I'll take Potpourri for $1200.00, Alex.

buffetbuster -

This may be the number one forum if you keep these kinds of posts! 

Thanks for sharing...GREAT STUFF!

Thanks CTD (and everyone else)!  I really like that I can write about just one or two places from a weekend trip, without the hassle of doing a complete report.  Why didn't I think of this years ago?

Oh, and I have every intention of still finishing all the other trip reports.

buffetbuster


Thanks CTD (and everyone else)!  I really like that I can write about just one or two places from a weekend trip, without the hassle of doing a complete report.  Why didn't I think of this years ago?

Oh, and I have every intention of still finishing all the other trip reports.

Yeah right!
 
So much pie...so little time!

Fantastic post.  I had to think hard about what lunch box I had as a kid, but my guess is that it had something to do with David Cassidy and/or the Partridge family, the Osmond Brothers, or HR Pufinstuf. Painful.

I had the Six-Million Dollar Man and the Hardy Boys.  My sister had a Little House On the Prairie lunchbox.

As unusual as Etta's Lunchbox Cafe is, the next place makes Etta's look like an Appleby's!
 
O'Betty's Red Hot Dogs and Sausages is located in Athens, Ohio.  Not your typical hot dog place, O'Betty's is part hot dog museum and has a burlesque theme. 
 
The outside is nothing special,

but as soon as you walk in the door, you know you aren't in Kansas anymore!  There is a narrow hallway that leads to a counter with a few chairs.  Here is where you will find the menus hanging above your head.  Panel # 1

shows the hot dog choices, with each variety named after a famous, shall we say, dancer.  The next panel is for the sausages (sorry, the photo didn't turn out) and finally, the sides are on panel #3.
 
The two guys working in the small kitchen were funny and friendly and with me being the only customer, took time to chat and answer my usual questions. 

The guy on the left is the owner, but I failed to catch his name.
 
After placing my order, they told me to grab a seat in the back and they would bring the food to me.  I was not prepared for the two back rooms.  This is the oddest/coolest hot dog shop I have ever seen.




 
The photos don't do the weirdness of the place justice and I mean that in the best possible way. 
 
In a short amount of time, I had my food.  The first hot dog was the Mata Hari. 

Topped with their own cool, crisp slaw and the meaty, mildly spiced chili, this hot dog was wonderful.  The fact that the buns are toasted and that the wiener itself had a nice snap to it only helped.  The owner did tell me which brand wiener they use, but I have already forgotten.  Sorry!  Hot dog #2 was the Varla, subtitled "Va-Va-Voom"! 

This was topped with homemade horseradish, bacon bits, sauerkraut and 1,000 Islands dressing.  Although everything tasted fine individually, this was just a little too busy a collection of toppings for me.   The side of fresh cut fries

were also very good.
 
With Ohio University being here in Athens, the town does have a younger/hipper vibe than the surrounding communities.  I can't possibly imagine this unique hot dog shop setting up elsewhere in Southeast Ohio.  On the take out menu I grabbed, it says O'Betty's Red Hot, "The Weenie With A Wiggle"!
 
O'Betty's
15 W. State Street
Athens, OH
740-589-6111
 
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/4242/obettys-red-hot-dogs-and-sausages 

Tell us more about the third back room...that probably mixes Hubba-Bubba with Va-Va Voom!

billyboy

I had the Six-Million Dollar Man and the Hardy Boys.  My sister had a Little House On the Prairie lunchbox.

Funny you mention Little House on the Prairie, since when Tim held this up,

he said this is what Laura ingalls would have used to take her lunch to school.
 
Now, if Steve Austin was smart, he would have used a billyboy lunchbox! 
  

 

Awesome!  It looks like that guy had to open some kind of restaurant to house his extensive hot dog memorabilia and ladypose collections.  The hot dogs look pretty good too.

  
 You may remember the menu game that I play while reading your new reports, (guess what BB ordered!) I saw  "Hobo steak" and clapped with glee, KNEW you had to get it... Way to be so dependable. 
         My Lunchbox was the Jaime Sommers/ Bionic Woman model,  It got really rusty, really quickly. The thermos proved to be breakable if flung toward a possibly murderous herd of geese.  I'm just sayin'.     

All those great sounding french fry sauces made me think of guspas Wienner and Still Champion in Evanston.  He seems to create a sauce a week!

Nice wieners! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Awesome!A great combination of good food and unusual sights. The essence of roadfood. 

One more interesting stop in Iowa worth reporting.....
 
If you asked me what the quintessential Roadfood small town restaurant would be, I would most most likely answer, Coffee Cup Cafe in Sully, Iowa.  A town of less than a 1,000, seven miles or so off of I-80, it feels a million miles from anywhere.  Cousin Johnny and I had breakfast here in 2007 and thanks to the friendly service and local townspeople, it was a memorable meal.  The first rate pecan roll and pie surely helped.
 
The drive through the backroads of Iowa was made more difficult by a detour,

which took me from paved roads to unpaved roads.  But, that's what rental cars are for, right?  Strangely, Coffee Cup Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch, but close at 1:30PM on Saturdays.  I was the first in the door when they reopened at 5:00PM and grabbed a seat by the window.  The plan was to get the Dutch Lettuce, but the young waitress explained that they only have two options on Saturday nights,

all you can eat broasted chicken or roast pork.  Although disappointed, these are some pretty good choices here.  Even though I was planning on meeting Roadfooder blizzardstormus at Machine Shed in a couple of hours, where I would undoubtedly order the Iowa Chop (pork), the roast pork sounded too good to pass up.  In a very short amount of time, the restaurant had filled up with locals.

 
The first thing out was the bean soup

and like just about every bean soup I've ever had, it was too salty.  My entree came out

and this was a good looking plate of food.  The one negative on the plate was the green beans, which tasted like they were from a can.  The corn was fresh and highly seasoned.  The mashed potatoes were definitely not from a box and covered in a peppery chicken gravy.  At first, I was going to ask for some gravy to put on top of the pork, but after one bite, those thoughts disappeared.  Tender, moist, full flavored, this pork was wonderful.  Some heavy on the mayo cole slaw

and a small biscuit also came with the meal.  As good as the pork was, I stopped after one plate.
 
Now for the real reason why I was here, pie!  The single most important thing I have learned from the Roadfood books, is order your pies as soon as you arrive, because they could run out of your favorites at any time.  The first thing I asked the waitress when I sat down was how much banana cream was left.  When she told me only three slices, I told her to reserve me one.  While I was eating my dinner, a couple came in and sat at the booth across from me (they had a different waitress) and I heard them order a slice of the banana cream each.  I kept an eye on the situation and as soon as the other waitress took the banana cream pie plate out of the fridge, my waitress ran over and she was obviously telling her than one slice was already reserved.  She looked over at me watching and smiled.  Nicely done!  Of course, if I was smart, I would have had her bring the slice to my table right away, so there could be no mix up.  I won't make that mistake again!
 
Anyway, I watched the couple slowly fork into their pies, dissecting it and making lots of yummy noises.  I heard them tell people at another table that they had called in to make sure Coffee Cup Cafe had the banana cream pie, before getting off the interstate and were thrilled it was still available.  We all watched as the one waitress went over to the list of pies on the wall and crossed banana cream off.  I told them I had reserved the other slice as soon as I sat down and we laughed over it.  They introduced themselves as Leonard and Kathy from Chicago and they told me they read about how good the pie here was "in some book."  I asked if it was Roadfood and they answered, "Yes, how did you know?"  Turns out they were recently vacationing in Maine.  She had found the book at the airport, hit a bunch of restaurants in Maine and were now Roadfood fans.  Just that morning, they decided to drive to Iowa and hit some of the recommended places.  Very cool!
 
My slice of banana cream pie

was delivered and I couldn't have been happier.  Incredibly airy meringue, with simply perfect banana filling, this pie is one of the all-time greats!  Because they had forgotten to take photos of their own, Leonard came over and snapped away at my pie.  While we were talking, a pretty blonde walked over to our table and started chatting.  I recognized her from our previous visit, since she waited on Johnny and I and she was one of Coffee Cup Cafe's bakers.  Since she had made this banana cream pie, she was thrilled to hear all three of us rave on about it.  I did get Leonard, Kathy and the expert baker (never did catch her name) to pose for a photo together.

 
We were having a real nice time chatting, but I knew I had to go since I was meeting blizzardstormus in Urbandale, on the other side of Des Moines.  On the way out, I snapped a photo of Leonard and Kathy's blackberry pie,

which they were now sharing and the pie list,

now with banana cream, blackberry and pecan wiped off.
 
Coffee Cup Cafe
616 4th Street
Sully, Iowa
641-594-3765
 
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/550/coffee-cup-caf

Wow...........the crust on that blackberry pie  looks   just about  perfect!

Great reports and delicious-looking pies, buffetbuster. I've also learned the hard way that I have to order highly desired desserts in advance and make sure they're on the table.

By the way.... Did you actually have an Iowa Pork Chop at Machine Shed after all of that?

I love this thread!
The pic in the lunch box cafe on the bottom shelf I love the little Fisher Price rolly telephones. I had those for all my babies to play with.
I remember the  little crunchy noises they made.

quijote

By the way.... Did you actually have an Iowa Pork Chop at Machine Shed after all of that?

Does this answer your question?

And I will attest that he ate that hunk of pork AND more pie! Great thread. I need to get out and visit my own state's great food

buffetbuster

quijote

By the way.... Did you actually have an Iowa Pork Chop at Machine Shed after all of that?

Does this answer your question?

Foolish me! Of course you did! 

Why do I read these things before I've had breakfast?? Great report, thanks for posting it.

Well, I'll be a stuffed ham!
 
This past weekend I ended up in Maryland, visiting with cousin Johnny.  On Saturday, we decided to drive down to St. Mary's County, to hit some Roadfood spots we haven't been to in a while.  The most interesting place is St. Mary's Landing

in Charlotte Hall, because they serve stuffed ham.
 
Stuffed ham is a dish unique to St. Mary's County and is usually only served in cold weather months.  There are very few restaurants that offer it anymore, but you can still find it at church dinners and things like that.  Luckily, St. Mary's Landing has it year round.
 
The first hint that things here are a little different is this bumper sticker

located on the hostess stand.  Another thing, how many Roadfood spots have running games of Keno going on?

All the walls are covered with photographs of people. 

Now, if this was Tony Luke's or any other Philly sandwich shop, the photos would be autographed head shots of celebrities.  I looked over the photos and didn't recognize a soul.  I asked the waitress and she told me they were all relatives of the owners, favorite customers and some of the employees.  She then pointed to the near wall and said that there are a couple photos of her over there.
 
St. Mary's Landing is also unusual that it is a three meal a day, family tavern.  There are people doing some serious drinking, but also whole families here having a nice, quiet, relaxing breakfast.  This place somehow manages to be everything to everyone.
 
Stuffed ham is available as part of a platter for dinner or a sandwich for lunch.  If you are there for breakfast like Johnny and I are, your option is called the Charlotte Hall, which is stuffed ham, eggs and some home fries.  Here is my plate:


It is served cold and the kale, cabbage, onions and spices really give it a substantial kick.  Not burning hot, but definitely spicy.  It is unlike any other ham I have had before and ham is my favorite meat.  The scrambled eggs were fine and the homefries were big and crispy.  This was a really good breakfast. 
 
St. Mary's Landing also offers that mid-Atlantic favorite pig meat, scrapple.

I started off eating it by itself, but added syrup and what doesn't taste better with syrup on it?
 
Next time I come to St. Mary's Landing, I want to make it for lunch, so I can try that stuffed ham sandwich!
 
St. Mary's Landing
29935 Three Notch Road
Charlotte Hall, MD
301-884-6124
 
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Review/1509-1548/st-marys-landing
 
If you want to know more about the stuffed ham preparation, I found this article:
http://somd.com/news/headlines/2007/6754.shtml

buffetbuster


One of the restaurants I visited was Etta's Lunchbox Cafe. 
 

I don't see any of mine but my brother had the "Speed Buggy" box, which I think wound up getting spraypainted gray and used as a fishing tackle box.  And your photos look perfectly fine to me!
 
I remember that Tinker the mechanic on "Speed Buggy" looked an awful lot like Shaggy, but without the perpetual munchies.
 
Brad

  Oh my!
     You weren't kidding when you said you had some (Balti) MORE!!  
    I too love ham and I LOVE spicy so this has always really appealed to me. I'm wondering if the ham itself gets a bit pickled from the greens?  


     ps. maybe next time put some greens on your eggs....Dr. Seuss would approve! 

Given the author and nature of this thread I'm surprised it wasn't titled "I'll eat Potpourri..."

Brad

While I was in town, Johnny wanted to take me to a couple of dessert places he had found.  Stop # 1 was Dangerously Delicious Pies in downtown Baltimore.  He had actually taken me to a different location of DDPs two years ago (was that area called Fell's Point?) and we really enjoyed it.  In the meantime, he had stopped back a number of times.
 
Dangerously Delicious Pies was started by Rodney Henry, who is a rock musician by trade.  He decided music wasn't paying the bills, so he started a pie shop.  Apparently, he had grown up in Indiana learning the family recipes.  The idea of a rock musician starting a pie company does seem a little strange, but it obviously works and he has gotten all kinds of attention from magazines and tv.  When we were here a couple of years ago, we got to chat with him for a while and he is a really cool guy.
 
The outside,

with their logo of crossbones underneath a pie, which can also be found on their menacing looking pie boxes. 

The interior has one table in the window and lots more tables in the back, but most of the seats in the main front room are at the counter.  Johnny and I plopped ourselves down and looked over our choices. 


Although the savory pie choices were tempting, we had already eaten at The Breakfast Shoppe and Attman's, so we only had room for dessert.
 
Johnny went with the apple crumb,

which contained lovely, sweet apples and a cobbler like top, with plenty of oats.  Good, solid slice of pie.  I ordered what the young woman serving us called their signature pie, the Baltimore Bomb.

Those of you who have been to the famous Lexington Market are undoubtedly familiar with Berger's cookies, which start with a vanilla wafer and cover it with a ridiculous amount of dark chocolate.  The Baltimore Bomb uses a chess pie base and mixes in some Berger's cookies.  The top of the pie is light, while the bottom is rich and fudgy.  A wonderful combination!
 
Another plus about Dangerously Delicious Pies is that they open at 7:00AM everyday.  We weren't here that early, but it sure is nice knowing they are here if an early morning pie emergency crops up.  We walked in around 9:30AM and other than some other customers picking up phone-ins, we were their only customers.  The young lady working was very pleasant and personable and we enjoyed chatting with her.  She really loves working here.  I did manage to get a shot of her

taking some beautiful pies out of the oven.
 
Dangerously Delicious Pies
1036 Light Street
Baltimore, MD
410-522-PIES
 
http://dangerouspies.com/index.html
 
 
From there, the next place was a good 40 minute drive north up I-95 to Bel Air, MD.  There, you will find Broom's Bloom Dairy. 

It may only be three miles off of the interstate, but this is still undeniably farm country.  They do a lot more than just ice cream here and we saw several people ordering their crab soup, but we stuck to the ice cream.  The menu board

with the available flavors.  I usually just get a couple scoops of ice cream in a cup the first time I go somewhere, but on the drive here, Johnny mentioned his desire for a hot fudge sundae and that was all I needed to here.  It was now stuck in my brain and that is what I needed to have.  For the ice cream choice, I went with black raspberry.  The trouble with a sundae, especially when it comes in a white styrofoam cup and is covered in whipped cream, is there is nothing worthwhile to photograph.  So, you will just have to take my word for it, that this is some really good ice cream.  The hot fudge tasted homemade and the black raspberry ice cream tasted very fresh and even had bits of fruit mixed in.
 
Johnny ordered a sundae also,

with peach ice cream, topped with fresh peaches, caramel sauce and pecans.  How could something like that be anything but delicious?  And the amount of ice cream you get here is over the top, especially for the price.  They do sell cheeses and milk

here and pints to go.  I am already looking forward to a return visit.
 
Broom's Bloom Dairy
1700 S. Fountain Green Road
Bel Air, MD
410-399-COWS
 
I just realized that a couple weeks earlier, Johnny brought Travelin Man here.  Maybe he can tack on a couple photos of the ice cream.

I just want to know if you ordered the "large?"

I wanted to order the large but when the young guy picked up a cup the size of a 55 gallon drum, I quickly switched to the medium.

Large is usually better value!

Earlier this year, I was driving around Louisiana.  One of the stops was the Roadfood reviewed Borden's in Lafayette, to get some ice cream on a blistering hot day.  It had only been since March of last year since my last visit, but they have completely overhaulded the look of the interior

and added new signage on the outside. 

To eat, a fine hot fudge sundae. 

But, my favorite think about this stop was something hanging on the wall.  This is an obituary of a woman who worked here many years ago,

plus a photo of her behind the soda fountain back then.  It is easy to tell it is the same woman as she seems to have the same slight smile.  And Evelyn was a real cutie!

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1890/bordens