Let me begin this blog post by saying this was not our ordinary road trip "find an out of the way spot to have lunch" meal. Yes, it had all the makings of an interesting and unique location to grab a bite, take some photos, plan a blog post in my mind while eating, and then back on the road until I could settle in to write the post tonight.
By the time we had spent an hour with Mr. Abe, his wife, his son, and the dozen plus other diners, I felt like a member of the family AND the community. Very seldom have I left an establishment and felt such a feeling of warmth and friendship. Pennie's Tex-Mex Take Out in Galveston was one such place. I found another in Abe's Grill in Corinth, Mississippi.
Before I get to the food, I'm going to share some of the exterior photos!
I was starving before I even got out of the car in the parking lot from this sign alone.
Now anyone who knows to use 1) Martha White flour for making biscuits; and 2) knows that "Hot Rize" is a proper identifier for Martha White flour is a soul sister (or brother) for me. Of course, buttermilk in biscuits is a true blood Southerner tell-tale signature.
And when you enter through this door....
You find yourself less than a foot away from the patron on the bar stool directly in front of you. Don't expect a table and chairs or a booth. Nope, you're about to become friends with about 20 people at a diner bar. Most of them know each other and the familiarity immediately extends to you and yours. You will receive suggestions on what to order (obviously everything on the menu will be someone's favorite) and tips to wait at least 5 minutes before taking a bite of that catfish sandwich because it is going to be HOT.
See the menu above the grill? Yes, that's your menu. Borrow some glasses from someone at the bar if you can't make it out or they will helpfully read the fine print for you!
No tickets here. Our new favorite chef Ryan keeps everything running with military precision. He asks you what you'd like, you tell him, he begins cooking. He will then ask your condiment choices and goes from there. It was a thing of beauty to behold.
When we entered, Mr. Abe realized there weren't two bar stools together. He immediately walked down the line, asked a regular if she'd move down to the end, and encouraged a diner who might have been enjoying his meal a few minutes too long to get finished because we needed a seat!
We ordered our sweet tea from Mrs. Abe and attempted to narrow our choices for lunch. I wanted to try it all!
When I am in Mississippi, I always have a yearning to order catfish in some form. So my decision was made: a fried catfish sandwich with hand cut fries! The sandwich was so pretty it deserved two different pictures.
My new friend who advised me to wait before devouring this sandwich was correct! It was served HOT and remained so for a little while. Lightly breaded with cornmeal (yea!) and perfectly fried.
Mr. Abe appeared and asked over my shoulder if I needed any hot sauce for my sandwich. Well, yes, I think I'd like that. He advised me to just holler up the counter and ask it be passed down my way. So I did and it was. See? You're family while you're here.
These fries were delicious and forget plates or baskets or any of that nonsense. This is the real deal. Your sandwich or burger or what have you is served on a large piece of waxed paper. And I'm fine with that. The seasoning on the fries? It's Mr. Abe's own blend and available for purchase.
Now we will move on to Sweet Harold's portion of the meal. As it is most of the time, he has a hard time making decisions when presented with all sorts of wonderful choices. Now this man loves a corn dog. Seriously, he loves them. Several of HIS new friends told him Mr. Abe had his own recipe for corn dogs. So his order was placed! He reports that this was a very good version in that the batter was light and not a thick "cornbready" coating like some of them are.
I knew, I just knew, that Sweet Harold wasn't finished. And he wasn't. He called out to Chef Ryan that he believed he'd have an Abe Burger. And just like that, this beautiful burger was presented to him.
Yes, it was everything you'd imagine it would be.
At this point, we had learned of a diner who had suffered a broken bone recently, another diner who was traveling through from Ohio, another one whose boss was being a taskmaster today, and several who asked where we were from and what we were doing in Corinth. When learning we were going to Missouri to judge BBQ that brought on interest and a lot of questions which we were happy to answer.
Mrs. Abe stopped by to chat a moment and I asked her about her biscuit making. When questioned about the number of biscuits she bakes each day, she thought a minute and said, "A zillion and one." After a laugh, she noted that she bakes enough to fill all her pans and that's it for the day. Breakfast is served until they run out and that's usually around 10:00 a.m. Oh, around 30 dozen eggs are cooked each day as well. She begins the biscuit making process around 1:30 a.m. each day.
Chef Ryan grabs a bar stool next to me to catch his breath and get a brief rest before the remainder of the lunch crowd rolls in a little after noon. I absentmindedly remarked I might have to try one of those chocolate chip cookies I had heard about while eating my sandwich. He immediately gets up and returns with two of these home baked cookies. Still warm from the oven. So much so that the chocolate chips were still ooey gooey.
For those who want to call ahead and order or drop by and order to go, Mr. Abe is at the ready in the take out window! My apologies for not noticing until later that his eyes are closed. Oops.
And if you want to try to make your choice before entering the dining area, here's a super large menu out front.
I'll be remembering this lunch for a long time. What a great memory!
You find some of the most interesting places in my home state. I wish it was closer, we'd go try it.
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