North Carolina

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 18 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us on a road trip to Vidalia Restaurant and Wine Bar in Boone, NC. 


We visit the Boone/Bowling Rock area of North Carolina regularly and thought we’d hit just about every local restaurant, but to our surprise, we missed this one. This family friendly eating establishment is located at the end of the historical downtown Boone, just blocks from our favorite pizza spot, Capone’s. If you’re not looking for it, you might miss it.

Dora here. I always panic a bit when hubby suggests trying a new restaurant in our beloved vacation spot. We have so many favorites, it’s challenging to squeeze them all in during a long weekend. How can we possibly add another without dropping one off the list?  I came up with a solution. Just come back more often. What do you think? 😉 

Awesome upscale, casual interior

We ordered their namesake, Vidalia Onion Rings. Thick onions, ale-battered and cajun seasoned. These onion rings were great! With a robust batter that did not fall off like other onion rings and a creole dipping sauce with a little kick, they would have been worth the trip by themselves.

Vidalia Onion Rings. Worth the trip just for these!

Dora here. Thick doesn’t begin to describe these monster onions! I don’t particularly care to order onion rings because I almost always regret eating them later. Not so with these. Light and delicious! 🙂

For my meal, I chose the Fish Tacos. Crispy chunks of tender cod blanketed by remoulade slaw served on flour tortillas. Outstanding, and the tangy slaw was a prefect condiment for the dish.

Fish Tacos

I also ordered a cup of Bison Stew, that day’s special. Thick, meaty, and full of corn, carrots, and potatoes. Perfect for a cold day. 

Daily special: Bison Stew, perfect choice for a winter day!

Dora here. Yep, he did. Ernie’s going to make a believer out of all you Fish Taco haters. 🙂

I was a bit bummed that they didn’t carry Sweet n Low for my iced tea, but it was all uphill after that. Oh my goodness, so many goodies on their menu that I wanted to try! Mac and cheese with pork cracklings, awesome-sounding salads, and a couple different hamburgers all called my name. As if that wasn’t enough, then our server rattled off a list of 4-5 intriguing specials! 

I finally settled on the Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich. Well, I didn’t really settle because it was fabulous! People tend to be picky about chicken salad. Or is it just me? lol. No worries, though. The bread was fresh, and the chicken salad popped with cranberries and apples and texture. Thankfully, it wasn’t heavy on the ever-present raisins and celery (why does everyone insist on adding these useless ingredients??), and the mayo was subtle. The only other element I would’ve added myself was grapes. YUM!

Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich


Here’s a better look…

A glimpse inside the Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich



Even the housemade pickles were delicious, as pruny as they looked. Don’t neglect them. 🙂

What about you? How do you take your chicken salad?


We would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.
Vidalia Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 3 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating covers McKethan Brothers BBQ Restaurant in Boone, North Carolina.

McKethan Brothers BBQ serves smoked meats, homemade sauces, and southern sides. This family owned BBQ joint offers all the classics including baby back and St. Louis style ribs, chicken, chopped pork, and turkey.
Dora here. We’d been itching to try this place since discovering it over July 4th, but they were closed. It’s a bit off the beaten track and shares the same driveway with another business. Don’t be alarmed by the empty seats. As usual, we opened the restaurant. By the time we left, they were filling up fast.

We shared the Brothers Sampler Platter, a huge tray of pulled pork, chicken, turkey, St. Louis ribs, and baby back ribs with mac and cheese, Brunswick stew and a corn muffin. Huge, full of flavor, and a great example of southern BBQ! The star of this plate was the baby back ribs, juicy, tender, and fall off the bone. The St. Louis ribs were a close second, full of that smoky flavor that you look for in BBQ. The chicken and pork were great with the turkey being a little on the dry side. The Brunswick stew was outstanding with all of the normal ingredients found in the stew plus a little heat.

Brothers Sampler Platter
Sides – Mac & cheese and Brunswick Stew

Dora here. Delish!! We could’ve eaten for two days on this meal! The baby backs were killer, but I’m not a fan of St. Louis style ribs, so Ernie got lucky. I ate most of the turkey myself, so I was glad hubby thought it dry. lol. Love the zing that hit going down with the pork. If we lived here, we’d be a weekly visitor. Probably more than that in the winter because I’d order a whole bowl of the Brunswick stew on the off days. 


5 forks all the way!

What’s your favorite BBQ restaurant?

McKethan Brothers Barbecue Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 9 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the Plaza-Midwood area of Charlotte and to The Workman’s Friend, an Irish pub offering a variety of pub fare with a Southern influence. 

Dora here. Plaza Midwood came through for us again! Originally, we’d picked out a restaurant in downtown Charlotte, but Panther fans snagged all the on-street parking. Plaza Midwood is a fabulous alternative to eating in downtown proper, and I appreciated the ample parking in the back of The Workman’s Friend. 🙂

For an appetizer, we chose the Bag of Chips, hand cut fries with salt and malt vinegar aioli. Not chips in the American sense, nor the typical thick and potato-y pub chips. They were almost a blend of the two, crispy on the outside and firm on the inside. I ate mine with extra malt vinegar. Perfect!

Bag of Chips

Dora here. You should have seen Ernie’s face when the server set the chips down on the table. I knew he expected homemade American chips. lol.

The Irish Breakfast was the brunch special of the day. Eggs, a Banger (sausage), Black and White Pudding (also sausage), Irish Bacon, Baked Beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and sourdough toast. Black pudding is sausage made from blood, meat, fat, oatmeal, and bread or potato fillers. White pudding (the same minus the blood), and Irish bacon is from the back of the pig instead of the belly and is like ham. The highlights of this great dish were the three different types of sausage and the sourdough bread. 

Irish Breakfast – a Brunch Special

Dora here. I’m a big fan of Irish pubs. Well, pubs of all kinds, actually. I’d heard about Black and White pudding but never tried it until now. (See those two round patties next to the baked beans. And how did they ever come up with that name??). Considering the ingredients and the name, I was surprised at how tasty they were.

The Sausage Roll, a blend of ground sausage and mustard and sour cream inside a puff pastry, fit my mood. Something light, not too heavy, and I enjoyed the mild sausage flavor. 

Sausage Roll ~ An appetizer

We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

What about you? Do you enjoy pubs? What’s your favorite pub food?

The Workman's Friend Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato