My Blog List

Friday, February 15, 2013

Greasy Spoon

Local Georgia Food Story

This has been submitted to BlogHer for their upcoming ebook. Who knows they may accept one of them. The first food story is here.

Greasy spoon restaurants are abundant in the south. I have eaten in more than my share of them. One town stands out for it's outstanding greasy spoons in my memory.  I was working as a registered nurse in a small economically depressed town where the largest industry was a state prison.  A majority of it's employees were related to each other. If a death occurred in town staffing became a real issue.  The physician's assistant Mr. Mussey and  I were the two folks in Medical, not from town, and we bonded over food and the vagaries of working in a prison.

The little town had a BP gas station on Georgia Highway 15 that had the crispiest and juiciest fried chicken I have ever eaten. The cooks started frying chickens at about nine A.M. and by eleven they were selling them. If you arrived at one o'clock you would not find a chicken wing. It would be a tragedy too. I seldom left the prison for lunch but one of my co-workers would bring me food from various places in town. Hole in the wall restaurants like the BP. The food was delicious. Sometimes odd, like chicken sandwiches with the bones still in the chicken. Apparently it is a regional preference to leave the bone in their sandwiches. We often enjoyed collards, turnip greens, and cornbread just like my Granny makes.

When I resigned from my job Mr. Mussey asked me out for lunch. We drove just outside of the town square by the historic courthouse and turned into a long steep dirt drive. Back in the piney woods was a shabby old house. There was no restaurant sign but Mr. Mussey assured me it was a restaurant. I was brave. I cared for felons who were convicted of heinous crimes after all. I could eat anywhere. Once. We walked into the house and it did appear to be a dining establishment. It had a counter and a few 1950's era booths. It was drab, sparse, and there was no menu. A man at the counter asked what we wanted to drink. I asked for unsweet iced tea. He laughed and said "Everything here comes with sugar, Suga!"  Alrighty then, I thought and ordered a Coke. Since there was not a menu I suggested Mr. Mussey order for the both of us. We had a hamburger and steak fries. It was no ordinary burger like the BP fried chicken was no ordinary chicken. It was a homemade beef patty and perfectly cooked. The fries were not frozen. They were cut, fried, and possibly fried again. At the time I was enjoying them immensely and I did not determine how they were cooked. It's funny when I think of that stressful administrative job it is accompanied by memories of food. The comfort of southern soul food with it's resourceful, thrifty, and nuanced flavors. I have not readily dismissed a "greasy spoon" since then.

Olive

20 comments:

  1. Food holds a special place in our memories. When I was a child, we would sometimes go for a Sunday afternoon drive. There would be a stop at a chip (fries) truck as a treat; they aren`t the sort of things one can eat on a regular basis! You don`t always know where the tastiest things will be served, as you discovered.

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  2. I love these stories! Unfortunately here greasy spoons are just that...with really lousy food. In Florida however, I found a local Mexican place with fabulous food...it only has 4 tables inside, the rest are in the garden.

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  3. A lovely read, Olive, and a great story ~ you painted a wonderful word picture

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  4. Beautifully written story. I can't say I've ever eaten at the BP, except maybe for a hot dog on one of those roller things, but the chicken sounds yummy. People don't cook chicken correctly up here.

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  5. LoVe the WRITING!!! Soooooo Visual!*!*! I want to hear MORE*** Best...
    Hugs - Jeanine Burkhardt

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  6. Love your story. I can think of a couple of greasy spoons in the town I went to high school in. We would go there for lunch. Much better than the cafeteria food. But then there was the ice cream shop too that wasn't a greasy spoon.

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  7. I loved your story and guess what , there is a gas station in my little town that does fried chicken and it is wonderful, when we want fried chicken thats where we go!

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  8. I always identify my travels with food. Usually the "local" flavor is worth experiencing. Loved the story.

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  9. Little hole in the wall restaurants are wonderful treasures! This is a great story with lots of good descriptions.

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  10. Love this type restaurant, just something about them that warms the soul! However...can't eat at them often as they also grow my butt! Love'em though!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  11. Adventurous eating is the best - it's how you discover those gems that only the locals know about. Love this submission, Olive. Ann

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  12. Yep, those little gas stations can be something! Down here, you can get cracklins, boudin, boiled crawfish, etc!!! You've made me hungry, Olive!
    Nancy

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  13. Great story...love the suga art:) The best fried chicken at the beach is at a gas station...no joke!!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  14. Great story and you're making me sooo hungry. I love places like that. We ate at a similar spot yesterday. The pimento cheese sandwich was awesome.

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  15. Don't most of the good times in life include food? Another great story.
    Mary Alice

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  16. Loved this post Olive!... the food sounds delish!... I grew up with little places like that in our little hometown... everything, and I mean everything, was made from scratch... fast food was unheard of back then... one place had the greasiest most delicious made from scratch tacos you could ever want!... my tummy would not handle one these days, but back then, they sure were yummy!... I fix a homecooked meal every night of the week, we rarely if ever eat out, things have changed so... thanks for sharing your story!... xoxo Julie Marie

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  17. We have a small "deli" near our house where they make those same type hamburgers and fries. In fact, we had them tonight. We feel like the week isn't complete without a trip to A&E. Neat old store building. Loved your story. I can relate! BTW, my hubby grew up in Albany GA, and calls me Shuga! Love it!

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  18. I think my favorite part about "greasy spoons" is the complete disregard for political correctness!! I do love me a good laugh and there's usually some colorful stuff going on in those types of places. We live in a struggling small town, and one of the most popular places to get a good burger was a hole-in-the-wall bar that was closed down numerous times by the health dept., and nobody cared!!!

    Love your story!

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  19. You totally described life as I know it!!
    Southern Living magazine is good at snooping out these places.
    We sometimes call them a "meat and three" restaurant which I am
    sure you know as well. Good luck!

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I adore your comments. They are like finding unexpected chocolates. olive