Roadfood Rapture- The Best of 2012

In honor of the Mayan Calender and the end of the earth as we know it, my Roadfood revelations led to another fantastic year...
 
Before I go any further, I want to dedicate this year's list to our late great Padre Rick Flynn who passed away early in the year......we all still miss him dearly, and I know we will all be thinking of him in February at the next glee club event. 
 
Like the last couple of years, I'm going to begin my list mid month with a teaser of "soup and pies" and then continue after Christmas and hopefully conclude by the new year....

As you know this is my list so I make my own rules. Like last year, The Best Standby's list have to wait at least 3 years before they're eligible again and as you all know this is a "non-local list" this year I've expanded the term "non local" to anything more than 100 miles away.....(previously it was 50 miles)
 
This year wasn't a big "soup year" so my list is short...
 
So without further ado.....
 
6 stupendous bowls of  soups/stews/ chili and gumbo
(in no particular order)
 
1 Chicken Dumpling Soup Blue Willow Inn Social Circle GA
 


 
2  A Bowl of Texas Red- Texas Chili Parlor Austin TX
 


 
 
3. Gumbo- Casamento's New Orleans LA
 


 
 
4.  Seafood Chowder Gilbert's Chowder House Portland ME
 

 
 
5. Brunswick Stew- Community BBQ Decatur GA
 

 
 
6. Mushroom Barley Soup Second Avenue Deli New York, NY
 

 
(photo courtesy of Billyboy)
 
Pies.....after the weekend....

Tease!

Pies after the weekend? You big tease!

Great start so far and the gumbo and seafood chowder look amazing!

Thanks for the shout-out, Dale.  Love that soup.  So warm and comforting.  I'll take a bowl each of the chicken & dumpling, Texas Red and that buttery-rich looking seafood chowder, please!

All of Earth's Greatest Treasures come in a Bowl with a Spoon!
No plates, forks or knives needed!

Lovely group of soups.

Give me the Gumbo and the Texas Red and I will make slurping sounds for a long time !

All of them look great, Dale! Cant wait for more of your report.....after the weekend, "scowl"...

Man,  that's a hefty lineup right there.  And on the 7th day ( after those 6 bowls) he rested.

I'll take one of each please. 

I'll take that bowl of Texas Red. Just can't get mine to come out even close.

I'll have the gumbo, please. 

lleechef


I'll take one of each please. 

I will agree with you Lisa, I will take a gallon of each and go into hibernation.

BRUNSWICK STEW!  Done "right" it is one of the best things on the Planet.  Your exemplar looks to be "done right". 
 
Too bad that it only comes canned in Texas.
 
(edit:  just had to add "smilies" )!

Great start. They all look delicious, 6 way tie. Anticipating more. Thanks WJ for taking us along.  

Six bowls of love. Thanks!

All look fantastic! I'd only add a big bowl of She Crab from SC.

I love the Blue Willow's Chicken Dumpling soup. I will have to go Community BBQ so I can try the stew.

I deliberately waited until after the weekend for the best pies so Buffetbuster can really savor the pics after his weekend getaway in Vegas. 
  
In the interim, I'll post a a brief synpopsis of my Roadfood year.
 
My year began in February in high Creole and Cajun fashion in New Orleans.....eating my way around Mississippi and Arkansas as well as Memphis and Birmingham, my trip culminated at the annual Glee Club Weekend in Nashville and had the opportunity to meet two new Roadfooders (new to me) Pogophiles and Will_Work_4_BBQ

Towards the end of winter I met up with  Ayersian (Chris) and Travelin Man in Manchester NH before venturing up to Maine for my inconsistent annual visit to LL Bean and finding some new discoveries on my way back down along the North Shore of MA.
 
Spring, aka the beginning of Baseball season found me in the Sonoran Deserts of Phoenix and Tucson and meeting up with Foodbme on a couple of occasions including my first ballgame of the Season at Chase Field in Phoenix. I then continued on to  Mess with Texas in San Antonio and Austin for some amazing Q, Puffy Tacos and Bean Burgers as well as a visit with Bushie who showed me around the Northern environs of Austin.
 
Spring continued with our weekend in Worcester MA meet up in May and Culminated in Pittsburgh/Cleveland and the panhandle of WV in June with Buffetbuster & Mariton, Ralp Melton & Ice Cream Chick and Travelin Man.
 
Summer continued with monthly Boston mid week meetups with Ayersian, Karilyn, Bethgrd and Paulde
 
My last big trip of the year, the week before labor day found me Whistin Dixie in Charlotte NC- Columbia SC and Atlanta. with a chorus of  Hearbreak Soup (who I met for the first time),  Nanypalooza and Buffetbuster.
 
Fall continued with  the annual Roadfood bus trip, this year to Connecticut, weekend trips with Sandra to  Albany/Southern Vermont   , NYC (and Billyboy)  and one final day trip to Boston's North Shore with Sandra and the Ayersians
 
And that was 2012 in a nutshell...
 
Pies- tonite!

Ten Terrific Pies (in no particular order)


 
1. Blackberry Pie - Ruby and Ketchy's Morgantown WV
 


 
 
 
 
2. Chocolate Cream Pie  Red Arrow Diner Manchester NH

 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Coconut Cream Pie Neal's Cafe  Springdale AR
 

 
 
 
4.  Ice Box Pecan Coconut Pie Beacon Light Tea Room Bon Aqua TN
 


 
 
 
5 Chess Pie Sylvan Park Nashville TN
 

 
 
 
6. Lemon Ice Box Pie Ellston Place Soda Shop Nashville TN
 
 


 
 
 
7. Elvis Pie  Texan Cafe Hutto TX
 

 
 
 
8. Apricot  Fried Pie Family Pie Shop  De Valls Bluff AR
 

 
 
9 Buttermilk Pie and Peanut Butter Pie (Tie) Blue Willow Inn Social Circle GA
 

 
10.  Blueberry Pie Maine Diner Wells, ME
 

While I love the soup shots, pie is where its at.
 
Love the Blue Willow Inn and Hutto Cafe choices.  Also, the chess at Sylvan Park is a winner! 

While I am more into savory than sweet, these pies could win me over!!!!!!

If I'm drooling I can only imagine what bb is doing......

Pies? Pies? Who cares about pies?

Not sure if it is a coincidence or not that I was with you for four of those pies.  Yeah, probably not.  Of those, the chess pie at Sylvan Park was the best.  But, that blackberry pie from Ruby & Ketchy's is another real winner.  And that photo has me wishing there was room for us to stop in at Neal's Cafe, since we were across the street.  Cousin Johnny would have loved that pie.  Beautiful list WJ!

Buffetbuster
 
I was never a huge fan of chess pie until I had a bite of that slice at Sylvan Park. It has made me a  convert for life.
 
I recall Cousin Johnnie and i really enjoyed the Coconut Pecan Icebox pie pie at the Beacon Light Tea Room. Unfortunately that was the only thing I enjoyed there.
 
After thinking about it for a while, if there was a # 1 pie of the year, it had to be that Elvis Pie at Texan Cafe .
 
I believe Chi Town Diner was also with us for 3 out of those 9 pies. Speaking of Chi Town Diner, there are some things that are left to myth vs reality such as Bigfoot and The Loch Ness Monster.....
Well, there are some things that are just stranger than fiction, and I swear to you all that this was NOT photoshopped, I kid you not....
 
Here it is.....

The Most Incredulous Roadfood Moment of 2012
 

 
Chi Town Diner ordering a ......salad!

Amazing pies!!!  Great salad?

 
 
Wow, those pies look great!  That ice box pecan coconut pie looks insanely good! 
 
Glenn
 
 

Buttermilk pie looks wonderful.

Dale: enjoying your post soo much. That Choc cream pie looks like it has fake whipped topping, no? The other pies look incredible. THe salad photo is priceless, now that I know CTD!!

bethgrd,
 
Red Arrow is famous for their pies. Thats where the folks of Manchester get their pies for the holiday season.  Apparently they even have a separate pie truck.
 
TTM and I went there and shared the chocolate cream and apple pie, even though I'm more of a fan of fruit pies vs cream pies, the apple pie though good, did not match up to the Chocolate Cream pie. If that was fake whipped topping  I'd be shocked, it tasted very real to me.
 

OR.......the people in the background praying for him.............
 

I am sorry I missed the initial installment, as I was seeing some "sights" this past weekend, myself. Of your initial group of soups, I can only say that the bowl of seafood chowder from Gilbert's in Portland, Maine was one of the best soups I have EVER had. Period.

The Travelin Man


I am sorry I missed the initial installment, as I was seeing some "sights" this past weekend, myself. Of your initial group of soups, I can only say that the bowl of seafood chowder from Gilbert's in Portland, Maine was one of the best soups I have EVER had. Period.

 
It's certainly up there for me too. (the She Crab Soup at 82 Queen Street in Charleston comes close).....I'm so glad I found Gilbert's "by accident" back in 1995 and even gladder that they're still around after all these years. 

WJ
Most incredulous moment I thought would have been when in Nashville, CTD, BB and myself needed an extra table for all the food we ordered @ Rotier's. (But i forgot you hadnt arrived in town yet for that adventure) Now as I think about it CTD ordered a salad there too. 

CajunKing


WJ
Most incredulous moment I thought would have been when in Nashville, CTD, BB and myself needed an extra table for all the food we ordered @ Rotier's. (But i forgot you hadnt arrived in town yet for that adventure) Now as I think about it CTD ordered a salad there too. 

 
Actually CK,  that's not too incredulous, CTD always needs an extra table for everything he orders!

***EDIT****
 
Sorry for the oversight
 
There were 10 pies this year vs 9
I don't know how I could have forgotten the Blueberry Pie at Maine Diner in Wells ME 
 
The error has since been corrected.
although the blueberries weren't fresh, it was still an excellent pie.

wanderingjew

  If that was fake whipped topping  I'd be shocked, it tasted very real to me.

I've eaten enough pies at the Red Arrow to know that it's fake whipped topping.  But the rest of the pie is good enough for that not to bother me.  My favorite is their Brownie Cream Pie (cream pie with a brownie layer  below the filling)

This is a family site. 
At least a g-string, please. 
This is pure food porn!
 

 
 

wanderingjew


***EDIT****

Sorry for the oversight

There were 10 pies this year vs 9
I don't know how I could have forgotten the Blueberry Pie at Maine Diner in Wells ME 

The error has since been corrected.
although the blueberries weren't fresh, it was still an excellent pie.

 
 
Great to see the Maine Diner's blueberry pie added in!   It is among my all time favorite pies at one of favorite diners.  
 
 
Glenn
 
 

Now that Christmas is over, I'll continue with the the awards.... however I can see now there is no way I'll finish this before new years....
 
I thought I would get the negatative stuff out of the way, unfortunately it's a sad reality but here goes....
 
Rotten Tomatoes of 2012 (in no particular order)
 
1. The Gumbo Shop New Orleans LA
 


 
If tasteless slop is your kind of eatin' then go for it . Why this place is even on Roadfood is a complete insult to anyone's tastebuds. A flat out TOURIST TRAP and complete rip off. When I tried to remedy this travesty in a dish with hot sauce, all it did was merely take on the flavor of hot sauce. 
 
 
2. TTM'd twice in a row!
 

 
 

 


Taking the street car to Uptown in New Orleans and then taking a walk to my next roadfood stop, I was disappointed to find out that Hansen's Sno-Blitz is seasonal only, no problem, it's a short walk to my alternative stop, Domilise's Po-Boy- closed on Sunday and Thursday, with my luck it was thursday...
 
 
On an even sadder note, later on in my trip, I drove 40 miles round trip out of my way to find out that The Bean Palace at War Eagle Mill in Rogers AR is only open on weekends in February....Well....it was February
 


 
 
3. Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish Nashville TN
 
I've been here before and never had a problem when Mr. Bolton was around, however when we arrived for glee club weekend we left without our order due to the arrogance and rudeness of one of the staff.....
 
4. Nashville
 
Oh, there is certainly nothing wrong with Nashville, it's a fine city with some good food, however with so many people who got sick and others who had travel issues, it did but a damper over Glee Club weekend.
 
 
5. The Cupboard Memphis TN
 


 
Not only is this a sad looking slice of Lemon Ice Box Pie but they call this Lemon Ice Box Pie for a reason, it's supposed to be served chilled, not luke warm......
 
 
 
6.  City Cafe Elgin TX
 

 
If stale coconut cream pie that's as hard as rock is your thing....then go for it...
 
 
7. TTM'd The Tamale Store Phoenix AZ
 
Unfortunately, being TTM'd without  calling to see if a place is open is not an unusual occurrence for our "go with the flow" friend, however, calling several days in advance to ensure that Green Tamales would be available giving your order, confirming their hours and then arriving to find that they are closed without any explanation is truly a real bummer.
 
8. Fat Matt's Rib Shack Atlanta GA
 


 

 
 
Pasty tasteless bbq pork swimming in sauce and pureed brunswick stew that looked like it went through a blender also with an overbearing taste of bbq sauce convinced me that the Pig should be insulted that they sacrificed their life for this.
 
 
9. Beacon Drive In Spartansburg SC
 

 

 

 
 

 
Greasy, Nasty and Disgusting....I obviously have no intention of ever returning..
 
 
10  Northern Colorado and the I25 Corridor of Wyoming
 
You're all probably wondering about this one and the reason why is because this trip never happened. Scheduled for early October ,  after being slapped with a huge condo assessment, that completely snuffed out this trip and put it on permanent hold.... Unfortunately I felt it was more logical to use whatever money I did have towards the very few trips I'll be taking in 2013....
 
 
And there you have the Rotten Tomatoes of 2012.

Bolton's just called.  They said our order will be ready any minute now!

Sorry to hear about The Gumbo Shop.  I have a bowl of gumbo at every place I can when in New Orleans and The Gumbo Shop was always up there with the best.  I can tell just by the picture that things have changed in the kitchen.
 
Your food may have been disappointing but your pictures don't.

Buffetbuster
 
Now that had me laughing out loud.
I just realized you were with me for 3 of the rotten tomatoes 
 
Mar
 
The gumbo at the Gumbo Shop was ordinary. I had much better elsewhere....
 
 

The gumbo you pictured looks the gravy i just had with my ( average ) egg foo yung. i may be from the north, but I know what gumbo should look like, and taste like.( Thanks to Ck, who sent me a good recipe) Sorry that was such a dissapointment.....

Ann,
 
I hate to tell you, but that's not gumbo....
It's supposed to be Jambalaya in the middle, and shrimp creole and red beans and rice surrounding it, where one begins and the other ends, your guess is as good as mine.
 
I rest my case.

Eight Enticing Desserts (in no particular order)
 
1. Blackberry Cobbler Southern Pit Griffin GA
 

 
 
 
2. Banana Pudding - Matthew's Cafeteria - Tucker GA
 
 

 
 
 
3. Peach Cobbler - Matthews Cafeteria Tucker GA 
 

 
 
 
4. Sands of Time Ice Cream- Amy's Ice Cream Austin TX
 

 
 
 
 
5. A Chocwork Orange- Creole Creamery- New Orleans LA
 


 
 
 
 
6. Banana Pudding- Miss Myra's Pit BBQ Vestavia Hills AL
 
 


 
 
 
7. Bread Pudding- Mother's Restaurant- New Orleans LA

 
 
 
 
 
8. Bread Pudding- Bon Ton Cafe- New Orleans LA
 
 

Desserts are looking quite good.

Ann,
 
I hate to tell you, but that's not gumbo....
It's supposed to be Jambalaya in the middle, and shrimp creole and red beans and rice surrounding it, where one begins and the other ends, your guess is as good as mine.
 
I rest my case.

 
Oh My!  I also thought it was gumbo.
 
Failure!

All of the desserts look wonderful WJ, but it is the ice cream from Creole Creamery that really grabbed my attention this morning!

WJ and Mar-oh my goodness......failure is right!

Enjoyed both of your Mathew's choices about a year ago along with a nice salad...
 
Special Note to Cajun King, WJ and bb - adding an extra table allows guests to comfortably enjoy their food, decrease spillage and therefore reduce clean-up and generally present the restaurant to the public as more crowded which enhances their business also.  It has nothing to do with ordering off the menu. 

wanderingjew
 
4. Nashville

Oh, there is certainly nothing wrong with Nashville, it's a fine city with some good food, however with so many people who got sick and others who had travel issues, it did but a damper over Glee Club weekend. 

That weekend really was like an episode of M*A*S*H with the way people going down.  I especially felt sorry for Cousin Johnny.  He didn't leave the hotel room for the last two days of the trip.

buffetbuster

wanderingjew
 
4. Nashville

Oh, there is certainly nothing wrong with Nashville, it's a fine city with some good food, however with so many people who got sick and others who had travel issues, it did but a damper over Glee Club weekend. 

That weekend really was like an episode of M*A*S*H with the way people going down.  I especially felt sorry for Cousin Johnny.  He didn't leave the hotel room for the last two days of the trip.

 
Poverty Pete was down for the count too, and Ralph and Lori's travel issues getting to Nashville...
 
Oh, and TTM had the sniffles- 
 
 

ChiTownDiner
 

Enjoyed both of your Mathew's choices about a year ago along with a nice salad... 
 

 
 This isn't the first list that Matthew's will be on...stay tuned for more.....
 
 

wanderingjew


Buffetbuster
I just realized you were with me for 3 of the rotten tomatoes 

 
Hmmmmm - I see a new nickname coming in the future.
If going to a place and it is closed is called being "travelinmanned"
Then hitting a rotten tomato may be called being "buffetbustered"?????
Or
Adding another table to your dining experience being CTD'd
 
I have now had the pleasure of (or displeasure of) (and in same town:  Nashville) of being all three.

CK
 
Fear not, I don't attribute any of my rotten tomato's to you...
 
On an aside thanks for those who have sent me PM's, please don't be afraid to post here
 
It's been a very slow ongoing process as my time is very limited and I just haven't had enough time to spend on the internet. Hopefully I can complete the next list tonight...

wanderingjew

Oh, and TTM had the sniffles- 

Those sniffles could have developed into something much more serious....like a head cold.
 
Rather than let it keep me down, I soldiered on....through endless renditions of "Cheater, Cheater."

mar52

Sorry to hear about The Gumbo Shop.  I have a bowl of gumbo at every place I can when in New Orleans and The Gumbo Shop was always up there with the best.  I can tell just by the picture that things have changed in the kitchen.

Yeah, this one surprised me.  I haven't been there since 2008, but my Shrimp Etouffee was really good:

 
Always sad when a formerly reliable place has a downturn.

Kaszeta...  Now that looks good!

kaszeta

mar52

Sorry to hear about The Gumbo Shop.  I have a bowl of gumbo at every place I can when in New Orleans and The Gumbo Shop was always up there with the best.  I can tell just by the picture that things have changed in the kitchen.

Yeah, this one surprised me.  I haven't been there since 2008, but my Shrimp Etouffee was really good:
 

Always sad when a formerly reliable place has a downturn.

 
Kaszeta,
 
Although they're been a  select few hit hit and misses with Roadfood recommended restaurants, this is probably the first time I walked into a place and felt truly ripped off..... I still don't think I insulted the place enough in my rotten tomatos list..
 
 
TTM 
 
This one's for you...
 

 
 
On an aside, if we were ever to have a Rhode Island themed glee club weekend, I select this song as our theme song for the weekend, by Rhode  Island's own Steve Smith and the Nakeds...