fried chicken Archives - Queen of the Food Age

Eatonville, Washington DC [CLOSED]

April 26, 2013

When visiting Washington DC from Charleston, SC, the first thing any true Southerner starts to miss is sweet tea. Even southern transplants like Lauren find themselves craving that sweet nectar that, for some reason, is only found in the south. Asking for sweet tea and receiving a glass of unsweetened tea and a packet of Sweet’n Low, just isn’t the same. Not by a long shot. Which is why Lauren decided to we needed to eat brunch at Eatonville, because they have “homemade sweet tea” on the menu.

We love sweet tea so much we infuse it in our liquor. That’s dedication.

I was worried that they were going to try to cater their sweet tea to more northern palates, but they surprised me by actually having legitimate southern-style sweet tea. It was delicious. Plus it came in mason jars with plenty of ice, which for a moment made me forget I was in DC. Our waiter had personality oozing out of the ears and was hilarious, attentive, and generally just a very fun dude. I wish more waiters were like him. The restaurant itself was also very cool. The whole restaurant is themed around Zora Neale Hurston and is in fact named after her Florida hometown. They have lots of cool murals on the walls, which I quite enjoyed looking at while eating my brunch.

Sorry for the unflattering picture, Sara, but that artwork is just so cool!

We were joined by Lauren’s roommate Ashley and friend Sara (who’s a vegetarian. But a real one, not like Naomi). Sara got the arugula-spinach frittata (sautéed shiitake mushrooms, grape tomatoes, avocado, crumbled feta cheese, basil pesto with a buttermilk biscuit). It actually looked delicious, and I’m assuming it tasted good, too, as Sara definitely did some damage. They do a really good job of identifying vegetarian- and vegan-friendly items on the menu, so this is a good place for herbivores and carnivores alike. Sara also got a mimosa, which she said was especially yummy because they used fresh squeezed orange juice instead of that slop from a carton. The rest of us skipped out on alcohol with brunch because we were recovering from the night before.

This has Christine’s name written all over it.

Lauren stuck with your basic breakfast fare of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a biscuit. She also ordered a side of fried okra, which came unlike I’ve ever seen fried okra before. They cut the okra into strips before breading them and frying them, almost like okra fries. I actually liked them a lot, despite how different they were. Lauren loved them and ate all of it, which is surprising because she doesn’t actually eat real food.

But you can cut basically anything up into strips and fry it and I’d think it was delicious.

Ashley opted for scrambled eggs with cheese (which looked delicious), macaroni and cheese, a bowl of fresh fruit, and a biscuit, which she seemed to enjoy.

Mmm…. Cheeeeesy

I was the only one who didn’t get eggs. I decided to get “The Callahan,” a fried chicken breast on a buttermilk biscuit, covered in jalapeno-sausage gravy, served with a side of mac and cheese. I thought the the mac and cheese was delicious (hooray cavatappi!) and I applaud any restaurant who decides to serve macaroni as a bunch side dish. My only complaint is that I would’ve liked a more detailed description of what cheeses it was made with on the menu. I thought the fried chicken biscuit was delicious; the biscuit was perfectly buttery and flaky and the chicken had just the perfect amount of breading. The jalapeno-sausage gravy was good, although I was a bit thrown off by the fact that it was brown (it’s camouflaged in that picture, blending in with the chicken), but it was still tasty. I do wish they would’ve put more on than the tablespoon I received. I like lots of gravy with my biscuit. I also thought the collard green garnish was a nice touch.

Man, that macaroni looks delicious. I have a problem.

I couldn’t resist the temptation to try their jalapeno-gruyere grits because I’d never had grits with jalapeno before. I think part of me wanted the grits to be bad so I could hold onto some shred of superiority, but I was sorely disappointed, when they turned out to be de-freaking-licious. They came out after we’d all pretty much finished eating, and although Lauren had been complaining of being “stuffed” only moments before, she miraculously regained some of her appetite after one spoonful of grits. They were that good.

Gosh, I love grits.

I didn’t expect to get good southern food at a restaurant in DC, but Eatonville pleasantly surprised me. Whether you’re a seasoned Southern cuisine connoisseur or have no idea what “grits” are, I’m confident you’ll have a positive and memorable experience.

I love that font / logo. #Nerd

Eatonville
2121 14th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 332-9672

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Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 3/26/13

March 26, 2013

Sorry for being a day late! I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday and spent most of the day in bed. This week’s quote comes from one of my favorite people, Mrs. Paula Deen, and I think it’s surprisingly inspirational coming from the Queen of Butter (who apparently doesn’t eat as much butter now that she has diabetes, but she still loves her french fries…my kind of lady).

“You don’t want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. You don’t want to make a steady diet of fried chicken.”
–Paula Deen

Look at mah biscuits, Y’ALLLLL!

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

JB’s Smokeshack – Closed

February 29, 2012

Update 5/10/18 – It’s with a heavy heart I report the closure of JB’s Smokeshack. The owner retired and tried to sell the business, but no one bought it, so it’s officially closed up shop.

JB’s Smokeshack is the epitome of great barbecue, there are no two ways about it. It embodies all of the characteristics I look for when selecting a quality barbecue joint:

Sweet Tea. Homemade, Paula Deen sweet, and ice cold.
Baked beans with meat in them. Seriously. PUT SOME MEAT IN DEM BEANS.
Pulled pork that tastes delicious before you even put sauce on it. If your meat doesn’t taste like anything before you put the sauce on it, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.
And on the subject of sauce, being a southern girl, I prefer my barbecue sauce to be mustard based. But I’m not opposed to vinegar or tomato based sauces. I just like to have the mustard base sauce as an option in case your other sauces suck.
A buffet, so that I am able to shove as much meat into my face as humanly possible… and then some (that’s what she said?).

JB’s does all of this exceptionally well. You know it has to be good for me to be willing to drive 25 minutes out into the middle of banjo country to get there. Their sweet tea is amazing. The perfect level of sweet, in my opinion. But then again, I subscribe to the Gospel According To Paula Deen (Our sacraments are butter, sugar, and butter….it’s pretty great), so to each his own.

You can’t argue with Paula, ya’ll

When it comes to baked beans, I’m pretty sure I’ve never eaten anything like JB’s. They have some of their pulled pork in the beans, so they’re beany and meaty and sweet and savory all at the same time. Their pulled pork is amazing all on its own. I’ve been to plenty of barbeque places that really rely on their sauce to give the barbeque all of the flavor. And while I agree that the sauce is an integral part of the barbeque equation, I don’t think it should be the main flavor factor. The flavor of the pork should complement the sauce and vice versa, each adding its own flavor profiles to the mix, so it’s like a barbeque party in your mouth. JB’s definitely does this superbly. I could seriously eat their pork without any sauce on it at all. But that would be unfair to their fabulous sauces, which I also love. I like to mix the mustard one with Mama’s Sweet and Spicy (which I’m pretty sure is vinegar based), and it’s AMAZING, trust me on this.

We’re gettin’ a little saucy up in here.

And finally, their buffet is outstanding. I love their beans (obviously), macaroni and cheese (although I’ve definitely had better mac n cheese), collards (spicy and meaty, just the way I like it), green beans, fried okra, and fried creamed corn bites (seriously, those are amazing… I could probably eat 100 of them in one sitting).

This is what I imagine heaven looks like.

They also have a meat station which they alternate the offerings of regularly. They’ve had brisket, ham, etc., which they carve for you right there.

Ron Swanson would get teary-eyed looking at this delicious hunk of meat.

They also have some salad on their buffet, which I’m pretty sure they put there just to taunt you. It stares as you judgementally as you load up your plate with meat and beans and macaroni and meat like “Hey fatty. You know you should just be eating salad. You know you’re going to hate yourself later” but I can never actually hear what it’s saying to me over the sound of my own chewing. I usually make three trips to the buffet, loading up on meat and beans, and then collapse on the table, praying for death….

Sweet, meaty death

So I’ve never actually eaten dessert at JB’s. But I’m sure it’s delicious, because everything else sure is. I really want to try the “pluff mud pudding,” which reminds me of the dirt pudding I used to eat when I was in kindergarten. You know, chocolate pudding, crushed up oreos (to look like dirt) and gummy worms. It’s awesome. Ben got the banana pudding but was unimpressed (but once again, CANADIAN).

Man, feels like kindergarten all over again.

So basically it’s awesome. I would recommend fasting for three days or so before visiting, so that you can truly appreciate the meat cornucopia that is JB’s Smokeshack. They’re also really great people who truly take pride in their food, so how can you go wrong with that?