Category: Southern

ArizonaSouthernUnited States

Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

How do you become a centenarian?  For Elizabeth White, achieving 100 years of age may be attributed to living the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”).  She instilled that spirit into the restaurant she purchased from her brother in 1964.  Phoenix was a much more segregated city when Elizabeth White christened her eatery “The Golden Rule Cafe.” Despite the prevailing attitudes of the time, she believed in treating everyone with kindness and respect, a core tenet of the Golden Rule.  Her prominent prescence and welcoming spirit led to guests adding “Mrs. White’s” to the “Golden Rule Cafe.”  Like the wonderful woman who founded the restaurant, Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe is an institution. Mrs.…

AmericanNevadaSouthernUnited States

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Momofuki in New York City, Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn,  Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami, Bourbon Steak in San Francisco, Border Grill in Los Angeles, Bouchon in Yountville, Emeril’s in New Orleans, Jaleo in Washington, D.C..  These are among the many restaurants on every true gastronome’s bucket list.  In addition to being helmed by some of the culinary world’s most celebrated luminaries, these pantheons of deliciousness share another commonality.  They all have a presence in Las Vegas casinos where well-heeled guests with plenty of disposable income come to gamble and to eat well. Whether celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas are as good as their originals is a matter of debate.  Award-winning restaurants throughout the fruited plain are similarly…

AmericanBar & GrillChickenDiners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoOklahomaSouthernUnited States

Eischen’s Bar – Okarche, Oklahoma

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Even by Oklahoma small town standards, Okarche is a small town.  It’s not much bigger than a village though too big to be considered a hamlet.   With a population of  1,141 as of the 2020 United States census, Okarche is one of the most interesting spots in a state replete with interesting spots.  For one thing, the name Okarche is a portmanteau derived from parts of three words, Oklahoma (OK), Arapaho (AR), and Cheyenne (CHE).  Okarche is situated in what was part of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation, after the disgraceful Trail of Tears forced relocation of Southeastern tribes.  Though only sixteen miles west of Oklahoma City and fourteen miles north of El Reno (home of Johnnie’s onion burgers), Okarche is as…

AlbuquerqueBar & GrillCajunDiners Drive-Ins and DivesDog FriendlyFood Network Eats New MexicoSouthern

Nexus Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:47 AM

Set in Albuquerque, Breaking Bad, AMC’s critically acclaimed television series may have left viewers with the impression that the Duke City is a haven for meth cookery and fried chicken joints.  Had the fair city been more accurately typecast, it would have have been portrayed as a mecca for microbreweries.  The Albuquerque Beer Scene blog says it best: “It’s like Portland, but with sun,”  a comparison which shows just how much the city’s microbrewery and brewpub scene has grown–and not just in terms of sheer numbers.  Duke City breweries have accorded themselves so well at the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup that the city may soon be re-christened “Albeerquerque.” When the New Mexico Tourism Department launched the…

CajunDog FriendlyNew MexicoRio RanchoSoul FoodSouthern

K’Lynn’s Cuisine – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:29 PM

Before permanent signage was mounted, a tethered banner in front of K’Lynn’s Southern & Cajun Fusion in Rio Rancho listed a few of the delicious treasures available in the tiny restaurant: “catfish, BBQ, gumbo, po boys, jerk chicken, carne adovada fries & more!” Yeah, we did a double-take, too. One of those items just seemed a bit out-of-place? If you’re thinking “carne adovada fries” don’t belong on the list because they’re not Soul food, you’d be wrong. Carne adovada fries definitely belong on the list. So does jerk chicken which, by most conventional definitions, isn’t soul food either. The one item we thought to be out-of-place was “& more.” I mean what more could you possibly want listed on the…

AlbuquerqueCajunClosed in 2024Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSouthern

Bama’s 1865 – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When we tell people we lived in Mississippi for eight years their typical reaction is something akin to “OMG, that must have been terrible.”  Lumping Alabama and Louisiana into their diatribes, they typically perceive we lived in a poorly educated, mostly rural and unabashedly racist region.  It surprises them to learn that New Mexico ranks below those three states among the least educated states in the country (only West Virgina ranked lower).  We lived in Ocean Springs on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, an almost contiguous metropolitan area from New Orleans to Mobile.  It’s as modern as you can get.   In terms of racism, the Deep South has made significant strides and isn’t as racist as the Boston area was…

ArizonaDog FriendlySoul FoodSouthernUnited States

Sugar Jam – Scottsdale, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

I often describe my youth in rural, agrarian Peñasco as “bumpkinly naïveté.”  I may have been book smart (and insolent) enough to intimidate some of my teachers, but insofar as experiential smarts, I was one pretty sheltered guy.  The very first black people I ever saw up close were Drew and Shane Roebuck, gazelle-quick running backs for Menaul High School.   I wanted to kill them…not because they were black, but because I couldn’t catch them.  You see, I had a reputation as a fierce tackler.  It didn’t matter the race, ethnicity, religious affiliation or favorite breakfast cereal, I wanted to tackle everyone in a uniform that didn’t have Peñasco’s blue and gold. In basic military training for the Air…

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Gus’s Fried Chicken – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:02 AM

As the crow flies, Nashville and Memphis are separated by about 210 miles.  You can get from one to the other of these two prominent Southern cities–that are probably best known for their signature sounds–in a speedy three hours.    Nashville sits on the north-central part of the Volunteer State.  It’s considered the cradle of country music.  Legendary pantheons of country music include the Grand Ole Opry House, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and historic Ryman Auditorium.  Honky-tonks throughout the city feature live music as aspiring artists and song-writers compete to be noticed. Memphis, progenitor of the blues, soul and rock n’roll, borders the mighty Mississippi at Tennessee’s west flank.  Popular landmarks include the Rock n’ Soul Museum,…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRated 23Southern

Ms. Gennie’s House of Chicken – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:04 PM

My Air Force friend and colleague Al Garcia once shared one of those amusing anecdotes that will leave your head shaking in disbelief even as you’re practically rolling on the floor with laughter.  According to Al who grew up in the Socorro area, his parents had to make a daylong trip to the big city (Albuquerque), leaving him and his sister at home to finish their chores.  At around lunchtime, he and his sister got hungry and decided to prepare some rice.  Never having cooked rice before, they poured an entire bag of rice into a pot, added water and turned the stove on high.   In a few minutes, rice began spilling out over the pot like lava flowing…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoSouthern

Biscuit Boy – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In Boris Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago, a sagacious old Russian czarist caught up in the communist revolution lamented “Scratch a Russian and you will find a peasant.”  To paraphrase that immortal line “Scratch a cook and you’ll find a chemist.”  Think I’ve been ingesting pharmaceuticals?  Maybe you should ask Deonte “Dee” Halsey, the affable owner of Biscuit Boy about the influence of chemistry in cooking.  He would know!  Dee was actually a research scientist working for the U.S. Department of Architecture before figuring out teaching science actually pays more than doing science.  Dee has been teaching science and math for more than two decades now, imparting knowledge and wisdom to high school, middle school and elementary school students.  For the past two…

BrunchClosed in 2023Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenMadridSouthern

The Hollar – Madrid, New Mexico (CLOSED: December 17, 2023)

Gil Garduno2:59 AM

It wasn’t that long ago that if you played “word association” with almost anyone outside the Mason-Dixon line, the first thing coming to mind if you used the term “Southern food” was probably something like “heapin’ helpins’ of hillbilly hospitality.”  During their nine-year run as one of the most popular comedies in the history of American television, the Clampetts, a hillbilly family who relocated to Beverly Hills after finding oil on their property, introduced “vittles” to the American vernacular.  Vittles, of course, meant such “delicacies” as possum shanks, pickled pig jowls, smoked crawdads, stewed squirrel, turnip greens, and owl cakes.  “Weeeee Doggies,” now that’s eatin‘.” To much of America, the aforementioned delicacies were culinary curiosities–bumpkinly and provincial food no one…