Pinky's Westside Grill - Charlotte

Right after our big honeymoon trip (more on that soon) and after a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner the day before, Calvin, my dad and I decided to check out Pinky's Westside Grill in Charlotte on West Morehead Avenue. This neighborhood is undergoing a pretty significant awakening and I'm excited to try some of the other newbies in the neighborhood also.

Pinky's serves a good burger and offers several eclectic twists, both on their burgers and other menu items that make it stand out as a causal dining joint. In addition to the tasty beef burgers, Pinky's serves hot dogs, falafel, veggie/turkey burgers and various baskets, salads and sandwiches as well. I look forward to returning to try the corn dog shrimp, the falafel and the "kinda fried turkey" sandwich.

We all tried the basic burger (the Pterodactyl), which is only available one temperature (per NC law a burger cannot be prepared rare anyway). At $3.75 (without a side but including generous toppings) it is a good value. We each tried a different topping style. Topping styles include Everything (mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion & dill pickle), Westside (mustard, chili, slaw and onion) and Ding-Dong Style (crunchy peanut butter, honey-cilantro slaw and hot sriracha sauce). I tried the Ding-Dong Style and loved it! Of course, having come from Thailand it was rather ironic that the waiter described it as their "Thai style" burger. We also shared some crab puppies as an appetizer - sweet crabmeat folded into large hush puppies and side orders of southern slaw, onion rings (more like straws) and fried squash. The sides didn't really stand out - the onion rings and squash were sliced too thin for my taste but maybe others like them this way. I preferred the cilantro-honey slaw on the burger to the southern style slaw. The only other negative is that the place is rather loud, although not as bad as some. I look forward to dining here again on the patio when the weather warms up in the spring!

Twin Tops Fish Camp: Belmont, NC

Shrimp scampi and fried clam strips.

On one of our many trips to Charlotte we stopped for dinner at Twin Tops Fish Camp in Belmont. In addition to very tasty seafood - the fish and fried oysters were my favorite, this place also has a neat candy shop that will make you nostalgic for your favorite treats. I got a Charleston Chew.

Included with all meals is a generous portion of hush puppies and a salad bar. I was impressed that they even had gourmet toppings like Craisins (which, as an aside, are apparently extremely difficult to find in countries like Chile, where my cousin is currently studying; we got her a bag at Costco when she came to be in the wedding!) for the salad bar. The food is plentiful - next time we decided we only needed one plate! Fish camps are abundant in some parts of the NC Piedmont. There are several on the way to this place from the highway. I'm really glad this authentic kind of local food still exists.

Platter that included everything - deviled crab, flounder, catfish and oysters with hush puppies.

Finger Lickin' Good

Catfish, tater tots and hush puppies

Chopped brisket sandwich with onion rings

Yesterday a friend and I dined at Fox Bros. BBQ. The restaurant was one of several participating in the "Dining Out for Tornado Relief" effort aimed at raising money for victims of the recent Atlanta tornado. As a result, the place was packed for a Monday night, and we waited almost an hour. Nevertheless, my brisket was tasty and my friend's catfish was good, too. I liked the large, flavorful hush puppies as well as the wonderful dessert of peach pound cake with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on top (it was so good I forgot to take a picture!) I did feel bad, though, for the couple dining next to us who came in specifically for the catfish special only to find out they were all out - apparently they do not eat any other kind of meat so there wasn't much for them and they left after having waited for a table. So sad... motto of this story is GET THERE EARLY!