Breakfast: Best Western Continental Breakfast, Macon, GA
Review – I am not sure on which “continent” this counted as a breakfast, but it was scanty to say the least. Day-old Krispy Kremes, cereal wallowing in its own cereal dust, and artificial tasting apple and orange juice. Oh, and I should also mention the frozen waffles sitting unsealed in the mini-freezer, daring someone to try them in all their frost bitten glory. Bleh. We counted our losses here early and moved on to the next phase of our trip.
Lunch: Zarzour’s, Chattanooga, TN
Review – Following a tip in our trusty Road Food guidebook (thanks, Mom and Dad), we made our way to this gem in southern Tennessee. Even the locals will tell you it is in a dilapidated part of town and quite difficult to locate, but we made it. When the waitress realized we were not locals (ordering unsweet tea must be an anomaly here), she quickly deduced that, “Ya’all must have one of them navigation things.” Indeed.
Location aside, this cafe dating back to 1918 was pure Southern charm. Ordering a cheeseburger with everything got me the label, “Yankee,” but it was all said with big smiles and southern drawls. When we mentioned that we had arrived via a tip from Road Food, we were promptly shown a Gourmet magazine from 2004 from whence the Road Food nod originated. They take great pride in their restaurant and they should.
When the burgers arrived, they were nicely sized with more width than height and nicely sliced down the middle. For a burger with all the trimmings, it made a potentially messy situation all the easier to contend with. The burgers tasted fantastic, and we were quickly saying, “Whata-WHO? ” We promptly transferred best road trip burger to Zarzour’s.
Before lunch, we were told to save room for some homemade peach ice cream, and I decided to take their advice. Patrick ordered the strawberry shortcake, which was fixed his favorite way, with angel food cake, lots of strawberries, and Cool Whip. The bowl was scraped clean in under 60 seconds. The peach ice cream (a new one for me… Florida is not really “The South” so much as it is just located in the southern US). It was icy and refreshing with large hunks of peaches. The best part of it was that it was hand delivered to the table by Shirley Zarzour, the granddaughter(??) of the cafe’s founder. “Just visitin’?” she asked. We nodded. “I’m Shirley Zarzour,” she drawled, extending her hand. She was one of a handful of folks who made recommendations, delivered food to our table, or refilled drinks throughout the meal. The staff seemed to really work as a team and as such, we were well served.
We did not have a single complaint about our Zarzour’s experience. If you ever find yourself in the Chattanooga area, and you have time to get lost, find Zarzour’s. It will not disappoint.
Dinner: Loveless Cafe, Nashville, TN
Review – Another Road Food tip led us on a wild goose chase through suburban Nashville to find this highly recommended cafe, famous for it’s scratch biscuits (to you Yankees, that is a simple way of saying biscuits made from scratch). Two maps, two guidebooks, an atlas, and a GPS could not lead us to the Loveless, and we eventually conceded and called for directions. At a loss for the best way to get us there from where we were, we were told someone would call us back. Five minutes (and, I am told, a few MapQuest searches) later, we got a call with the secret handshake combination and we were on our way.
There is a reason stars like Princess Anne, Paul McCartney, and Soleil Moon Frye (Tv’s Punky Brewster… shout out to Ian!) flock to the Loveless. We discovered many reasons during our experience there. The famous biscuits arrived almost immediately when we sat down, served with butter, honey, and three types of preserves – peach, strawberry, and blackberry — all handmade right there at the Loveless. On my first half biscuit, I sampled a small dab of each, settling on the blackberry as my favorite. Delicious. On the second half, I got a little fancy and smeared on some butter, then blackberry preserves. Heavenly! Why have one condiment when you can have TWO??? Patrick stuck with plain butter and enjoyed the simplicity of his combination.
The fried chicken came highly recommended and we decided not to deviate from a well-trodden path. I ordered mine with caramel sweet potatoes and hashbrown casserole. (Yes, Jamie, this is phase 6 of the South Beach Diet! Ah, blessed carbs.) Patrick opted for the hashbrowns also, along with coleslaw. The dinners arrived in under five minutes. The fried chicken was as good as promised – four enormous pieces with lots of meat and a terrific crispy skin. What health food nuts we are. The sides were also quite good. The hashbrown casserole is a staple there and was very flavorful with a good consistency. Sweet potatoes were as good as dessert. The cole slaw was deemed by Patrick as “above average.”
Perhaps the best part of the Loveless for me was the gift shop, where I promptly spent a week’s earnings buying treats for us and others. It’s too bad the biscuit recipe is a secret… they sure would go well with the blackberry preserves I’m bringing home.