Friday, March 5, 2010

Good Eats


On the way to Plano Son and I thought we'd stop for lunch in Roanoke, Texas. We had a couple of ideas on where we'd like to eat.


One was Babe's Chicken Dinner House. It's been a favorite place of ours for several years. We used to make a point of it to eat there once during NASCAR week. Roanoke is just a hop, skip and a jump from Texas Motor Speedway.

At the Babe's in Roanoke there's no need for a menu. You have two choices - fried chicken or chicken fried steak. The sides are served family style - mashed potatoes, cream gravy, green salad, corn, and biscuits.

The last time we were there in November 2008 three of the Nascar drivers showed up for dinner - Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Kenny Schrader.


There's a lot of growth going on in this little town and one of the new eating establishments is the Twisted Root Burger Company.

It turned out to be our choice for lunch because the original one was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

It's safe to say the food is not in the category of healthy eating but it was nice for a treat.

You order at the counter and the place was already packed that day at about 11:15. So we grabbed a table and Son stood in line to place our order.

According to all the markings all their plastic cups, plastic wear, to go boxes, etc are environmentally friendly. Our water cups were a corn product. Pretty interesting.

I'm assuming the paper towels that hang on the wall for customer self-service were made from a bio-degradable material.



Son and I split a buffison burger. That's part buffalo and part venison. It was kinda expensive but we split it so it wasn't that bad.

We decided to split the burger - not because of the price - but because we wanted to try the "Fried Ride", a sample basket of all their fried veggies.



There was enough in that basket to feed at least 6 to 8 people. There were onion rings (THE BEST I've had in a long, long time), green beans, sweet potato chips, dill pickle slices and twisted french fries.

The to-go box was filled to the brim with the leftovers.



Their special shake that day was Girl Scout Cookie Mint. I love frozen Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies so that was a no-brainer.

Another shake on the menu is an Amaretto Oreo shake. Of the two, this was Son's favorite.

The food was good and it was a fun place to try.

But honestly, I think the next time we're back in Roanoke, I'd choose to go to Babe's. Maybe it's nostalgia but I think it's the fried chicken.

20 comments:

  1. I love Babes.....love it!!! It is always so crowded...I have not heard of this place to mentioned today, I will have to make a trip out there and give it a try!

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  2. Oh, any time I find a Babe's, I gotta eat there! Love it, their veggies are just super!
    That fried ride looked pretty good, I think I coulda just ate that and skipped the burger.

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  3. WE have been going to Babe's for years'great chicken.They also have a steakhouse in Decatur,20 miles the otherside of TMS.Chicken fried ribeye yum yum. The first time we went to Babe's the cost was 3.50 including the tea

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  4. I wonder how long it would take me to get there...I have a real weakness for outstanding onion rings!

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  5. WOW!!
    We Canadians don't get food that look or sound like that!!!!!!!!!
    Would love to try tho!!
    Diane

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  6. Oh my that shake looks soooooo yummy!

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  7. I love your new header picture and that restaurant looks and sounds great! I watch Diner's Drive Ins and Dives all the time and it makes me sooo hungry!

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  8. That milkshake (girl scout mint) looks like something I need to find around here.

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  9. The photos made me drool. As for choices, there is only one .... fried chicken!

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  10. That looked like good eatin'!

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  11. My that ALL looks delicious!
    Can you tell I haven't had breakfast yet? I'm starving now!

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  12. You are getting closer to me when you are in Roanoke. I am very familiar with those eating places. You can really pig out at Bebe's. It was nice seeing them on your post today.

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  13. OMG. I think I would drive to Roanoke for one of those shakes. You are torturing us!

    Deborah

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  14. That hamburger has my name all over it!!!!! It may not be healthy, but I bet it tastes a whole lot better than a veggie burger!!!!!

    Jerri

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  15. Sounds and looks delicious.hat Am wondering about that buffison burger - is it hamburger or buffalo?

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  16. Just give me some fried pickles and I'll be set for the day!!! That burger looks soo delish that I think tonights meal is gonna be steak burgers!!!

    with love,
    Olivia

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  17. that fried veggie basket would probably kill me if i ate it but it would be worth it. it looks wonderful! sounds like a fun little jaunt with the family.

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  18. honey that looks wicked awesome! LOL.

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  19. The place sounds yummy. I would have a hard time deciding on what to have. Places that keep it simple are the place for me.

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  20. I cant even tell you how delicious that looks!!!

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