You probably know the place..it's that old vintage gas station building on Devine Street. It had a pretty good run as Tiffany's bakery and cafe, then I think it's been two other restaurants since then. Well, now it's Henry's. Neil asked me last night if I'd heard anything about it and I realized I had heard absolutely nothing. So, we took a left on Sims Ave and headed that way.
We were very pleasantly surprised by what we found. First, as soon as we opened the door, we saw our long-time bartender buddy Hillary behind the bar. The place was very clean looking and clean smelling. I don't mean it smells like Pine Sol or anything but rather just good clean fresh air. This is important to me. There are several tables, bar seating and a pool table. We opted to sit at the bar so we could talk to Hillary.
It was Happy Hour, so we got good deals on our wine. Next we checked out the menu. It's really extensive and Hillary let us know that all their menu items are prepared fresh with the exception of the sweet potato fries and hushpuppies. Freshly prepared chicken, hand pattied burgers, fresh cut fries. It's all sounding good so far! The appetizer that immediately caught my eye was the fried pickles. This is one heavenly little snack, in my opinion, especially if being made from scratch. These are some of the best I've tasted. Good, quality garlicky pickles with a nice crunchy crust. Let me warn you though...this is a monster order! We brought half of them home and I'm getting ready to crisp them up in the oven even as I type this now!
Next, we ordered dinner. Neil decided to take the route of supermodels and beauty queens and ordered the "Hank Dog." This is crazy! But I tasted it and it's crazy good. It's a cheese filled hot dog wrapped in bacon (you just have to experience this at least once) then topped with chili, cheese and jalapenos. Holy cholesterol Batman, but it was awfully daggum good!
I chose the buffalo chicken sandwich. One of my pet peeves about ordering chicken in restaurants is when they serve me some gargantuan sized chicken breast that makes me have nightmares about the steroid ridden bird this thing must have come from. This was a nice, neat, appropriately bun-size piece of chicken, freshly breaded and fried. The chicken itself was perfectly cooked and juicy. The buffalo sauce was their mild, but still had a nice little kick and good flavor. And best of all, it's served with homemade blue cheese dressing. Ummmmm...nice and rich and chunky...delicious.
Both our sandwiches came with fresh cut fries. I love fries this way because they actually taste like potato. The only suggestion I have for them is that using the double fry method will yield more crispy fries. Common issue when using fresh potatoes. Just a suggestion.
We were very pleased to find a cool new neighborhood bar that also has great bar food. There are many things on their menu that I plan to try. And, to my knowledge, they are the only place in town that has a food challenge...eat two of their giant burgers with fries and make it to the wall of fame. Maybe we can get Adam from Travel Channel's Man versus Food to come check it out??
We were very pleasantly surprised by what we found. First, as soon as we opened the door, we saw our long-time bartender buddy Hillary behind the bar. The place was very clean looking and clean smelling. I don't mean it smells like Pine Sol or anything but rather just good clean fresh air. This is important to me. There are several tables, bar seating and a pool table. We opted to sit at the bar so we could talk to Hillary.
It was Happy Hour, so we got good deals on our wine. Next we checked out the menu. It's really extensive and Hillary let us know that all their menu items are prepared fresh with the exception of the sweet potato fries and hushpuppies. Freshly prepared chicken, hand pattied burgers, fresh cut fries. It's all sounding good so far! The appetizer that immediately caught my eye was the fried pickles. This is one heavenly little snack, in my opinion, especially if being made from scratch. These are some of the best I've tasted. Good, quality garlicky pickles with a nice crunchy crust. Let me warn you though...this is a monster order! We brought half of them home and I'm getting ready to crisp them up in the oven even as I type this now!
Next, we ordered dinner. Neil decided to take the route of supermodels and beauty queens and ordered the "Hank Dog." This is crazy! But I tasted it and it's crazy good. It's a cheese filled hot dog wrapped in bacon (you just have to experience this at least once) then topped with chili, cheese and jalapenos. Holy cholesterol Batman, but it was awfully daggum good!
I chose the buffalo chicken sandwich. One of my pet peeves about ordering chicken in restaurants is when they serve me some gargantuan sized chicken breast that makes me have nightmares about the steroid ridden bird this thing must have come from. This was a nice, neat, appropriately bun-size piece of chicken, freshly breaded and fried. The chicken itself was perfectly cooked and juicy. The buffalo sauce was their mild, but still had a nice little kick and good flavor. And best of all, it's served with homemade blue cheese dressing. Ummmmm...nice and rich and chunky...delicious.
Both our sandwiches came with fresh cut fries. I love fries this way because they actually taste like potato. The only suggestion I have for them is that using the double fry method will yield more crispy fries. Common issue when using fresh potatoes. Just a suggestion.
We were very pleased to find a cool new neighborhood bar that also has great bar food. There are many things on their menu that I plan to try. And, to my knowledge, they are the only place in town that has a food challenge...eat two of their giant burgers with fries and make it to the wall of fame. Maybe we can get Adam from Travel Channel's Man versus Food to come check it out??
