the building. If you've never seen one, it is a bit shocking at first, but it soon becomes a beacon.  I believe it is one of the BEST fast food restaurants. For several reasons, but mainly because they get the order correct. And do you know why they get the order correct? BECAUSE A REAL HUMAN BEING TAKES THE ORDER.
When you visit Pal's, you pull up to the window and right there in front of you is a real live person. There is no speaker system. That person takes your order and directs you to drive around the building to the second window where you pay for the order and take your bag full of deliciousness that may include a toasted cheese sandwich (my personal favorite) and an order of Frenchie Fries. And if you're like me, and you enjoy a tasty, refreshing sweet tea, you can order up that bad boy for $1 and sip on it all day. I think it's 32 oz., and it is oh, so good.

One cold afternoon Sean and I were on our own and hungry. I was trying to think of a place to go that we don't have here in Washington and realized I was very close to Chik-fil-A.

The line for Chik-fil-A was around the building when we got there, while we were inside eating, and people were still coming as we were leaving. Inside this particular restaurant you'll find friendly staff who walk around to your table and offer to refresh your drink for you. The food is delish and I wish we had Chik-fil-A here. Sean loved it!

David and Grace took us to a place called Cook Out. I had never been, and they said it was pretty good food at a very reasonable price. Woweeee. Four of us ate there for less than $16. I guess they must be famous for their milkshakes, but I didn't know that when I was ordering. It was pretty cold outside, so I don't think we would have ordered one anyway. Maybe next visit.

On our final day there we got up and I called David and Jewel to see if we could all eat lunch together at Poor Richard's. Poor Richard's has two locations in Johnson City, and I personally prefer the campus location, but we needed to get to the closest one in the interest of time. We ate at the one close to the Mall. It was a great way to say goodbye before we headed to the airport for our trip back to Washington.

These were taken at Poor Richard's Uptown. The top photo is of Grace, me and Dave. Middle pic is me with Jewel, and bottom is Bjorn and Jewel. Parsla was sleeping in her seat.