My grandmother on my mother's side made tamales every Christmas. Not the way some families make tamales — buying the masa pre-mixed from a bag and filling them with canned…
I have a theory about parking lots. A half-full parking lot on a Tuesday afternoon at a small-town restaurant is not an accident. It's a signal — one that experienced…
People used to tell me that ordering seafood far from the coast was a gamble not worth taking. My mother's rule was clear: fish within 100 miles of an ocean,…
I'm not a particularly sentimental person about restaurants. I've eaten at hundreds of them. But I pay attention when reviewer after reviewer describes the same moment — the pause, the…
There are two kinds of BBQ people. The first kind insists on a famous name, a long line, a cover story in a food magazine, and a parking lot full…
My grandfather had a steakhouse he loved. He went there on birthdays, anniversaries, and sometimes on regular Tuesdays for no particular reason except that the ribeye was worth it. The…
Snobbery when it comes to iconic comfort foods, such as burgers are most definitely real. I know because I was once a snob. I grew up in a city that…
I've spent a lot of time thinking about what makes chicken-fried steak so iconic. Maybe it's the thin cut of tenderized round steak, dredged in seasoned flour, fried in a…
If there's one thing that my university years taught me, it's that hunger doesn't care about schedules. I’ve stumbled into campus diners at 11 PM after cramming for exams, running…
The meat-and-three isn’t complicated. You pick a main — chicken fried steak, meatloaf, pot roast, fried catfish — and then three sides. Green beans. Mashed potatoes. Mac and cheese. Cornbread.…
I have a personal theory about burgers: the best ones almost never come from the places that are trying the hardest. They don't come with elaborate toppings lists or Instagram-friendly…
There's a sandwich argument I've been having with myself for years. On one side: the chicken fried steak. Crispy, golden, smothered in cream gravy — the official state dish of…