review

Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 9 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to The Tavern in Old Salem in Winston-Salem, NC.  This 1816 historical two-story building still has the design of years past with the kitchen in the basement and intimate dining rooms on the first and second floor.

Dora here. Such a cool building! Food is cooked and prepared in the basement and transported to the dining areas on dumbwaiters. We discovered that tidbit from our fountain-of-information server. Ya’ll, I snapped several pictures of the crowd hanging around the porch outside and our server dressed in historical costume, but unfortunately, none of them turned out. I’m blaming it on my new phone. 🙂 If you’d like to see photos of the restaurant, click on the link above. Here’s the view from our second story table.

The Tavern in Old Salem Excited about Eating Ernie Hiers

We chose the Snowflake Biscuits and Pumpkin Muffins appetizers served with warm apple butter. Now I really do not know why they call the biscuits “snowflake” because they were huge and did not look anything like snowflakes. They were light and fluffy and tasted great and did I say they were huge. Dora here. YUM! And this whole basket was less than $3!

The Tavern in Old Salem Excited about Eating Ernie Hiers

Snowflake Biscuits and Pumpkin Muffins appetizer under $3. Fabulous!

The Tavern in Old Salem Excited about Eating Ernie Hiers

Ginormous biscuits!

For my meal, I chose the Local Beer Boiled & Grilled Bratwurst served with house made sauerkraut, green beans, mustard glaze, and a side of hot German potato salad. The bratwurst was great, and the sauerkraut was surprisingly not vinegary because I learned they use mineral water in the cooking process. The hot potato salad was some of the best that I have ever tasted, with bacon and sliced red skin potatoes, just a touch of sweet.

The Tavern in Old Salem Excited about Eating Ernie Hiers

Dora here. The Chicken Pie is just as the name implies. I half expected a pot pie –and, truthfully, I’m not a fan of pot pies unless it’s cold outside. And it was cold. lol. So, I was surprised and more than a bit intrigued with this plate. The pie crust was handmade, not too thick and not too thin. Just right. I read a review that said the chicken pie was a bit dry. Mine wasn’t, not at all! I’ll admit to carb overload, but every once in a while, it’s okay to indulge, right? This is one of those comfort dishes perfect for a wintry day. When I finished, this plate was clean!

The Tavern in Old Salem Excited about Eating Ernie Hiers

Chicken Pie…just like the name implies. Delicious!

Folks, when we arrived roughly ten minutes after they opened for a Saturday lunch, already a crowd loitered on the front porch. The hostess couldn’t/wouldn’t give us a timeframe, and some frustrated people left. But, it wasn’t ten minutes and they escorted us to our table, so don’t give up! Also, you’ll find a parking lot behind the restaurant, but if that’s full, there’s another lot directly behind it. No worries. 🙂

What’s the last dish that surprised you?

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

The Tavern in Old Salem Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 4 Comments

This edition of Exciting about Eating takes us to Joe’s Doughs, a small family bakery making hand crafted artisan donuts in the NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte.

Joe's Doughs Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

Good thing hubby was paying attention. I’d have missed it.

Dora here. I rarely like to go out for breakfast because why pay for cereal? But it was Ernie’s birthday, and he enjoys breakfast out. So there you have it. 🙂

Joe's Doughs Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

Hope they ramp up their selection

This doughnut place is not like most, where they have the same types of doughnuts every day. Joe’s Doughs offers a limited variety and the selection changes every 45 minutes or so, so you’re guaranteed a fresh bite.

Joe's Doughs Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

Bummer. Only 6 types.

Dora here. Because I’d scoped out the menu beforehand, I expected to drool over Espresso Cake and Candied Lemon, but they weren’t there! OH NO! That’s okay. My initial disappointment didn’t last long. lol.

In order to get a true taste, we chose 4 different selections and shared. Dora here. Yep, straight down the middle. No cheating.

The Sea Salt Chocolate Caramel doughnut was outstanding, a yeast doughnut that was sweet and salty, but I could not pick up the chocolate. Dora here. I have to disagree with hubby here. This doughnut was my least favorite because the chocolate and caramel flavors were so light, I couldn’t taste either over the salt. Not that I left any of my half, mind you. haha

Joe's Doughs Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

Bottom Left-PB&J, Bottom Top-Goat Cheese Strawberry Balsamic, Top Right-Sea Salt Chocolate Caramel, Bottom Right-Coconut Banana Caramel Cake

The PB&J was  great, but everything is always better with peanut butter. This yeast doughnut was primed with strawberry filling and covered with creamy peanut butter. If you closed your eyes, you would think that you were eating a PB&J sandwich. Dora here. The PB&J was another surprise, mainly because I’m not a huge PB fan. But it wasn’t overly heavy on the PB taste and the thick strawberry jam filling oozed out. The texture was such that we couldn’t decide whether the doughnut was yeast or cake. A staff member verified that it was indeed yeast.

The Goat Cheese Strawberry Balsamic, although good, was my least favorite. It was also a yeast doughnut covered in goat cheese and drizzled with strawberry and balsamic. The doughnut was really fruity and only had a hint of cheese. Dora here. My second fave — surprise, surprise –was the Goat Cheese Strawberry Balsamic. I so wasn’t expecting that. Sweet, but not sugary. Light and delish!

Joe's Doughs Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

In case you needed to feast your eyes on these beauties from a different angle. 🙂

The final selection was the Coconut Banana Caramel Cake. Outstanding! It was the only cake doughnut we tried and it did not disappoint, full of favor and almost tasted like a piece of cake. Dora here. My favorite was the Banana Coconut Caramel Cake, and it represented its name well. The only cake doughnut here, it reminded me of a thick, generous slice of banana bread. Yum! 

Overall the doughnuts were not as I expected, in a good way. You know how you dread that heavy, bloated feeling or the sugar rush that comes from eating doughnuts? That didn’t happen. Maybe because we snacked on a few cheese curds before we left home? If they upped their number of selections and offered more coffee choices (like lattes), I might be convinced to go out for breakfast more often. Oh, you might want to check out their Instagram photos, but be prepared to drool. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 🙂

What’s your favorite doughnut? And do you prefer yeast or cake?

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