Sunday is packing-and-leaving day, and facing a long 12 hour drive back to SC. I only have one question concerning all this good food and drink. How does Anthony Bourdain stay so damn slim? The ride home starts off at Mickey D's with the egg white McMuffin. Ohh... how far we have fallen! It’s 5 hours to Montgomery AL, and we know what’s in Montgomery, Dreamland BBQ!
Getting close to 2pm now and the egg white McMmuffin is wearing off. In the back of my mind, I have been thinking about Dreamland BBQ again. We gonna go right past it so I think it is a great idea. If you remember, we ate there the Saturday we headed to NOLA, but Viv and I split a plate and really did not get our fill. This time I got my own, and I went with the ultimate BBQ plate; ribs, chopped meat , smoked chicken breast, and great sweet tea. I added a side of sausage. I think this was better than the last time, and at 2pm I could indulge just a bit more. I love good BBQ, and Dreamland has some of the best. I wish Anthony would call and ask me to fill in for him say a year or two. I think I could get used to eating at great places around the country.
When I go to a restaurant, I always like to get a seat where I can look into the kitchen just to see if there is something new that I've not seen, or a different way someone does something. I get the seat right in front of the Eliason swinging door and the view into the kitchen is limited, but better than last time. I like to notice the brand names that the restaurant decided to buy and work with because we sell most of the manufacturers. Advance Tabco made the stainless wait station. True built the refrigeration I noticed being used. A Roundup upright toaster was taking care of the buns, while a Bunn tea maker was being used steadily. A Manitowoc ice machine with a 3M water filter system was pumping out ice. I wanted to see the smoker, but that was off limits.
Surprisingly, every place we ate at was good and I can’t remember a bad experience in any of the restaurants. The restaurant that had been in business the longest was the only one where I would say that price outweighed quality. All the others met or exceeded my expectations. Leaving Montgomery and headed back to SC, I knew that there would be no more stops and the week-long trip was almost over. Back to lunch at the regular chain restaurants we frequent, with dinners of cheese and crackers, and the occasional Tennessee Table Tea. All in all, it was a good week in NOLA. We had great food and met some good people. It feels really nice to be a part of an industry that is thriving, and making people happy by cooking and serving some of America’s best food. Meeting people like Ike Jackson, who enjoys his work and tries to make every customer feel special is something I thought we were losing in America, but getting out from behind the desk and taking a road trip has shown me some of the things we have going for us in this country, and that the people in the service industry still seem to know what service means.
JES does it's very best to give excellent customer service. When you call us, a human being answers the phone. I like that, and that's how it will continue to be. The comment I make on occasion is "If you can be happy, we can make you happy". Pulling into my driveway, I am grateful I’ll be in my snugly bed tonight.
