Vintage roadside

[LizzieMaine]

I'm just going to say it since super girlfriend is a big fan of poutine and ignores me (a smart move in general): poutine undermines the crispiness of the fries too much. It's a dish that is better in concept than in execution.

The thing I've found with poutine is that you have to cook the fries -- and you have to fry them in oil, baked fries won't do -- just a bit longer than usual. Not to where they start browning, but to just where they change from "yellow" to "golden." And you have to have the gravy thick enough so that it sits on the fries instead of soaking them. And finally, you have to eat the results while it's all still hot and fresh -- the longer it sits, the soggier the fries will get.

I've had awful poutine in expensive-y restaurants in Montreal, and I've had sublime poutine from grubby little street-corner joints. Poutine should never be "cheffy" -- the time it takes to add all the twee garnishes and such is time that the gravy is going to spend sogging up the fries.

There are places here that sell "poutine" that's actually Jersey-style "disco fries," and when you find something like that, keep moving. Not the same dish at all.

 

[Frunobulax]

Our last A&W was in a convenience store. It wasn't the same as the real A&W and didn't last long.
ALL of the combination joints I have ever been in suck. Our local one is a KFC and Long John Silver. Awful. Brings out the worst of both. A ways down the road was a KFC Taco Bell. Awful. Only the Taco Bell remains. Another KFC Taco Bell the other way, both closed.
We used to have Dog n' Suds here. They were actually more popular than A&W for quite a while.
Unfortunately both of our close by locations fell victim to the marketing budget of the golden arches et al.
View attachment 148947

I remember those.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[3fingers]

Clipped from farcebook.

 

[dh66]

We have a couple of A&W locations down here in central Alabama, but none of them serve poutine. I've had it in Canada, so I know what it is, and thought it was pretty good. There's a local hipster hot dog joint that includes among its many "cheffy" offerings a poutine dog, which is as unpleasant as it sounds. Hot dogs are another food item that just dont lend themselves too well to the gourmet treatment.

I guess along the lines of good poutine, one of the local taco trucks offers a plate of French fries topped with Nacho fixin's...cheese sauce, jalapenos, pico de gallo, and grilled steak and/or chicken. It ain't gravy and cheese curds but it is a pretty satisfying experience.


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[Zombie_61]

...I guess along the lines of good poutine, one of the local taco trucks offers a plate of French fries topped with Nacho fixin's...cheese sauce, jalapenos, pico de gallo, and grilled steak and/or chicken. It ain't gravy and cheese curds but it is a pretty satisfying experience.

With the large hispanic population here in southern California almost all of the independently owned "burger" joints serve burritos and tacos, so anything they can put in a tortilla can also be dumped on top of an order of french fries--chicken, Carne Asada (steak), Carnitas (pork), and of course beans, rice, cheese, pico de gallo, and so on. The problem is that most of these places tend to undercook the french fries, and these poutine-like dishes are always better when the fries are properly prepared as Miss Lizzie mentioned in post #841. As you wrote, they ain't gravy and cheese curds but they're quite good and usually enough to fill the average stomach.

Aww nuts. Now I'm hungry.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Gotta love those pecan logs.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

The Pink Elephant.

Rob

 

[David Conwill]

"Where Barbecue" what?

 

[BobHufford]

"Where Barbecue" what?

I think it is an abbreviation for "This sh*t is fine!"

 

[David Conwill]

Aha! This decodes it as "Where Barbecue Satisfies." That makes sense.

 

[Zombie_61]

I think it is an abbreviation for "This sh*t is fine!"

And they serve good coffee. Sez so right there on the building.

 

[3fingers]

And they serve good coffee. Sez so right there on the building.

Some things never change. Still plenty of bad coffee out there to make you appreciate the good. Only the price of the slop increases.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Al's.

Rob

 

[dh66]

Gotta love those pecan logs.

Rob

Yep.

Sadly, all the Stuckey's around here seem to have shut down. There's a pecan farm down toward Montgomery that sells their own version in their roadside store, but it's not the same.

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[BobHufford]

^^^^^ Hey @Zombie_61 -- it's your '58 Nomad wagon again!

 

[Zombie_61]

^^^^^ Hey @Zombie_61 -- it's your '58 Nomad wagon again!

Ha! I noticed that. It even appears to be the same color, and has the same screens in the rear windows; makes me wonder if it's actually the same car.

 

[3fingers]

I have seen pictures of that same '58 wagon a couple of other places too.
I have about decided somebody's box of old pictures got uploaded to the internet.
Which is fine, I like the car a lot.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

More pecan logs.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

The Chief.

Rob

 

[dh66]

The Chief.

Rob

Buried in an old photo album somewhere at my mom's is an picture of me at about age 2 or 3 standing with an Indian Chief like that in the parking lot of a roadside souvenir stand up in Cherokee, NC.

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