This past weekend, Karen's parents came into town and we dragged them off to the middle of nowhere. Seriously. There is this place called Saylor's Crossroads in-between Belton, Due West, Honea Path, Starr, and Anderson (yes, right in the middle). You drive down small roads past farms until you see a giant rooster and you are there.
Where is there?
Grits & Groceries
Grits & Groceries is this delicious place with southern food and really sweet people. If the statue isn't enough you will know you are there because there are a ton of cars and a small wooden house.
The building by itself is pretty damn charming and adorable. First you walk up the yard, past the large shaded picnic table and you look at the fresh pies (Pecan, Apple Crumb, Blackberry, and so much more), pies, and other things on sale on the porch while you wait to be seated. Interesting things to know while you're waiting: this building used to be an old country store, a post office, and -ding, ding, ding- a radio station (we love radio).
The creation of the restaurant however, was done by Heidi and Joe Trull, a couple with some insanely awesome practice at makin some vittles. If you check out their website, you'll learn that Heidi used to own AND operate Elizabeth's down in New Orleans and Joe was pastry chef at Nola, Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans restaurant. They moved back to the country to raise their son. It's pretty much an adorable story. Plus it feeds us. So we like it.
So far, we've only been able to make it out on Saturdays, but we've racked up a total of two times since we heard about it. And that was two weeks ago. So um, you count how much we like it.
On Saturdays they have what is called the Saturday Specials. So far we have tried:
Starters:
Praline Bacon (image) twice.
It is basically bacon cooked in brown sugar and pecan bits. But it is so much more than that.
Karen: "I love it. It's pretty close to what I almost burned my apartment down trying to make my sophomore year of college. It's strange because I don't like nuts as a topping, but they blend in really well. Also the bacon is thick and well cooked like I like it. I know that I love everything bacon, but this is something really interesting I suggest everyone try. It comes with 4 slices, so you can split it with the table."
Jonathan: "I'm a vegetarian. Insert your mean jokes in the comments."
Goat Cheese Tart (image)
Homemade tart, flaky and filled with goat cheese, served with fresh grapes and figs.
Jonathan: "This shit was so gosh dang amazing! No seriously grapes are always good, but I've never really cared for figs outside of a certain popular pastry treat. Yet when combined with the goat cheese tart the flavors mix into something unique and eloquent. Or something pretentious like that. Long story long, this alone made me fall in love with this place."
Karen: "I'm not into "strange" cheeses. I just started eating cheese that wasn't American when I got to college. And the phrase "goat cheese" scares the crap out of me. But I liked it. It seemed sort of desert-y but too healthy for that and definitely not sweet enough. It isn't my favorite but it is good."
Real Food:
(we love that they call this part of the menu that)
Honey Fig Waffle (image)
Honey waffle topped with figs, toasted almonds, homemade whipped cream, and powdered sugar.
Karen: "I ordered this because I was craving a waffle. The only complaint I have is I don't like nuts. It's a personal preference, though. The waffle itself was wonderful and the figs compote (it seemed) was really good but what made it awesome was the homemade whipped cream. It mixed with the warm sweet liquid and made everything like heaven!"
Jonathan: "So this was Karen's meal which I was later forced to eat because she liked my French Toast (see below) more. But wait, I say forced, and even though I had little choice in the matter I was more than happy to oblige! Her description of the food is pretty spot on. It was delicious, and I love nuts so I was stoked about the almonds which for me added a lot to the dish. The only thing I could've wished for was more homemade whipped cream... I guess asking would've helped me out in that department."
Stuffed French Toast (image) twice.
French toast stuffed with cream cheese and strawberries and covered in powered sugar.
Jonathan: "Earlier I said that the Goat Cheese Tart made me fall in love with Grits and Groceries. Which is true. But love at first bite doesn't always lead to a committed relationship! What made me decide I would come back as often as I could afford to was the Stuffed French Toast. I don't believe that it's possible for me to describe in words just how much I enjoyed this! But losing half of it to my lovely girlfriend was almost heartbreaking. So the next time we went I made sure to order it again and keep it all to myself! Selfish? NO! What, it is? Well you haven't tried this, so...... :P"
Karen: "To be honest, I loved my waffle, but the first time we went, I used my womanly charms to trick Jonathan into trading my waffle for his french toast when we were both halfway done. Don't scorn me! At least it was fair! We both got to eat half... right? ;) Well anyway, it's safe to say that this is my favorite dish I've had here. The berries mix so well with the cream cheese, and the french toast soaks it up in a non-gross/soggy way and everything is delicious and sweet."
Red Rooster Breakfast
Hand battered fried chicken breast with scrambled eggs and grits and a fluffy biscuit.
Karen: "Fried chicken is one of my favorite foods and I always spring for the dark meat, but if you cook it well, I'll eat it all. This one was so... fresh. Can meat be fresh? It was light but you still felt like you were eating good ole fried chicken. It was breaded perfectly. It came with grits, and I opted for no gravy, that were almost perfect, I like mine slightly thicker, though to be fair I expect hardcore Charleston grits which are a lot thicker than most people like. I asked for my eggs to be scrambled, they were of course, good, but the biscuit was amazing. I love a good homemade biscuit and this one was fluffy and soft and filling and yum."
Jonathan: "Like I said earlier, I don't eat meat. But I gotta say the grits and biscuit were amazing, I got to nibble a bit off of her plate and I thoroughly enjoyed what I had of it. Thanks again Nick, for buying us breakfast. :) While I'm typing I should note that the coffee was amazing. I dunno what kind of coffee it is, and it's possible that the whole experience made it better, but I loved it!"
Karen's mom and dad got the Fried Grits with Tomato Gravy and Shrimp and Grits and approved. They also took home an entire Pecan pie. We both got two slices of something different for desert, but we haven't actually got around to eating them, so more on that later...
This is us!
All in all it is already a favorite of ours, and we will probably be going back soon. :)
-sorry about the quality of the pics of the food. we only took them the first time we went, and used a camera phone-
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