Weekend in Virginia

I lived in Staunton for six wonderful years and visited regularily for years thereafter yet somehow never once visited Wright's Dairy-Rite.  Damn!  I hope that there is a "next time".
 
Country ham (jambon du pais) is definitely an acquired taste.  When we lived in Staunton tiny "ham biscuits" as fingr food were a staple at cocktail parties.  It's at its very best as it is served in Paris:  small, cold shreds in salads.  Try that once and you'll forget about bacon bits forever.
 
Next time through Virginia try sampling all the Brunswick stews.  Fantastic stuff!

buffetbuster


The last time I was in Roanoke, one of my stops was the , located right in the middle of downtown.  I came here after reading how good their chili dogs were and they lived up to expectations.  Just before leaving, I spotted a copy of George Motz's Hamburger America on the counter and I asked if they were in book.  After an affirmative reply, I sat back down and ordered a cheeseburger.  It wasn't until I got home and looked at my own copy of the book that I saw that a specific burger, the Cheesy Western was what the book recommended.  Let's call that poor planning on my part.  So, here I was back in Roanoke, headed for Texas Tavern to get a Cheesy Western.

One of the great things about Texas Tavern is that it is open 24 hours.  Mariton and I talked about maybe getting up at 3:00AM to come down here to see what it is like at that time of the morning.  But, of course, we didn't even get out of bed until 7:00AM and arrived here at almost 8:00AM.  Still, even at that hour, the place looks great! 

Built in 1930 and dwarfed by the nearby buildings, a place doesn't look any more Roadfoodish than this.  In the miniscule interior, there are ten counter seats. 

A sign in the back proudly exclaims, "We Seat 1000 People.....  10 at a Time".

Another sign says, "We don't cash checks or play with bumblebees!"

The menu board for sandwiches and such hangs high on the wall, while another board carries the breakfast items, mostly egg dishes and pork meats.  All the other customers were eating breakfast, but Mariton and I ordered two chili (they spell it the New Mexico way, chile) dogs and a Cheesy Western.  Since we were sitting close to the door, we had a nice view of the counterman fixing our food, as the grill

is right inside the front window.

The preferred toppings for the hot dogs here is with onions, mustard and two homemade products, the chili and the relish.  Here is what the dogs look like:

Both the chili and relish are mild, but add good flavor to these fine hot dogs.  Mariton only had one bite of the dogs, since the debacle the day before was still fresh in her mind.  She was much happier to share in the Cheesy Western.


This is a smallish burger with egg, relish, onion, pickle and cheese on a slim beef patty.  That is a lot going on for one small burger, but it works.

Mariton surprised me by asking for a bowl of chili

and said we should try it since they are famous for it.  A good call on her part.  The chili is very thin and I have heard it referred to as "pinto bean soup", but topped off with onions, it made a fine chaser for our meal here.  By the way, the chili has been on the menu since the beginning and original owner Nick Bullington is said to have gotten the recipe from a hotel in San Antonio.

Besides the Texas Tavern name, this place is also known as Roanoke's Millionaires Club.  The saying goes, no matter who you are, you will be treated like a millionaire at Texas Tavern!

Texas Tavern
114 Church Avenue SW
Roanoke, VA
540-342-4825

Now having had our morning snack, we were now ready to go out for breakfast!

More to come..... 

In Tavern lingo you had a "bowl with flowers" and a cheesy western "on the rail" meaning at the counter.