Joints and Greasy Spoons

I'll resume my narrative of the 1958 trip soon; as usual, the work week was too hectic to blog, so I have to wait for the weekend.

I do want to take a moment to record one of the highlights of our trip to Winchester, VA and Berkeley Springs, WV last weekend. We'd been sightseeing in Winchester and Sarah was acting up, throwing a bit of a tantrum (not like a four year old or anything, but a bit stubborn about doing things others wanted to do), so I wouldn't let her do a kid's museum she wanted to do and we said we'd go directly to lunch. We looked at several chi-chi places in Winchester's downtown, pedestrian mall, which is the old Loudon Street of earlier days. Several places looked a bit pricey or a bit slow, and then I discovered to my pleasure that the Snow White Grill, usually closed when we are on Loudon Street, was open! The Snow White Grill is the sort of place that appears to have been serving lunch since about 1934 with little change. (A web review tells me 1949, but to me it looks earlier.) (It doesn't have its own website; the link above was what I found first, but there's a fuller review here.) A dozen or slightly more stools along a single counter inside a narrow space with the grill behind the counter and a window open to the street for carryout. I've previously blogged about Fred and Red's in Joplin, which was founded in 1923 and has been in its present digs since about 1942. This is that kind of place: a burgers and hot dogs place, out of another era, but with a loyal following. Sarah loved it; she declared their chili dogs the best she'd ever had. The burgers, which Tam tried, are little teeny things of the White Castle tradition, or the late, lamented Little Taverns of Washington DC and Baltimore. You probably need several to make a meal or, as Little Tavern used to put it, "Buy 'em By the Bag!" (And, only linking to the Wikipedia article, did I learn that the very last Little Tavern on the planet closed on April 29, 2008, just a couple of months ago. An era passes, though all but a handful of them vanished 20 years or so ago.)

A true greasy spoon, except, as the name "Snow White Grill" is supposed to convey, I presume, nice and clean. And an additional stop to add as a de rigeur stop (if that's not too French for a chili dog joint) when in Winchester.

I concur with Sarah that the chili dogs are world class. Tam will have to comment on the burgers. They make them up in large batches, and they're square if I remember right (like White Castle). The countermen and women were the usual colorful sort, and apparently they get folks who come back whenever they're in this part of the country, just as I do at Fred & Red's in Joplin.

We have not been to North Carolina since I started blogging, so you have not yet had the benefit of our barbecue criticism, though quite a bit can be found from this out of date and incomplete, but still useful, homepage. Enjoy.

Oh. Since I'm pontificating about food: The best catfish in the universe (or at least the local arm of the galaxy) is at Mildred's, on a blue highway in northern Alabama not near any major town. Hush puppies are great. I'm just sayin'.

More on the 1958 trip coming.