Gator Jake's Bar and Grill

Gator Jake's Bar and Grill
36863 Van Dyke Ave
Sterling Heights, MI 48312

This trip to the Detroit area, we stayed in Sterling Heights.  After reading some Yelp reviews, I decided to try out Gator Jake's Bar and Grill.  It had a lot of 5 star reviews.  Plus, I looked at the menu, and it was inexpensive.  

The theme is New Orleans.  The colors are the colors of Mardi Gras.  

It's a very open space with a huge wrap around bar with lots of televisions.  

I had a whiskey and water.  It was only $4 (it was not a super strong pour, though).  

I ordered the steak, which was only $9.99 and it came with a house salad.  

G's entree also came with a salad.  He ordered the tuna steak with broccoli and rice.  He liked his sides, but felt the tuna steak needed some extra spice.  

'

I enjoyed my meal.  I had the steak cooked medium rare with green beans and cajun fries.  Everything was tasty.

This restaurant is also ahead technologically.  They take your order at the table on a tablet.  The tablet is connected to the POS (point of sale) system so the order went straight to the kitchen from the table.  When we paid, she scanned the card on the same tablet.  The credit card never left my sight.  I like that.  

Good food. Cheap prices.  Cheap drinks  Good service.

Belle Diner

Belle Diner
117 Union Ave
Memphis, TN 38103

Belle Diner is a relatively new restaurant in downtown Memphis.  It is in a space that was formerly occupied by Buckley's Steak Restaurant and later a Mexican restaurant, El Rio Loc.

Belle Diner has a small menu.  I like restaurants with smaller menus.  I hate when there is a book to read.  It makes the decisions difficult to make.  

The restaurant has been totally transformed.  No one would guess that it used to be a Mexican restaurant.  It looks like a very nice restaurant.  

They have a full bar with local beers on tap.  

They have a good dinner price point.  Entrees are $19, appetizers are $10, sides are $4, soups are $5, salads are $7, and desserts are $6.  

When I went for dinner, they gave us rolls and cornbread to start.  

G had the grilled ribeye steak on a bed of spinach topped with an onion ring.  They still have the steak, but I noticed that the menu is slightly different now.  

Instead of an entree, I chose to order 5 sides.  One was the broccoli casserole and mornay sauce.  This was too good to be true.  With the sauce, it was no longer healthy I'm sure, but it was more than delicious.  

I also had the cheese grits, the spinach, and the fried okra.  I love the fried okra.  They fry the whole thing.  

And for my 5th side, I had the mac n' cheese.  It was sinfully delicious.  I got to try a ton of different items by ordering sides.  The mac n' cheese and the broccoli casserole are the best.  

The restaurant space is huge.  It's basically double what you see when you walk in.  

Apparently, they have a good happy hour with cheap house wines, house liquors, and domestic beers.  I also discovered that they have a brunch which sounds good, with mimosa buckets.  I have to find out what that is.  

On my second visit, I went with a Yelp event.  

I tried all 4 drink specials.  I started with the Southern Fashioned, which was their take on the Old fashioned.

The Scarlett O'hara was some type of cranberry drink.  The strawberry sparkle is basically champagne with strawberries.  

I also had the cheap fireball shot.  I like this cinnamon whiskey.  

I got to try the mac n'cheese again, which is still amazing.  I also got to try the greens for the firs time.  They are perfect.  There is plenty of meat cooked with them.  

I also got to try the cheese grits again.  They are still good.  

They also have blackened green tomatoes.  It's like fried green tomatoes but without the fried batter.  They're really good.  

I also still love that fried okra.  

My Birthday

My Birthday

After going to Nashville and having the hot chicken, I remembered that my mom used to make something that she called red hot and black chicken.

Instead of having a cake this year, I decided I wanted dinner.  (Now, I actually had 2 cakes from friends anyway).  My dad made the chicken.  It is basically cut up chicken breast that is battered in a flour, black pepper, and cayenne pepper mix.  It was as good as I remembered.  For the sides, we had tater tots and greens.

My dad chose a bottle of Moscato to pair with the chicken.  He decided the sweet wine would pair nicely with the spicy chicken.  It was an interesting combination.

My coworker bought me this too good to be true tres leches cake.  The cake was so moist.  The frosting was good without being too sugary sweet.  Then it was topped with fresh fruit.  

I love birthday celebrations, but more importantly, I love my friends and family.  

Loveless Cafe

Loveless Cafe
8400 Tennessee 100
Nashville, TN 37221

I first visited this cafe about 10 years ago.  I had been thinking about it and wanted to return to it.  G and I decided to meet here for dinner one Friday night.  It's about halfway between his residence and Knoxville and mine in Memphis.  I got there, and it was about a 45 minute wait, which was fortunate, because he was 45 minutes late.  

The cafe started in 1951 with the Loveless family basically selling fried chicken and biscuits out of their house.  

They have a BBQ pit, so they obviously smoke their own meat.  

It used to also be a motel.  However, the motel quit operative about 20 years ago.  The old motel parts are used for retail.  You can buy plenty of souvenirs, some edible and some wearable.  

They start you off with biscuits and their famous jams.  The biscuits were great.  They also serve breakfast all day.  I had to restrain myself from eating too many before my meal.  

They have some drinks.  I had a whiskey and water.  One friend ordered a shot of moonshine.  It came in a cute mason jar cup.  He said it was "strong."  

I love combination plates, so that's what I got.  With as much food as I got, it was worth the price.  I think it was the most expensive item on the menu at $17.55.  The Southern Sampler Platter comes with your choice of three meats (Fried Chicken, Catfish, Country Ham, Meatloaf or Pork Barbeque) and two sides.  I chose the fried chicken, because that was one of their original items.  I also got the country ham, because it is proclaimed on their neon sign outside.  And finally, I got the pork barbecue since I saw the BBQ pit outside.  All the meat was just plain perfect.  The pork was on a cornbread pancake.  

I also got to choose two sides.  They have tons of choices.  I ended up getting the greens and the mac n' cheese.  Both were good and typically country.  I would have liked to try the fried okra, but I already had too much food.  

For my meat, I did't choose the meatloaf, because I knew G would order it.  he did, and it was good.  It was covered with a tangy tomato sauce.  He got the vegetable of the day, which was squash.  It was surprisingly good, too.  I wasn't tempted by it when I heard it was the special, but I was jealous when I tasted it.  

They have desserts, but there's no way someone could eat anyway after eating here! 

The other intriguing thing on their menu is their family style supper for groups of 4 or more.  It's all you can eat for $17.55 a person.  The table has to agree upon two meats and three veggies.  It also includes a regular drink.  

It is so good that it would be worth a three hour drive.  Seriously.

a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/47/769115/restaurant/Bellevue/Loveless-Cafe-Nashville">

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse
SHACKLEFORD CROSSING
2624 S. Shackleford Rd
Little Rock, AR 72205

This is a chain, and this is the first one in Arkansas.  I have visited ones in California in the past.  There are none in Tennessee.

We went for our friends' join bachelor/bachelorette party, and this place was chosen at the last minute.  We were also late for our reservation.  However, the service was phenomenal.  They were super accommodating, even though were were VERY late and were a large unplanned party.

The space has a typical bar and restaurant feel that you get from a chain restaurant.  

They have a variety of their own hand crafted beers.  I had the Tatonka Stout.  It is full bodied and full of flavor.  

For my starter, I ordered a caprese salad.  It was great with mozzarella, tomatoes, and balsamic.  

For my meal, I got the Black and Bleu-house burger.  It was cooked perfectly and topped with crumbled blue cheese and bacon with a garlic aioli and a chipotle sauce.  I got it served with seasoned fries.  

This place was really, really good.  They have good beers and good solid burgers.  If there were one in Memphis, I would go there.  

Vino's Brewpub

Vino's Brewpub
923 W 7th St
Little Rock, AR 72201

My friends chose this restaurant for their rehearsal dinner.

This pizza place brews their own beer. I tried several including the cream ale.  

They also have IPA style beers.  

They also have stouts and porters, which are my favorite.  

One of my friends is vegan.  He brought his own vegan cheese in that they used to prepare his pizza.  They have traditional flavors as well as some that are more fun.  One such pizza is the muffaletta pizza. It doesn't have tomato sauce, but it does have the New Orleans style olive salad as well as pepperoni and ham.  

The chicken BLT pizza is awesome.  It has chicken and also lettuce and tomatoes on it.  

They also have vegetarian pizzas.  This place is so good.  The prices are average for pizza joints.  They vary greatly depending on toppings.