Roadfood adventures during my two week vacation

Our first Roadfood stop was on Friday noon (on way to condo in Florida) was McCabe's in Manning. South Carolina.
This is now a favorite barbeque stop on our way to Florida........the whole family loves it.

It is a very small cement block building with a long shed attached to the the back. The kids jumped out of the car and ran to the sheds and watched the whole hogs being cooked and then we went in to eat. I would say the place seats about 20 people and a small buffet is what most people eat. I had a pulled pork sandwich with the vinegar based sauce and it was excellent. The rest of the family opted for the buffet which is very small and replenished very often so that the food is actually terrific. The buffet consisted of pulled pork, gravy, greens, some small green beans, cole slaw, fried chicken, macaromi and cheese, and sweet potatoes. (I believe that is all there was).

Someone told me that an elderly lady made the fried chicken and that it was the best in the whole area. I asked my daughter in law for a piece of hers to try it and I could not believe how wonderful it was. On the way out of restroom, I saw this tiny elderly lady sitting near the kitchen and asked her if she knew who cooked the chicken. She said that she did and had ever since her sons owned the resataurant and that was nearly 30 years. She was the nicest person and so much fun to talk to. She told me that the chicken was more popular than the pork. She also told me that she was 87 years old and had fried the chicken there every day since they opened!

The visit with her made this a great stop!

No pictures but more to come!

You ate something that had been picked up from an actual buffet?

Yes! And God will punish me.

Greymo, sounds delicious! Thanks for the excellent write-up!

Part 2

We arrived in Daytona at noon on Saturday, March 15 and were looking forward to one of our favorite Roadfood places which was called the Daytona Cuban Sandwich shop located on Mason Ave. The surrounding area is pretty drab but the sandwiches and other food that they served always made this a "must" stop for us.

I, immediately, noticed a large sign over the front door which read "Caucherias Hondurenas" and knew that it had changed hands and was now another restaurant. My daughter in law saw that that the sign in the window that said "Pressed Cuban Sandwiches" was still there so we decided to go in. As we were getting out of the car, 2 vans pulled up with what appeared to be a large family. One of the men asked if we were there to eat and we indicated that we were. He told us that they were not open but to come in and that they would give us something to eat. They unlocked the doors and escourted us to a table. (The place is very small and seats 17 people)

To make a long story short, we found out during the course of our meal that they had bought the place two months ago and that their opening was going to be the following Tuesday but they were spending the day doing some preparations. They also told us that their family had another restaurant in New Jersey. (The older people could speak English quite well, but our two young servers could not).

One of the ladies asked us if we wanted Cuban sandwiches and she said that we could have some other food too but they had no menus in yet. My son told her to go ahead and prepare any
thing that they wanted to and we started off with some wonderful fruit juices which were outstanding.
Our first course was something called Baleadas which was a small tortilla filled with a savory meat mixture and served with an outstanding green sauce which was one of the best sauces that I had ever tasted. We tried to find out the name of it but the server for that course could not speak English very well so we did not quite understand. Maybe someone reading this might know what it was.

We were served small bowls of what was a most flavorful vegetable beef soup which was filled with delicious beef cubes, plantains and other vegetables. The corn in the soup was actually cooked in slices, cob and all. I had no idea how one was to eat that so left it in bowl.

We were then given large halves of the pressed Cuban sandwiches and they were as good as the ones that we have always enjoyed here. We were talking about how gracious it was of them to open the door for us and to be so nice when a elderly lady came in and sat down and they served her some soup. (It seemed like she spoke Spanish very well.) Shortly afterward a couple came in and asked for Cuban sandwiches and they, too, were seated. They told us that they had been coming here for a long time for the sandwiches when they were visiting Daytona and were relieved that they could still get a good Cuban sandwich in Daytona. As we were finishing dinner, a group of eight young people came in and put two tables together and sat down and asked for menus. My granddaughter remarked that they seemed to be having their "grand opening" a few days early.

My son asked for the bill and they told us " Dessert is coming." So we sat there and were served small plates with 2 different desserts on each plate. One was a custard type dessert with and I have forgotten what the other was. We finally got our bill and the grand total for the six of us was $28.00! You can be sure that they were given a most generous tip.

On the way out, we stopped to thank everyone very much and the older lady who seemed to be doing much of the cooking was so thrilled that we enjoyed everything. We will always remember the day that we "opened" a restaurant a few days early and were received so graciously and with smiles from everyone. (It was my daughter in laws birthday and she said it would always be a great memory of her special day. Only in a Roadfood place, would anything this nice and so much fun happen!

Greymo, the guys who did most of the work on building my pool were Honduran, and they clued me in about baleadas. It's almost the national dish of Honduras, and the fillings vary from place to place. Now I am going to have to try to hunt one down. Here's one without any salsa on it:

Wow, Greymo, what a find on that Cuban place! It's nice to find such kind and generous people in your travels..you were certainly blessed that day!

Great report on the human side of roadfood. A Honduran find is a great thing. I ateat a honduran restaurant in Springfield, Virginia and loved the food and the generous servrs.

I was sorry to see the Cuban place close, happy to hear about the new owners. Which Italian restaurant did you choose for DIL birthday?

Part 3

Saturday March 15
It was my daughter in laws birthday and we had planned on going to Alfredo's, a very nice Italian restaurant right after we picked my oldest daughter up at the airport. We were so full from our wonderful lunch that we decided to go to the inlet and have a light meal at "Down the Hatch." This restaurant is a really good seafood place which has been here for years and retains its rustic charm.

http://www.down-the-hatch-seafood.com/history.htm

They have wonderful fresh fish here which they buy from the sports fishermen who go out for the day and it is always fun to see what the "catch of the day" will be. Everyone else had fish sandwiches and fries but I opted for their wonderful appetizer of "Buffalo Shrimp". These are shelled and steamed shrimp with real authentic Buffalo wing sauce on them. The serving, along with crackers or a roll, makes a great light meal. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the river while we ate and then went out to the bar/deck where there was a band performing and everyone danced, including the youngest. It was a lovely evening.

Sunday March 16

After breakfast on the balcony, it was on to the beach and pool for the day. Sand castles were built, huge holes dug, and tossing the football around made for a fun day. I got to choose where to go for dinner as it was my birthday so picked "Inlet Harbor Restaurant" which is also down at the inlet. I have been enjoying this place from the day it opened in the 90's. It had been a restaurant specializing in shrimp dinners for many years and then remained empty until it was rebuilt years later. This is a another place that specializes in really fresh seafood and well known for it's large outside bar and deck with entertainment every night.

http://www.inletharbor.com/history.html
I ordered fried oysters which they do to perfection here. They are large and plump and very lightly done. The others had the fish of the day or the jumbo shrimp dinners. Again, we saw a beautiful sunset and lots of pelicans. Thankfully, my birthday was not mentioned so I did not have to endure the candle stuck in my slice of Key lime pie. The kids were too tired to dance but had to make a trip to the gift shop to buy something "special". It was another great day.