Oasis of Everclear: Daiquiri Island Drive Thru

Daiquiris for the road

Daiquiri Island in Marksville, LA is one of those no-nonsense, cinder block construction drive thru daiquiri emporiums that Louisiana is known for.

Frozen Daiquiris to go

If a frozen strawberry daiquiri, Octane 190, margarita, hurricane, sex-on-the-beach, TKO, pina colada or white russian for the road is what you're after, then Daiquiri Island is for you.

And it hits this mark perfectly.  You can get a sample of your chosen concoction in a small paper cup and then choose your poison to sweeten that afternoon children's T-ball or soccer game.

The inside of Daiquiri Island features a pool table and lots of second hand smoke.  And it isn't a place I choose to hang out in.  But it's a fun slice of life in Marksville, LA.

The drive thru gets a thumbs up from me when in the right mood.

Believe Dat!

Effie's Lil Kitchen: Hidden Gem

Good food, good coffee, good service = fun place

Effie's Little Kitchen offers breakfast anytime and free coffee.

Need I say more?

Veterans Wall at Effie's Lil Kitchen

We recently enjoyed eggs, grits, hash browns and bacon for breakfast here.  They cooked our bacon extra crispy on request.  The biscuits were good also.  The cook is eager to please and said they would fix breakfast for us any time of the day.  This is an unusual treat as most diner style eateries cut off breakfast time at 10 or 10:30 and can be super strict about it in an almost punishing manner.
Not so at Effie's Little Kitchen!

We liked it when they brought out big jars of Smucker's preserves and set them on the table for us.  They really make you feel at home here.

Butter Rescue

This is one of those hole-in-the-wall destinations that adjoins a convenience store gas station that I would not have stopped into had I not needed butter one evening this past Christmas while baking cookies.
In desperation, I jumped in the car in search of a pound of unsweetened butter to finish my holiday baking.  Our home is in a rural area of Louisiana.  The nearest grocery store is about ten miles away.  I stopped into the convenience hoping they had real butter but they did not.  Effie's Little Kitchen was open and they sold me a pound of butter from their kitchen to finish my Christmas cookies with.

War Veterans

The owner and staff are friendly and eager to please.  The restaurant decorates it's walls with photos of service veterans in the community from World War II, Vietnam and more recent, as well as historic photos of the local schools, such as Lafargue Elementary School.

Entrance to Effie's Lil Kitchen

Jukebox

Cheesey Grandpa's is kitsch fun

Say CHEEZ at Grandpa's Cheesebarn

Grandpa's Cheesebarn is a fun stop in OHIO

We stopped off here to eat lunch as we drove through Ohio.

It was a fun and lively diversion.  Grandpa's Cheesebarn is old timey, Americana, good clean fun.

There's not a lot of healthy food on their menu.  Come on it's Grandpa's CHEESEbarn!

I selected a turkey wrap which was bland but tasty.  They don't offer a whole wheat wrap, so  we gave up and started in with chili cheese fries.  The portion was a little on the small side and I was surprised to see so many kidney beans in the chili on top of the fries.

Chili cheese fries

Service was friendly and prompt.

We had ice cream after lunch and it was delicious.  But how can you go wrong with ice cream?


Then the must-do here is to shop their cheese shop upstairs where they sell deli style cheeses, meats, preserves, pickles and such.  The downstairs sells cookbooks, chatchkis, dried bean mixes etc.  Most are fun but over priced.  So we browsed and window shopped.

Pulled Pork BBQ in Mississippi

Go for the fried catfish and pulled pork

This was my third visit to Jake & Rip's.  I've had the fried catfish and the pulled pork BBQ platter.  Both were good.  Though I would prefer a choice of BBQ sauces--maybe a hot one in the mix.  The pulled pork serving is generous--kind of like good 'ol boy, I ride a tractor for a living big.

Pulled Pork BBQ platter

Pulled pork platter comes with cole slaw, baked beans and a half an ear of boiled corn.

But the side portions are small and the corn on the cob was frozen.      This is inexcusable in the middle of the summer in Mississippi.
The baked beans were good with a sweet but vinegary flavor.

Dog Patrol

The waitresses here are friendly and helpful-despite the picture here of the bartender texting.  They wear tee shirts that say "dog patrol" as Jake & Rip's is named for the owner's two bird dogs.

Bar decor

Waitress texting behind the bar

Jake & Rip's is deep in the heart of Ole Miss Country

Rudy's falls short

Bar at Rudy's misses the boat.

Rudy's misses the boat with sluggish service & mediocre food

They have patterned the Rudy's after George's in Baton Rouge.  I have been to George's Restaurant.  I met my husband at George's.

Rudy's is no George's!!

They have the "order here" sign at the bar.
No waitresses here to bring out the food.  Which is fun and right for George's Restaurant in BR, but not really right for the clientele here. And the staff admits that "Marksville just doesn't get it."  So why not change?

Crystal Diamond Alias

I enjoy signing my ticket at George's "Crystal Diamond" so when they call out your name to come get your food, I can be Crystal Diamond just for one brief, shining, funny moment.

This won't work at Rudy's because they don't call out your name to come get your food, and it just lacks the grimy dark hole in the wall, fun factor.

The Grub

House salad with blackened chicken

I recently had the house salad with blackened chicken.  The lettuce was iceberg and very little else in the salad other than a few slices of anemic tomatoes.  The blackened chicken was tasty and well-cooked.  Salad dressings consisted of bottled standard fare--nothing excited or special here--very school cafeteria-ish.  Not even a balsamic vinagrette offered here.

The hamburgers here are decent but nothing to write home about.  And they don't even come with so much as a pickle on the side.  And they admit that their pizza dough is pre-processed frozen and that they just put on the toppings.  Gosh, you can get that at the grocery store.

They have a good location right on the courthouse square in Marksville, but they rarely seem to be busy.
Rudy's just misses the mark and worse than that they don't seem to care.  The staff always looks bored and disinterested in customers.  They are more interested in gossiping amongst themselves or watching the TV behind the bar than preparing food or assisting customers.

Plenty of empty tables at Rudy's in Marksville, LA

Fantastic Indian Food & Friendly Folks

Vegetable Samosas at Saffron

 

Saffron Indian Cuisine menu

Saffron Indian Restaurant & POTUS in Mansfield, Ohio

We strayed a few miles off our path to Louisiana when I had a craving for Indian food while driving through Ohio.

"Siri" led us to the Saffron Indian restaurant in Mansfield, OH.  When we arrived in Mansfield, the town square was filled with people, spot lights, barricades and much hubbub.  Thinking it was a town fair or festival, we proceeded to Saffron.

Interns hard at work for Pres. Obama

We were the only diners in the restaurant.  Which I usually take as a bad sign, but in this case it was because POTUS (the President of the United States, Barack Obama) was coming to Mansfield for a campaign speech the next morning.

The townspeople were out in full force on the streets signing up to volunteer the next day and gossip about secret service sightings.  This once industrial hub of a town used to house a GM plant and was home to Tappan appliance manufacturer but has now fallen on less prosperous times, somewhat like Buffalo.

Store window display

Mansfield, Ohio

Service at Saffron was very fast and friendly.  This is a new restaurant, only four months old.  The owners were present in the dining room and kitchen, and they were eager to prepare our food to our taste and specifications.

They brought out pappadam (a deep fried crispy lentil wafer) and three sauces for us as we looked over the menu.  We started with an order of Vegetable Samosa.  The samosas were tasty and came with a side of a spicy chick pea stew-like saucy goodness.  The owner brought us some Roti to try also, she had made it fresh for us.  This was good and very different from my favorite Indian bread, Naan.  She explained how they make it with just wheat flour and water and knead it out, saying that women are the ones who more often prepare this bread.

Best Chicken Vindaloo I've ever had!

For our entree we chose Chicken Vindaloo, which was very well-priced at $11.00.  And this modestly priced entree was plenty for my husband and me!    The chicken was tender and delicious!  Tasty chunks of chicken in a spicy sauce with pieces of potatoes.  I have had vindaloo many times, but this was the BEST I have ever had!  We also got garlic Naan, which was fresh and wonderful.

Chicken vindaloo & garlic naan

We loved Saffron in Mansfield.  And we plan to make it a regular stop on our drive from Buffalo to Louisiana.  It is well worth the 11 mile jaunt off the interstate for some wonderful Indian food so well-prepared in a delightful family run restaurant.

Evening in Mansfield, OH

Scary Meal at The Carriage House Restaurant

Courtyard at The Myrtles

Scary Meal and Scary Prices at America's Most Haunted House

This small, quaintly decorated restaurant next to The Myrtles Plantation promised a pleasant meal, but we were very disappointed.

The service though friendly was slow, uninformed and dismal, despite the fact that we practically the only customers.

Our server failed to fill our water glasses and brought out the wrong vegetables with our meal even when we were the only table of customers in the restaurant. Service was slow and inept.  We were served a rectangular brick of fried grits cake that was sodden and tasteless, then we realized that wasn't what we ordered.
 

Mahi mahi, asparagus & grits cake

When they brought out the "grilled asparagus" it was three paltry pieces of limp asparagus and the new potatoes were glorified hash browns.

Our sensation salad had little or no dressing. The blackened mahi mahi was flavorful.

Wine glasses were small and underfilled despite the full charge of $8.50 for a glass of red wine. The fried green tomatoes were topped with crab meat and a balsamic reduction which was nice but the mound of mayonnaise heavy tartar sauce underneath each slice was not. The bread pudding though sweet and tasty had very little whiskey sauce. We asked for extra and it was brought out cold in a plastic cup.

Pricing way out of line

Their prices are those of a higher level of service and better quality dining establishment.  And when our bill arrived there was a gratuity already added to our ticket and a place to add a tip!  We had to ask that the gratuity be removed from the total so that we could select our own tip amount.  This was not mentioned on the menu that a gratuity was included.  We were only a party of two.  There was no excuse for this.

The Myrtles

Hollywood has gone to his head

The owner of the restaurant spoke with us as we left and he boasted that the Hollywood crowd filming a Danny Glover movie at Angola was on their way over for a late dinner and that they dine frequently there.  They probably don't know any better and there aren't many decent choices in the area.  And their expense budgets don't care where they eat!  The owner owns a gas station down the street and this is his new venture.  He should keep to pumping gas and what he knows!

We were very disappointed and do not plan to go back.