Poodle Skirts and Ponytails.... Jimmie's Diner, Wichita, KS

So I'm here in Wichita for two weeks. I will try to find a few good spots to review while I'm here. Today I played "spin the Garmin" to find a dinner spot. My original plan was to go to Ted's Montana Grill for a nice piece of Buffalo. However, when I got there, I was seated by an off duty employee and then sat for ten minutes while no one came to even great me at the table. Dejected at the thought of missing some yummy bison, and slightly pissed about the poor service, I left the decision in the hands of my trusty pal Garmin. As I scrolled through the screen of nearby eateries that he had compiled for me, I paused at the name Jimmie's Diner. It was a quick 1 mile from my position so I thought what the heck. Garmin chose perfectly as it turns out that Jimmie's is part of the Kings-X restaurant family here in Wichita. They have been serving the famous Kings-X waffle for over 60 years. This particular location looked very 50's diner from the outside, very simple with very little flash and glitz. On the inside it was like stepping into Pleasantville with a long bar seating area including padded stools and all. The waitresses were all dressed in poodle skirts and those with hair long enough had them in ponytails. Booths featured personal jukeboxes and allowed for a selection of some great 50's classics. I did not have one of their malts or shakes, but the ones traveling by to other tables look wicked fantastic. I also noticed that the metal milkshake container traveled to the table alongside the shake or malt so you get the entire portion here. Jimmie's serves breakfast all day long, and the menu was quite extensive. Along with Kings-X burgers, there was quite a nice selection of "mom food" as well. I decided on the chicken fried chicken and it was a no-brainer to pick mashed potatoes as my side. The meal came with a very simple garden salad and it was neither good or bad.....it was just a salad and you know how I feel about that. My meal arrived and I was very surprised indeed. The portion was VERY generous. Definitely big boy portions here at Jimmie's. The plate was laden with an entire boneless fried chicken breast and mashed potatoes smothered in country gravy. My first bite confirmed that it was every bit better than it even looked. The chicken was moist and the breading was downright incredible. It wasn't a crunchy overbearing crust that acted like a suit of bread armor for my chicky. It was a very light, smooth breading applied in just the right amount to allow the chicken to fry and brown properly. The gravy was delicious as well. It was not too runny, not too think, very peppery and a great compliment to the chicken. The potatoes I cannot verify, but I am certain they might be actually homemade. Jimmie's was one of those places that looked kind of tired and worn out. Somewhat bordering on "slightly greasy". The atmosphere and food reaffirmed that fact that you can't judge a diner by it's outdated, greasy, worn out cover. Jimmie's gets 5 props for condition of the restaurant, but lets be honest, I only care about the food...and in that respect my chicken fried clucker gets a full 10 props. If you're ever in Wichita, ignore the looks and try them out, I'm betting you'll leave stuffed and happy.

Burgermeister's - Asheville, NC

Craving a good hunk of cow, I sought out the best burger in Asheville for lunch. Started in the 90's by three friends, it has won "best burger" in Western North Carolina for the past 4 years running. It's in a little mini-mall type place next to a laundromat and from the outside is rather unassuming. Inside finds a small bar and several tables and booths. Perfect. As a rule of thumb, anyplace that looks like a dive, but gets voted best "xxx item" for the past 4 years in a row is going to rock. After brief friendly banter with our waitress I narrow down my decision to the Burgermeister's Cowboy Burger. It was a TOUGH choice. The menu touts Elk burgers, locally raised Bison, locally raised grass fed beef, and a fully customizable grilled cheese sandwich menu. You can choose from 3 breads, 5 cheeses, and 28 other add-on's for your cheese toasty. So now here comes my Cowboy Burger and it looks amazing! It is covered in BBQ sauce, melted provolone cheese and piled with bacon and fried onion straws. The burger was a little more "done" than I like it, but most places now are really picky about cooking their beef. I typically like a burger medium rare, but it's hard to find places that will cook them less than medium even if you ask for rare. The bacon was just the way I liked it, very well done and crunchy. The onions were a fantastic addition and added both flavor and a nice texture to the sandwich. The BBQ sauce was sweet and tangy and I would compare it to a cross between Sweet Baby Ray's and Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty. I really like sweet with my meat, and this was a direct hit. I chose fries for my one side and they were really good too. A little more "meaty" than a MCD fry, but not so thick that they weren't nice and crunchy. Dusted with some Kosher salt these baby's were the perfect addition to all that sweet sauce and smokey bacon. Even though it was cooked a tad bit more done than I prefer, Burgermeister's gets a full 10 props out of 10. Simply amazing.

om·ni·vore -N, an organism that consumes both plant and animal

I believe I should clarify before I go further with my eating adventure my stance on meat. I'm all for it! Although Webster's does define me as an "Omnivore", I rarely eat salad...or vegetables for that matter. I believe evolution designed me for a purpose. I can walk and run bipedally, use my opposable thumbs to grasp and catch things, dispatch it swiftly with a nice mix of tearing, biting and grinding teeth, and last but not least a nice big brain which allows me to reason and use tools. Conversely, let us take as an example Bos Taurus, in the family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae, our friend the cow. The cow is a less than nimble, slightly lumbering beast slow moving thus making for easy capture. Couple all that muscle and girth with a tiny little brain and it's just begging me to hit it with a rock and eat it. I scoff at salads. It's not food. It's what "food" eats. Unless specifically "in the mood" for a salad, or unless someone requests me to review a good salad, I probably won"t be regaling you with tales of crisp Romaine and spring greens and how they dance off the tongue. Just wanted to get that straight. If it can be caught and cooked, I want to eat it.

A Damn Fine Mess! Chez Ashton Quebec City, Quebec

So somewhere in the 1950's some French-Canadian guys were making food to watch a hockey game. A restrauant owner was asked to throw together some items into a bowl, to which he replied, "It will make a damn fine mess!" and Voila! Poutine was born! I have to say that this has recently become a new favorite of mine. A real killer winter comfort food. Too bad it is a very regionalized dish and is hard to find outside of French-Canadian provinces. Let me give you the run down on Chez Ashton Poutine. It was reviewed as one of the top Poutines in Quebec city. Ashton's has a couple locations there. The one I ate at is in the big mall just west of the Old City.Ashton's is just a type of fast food chain. Mine was a food court location in fact. They offer all kinds of burgers and sandwiches. I had the sliced chicken sandwich and found it to be very tastey, but the Poutine is the real star of the show and the real reason I came. They offered several variations of Poutine in a couple different sizes. I tried the traditional, but you could get Poutine with sliced sausage, peas, chicken, etc. Poutine begins life as a bowl (usually an aluminum foil bowl) of handcut french fries. Then throw on some white cheddar cheese curds. These MUST be fresh!! Most "good" highly rated Poutines will use curds from THAT morning. If they audibly "SQUEEK" when you bite them, then they are fresh enough. Now, cover the whole thing in a pepper gravy type "sauce". You can buy this sauce as a packet mix. St. Hubert's makes a good one. The sauce is key and can very from diner to diner. I found the sauce at Aston's to be hearty and full of flavor. It had some peppery qualities to it and did leave a little zing as an afterthought. It's piping hot and kind of softens the curds into an ooey, gooey mess...just as the original creator declared nearly 60 years ago. If you make it up North into the French provinces, you must try this! Overall, Chez Ashton's get 4 props out of 10. I mean it's basically just a French-Canadian McDonald's. However Poutine gets a full 10 props out of 10!! It's my new winter football food!

Pigs and Banjos? The Fiddlin' Pig - Asheville, N.C.

Okay seriously this is the most fun I've had eating in a while. Meet "the Fiddlin' Pig" in Asheville, N.C. An out of the way kinda place featuring my favorite thing on Earth...smoked meat. This pig definitely comes with a twist when compared to some of the other BBQ joints I've been to and that is live, authentic, Bluegrass music. Friday and Saturday nights the Fiddlin' Pig features awesome bands playing smoking hot bluegrass. What better than screaming mandolins, crying fiddles and twanging banjos to accompany my meal. I'll be honest, it's loud in there and a first date would find you yelling to converse with your companion, but what an absolute blast! Okay, let's get down to business, the food. The smoked pulled chicken sandwich on Texas toast was to die for. THE best I've had period. Moist, delicately smokey with a nice smoke ring and fall apart tender. Did I mention moist...no, I mean MOIST! It came all stacked up on Texas toast dressed with red onions, lettuce and a nice big slice of tomato. The pig offers three signature sauces. A Carolina style sauce that's a little vinegary and sweet all in one, a southern hot mustard, and a red pepper vinegar based sauce that adds some real zing. Sides were some awesome mac n cheese and fries. I tried the BBQ baked beans and the deviled eggs as well. I loved it all. Top it off with some bannana pudding or some hot apple cobbler with ice cream and you'll be rolling out instead of walking. The food was moderately and fairly priced, and the portions were definitely "man sized". I give it 9 props out of 10 deducting 1 point for the level of background noise generated by people yelling over the music. Other than that, it's in my all time top 10 nationwide!

A brief introduction...

I've been toying with the idea of doing something like this for a long time now. As a professional pilot, I find that traveling involves a fairly set pattern. Fly, Eat, Sleep...Repeat. The upside of this is I get to sample fantastic foods from all over. Some fancy, most not, generally I like to find the "hole in the wall" joints that the locals frequent. So, I thought why not let everyone else read about all the great hidden, or not so hidden spots featuring great eats. Maybe someone will find out about a spot close to them that they never knew existed. So, shall we just dive right in? I think so! I hope you all enjoy my food adventures.