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Crossroads Grill

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By Taylor Hill, 2013

Curb appeal is generally a word used to describe the extent of aesthetic charm that a place of business has. Typically, restaurants with curb appeal are inviting, with alluring characteristics that are obvious and hard to miss. With that being said, I wasn’t exactly expecting a five star bistro as we were heading towards the outskirts of Taylorsville, maneuvering between rolling hills and extensive plains, but I wasn’t ready for the unadorned and uninviting building that we were to come across. I guess the surrounding land was an innate distraction for visitors coming to Crossroads, allowing them to avert their eyes from the dull charm of the grill.

Crossroads is a very small, one story white brick building with tiny rectangular windows sporadically lining the very top of the walls. Inside, there are four rows of small tables for guests to dine at, along with a small television mounted on the wall for viewing pleasure. The floors were not as clean as I would have liked, and the tables were a bit small for our party of four, but we were starving travelers and did not mind. As we were seated, a small older woman came to take our drink orders and provided us with a menu. Crossroads was indeed your typical grill, serving all the southern favorites such as hushpuppies, pulled pork, biscuits and gravy, and sweet tea among other things. Trying not to let my hunger get the best of me, I settled for the bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries and a sweat tea. My travel partners each decided to get a different side so that we could all partake in the options Crossroads had to offer.

Waiting for the food, we couldn’t help but notice the trophies and certificates of local students that were plastered along the walls, as well as pictures highlighting the history of Crossroads. This made me enjoy the neighborly environment within the grill, understanding that it was a residential spot that had good food reviews, and I would see why soon enough.

The wait for our food was average, not particularly speedy, but also not infuriatingly slow. I was aware that small grills such as this do not have a bevy of cooks at their disposal and the actual food made me disregard any wait. My burger came out and was as juicy and succulent as I could have hoped, with fresh lettuce and tomato dressing the bacon and cheesy beef. The beef itself was cooked perfectly, not excessively charred and scorched, but enough heat was used for the perfect amount of time to allow it to retain its tender and luscious quality. Their acclaimed onion rings, which my partner Anna ordered, were crisp and freshly hot, but the hushpuppies and fries were depressingly regular, the fries being slightly thinner that I usually take a liking to. However, my burger was the show stopper, showing up all of the other dishes on our table. In addition to that scrumptious behemoth, the best thing about the experience, which would undoubtedly cause me to return if I am ever in the area, was the very cheap pricing, my meal only costing about six dollars.

As we left, stomachs full and protruding, I turned to take a photo of the grill for my records, still hating its outside appearance, but loving the feel of my content appetite. I would urge future visitors to not be disillusioned by its lackluster outer and inner appeal, and be aware that it is a small old-fashioned grill, but will steal you away with its hearty, flavorsome burgers and delicious, golden onion rings.

*For another perspective of Crossroads, check out Jeff Flitter’s travelogue “Three Cities, Three Meals”.

 

Three Cities, Three Meals

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By Jeff Flitter, 2013

One beautiful autumn Saturday, though too warm for October, my group and I jumped into the car to start our exploration of Highway 64. As a meticulous person that prefers to have a plan for every adventure, I was nervous to get on the road with little to no idea what I was about to experience, see, or even visit. We left for Highway 64 with the intention to spend the day stopping in Mocksville, Taylorsville, and Lenoir and getting a meal in each. The idea was to get breakfast in Mocksville, lunch in Taylorsville, and ending with dinner in Lenoir. As we pulled out and started our journey, I was starting to feel the hunger already and everyone seemed to still be getting used to the experience of waking up on a Saturday morning. Thankfully, I had my trusty coffee to keep me going until we got to our first stop in Mocksville.

The first stop was difficult to get to because of a bridge on Highway 64 that caused us to loop around the highway to get back on track. Stopping at Mocksville for breakfast was nerve-wracking. It had no breakfast options that we could find online, except for the fast-food restaurants located closer to I-40. We had noticed a farmer’s market happening further from down town, so we decided we would drive through downtown Mocksville and out to the farmers market. Downtown Mocksville was a quaint area. It was very quiet on Saturday morning, but we noticed it had some interesting businesses. I was drawn to the lone restaurant on the corner and music store in the middle of town. Other stores seemed to be a good addition to the downtown area, but others were outright strange to me. Two stores stuck out as the most unique, the doll store and the miniatures store. The doll store was filled to the brim with antique dolls that, while valuable to many collectors, did nothing but scare me more than the American Girl dolls my sister used to own when we were children. The miniatures store stuck out to me as unique since it sold miniature homes and other pieces to put in the homes. I found myself impressed by the seemingly successful stores that cater to such as specific group of people and were located in such a small town.  The farmers market was less than what we expected with there only being two trucks outside and what appeared to be one small stand with little to offer. We decided we might have better luck in Taylorsville so we jumped on the highway to hit our second destination. Our plan to eat three meals in three cities already was already dashed by the lack of eating establishments in Mocksville.

The drive was beautiful and continued to amaze me. I made sure to drive with the windows down since it was such a nice day and would be a waste to not have a pleasant breeze on my face. I decided that it was the best decision regardless of how anyone else in my group felt. The destination was a small restaurant called the Crossroads Grill, located about ten minutes outside downtown Taylorsville in the middle of nowhere. This was definitely not a place most would stop at when visiting Taylorsville. The restaurant was a small diner with fast service and friendly staff. We had barely been seated before a waitress arrived to take our drink orders. The food was exactly what I would expect from a diner. We each ordered a different side dish and meal to get a fuller experience of the restaurant. The food was good, but nothing exceptional. Basically it was what I expected from a diner. The sweet tea was delicious and not overly sweet. The gentleman bringing us our food was very nice and treated us like friends. The restaurant contained many regulars that all knew each other and the employees. It also had plenty of photos from local sporting teams and events, which I always enjoy seeing how involved a restaurant is in the local community. The most surprising moment I had in the restaurant was a sign for a raffle with the prize being a gun. Being from outside Philadelphia, this was a first for me and made me a bit concerned about guns in the area. With that thought in mind, we headed for the downtown area.

Having finished lunch, we went to downtown Taylorsville. A slight improvement from Mocksville, Taylorsville was a larger downtown area with a bit more people. With the larger downtown, however, came more shops out of business. The downtown area had little going on this weekend when we visited, but returning a few weeks later showed us what it could be when a festival was happening. However, this trip contained no festival and therefore left us with a mainly empty downtown. Right off of downtown, we did locate a small thrift store. One of my travel companions, Immanuel, found some old video games, which I believe was the highlight of his trip. Having experienced the downtown area and allowing Immanuel to purchase some old Nintendo 64 games, we hit the road again for our final stop, dinner in Lenoir.

Lenoir was, in my personal opinion, the most successful town we visited during our day. We walked around the town as it began preparing for its monthly antique car show. We saw a lot of people of varying ages out enjoying the day. Many restaurants and businesses lined the streets and a lot was open. We enjoyed our first walk around the town and then decided to stop in the inside farmers market. Having never seen a permanent fixture for a farmers market, I was intrigued by the idea, so we stopped in and took a look around. We found local foods, art, and even a small coffee shop within the walls of the market. After looking around a bit, I struck up a conversation with the gentleman working the market for the day. With a stroke of luck, it turned out to be one of the co-founders of the market, which opened in the spring. Surprisingly, his name also happened to be Jeff and he told me all about himself and the market. We spoke for about an hour about everything from where he grew up to his love of local products. He shared his love of herbs, which he sold in the market in plant form, as loose-leaf teas, and BBQ sauce. With a taste test, he easily convinced, with little effort on his part, me to purchase some tea and BBQ sauce. Since then I have found great success with the sweet BBQ sauce that has a bit of a kick, but the tea did not turn out as good as the taste, mostly due to my failure to use proper amounts of water. After the conversation, I left the market with my local products excited to cook some BBQ chicken and feeling that the day was worth it just for this conversation.

After the market, we found ourselves hungry again and decided to scrape our original plan for dinner, since the restaurant had not yet opened, and instead went to a pizza place named Piccollo’s. The restaurant was decorated with a mixture of old time pizza joint signs, tomato sauce cans, and modern Halloween decorations. The food was good, but I always prefer a thinner, crisper crust to a Chicago deep-dish pizza. We left full and happy to experience the car show. Our expert in antique cars, or what was as close to an expert as we had, was Immanuel. He enjoyed the antique cars the most, while the rest of us were clueless to everything related to the cars. Having finished our tasks for the day and being exhausted from a long day, we headed home with our bellies full and our travel journal fuller. A day without a plan is always a concern for me, but it went fairly well. I wish we had gotten a meal in each city and enjoyed our time in the areas a bit more, but it was a successful trip. We may not have accomplished our goal of three meals in three cities, but the day was a new experience and full of successful moments.

The Winding Road to Lake Lure

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By Taylor Hill, 2013

I have always found October to be a beautiful month, as the rustic and subtle transformations of the leaves begin to take place. Vibrant oranges, dull yellows and shocking red hues line the trees and the medley of colors presents the last glimpse of life before the dull and brittle cold of winter. Our fall trip through the foothills of North Carolina offered me an even deeper respect for the month of October, specifically our journey to Lake Lure on the winding road of Highway 64.

The morning of October 19th, 2013 saw me and my travel group in a hotel room in Statesville, NC. Having just been immersed in the captivating festivities of the Statesville Balloon Festival the night before, we felt that staying the night in Statesville would be an opportune moment to regain our energy for the drive into Lake Lure the next day. Waking up to a rather glum and rainy morning, we checked out of our hotel, heading toward Lake Lure, but not before stopping off into Taylorsville to revisit a thrift shop that stole the heart of one of my fellow travelers Immanuel- he was particularly taken by the assortment of Nintendo 64 related products sold there- as well as spending some time in Lenoir to revisit our good friend Jeff, whom we met at his quaint farmer’s market a previous weekend.

The hour and something drive from Lenoir to Lake Lure was one that presented me with visuals that looked like they could have been painted by an artist. The dreary day produced low hanging clouds that shielded some of the mountains in the distance, with only the peaks jutting out from the very top wisps. The fall colors were enhanced by the grey overtone of the sky as the building pitter-patter of rain dressed the windows of the car. I was in the backseat and was overcome with lethargy as riding in cars during the rain always has that effect on me. I drifted in and out of sleep, catching glimpses of the beautiful autumn scenery that surrounded us with each brief opening of my eyes. During my longer spans of alertness, I was able to get a feel of the homes in the area, which consisted of expansive fields peppered with various grazing animals and noticeable spacing in between each home. Every now and again I would see the owners of the homes in their yards, playing with their dogs, doing lawn chores despite the weather, or sitting on porches in rocking chairs, covered from the gentle and relentless rain.

As I continued to notice the surroundings, I also realized that the scenery was changing, as we neared our destination. The road began to wind like a serpent as we began to navigate between high slopes of land and trees. Another five minutes of this persisted before we turned a bend and were met with a breathtaking view of Lake Lure, with a regal mountain in the distance, the top half of which was covered by clouds. The trees provided green, red, yellow and orange tints that lined the mountain and lake; it was reminiscent of a well-crafted portrait.

We briefly stopped our car in front of the lake to get some photos, me posing in front of the “Welcome to Lake Lure” sign cheesing especially hard. We noticed a restaurant located on the water that we wanted to explore for a potential snack, but decided not to as their menu didn’t satisfy our needs. One of my travel partners, Anna, and I did take a restroom break inside, noticing the creative décor, which consisted of $1 bills plastered over the walls, ceilings and doors, each one with a short message or drawing from the customer who left it. As we left the restaurant, and continued to drive into the town a bit more, we came across Lake Lure’s bi-annual art festival. We patted ourselves on the back for our sheer luck to travel during such a busy weekend for the towns on our list, and delved into the atmosphere that was the art festival.

Most of the sellers present were locals who hand made every item they had up for sale. There were craftsmen selling beautifully detailed chairs and ottomans made from mahogany and oak, painters with life-like creations made with watercolors, as well as talented women selling stunning hand-made jewelry and glassware with iridescent webs of color. Anna and I took particular notice to a woman who made soaps, lotions and oils for both humans and dogs, allowing us to test her goat milk moisturizer, which I fell in love with. I was fond of the closeness of all of the participants, how many of them knew each other by name and would stop by the other’s tents to catch up. I am from Atlanta, and the larger city does not really allow for such a closeness of residents so I was fortunate to experience the closeness of a small town gathering.

After spending our time at the art festival, we wanted to check into our motel, which was located right next to Chimney Rock Mountain in front of a small river that we had a nice view of from our window. The room was very cabin-like, with wooden walls and beds lined with tacky floral sheets. The bathroom was a little larger than out Statesville hotel, but had an uncharacteristically short showerhead, which we all struggled with. We discovered that we could walk behind the motel, closer to the river that flowed through the back, where we snapped some photos as a light rain began to fall again. I was moved by the distinct closeness to nature and how

Walking through the town, we saw all of the souvenir shops that were squeezed tightly next to each other, most of which garnished with suffocating Halloween decorations. My travel partner Jeff had noticed a bakery called Laura’s House that he wanted to test out, so Immanuel and I followed along with him. We were met with the owner who had an amazing story. He was an ex-karate instructor who retired and was living out of his car for three years before setting up shop in the bakery. One of his workers really caught our attention, an energetic and gregarious man named Austin who was adamant that we all try the sour cream cake with apples on it. Jeff ended up ordering it and we all tried some, and after trying it, I would also urge visitors to order the apples as well.

We ended up returning to Laura’s House in the morning for breakfast and we dined on the second floor of the bakery, with a stunning view of Chimney Rock Mountain through a large window. Unlike the day before, the morning showed favor on us, the sun was bright and was highlighting the yellow, red and orange leaves on the bevy of trees surrounding the mountain.

Mocksville’s Town Cat

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By Chelsea Vollrath

 

As Paige and I sat in Restaurant 101, we both gazed out of the restaurant’s big front windows, taking in the sites of Mocksville while enjoying our lunch. Our eyes traced the main street as far as the windows would allow based on where we were sitting. We watched as a steady stream of men and women walked by, some stopping in the various shops lining the street, others continuing on to destinations unknown to us. One man in particular caught our attention. The metal knee brace on his left knee inhibited his walking ability and caused him to linger in front of the window longer than most passersby. Hadn’t he passed before? Wasn’t he just on this side of the street?

 

Considering the speed at which he was walking by the window and the number of times I saw him pass, he held my attention throughout most of the meal. I wondered why he kept walking by, seemingly without a specific destination in mind. I wanted to talk to him and find out more about him; dressed in a tattered denim shirt with a six inch rip down the back, acid-washed jeans, the knee-brace, heavily-worn work boots, and a backwards hat, he just looked interesting. I was too timid to approach him, though, so when we finished our meal we didn’t pursue finding him to start a conversation and just began our exploration of the town’s small shops and businesses. After leaving the first store and heading to the second, we passed him sitting on a bench on the sidewalk. We smiled politely and intended to keep walking, despite my interest in him, until he stopped us.

 

“Hey! Hey girls,” he called out to us. “Come here, I need to tell you something.”

Paige and I exchanged a skeptical glance, questioning if we should go talk to him. We chuckled, and turned around.

“Hello, sir. What’s up?”

He motioned with his index finger, encouraging us to come closer; we obliged.

“I want you to make me a promise.”

Again, Paige and I looked at each other, laughed, and nodded our heads in agreement. “Okay, what is it?”

“Stay beautiful. Just, stay beautiful. You’re both beautiful girls…and, and I just want you remember to stay beautiful.”

His words were muffled and difficult to understand, but his message was clear. We thanked him for his kindness, quietly laughed to each other and proceeded to walk on as he continued calling out after us.

 

We walked into the bookstore and talked to the storeowner, but when we left, the friendly townie was still sitting on the bench where we’d left him. We walked by him again, and this time as we were approaching, he initiated conversation. He asked us if we remembered our promise to him. We stated we did, but he proceeded to repeat himself. When he finished babbling about our promise to stay beautiful, we seized the opportunity to learn more about him; well, as best as we could. We asked how long he’s lived in Mocksville and he quickly responded he’s lived in the town for his entire life, calling himself “The Town Cat.” Yet again, Paige and I exchanged confused glances. The town cat? What does that mean? When we asked him, he seemed surprised we didn’t understand. He explained everyone calls him cat because he can’t remember people’s names so he calls everyone cat. “Cat” continued to tell us that, due to an accident that occurred when he was 16, he is paralyzed on the right side of his body and doesn’t have a good short-term memory. I was tempted to ask him to tell more about the accident but, afraid of offending him, I didn’t press the issue. I was still processing his explanation of being “The Town Cat,” anyway.

 

We tried to get him to comment on Highway 64 and its influence on the town, hoping he’d have more incite than most considering he’s lived there his whole life. That was wishful thinking.

“This is what I can tell you about Highway 64,” he began. He turned his hat around to be facing forward, before continuing. Pointing to his left, and then to his right, he explained, “It goes that way, and that way.” Again, we laughed. He hadn’t given us much information, but he certainly was amusing. We needed to move on, but before we did, Paige asked to take his picture. He agreed, but first insisted that he turn his hat backwards to show the hat’s message: “FBI: Forever Believer in Jesus.” He formed the shaka on his left hand.  “I want you to get a picture of how I always am,” he explained, and then Paige took the picture.

 

I shook his hand, told “Cat” it was nice to meet him, and wished him well before we continued on. He continued gesturing with the shaka, rotating it back and forth for emphasis, and reminded us, yet again, to stay beautiful.

Hendersonville’s Black Bear Coffee Shop

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By: Kelsey O’Connell

Walking around Hendersonville, our group was surprised by what we saw. We expected a small town feel, but the downtown area was very up-scale, not at all like their neighbors’ in Brevard. Our group stopped into a small coffee shop to refuel after a long trip back from Murphy, only to find an adorable treasure in the Black Bear Coffee Shop.

The shop was covered in colorful decorations, even featuring displays containing books and facts about coffees from around the world. The back wall had hanging flags and comfortable seating for groups and individuals alike.

After grabbing a few snacks and some coffee, we were able to sit down and chat with the owner’s wife, who very nicely and willingly agreed to talk to us about Route 64. She told us that without the influence of Route 64, the shop would most likely suffer.

We also discussed advertising on Route 64, how there used to be a billboard for Hendersonville up on the road, but that it was taken down. She, however, didn’t lament the loss of the billboard because she felt that it didn’t adequately portray Hendersonville. I agree with her that if an advertising agency were to accurately portray Hendersonville and the Black Bear Coffee Shop, as well as their charms on an ad on Route 64, they’d create even more business for the beautiful Hendersonville.

 

Hendersonville Shop owners

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By: Olivia James

Our group arrived in Hendersonville on a perfect fall morning.  We parked
the car and strolled through the center of downtown.  Our timing was
such that as we were arriving in Hendersonville so were the bikers who
had left from Brevard that morning on the Mountains to Coast trail.
Stores were opening their doors to the bustle the bikers were causing
and we were free to stop in.
Downtown Hendersonville is home to a variety of stores, restaurants, bakeries,
cafes and bars.  As we explored, we talked to the storeowners about the
area and our project.  There seemed to be a general consensus about the
town and its growing population.  Hendersonville is now the small town
that Asheville used to be but as Asheville grew, so did Hendersonville.
The population of Hendersonville had grown, according to the shop
owners, because of the influx of vacationers from Florida and the
surrounding areas.  Many of the people we talked do had only been in
Hendersonville a few years, emphasizing the fact that the community is
young and growing.  The small businesses are coming into the area in
order to capitalize on the growth that they have seen in recent years.
While Hendersonville did have foreclosed signs in some store windows, the
downtown area looked vibrant that day.  Many owners attributed the
success of Hendersonville to Asheville tourists who wanted to explore
the more rural areas.  Many storefronts have been redone in recent years
to attract more people, but there is still that old, rural, small town
feel as you walk down the street.  Hendersonville, like Highlands, is
filled with young people who have relocated for business opportunities,
and the town is growing despite the loss the Highway 64 in the middle of
town.

Hannah’s BBQ

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By Chelsea Vollrath

 

Venturing off of Highway 64 onto U.S. 321 in Lenoir, you are overwhelmed by a sea of franchise-restaurants: Wendy’s, Papa John’s, Bojangles, Long John Silver’s. For those who know there’s more to offer in Lenoir than the chain restaurants, Hannah’s BBQ is a favorite.

 

When you pull into Hannah’s parking lot, the restaurant’s sign, paling in comparison to their chain-restaurant counterparts, advertises meal deals and reminds diners, “Jesus is Lord!” Religious conviction is pervasive in the restaurant; when you walk in, you are again reminded “Jesus is Lord” on the door under the notification that they’re closed on Sundays and have the opportunity to refresh yourself on the Ten Commandments, which are hung like artwork. The religious document is accompanied by decorative pieces, including a multitude of ceramic pigs and pictures of Bobby Q, the restaurant’s stately swine mascot. The wooden chairs and tables and worn faux-leather booths, in addition to the wall hangings, contribute to restaurant’s homey-feel.

 

When Paige and I walked in, the small restaurant was packed; we figured that signified we were in for a good meal. Seeing a USA Today article hanging on the back wall, which identified Hannah’s BBQ as one of 2004’s 10 Great Places for ‘Best of Zest’ Cuisine, supported that assumption.

 

Hannah’s offers entrees and sides typical of most barbecue restaurants. The front of the menu boasts the restaurant’s featured dishes: “Slow cooked mouth watering hickory smoked pork and beef, fall off the bone chicken and country style ribs… homemade BBQ beans, made-from-scratch slaw, hush puppies, and Brunswick stew.” To dress the smoked pork and beef, ketchup, hot sauce, and three kinds of barbecue sauce are left on the table for diners use. The Western ketchup-based barbecue sauce is in a ketchup bottle; the two other kinds of barbecue sauce are vinegar-based Eastern style barbecue sauces that differ in the amount of pepper flakes.

 

I ordered a plate of pork with a side of hush puppies and Brunswick stew, and Paige ordered barbecue chicken with a side of baked beans and hushpuppies and a sweet potato. Minutes after arriving, our food arrived: served on Styrofoam plates and in Styrofoam bowls. After taking the first bite, the food’s presentation was unimportant to me. It was all delicious. The hush puppies I ordered met my expectation as being the perfect BBQ side. Paige made the same claim of the baked beans she ordered. They were cooked with shredded pork, which neither Paige nor I had ever seen before. They were so flavor, assumedly because of the pork; we agreed they were the best baked beans we’ve ever had. The barbecue chicken was very moist and also very flavorful. We won’t ever find out why though. When we asked the waitress about the barbecue sauce on the chicken, she wasn’t as open to discussing it as she was with the sauces offered for the pork. She told us it was a secret, laughed, and walked away.

 

I was still curious about the different kinds of barbecue sauce offered, so I divided my meat into three sections on my plate, and dressed each section with a different sauce. Of the two eastern sauces, I preferred the one with more pepper flakes, probably because I am partial to spicy food. Though I am used to the Western style barbecue sauce, after using the eastern style, the western style seemed very heavy and overwhelmed the dish. I continued to experiment by mixing all three sauces together. It was the perfect combination. I doubt that would ever be common practice in a state divided by differing opinions on barbecue, but I’d recommend it.

 

After we finished eating, we went to the counter to pay for our very reasonable but very good meal. As we waited, I noticed pictures of who looked like family members and friends hanging from the cash register, which further solidified the at-home feel that overtook us when we walked in the front doors. Considering how positive our experience with the food and atmosphere was at Hannah’s, I’d certainly make a point to stop there again if ever passing through Lenoir.

 

 

Lake Lure Smokehouse Review

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By Chelsea Vollrath

Driving through Lake Lure on Highway 64, you will pass the Lake Lure Smokehouse, located across the street from the beach at Lake Lure and beside the Lake Lure Inn & Spa. The inside of the restaurant is cozily adorned with wooden accents and furniture, but with the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains surrounding the restaurant, you’d be hard pressed to turn down eating outside and having that scenery be the backdrop of your dining experience. The outside dining area maintains a similar homey feel; diners are served their meals in baskets with checkered-paper on wooden picnic tables.

The menu has most items one would expect to be served at a barbecue restaurant: different cuts of pork, barbecue chicken, the option to eat both on a sandwich, and the typical sides, including hush puppies, regular and sweet potato fries, beans, slaw, and potato salad. There are a few items labeled as being “Signature Smokehouse” items, including the Signature Smokehouse BBQ wrap, that are more unique to the restaurant. Served with a side of your choice, the crispy wrap contained the Smokehouse’s tender pork and a variety of sautéed vegetables. I chose the “Ranch beans” to accompany it. At first I didn’t want to order the ranch beans because I assumed they had ranch dressing in them, which I don’t like, but after the waitress described them to me, I changed my mind. The side dish is a mixture of pinto beans, peppers, onions, garlic, and some unknown spices that gave it a little kick. They were more interesting than most beans you’d get with barbecue, and interesting in a good way.

The wrap wasn’t what I expected. The outside covering tasted must have been fried, as it tasted like the casing of an egg roll. It wasn’t what I expected or would have wanted, so I wasn’t too happy with my selection, but the ranch beans I ordered were great, so with those and the amazing atmosphere, I was still satisfied overall.

Paige ordered a smoked chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries. The chicken sandwich was pretty average, though the bun was particularly fresh and made the sandwich more noteworthy than it would have been otherwise. The sweet potato fries were good, but also nothing spectacular. Paige had the same opinion as I did though: the scenery and experience of eating at the smokehouse made it a worthwhile stop.