South Side Diner in Goshen, Indiana

You know what ROCKS about driving cross country?  We got the opportunity to stop at several restaurants Guy Fieri visited on his Diners, Drive-Inn's and Dives Show.  Each time we entered a new state I looked up the restaurants he visited in that state.  If they were not too far from the highway, we checked them out.  Not too far off I-80 a little ways past the exit for Notre Dame we stopped at South Side Soda Shop and Diner in Goshen, Indiana.

Goshen, Indiana is SUPER small town.  The Main Street in Goshen has a ton of cute, locally owned shops that you can stroll down boardwalk style.  I was impressed to see that the town appeared to be flourishing with tourists.  Farther down the Main Street you'll find the South Side Soda Shop and Diner in an old trolley car.  The entrance is at the back of the building...which is confusing because if you go to the front entrance you'll walk into the kitchen area.  YIKES!  The diner is cute and divey with old pennants on the wall as decoration.  The specialty here is their Philly Cheese Steak sandwich which you can get with or without cheese or pizza style with marinara sauce.  I had the straight up Philly Cheese Steak.  The cheese was mixed in with the steak mixture and I could tell it was not made with 'real' cheese.  I suspect (without remembering how they showed it on the show) that it was made with Cheese Whiz or Velveeta.  The hoagie bun it was served on was HUGE and could have contained more of the Cheese Steak mixture.  It was served with these SWEET homemade, curly potatoes that were curled using an apple slicer.

For dessert I tried their lemon meringue pie that was also featured on Diner's, Drive-Inn's and Dives.  I am not a fan of meringue, but the lemon custard and crust were phenomenal!

Even though this out of the way stop lost us an hour of driving, it was definitely worth the stop.  It is fun to check out these stops that Guy Fieri visit's to see if the food is really as 'SPOT ON' as he says it is.  :)  

Visiting Bob Evans

For those of you on the East coast who have regular access to Bob Evans, you might wonder why someone is blogging about their eating experience at Bob Evans.  Well, I'm a West coast girl who has never eaten at Bob Evans.  I have only seen their sausage at the grocery store and wondered what was so special about our friend Bob Evans.  I think there is a LOT special about Bob Evans.

There wasn't much special about the restaurant when we walked in, it was like your average breakfast joint.  Considering that all I knew about Bob Evans before walking into this restaurant was his sausage, I wasn't surprised to see that most of the breakfast items included sausage and gravy.  I ordered the Biscuit Bowl, which was a giant biscuit in the shape of a bowl loaded up with country hash browns, scrambled eggs, brown gravy, cheese and some fresh green onions on top.  

It was pretty dang good!  Of course it was a restaurant style meal, meaning the portion was ENORMOUS and loaded with lots of extra fat and salt.  This meal gave me an idea for a new breakfast meal at our house though...I plan to try these out in muffin pans to keep the portion size to a minimum.  Stay tuned!!!

Visiting Big Mama's Place in Omaha, NE

We are on the road this week moving cross country to the Washington, DC area so we stopped in Omaha for a last breakfast, that ended up being lunch because of a late start.  I LOVE Guy Fieri's show Diner's, Drive-Inn's and Dives and try to frequent the restaurants that are highlighted on his show.  We found Big Mama's Kitchen and Catering located in an old cafeteria that reminded me of the hospital cafeteria where my mom worked when I was little.  It was quirky as hell and I LOVED IT!!!

I ordered the Afro Burger, which is "hand-rolled choice ground beef with a fiery hot blend of seasonings, simmered in Big Mam's Spicy BBQ sauce and served on a fresh hoagie bun."  HOLY SPICINESS, Big Mama!!!  Dang, was it AWESOME!  Thank goodness I ordered the coleslaw to go along with it because I needed the cool creaminess of the slaw to wash down the pure spicy, goodness of the Afro Burger.  I'm pretty sure it put hair on my chest too!

My daughter ordered the chicken tenders and I happened to sneak a bite...Oh my!  The breading on the tenders was AMAZING (imagine a choir singing Hallelujah! while eating these babies.)  It wasn't the thick nasty breading with little meat, you expect from most places these days, but a FABULOUSLY think crust of flour and cornmeal.  OH YEAH!  If I hadn't already stuffed myself with the Afro Burger, I would have gobbled up all of my daughter's meal too.

We finished up our meal with a scoop each of the homemade...and I mean...homemade Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream that had CHUNKS of yummy Red Velvet goodness.  I am already concocting in my head how to make something similar to share with you!  The guy at the next table from us told me he liked the ice cream to much he already had a half gallon of it in his ice box at home.

The service at Big Mama's is delightful!  I LOVED our servers and the clientele are wonderful.  I left wishing I could stay longer...maybe even get a job and learn how to make some of that yummy food.  Next time you're in Omaha, Nebraska, check out the folks at Big Mama's!