This past week I got the pleasure of going out to eat with
Allison and Whitney, two of my best friends from elementary and high school who
just so happen to ALSO be teachers! We try to get together ever so often, and
since they are hungry teachers as well, we decided to go to a new restaurant
together for the blog. We are teachers. We multitask all the time. It’s in the
job description.
After much debate, we decided to travel to Greenbrier to eat
at The Wagon Wheel. It had been a few years since I had eaten there before, and
I needed a good refresher. I had been once for breakfast (to eat biscuit and
gravy DUH!) and once for dinner.
It is one of those true country, home cookin’ restaurants that every
town needs but not many have anymore.
You have two options for ordering food. You can order from
the menu, or you can order from the dry erase board. That’s where the specials
and veggies are posted. The specials change everyday with food you would see in
your own kitchen.
Not my kitchen, I said your kitchen. I’ve been slacking off
majorly in the cooking department. As the school year goes on, it seems like
the days get shorter and the “need to get done now or you will stress over it”
list gets longer.
The one time I had come before for dinner, I had the Taco
Casserole. (It was on the white board.) You know, the chicken casserole with
cheese Doritos and Velvetta! YUM! I was hoping that they would be serving that
again, but that was a long shot.
That should tell you something about The Wagon Wheel. I had
been thinking and craving their casserole for about 3-4 years.
I should make that this week......oh wait, Parent/Teacher
Conferences are this week. The kitchen will be closed! Maybe next week.
Sorry, back to the food!
I really wanted to order from the dry erase board, but I
didn’t. One of the options was Chicken Fried Chicken and that made me instantly
want Chicken Fried Steak. I love a good homemade Chicken Fried Steak. My mom
didn’t cook that much while I was growing up, but she made a mean Chicken Fried
Steak. It would be my choice for my last supper.
Since my mom is my biggest fan of the blog and my editor, I
have to say that no one can compete with her CFS, BUT The Wagon Wheel’s CFS is one of the best that I have had at a
restaurant.
This Chicken Fried Steak was authentic. You could tell that
it was hand breaded and pan-fried in the kitchen. It had the nicest crust that
is the base of every Chicken Fried Something. Even underneath the creamy gravy,
it was still crunchy. The balance of breading to meat was perfect because one
did not outdo the other. The gravy that covered the steak made every bite
moist, salty, and tender. To top it off and make it even more amazing, just
about every other bite I would dip it in the mashed potatoes.
The ultimate bite.
Something else that was ultimate was their Mac and Cheese.
Now, I am a box mac and cheese girl. That’s what I was raised on. That is NOT
what Rustin was raised on, so I have learned how to cook it and have developed
an acquired taste for it. Notice though, I said that their Mac and Cheese was
the ultimate. This will convert any boxer to a homemader.
It was creamy, oh so creamy. The noodles were soft and held
together with a thick cheesy mixture. The whole dish melted in your mouth.
If you look back at the ultimate bite picture, there is no
Mac and Cheese. It was the first thing that I finished. I demolished it. Days
later we are still talking about it!
Then there are the carrots. They were recommended by a dear
friend. You might ask yourself, “Who recommends carrots!?” Well, you do when
they are this good! The carrots were so tender and soft. They had just the
right amount of sugar absorbed into their skin to make them sweet. Not too
sweet that you felt guilty for eating them, but just sweet enough to gobble
them up.
They reminded me of my Mamaw’s carrots. At 4 years old, I
ate carrots. I ate them because they were sweet. It’s simple....to make your
kids eat vegetables, add sugar. How easy is that?
Make your next dinner choice easy. Go to The Wagon Wheel.
This hometown restaurant has been here for about 21 years.
Our sweet sweet waitress Pearly May has been there for 12 of them. This is the
place where all the locals go. Well, they aren’t really locals. They are
family. This is their dining room too.
As you read, you probably noticed I told a lot of stories. A
lot of family memories. That is what The Wagon Wheel’s food will do to you. It will
remind you of home cooked meals with loved ones.
