Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to Millstone Bake House & Provisions in downtown Davidson, NC. This bakery/restaurant uses organic, natural and local ingredients in all of their food. 

When you first walk in, it appears to be primarily a bakery. But, they also offer a variety of salads, sandwiches, and specials to satisfy your lunchtime appetite. 
Dora here. This place would be a perfect choice for a lazy Saturday morning, especially during the warmer weather when you could sit outside. Do NOT plan to go here if you're in a hurry. It was jammed, and service, while helpful, was a tad slow.

For lunch, I chose the Grilled Ham & Cheese, chili and fries. The sandwich was loaded with real cooked ham, not typical deli ham, and grilled to perfection. The half sandwich was larger than most full sandwiches, and I liked the little kick from the spicy mustard. The chili was full of favor, light on meat but loaded with multi-types of beans. The shoestring fries are my favorite, and I had to fight my wife off from eating all of them. 

Grilled Ham & Cheese, chili, and fries

What? I did not steal any of those pencil-thin fries!! You lucked out on the soup, too, because I prefer only pinto beans in my chili. And it's a good thing I ordered iced tea and not a latte. I would've laughed if they set that coffee cup in front of me! What do you think? How's this for perspective?

Good thing I ordered the iced tea! I would've laughed at the size of this coffee cup.

The Ham and Asparagus Quiche was a good choice. Although I'm not a huge fan of asparagus, it wasn't overpowering. Everything came together in a light and fresh combination. 

Meat Quiche: Ham & Asparagus

What's your favorite breakfast food? Do you enjoy quiche?

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

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 takes us north to the City of Salisbury and to Palms Cafe. 

This local neighborhood eating establishment offers breakfast, a large variety of sandwiches, and specialty coffees. You must order at the counter (no trouble seeing the menu, it is written all over the walls) and the food is brought to your table.

I chose the New York, New York hot sandwich, roast beef, corn beef, pastrami & turkey stacked high with Swiss cheese, 1000 island dressing served on grilled rye bread with a side of homemade potato chips. Hearty and filling, the different meats mixed well with the dressing. The chips were seasoned well and firm enough to dip in the ranch dressing. Overall, great!

New York, New York hot sandwich

Dora here. The Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad offered a generous portion of chicken salad, fresh greens, cucumbers, sunflower seeds and mandarin oranges with a sesame oriental dressing. I'm pretty picky about salads. I don't like a lot of extra stuff, and this salad worked for me. The chicken salad was creamy, sweet and delish! I enjoyed the texture of the sunflower seeds, and the oriental dressing rocked! And what a value at less than $8! That leaves a little extra for dessert, right? Especially since I had my heart set on that Palms Java shake...

Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad

The Palms Java shake was a mixture of espresso, java chocolate chips and vanilla Gelato. I would have liked the shake to be a little thicker. 

Palms Java Shake

Dora here. I'm with Ernie on this one. I expected the shake to be thicker and more coffee flavored, but, hey, Gelato and coffee...:sigh: thick, thin, who cares? Nice way to cap off the meal. 

Palms Cafe is one of those comfort restaurants, the kind you go to after a long day and don't really know what you want. They have a menu with options sure to please everyone.

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

What's your go-to restaurant for comfort 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 Plaza-Midwood area of Charlotte and to The Workman’s Friend, an Irish pub offering a variety of pub fare with a Southern influence. 

Dora here. Plaza Midwood came through for us again! Originally, we'd picked out a restaurant in downtown Charlotte, but Panther fans snagged all the on-street parking. Plaza Midwood is a fabulous alternative to eating in downtown proper, and I appreciated the ample parking in the back of The Workman's Friend. :)

For an appetizer, we chose the Bag of Chips, hand cut fries with salt and malt vinegar aioli. Not chips in the American sense, nor the typical thick and potato-y pub chips. They were almost a blend of the two, crispy on the outside and firm on the inside. I ate mine with extra malt vinegar. Perfect!

Bag of Chips

Dora here. You should have seen Ernie's face when the server set the chips down on the table. I knew he expected homemade American chips. lol.

The Irish Breakfast was the brunch special of the day. Eggs, a Banger (sausage), Black and White Pudding (also sausage), Irish Bacon, Baked Beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and sourdough toast. Black pudding is sausage made from blood, meat, fat, oatmeal, and bread or potato fillers. White pudding (the same minus the blood), and Irish bacon is from the back of the pig instead of the belly and is like ham. The highlights of this great dish were the three different types of sausage and the sourdough bread. 

Irish Breakfast - a Brunch Special

Dora here. I'm a big fan of Irish pubs. Well, pubs of all kinds, actually. I'd heard about Black and White pudding but never tried it until now. (See those two round patties next to the baked beans. And how did they ever come up with that name??). Considering the ingredients and the name, I was surprised at how tasty they were.

The Sausage Roll, a blend of ground sausage and mustard and sour cream inside a puff pastry, fit my mood. Something light, not too heavy, and I enjoyed the mild sausage flavor. 

Sausage Roll ~ An appetizer

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

What about you? Do you enjoy pubs? What's your favorite pub food?

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to Port City Club in Cornelius, North Carolina. 

This lakefront restaurant is located on Lake Norman, where you can drive, walk or boat to your meal. 

Inside

Dora here. How have we not discovered this gem sooner? What a glorious day for sitting outside! Everybody else agreed with us. Port City Club offers generous seating inside and three different levels outside, including one covered. What a gorgeous, relaxing setting for any meal.

Covered patio

For my meal, I chose the Lobster and Shrimp Roll. Maine lobster, poached shrimp, scallion, basil, and mayo served on a New England style split roll. Huge and meaty with just the right amount of mayo, this sandwich was outstanding and matched any meal that I enjoyed during our visit to Maine. 

Dora here. I opted for the Port City Club, grilled chicken, bacon and smoked Gouda on a brioche roll. Delish! Tender, moist, and jazzed with a garlic aioli, I'd definitely go back for a repeat. 

Can't see the chicken? Here's a better view:

The service was attentive, friendly and flawless. Not once did our tea or water glass drain, and every time a server walked by, used items were scooped from the table with a smile. It's the perfect location for brokering business deals, families with active children, and couples looking for a romantic setting. 

We 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 takes us not far from home to On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina in Concord.

According to the restaurant, “Border-style means mesquite-grilled meat, fresh ingredients, hand-pressed tortillas, and sauces made in small batches.” 

Dora here. Definitely a kid friendly establishment. Visitors to their tortilla prep station at the back of the restaurant receive a ball of dough to take back to their table. Great strategy to entertain the kiddos.

Kiddo friendly

I was looking forward to tasting the Grilled Mahi Tacos. A few minutes after ordering, though, the manager approached the table and informed us that they were out of Mahi. She apologized and offered the fried fish or salmon as a substitution. Salmon tacos? Hmmm. No thanks. I opted for the fried fish. 

Fish Tacos

The fish was good, crispy on the outside. The cabbage and red chile sauce complemented without taking away from the flavor. I liked the crunch of cabbage over ordinary lettuce. I'm on a healthy kick, though, and would've preferred the grilled Mahi over the fried alternative, but appreciated their coupon for a bowl of queso for the inconvenience.

Dora here. Good thing they had my Brisket Tacos. I didn't have a Plan B. :)

Brisket Tacos

Pretty, right? Just invites you to dig in. I don't know what's going on with hubby's plate, but they lost points for presentation.

My brisket was tender. The onion strings added a great textural element and the jalapeno in the BBQ sauce a little kick. The vegies were firm and colorful. Overall, I enjoyed the fresh, vibrant vibe, and I didn't leave stuffed like some Mexican restaurants. Maybe that's because hubby sampled one of my tacos? :)

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

What's your favorite Mexican dish?