Mom and Tom's

This is a small restaurant that has been squeezed into a gas station off of Lancaster in Richmond Kentucky.  I had the opportunity to sample their breakfast.  I enjoyed a vegetable omelet and a side of bacon.  The omelet was sooo good!  It contained fresh vegetables and a wonderful amount of cheese.  It was delicious!  The other surprising fact was the side of bacon was about 6 pieces of bacon!  Most places only give you 4.  The prices are amazingly low and the food was wonderful.  I plan on returning soon.

Smitty's Southern Style BBQ

Smitty's Southern Style BBQ has become a favorite!  It is located somewhere in Richmond, Kentucky.  I say that as it is a mobile restaurant that has to move locations every 14 days.  (I just spotted him up on Big Hill today!)  This is some of the best BBQ I have ever eaten!  I have had a taste of their pulled pork sandwich which was amazingly flavored.  So good!  I also had their polish special.  It is a polish sausage smothered with onions, peppers, and a sauce that is sooo yummy!  I got the fries as my side (the other choices are coleslaw or beans) they were the perfect doneness and were fresh made.  I also had a lemonade to go with it.  Now this lemonade is fresh made and tastes like the lemonade you make when you go out and sit on the front porch swing on a hot summer night!  Delicious!

They have a small menu but they definitely know how to make those items to perfection!  I will be trying their ribs next time.  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!  It is lunch time......

This is a wonderful little establishment and I hope that they will be around for a long time.

Gridiron BBQ

The Gridiron BBQ restaurant is in Richmond, Kentucky.  I was sorely disappointed with this restaurant.  I selected the pulled chicken with baked beans to sample.  The good thing I can say about it is that the chicken was definitely moist.  Thankfully we had the foresight to split one serving.  The sandwich was so moist that the bottom of the bun was soggy by the time it was brought to the table.  The service wasn't slow it was just that juicy.  The chicken really didn't have a lot of flavor to it (I actually added salt).  The baked beans tasted like the ones you get out of a can. 

I honestly cannot recommend this restaurant.  There are other things to try, but I won't be going back.

Smokehouse

I am so sad! I returned to the Smokehouse down in Berea to try out their buffet.  I was severely disappointed.  The buffet consists of a salad bar, dinner items, desserts, and a bread selection.

The salad was limp and tasteless.  The pea salad was different than what I expected.  It had raw peas in it.  Tasty but not what I am accustomed to.  I sampled the potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, fried chicken, and corn.  Everything except the baked beans required some added flavoring, salt and pepper helped a little, but not enough to make me want to return for more.

I will go back to the smokehouse again as I loved their bbq ribs and fried green tomatoes, but I know next time to avoid the buffet.

The Paddy Wagon

The Paddy Wagon is a wonderful pub in Richmond, Kentucky.  They throw the biggest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the area.  It was definitely a sight to see!  Wonderful smells came from inside and out as they had to expand into the parking lot to accommodate everyone!  As fate would have it, St. Patty's Day fell on the same day as a UK basketball game and thus the big screen tv's were all tuned in so everyone could catch the game while celebrating the wearin of the green (or blue this year).  They even had one out in the parking lot!  Way to be there for your customers!

Going to The Paddy Wagon is an amazing experience.  If you look up on the walls you will see patches for firefighters and police stations from all over the country.  I actually get choked up as I gaze up at these.  To see them all together on one wall is a sight to behold.  You must really experience it for yourself.

On a much quieter day I returned to sample something on the menu.  I decided to try the pub basket.  Now for those who don't know what that is (don't be embarrassed I didn't know either), it is steak fries, also known as pub fries, seasoned with kosher salt and coarse black pepper.  Now you have the option of adding toppings to these tasty potatoes.  I selected the chili, cheese, and onions.  Don't worry no one had to deal with my onion breath besides me!  They were some of the best fries I have had in a long time.  They were cooked to such a tenderness that they would fall apart when I stuck my fork through them.  The chili topping was the beanless variety and yes the onions were definitely onion like, crisp and delicious!

I completely recommend you go and visit this amazing Richmond treasure.  Sit at the bar and share a story or two and possibly catch a game on the big screen.

Elvira's

Elvira's is located in Richmond Kentucky just off Eastern Bypass.  This is an amazing italian restaurant with authentic italian food.  As soon as you walk in you realize this is going to be an experience unlike any other.  The menu contains everything from appetizers to desserts and a seperate menu is provided for their pizzas.  The pizzas are freshly made and the menu lets you know up front you are going to have to wait while they are prepared. 

You are provided with an oil and vinegar mix to dip the loaf of bread in that is brought to the table before the rest of your meal.  If you have never tried this it is delightful.  It may not sound very appetizing, but it is delicious.

I chose the steak de mare (steak topped with shrimp).  Oh my goodness, this was the best steak I have ever eaten!  It was perfectly cooked and was so tender it practically melted in my mouth.  The shrimp was expertly seasoned and was so good I refused to share with my companion.  It came with a side of pasta and salad.  The pasta was just right with a slight bite to it and had a light sauce on it.  The salad was a perfect serving of vegetables to begin the meal with. 

To end the meal I selected the hummingbird cake.  No it does not contain hummingbirds!!  It is full of the yummy things that would attract a hummingbird though.  It had nuts and fruit and had a cream cheese frosting.  Those of you who know me realize I don't like cream cheese so the frosting was eaten around, the cake itself was devoured rather quickly.  The flavors were expertly balanced and the cake itself was so light it was a burst of flavor in my mouth.

This is a wonderful restaurant and I am already planning my next meal there.  I'm thinking of trying one of the pizzas, although those sandwiches sounded wonderful too, or maybe the salmon salad.......

Better Burgers and More

Better Burgers and More located in Richmond Kentucky is actually The Madison Diner in a new location with a remodeled menu.  They have some of the best food in town!  They have a family run place that makes you feel like your part of the family.  (So if it takes a while to get service just remember your Mom doesn't always answer on the first yell either.)

I chose the appetizer sampler plate the day I went.  It contained mushrooms, chicken wings, onion rings, and potato wedges instead of cheese sticks as they were out.  (So popular that they are out of cheese sticks by 3:00!)  Yes it was all deep fried, but it was sooooo tasty.  Not for the cholesterol watchers by any means.  Nothing was dripping in grease and the flavor was perfect.  This place is the quintessential greasy spoon.  The wings, for those of you who love wings as much as I do, have a dry rub on them and are so delicious I didn't need any kind of a dip for them.  (Similar to the ones at Madison Garden for anyone who has had theirs.)

For dessert, yes I must have dessert even at 3 in the afternoon, I had a flavored ice cream.  I selected the tropical orange flavor and I tell you it was soooo yummy!  Definitely worth the $1.25 for the bowl full that I received.  It filled in the nooks and crannies that were left open by the sampler.  The flavor of the ice cream reminded me of cotton candy.  It is light and yet so good.  At the bottom of the dish there was a little bit of the blue goo flavor mixed in from the ice cream before mine.  It was like the flavors  were fighting for possession of my tastebuds! 

This is definitely on my list of places to visit again!