Kevin loves the Fungomery

Don't let the strip-mall facade fool you....Martin's is the real deal. Dating back to the 1930's, Martin's has been serving it up Wiregrass style forever.

Known for the corn muffins, you would be Krazy not to love them. A perfect mill grind, texture, and surface area make these unforgettable. Don't skimp on the butter, fool.....

 No restaurant can survive on corn muffins alone.  Good God, Martin's has excellent fried chicken. and sides. and desserts.  Both Lou and I had the small lunch plate.  One piece white meat and two sides.  I had the cole slaw and rice with gravy.  Lou had the collards and string beans.  I swear, the rice and gravy was identical to my Mamaw's.  She would have been dismayed how a restaurant in Alabama could have made her weekday staple in such an identical manner.....hmmmm.  Lou's collards were excellent.   Her fork didn't stop.  And then dessert.....coconut meringue pie for her, strawberry pudding for me.  I could have swallowed a gallon of this stuff.  Bless Martin's!
 

So to wrap up, here's the weekday menu for Martin's.  Hope you can read it....and go to Montgomery.  And coincidentally, this is the first restaurant, juke joint, stand, or cafe to actually realize and publicize (at least outwardly.) they were actually on John T.'s list of places to eat before you die.  Martin's said "Yep, we made the list.  We're proud.  Now eat."

-kjw

Apalach

I love Apalachicola. It is a long drive, but compared to more developed and new places like Destin and Gulf Shores, it is pretty fantastic. Apalachicola is an old town-rare in Florida. The downtown almost reminds me of Oxford-lots of press tin ceilings. We stayed on St. George Island and ventured into Apalachicola for meals. St. George Island is very beautiful and almost empty. It has shells on the beach,  no high rise condos, and at this point no oil.

I researched the "list" before we left and found 2 places to try. The first was the Wheelhouse for the smoked mullet dish. I made my mother drive to the address, and the Wheelhouse is now Up the Creek Raw Bar with no mullet dip. The other place on the list in Apalachicola is the Gibson Inn. It is a lovely Victoria hotel. I have eaten there several times. The first time (probably in the late 1990s) was a classic fried seafood place. A very good fried seafood place... The next time it was Avenue C, a white tablecloth place. Now it is Cafe Momi. We ate wonderful oysters with homemade crackers and I had an excellent scallop and mango dish. It was very good, but not the fish and chips that John T. had suggested.

                                           Former Wheelhouse

                                           

We did go to Papa Joe's for oysters- raw and fried. It has a great location next to a marina. I love watching the boats go by while I am eating. One of my new favorites is the Seafood Grill that is just down the street from the Gibson Inn. It has incredibly fried oysters and a very democratic clientele. I love a place that has both locals, the Coast Guard, and tourists. It also has the decor of the "list". Some common characteristics of the places I have eaten thus far, they all have wood panelling, mismatched chairs, and oil cloth tablecloths.

Apalachicola has really good food (if you like oysters and shrimp). The oil spill has not affected the bay and seafood at this point. I love the "list" however you would have to work hard to have a bad meal here.

Niki's West

On our way to Apalachicola, we stopped at Niki's West in Birmingham. I have driven by this place a million times (it is on 78 as you come into B'ham from Oxford or Memphis) and it is on the list. Instead of going to Sonic or McDonald's for the roadside meal, we checked out Niki's West. It is cafeteria style and very efficient (fast).

The featured dish at Niki's is the stewed tomatoes. I liked them more than Kevin did. They are sweet and tangy. He loved his white beans, catfish, and fried green tomatoes. I highly recommend the collard greens. yummmmm! As you can see by the last picture, we enjoyed Niki's West.

I tried...

I had to pick up a painting in Meridan and drop one off in Monroe. We stopped in at the Mayflower Cafe in Jackson on a Saturday afternoon. No luck- the cafe was closed until dinner. Oh well, it looked really good!