Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us on a road trip to Vidalia Restaurant and Wine Bar in Boone, NC. 

We visit the Boone/Bowling Rock area of North Carolina regularly and thought we'd hit just about every local restaurant, but to our surprise, we missed this one. This family friendly eating establishment is located at the end of the historical downtown Boone, just blocks from our favorite pizza spot, Capone's. If you're not looking for it, you might miss it.

Dora here. I always panic a bit when hubby suggests trying a new restaurant in our beloved vacation spot. We have so many favorites, it's challenging to squeeze them all in during a long weekend. How can we possibly add another without dropping one off the list?  I came up with a solution. Just come back more often. What do you think? ;) 

Awesome upscale, casual interior

We ordered their namesake, Vidalia Onion Rings. Thick onions, ale-battered and cajun seasoned. These onion rings were great! With a robust batter that did not fall off like other onion rings and a creole dipping sauce with a little kick, they would have been worth the trip by themselves.

Vidalia Onion Rings. Worth the trip just for these!

Dora here. Thick doesn't begin to describe these monster onions! I don't particularly care to order onion rings because I almost always regret eating them later. Not so with these. Light and delicious! :)

For my meal, I chose the Fish Tacos. Crispy chunks of tender cod blanketed by remoulade slaw served on flour tortillas. Outstanding, and the tangy slaw was a prefect condiment for the dish.

Fish Tacos

I also ordered a cup of Bison Stew, that day's special. Thick, meaty, and full of corn, carrots, and potatoes. Perfect for a cold day. 

Daily special: Bison Stew, perfect choice for a winter day!

Dora here. Yep, he did. Ernie's going to make a believer out of all you Fish Taco haters. :)

I was a bit bummed that they didn't carry Sweet n Low for my iced tea, but it was all uphill after that. Oh my goodness, so many goodies on their menu that I wanted to try! Mac and cheese with pork cracklings, awesome-sounding salads, and a couple different hamburgers all called my name. As if that wasn't enough, then our server rattled off a list of 4-5 intriguing specials! 

I finally settled on the Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich. Well, I didn't really settle because it was fabulous! People tend to be picky about chicken salad. Or is it just me? lol. No worries, though. The bread was fresh, and the chicken salad popped with cranberries and apples and texture. Thankfully, it wasn't heavy on the ever-present raisins and celery (why does everyone insist on adding these useless ingredients??), and the mayo was subtle. The only other element I would've added myself was grapes. YUM!

Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich

Here's a better look...

A glimpse inside the Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich

Even the housemade pickles were delicious, as pruny as they looked. Don't neglect them. :)

What about you? How do you take your chicken salad?

We would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating covers McKethan Brothers BBQ Restaurant in Boone, North Carolina.

McKethan Brothers BBQ serves smoked meats, homemade sauces, and southern sides. This family owned BBQ joint offers all the classics including baby back and St. Louis style ribs, chicken, chopped pork, and turkey.

Dora here. We'd been itching to try this place since discovering it over July 4th, but they were closed. It's a bit off the beaten track and shares the same driveway with another business. Don't be alarmed by the empty seats. As usual, we opened the restaurant. By the time we left, they were filling up fast.

We shared the Brothers Sampler Platter, a huge tray of pulled pork, chicken, turkey, St. Louis ribs, and baby back ribs with mac and cheese, Brunswick stew and a corn muffin. Huge, full of flavor, and a great example of southern BBQ! The star of this plate was the baby back ribs, juicy, tender, and fall off the bone. The St. Louis ribs were a close second, full of that smoky flavor that you look for in BBQ. The chicken and pork were great with the turkey being a little on the dry side. The Brunswick stew was outstanding with all of the normal ingredients found in the stew plus a little heat.

Brothers Sampler Platter

Sides - Mac & cheese and Brunswick Stew

Dora here. Delish!! We could've eaten for two days on this meal! The baby backs were killer, but I'm not a fan of St. Louis style ribs, so Ernie got lucky. I ate most of the turkey myself, so I was glad hubby thought it dry. lol. Love the zing that hit going down with the pork. If we lived here, we'd be a weekly visitor. Probably more than that in the winter because I'd order a whole bowl of the Brunswick stew on the off days. 

5 forks all the way!

What's your favorite BBQ restaurant?

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the Boone/Blowing Rock area in the mountains of North Carolina.

Our first stop is Our Daily Bread, a casual upbeat delicatessen. 

From the menu, you can tell this deli focuses on blending unique ingredients together to make unusual sandwiches.

I chose the Smoke Stack, a combo of smoked components (smoked turkey, smoked applewood bacon, melted smoked Gouda), along with chipotle aioli, tomatoes, and spring greens on sourdough bread with a side of Sweet Basil Corn Chowder. Loaded with corn in a creamy broth and a sweet basil undertone, the soup was great. But the sandwich was outstanding. All of the different smoked flavors worked well with the chipotle aioli, and the toasted sourdough bread held it all together.

Smoke Stack

Dora here. Since we visited on the Fourth of July, I opted for the daily special, the Red White & Blue Chutney Sandwich. Smoked ham, melted brie, balsamic blueberry chutney, tomatoes, roasted red pepper aioli and basil leaves pressed in cranberry French bread. Hello! Blueberry chutney? Doesn’t that sound fabulous? Well, it was. A melt-in-your-mouth mixture of everything I like about breakfast and lunch. Yum! Definitely adding this place to our “must visit” list.

Red White & Blue Chutney Sandwich

We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

Our second stop is Town Tavern in downtown Blowing Rock.

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to sit outside.

Dora here. Great choice! Restaurants with an outdoor patio score bonus points. :)

For lunch I chose the Tavern Philly Cheesesteak served on a Milano roll with a huge amount of thinly sliced rib eye steak, American white cheese, peppers and onions and a side of Tater Tots.

Tavern Philly Cheesesteak

This sandwich was unique in that the components were all cooked together giving it great flavor, as opposed to cooking individual ingredients and layering. Not only was the sandwich great, the tater tots were just the way I like them. Crispy.

Dora here. Burgers are my go to meal when we’re away from home, and I hadn’t had one all week. The Bacon & Cheddar burger satisfied my burger craving. Meaty and juicy, and the slightly toasted bun makes this meal a winner! Oh, and the creamy ranch dip for tater tots now replaces boring ketchup!

Bacon & Cheddar Burger

We rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant that serves outstanding food.

Your turn. What's your favorite go-to meal when you're away from home?