Grilldog's World

HOME Page

Recipes

1st Impressions are lasting ones.

OK, so it's a nice 90 minute drive from the Airport to Warner Robins.  The posted speed limit is 70 and right around MACON You'll see dozens of GA's finest waiting to ticket ya if you disobey the law!

So your driving along highway 75 and turn off onto 247, you are besieged by the biggest Add for a Fully Nude Adult Entertainment Establishment I have ever seen. This Billboard is Huge and they want you to know for miles away that it's fully nude.  Now as you go up the ramp, ready to turn left, directly in front of you, is a huge "mall-like" group of buildings with a duplicate Billboard on top.  This place has Dancing, Show girls, a Full Restaurant a Motel and Gas Station/Convenience store All under one roof and all Completely Nude!.  Talk about one stop shopping. Within minutes I was in the city of Warner Robins looking for a burger and a beer, when I passed another All Nude facility, this one toting that their All Nude Models serve beer too! 

Having found a nice Steak House Texas Cattle Co/Brewery with a 9.95 daily special I stopped in.  They had a number of TV's turned to ESPN and a nice looking bar.  As I wandered over to the Bar, I was told, the bar is closed!  What?  Yeppers, it was Sunday and the moralists here in the Bible Belt still enforce Blue laws that says no alcohol on Sundays. Morality? What? So what we have here is a town that for Morality reasons doesn't even serve beer in restaurants on Sundays, but has a multi-plex strip joint the size of your local Mall!  Go figure! OH, and plus the Texas Cattle Co has dollar shots between 8pm and 9pm every day, except Sunday, of course. Just Tell Hope that Grilldog sent ya.

About the most exciting thing that happened to me here in the Bible Belt is that one night the lights and phone all went out and there was a complete black out... whoo hooo, hold me down!

OK, so Grilldog doesn't know best.  Right outside the Robins AFB is a little BBQ pit. Did Grilldog go there, no!  Not until the very last day.  BOO HOO, it was awesome, I would have eaten Lunch at Max's BBQ every day.  Oh well. The problem was that the folks in Warner Robin are split as to which BBQ they like best, Max's or Sunnies.  The people I knew in town were all Sunnies fans.  Well, I belong to a different camp and say, try for yourself but Max's is superior.

Ok, so Grilldog goofed up twice!  Right off the base is an Air Space Museum, it's awesome. I didn't discover it until my last day there.  I buy a hat from ever base I go to, a ball cap with the name of the base on it.  Well, I searched all over the damned place when someone suggested I go the museum. This place was awesome.  So if your looking for a hat or want to spend an hour or two in a kewl place, this is about the only place to go in Warner Robins, (unless your into strip bars).

Then there's the second Impression
The people are area very nice, after a sight seeing tour of the area, I watched Space Cowboys at the Matinee, What a great movie, Four Paws up for Clint Eastwood - you go Dirty Harry, Tommy Lee Jones - Now there's a U.S. Marshal, Donald Sutherland, MASH, Kelly's hero's and about 100 other movies, and James Gardner - Support your local Sheriff...Ok, so I liked the movie.  Later in the evening I found myself Back at the Texas Cattle Co., it was a slow night.  My reflections are this... I've been a lot of places and much more to go.  I've found, that it's not how much you own or think you have or what you think the world owes you, an important person, one who cares, is one who works and shares and cares...and that's what Hope is all about.... "Grilldog Rules"

Ok, four paws up and a tail for The Texas Cattle Co. at 2067 Watson Blvd, a 9.95 Steak Special every night.  Plus, in all the places I've traveled I've never seen an enclosed Urinal. That's right! Guys, after you've toasted a few rounds you can go to the head and close the door behind ya! Now there's a concept!  Wuff Wuff ...Now the four paws salute is not so much for the food, which is good, but for the staff.  The service staff was most excellent, I tipped 25% I was so wowed by the service.  The Steak and veggies were very good, but the paws up for The Texas Cattle Co. goes specifically to their very fine service as provided by Monique my first night in town. Great Job Monique, thanks!.  Plus, I went back a few times. They are very hospital, and the service is always the best, in fact, the Best you can HOPE for <wink> So ask for Hope and Brandy, now there's a combo! and Tip well.  Grilldog Rules...Wuf!  =0).

Buffalo's is your standard "Applebee's" type fair, rejoicing the merits of their Buffalo Wings. However, they were just average, not a biggie on Grilldog's list.

Now back in the good ole days, Ole Grilldog's Dog House was over In Good Ole Virginia.  Back then, one of Grilldog's favorite munching establishment was Po Folks.  Unfortunately, they closed down and Ole Grilldog hadn't seen one since about 1992.  They had the best country cooking and an all you can eat special too.  They served only soft drinks and prided themselves on their tea, all served in mason jars.  Well, traveling home this evening, what did I see in front of me but a Po Folks' woo hoo, I knew where I was eating tonight.  So anticipating a scrumptious meal, Ole Grilldog pranced his self through the front doors of Po folks.  First, there was no attendant at the booth and no sign to wait, knowing Po Folks was a "Wait Until Seated" establishment I waited a few minutes and a young teenage girl walked up to the booth.  Looked around, saw me and just stood there.  Finally I said:

I'd like a table for one please.
Some what startled she replied, Oh, you want a table?
Yes Please, for one, I responded.
How many in your party? She asked,
One
Ok...she said and showed me to my table by pointing...Is that one over there OK?

Well, usually, one has to wait at the return counter the day after Christmas for such apathy to doing a job.  Well, not letting that discourage me, I followed her pointing fingerI sat down for an enjoyable meal.  And I sat, and sat and sat and sat and sat.  Finally, one of the waitresses walked over and asked.

Do you have a server sir?
Not yet....I responded
Would you like to order something to drink now sir. She asked.
I said, I've been here 15 minutes, I'd like to order my food as well.
I'm sorry sir, I'm not your waitress, but I can take your drink order.
Well, who is my server?
Wait here I'll get him!
Wait, take my order to him while your at it.
Ok, sir what would you like to drink.
(sigh) tea please, I said.
Sweetened or Unsweetened she inquired
(wasn't this a scene in Easy Rider? I thought) Sweetened please.

Well, finally Mr Congeniality- shows up. A pimply faced teen with the ambition and motivation of a garden slug and about as attractive and interactive.  If I call his movement lethargic, it's an understatement. Anyway, with the grace of a pathetic, half wit (sorry, I'm insulting half wits, equating him with them) he sets my drink down and says...Nothing.  Just stands there staring at me with half opened eye lids looking through that pimple plantation, all the while gesturing with his order pad.  So I say.

Are you ready to take my order? (He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pencil and looks at his pad, I assume that's a yes).
I'd like the all you can eat country style steak, I said.  (He writes that down, then looks at me again...geesh, it's like bad Halloween story! Ok, now he gestures with his pad again (guess he wants the rest of my order, knowing my order comes with two veggies I said))
I'd like the red beans and rice and corn please.  Again, he nods and scribbles on his pad, then stares at me again...Oh that's right, I get bread too, how silly of me to forget. Oh, I'd like the corn bread please...I said.

With that, he tapped his pad, smiled started to pick up the menu and then with what could have been easily mistaken for someone's last breath said, "keep this to re-order" and he walked away.

Are all teenagers this ambitious about working? Lets sign them up for the military, hey, who ever is running the country, listen to me, start the draft again!  I'm sorry, I don't have any kids, but if I had one that worked like that I'd go home to my wife and tell her he needs to go back and birth some more, he must not have finished cooking when he came out!  I've heard of someone running out of batteries, but I don't think he even has a clue about what energy is! 

OK, in all fairness, the food was ok, it wasn't as good as I remember, and it was a lesser quality, but I would have given it a decent review had it not been for Butt Head the Slug...I give Po Folks two paws up and a big Hind Leg Salute to "The Slug". 

Now for some hometown BBQ I was told to go to Sonny's over on Russel Street.  So off I went for some mouth watering BBQ.  They were having an all you could eat sliced pork BBQ for the menu, so that's what I ordered.  The food was just fair but the waitress was quite attentive, so I'll give it a Paw's up! But it's no where near the BBQ in Wichita Falls, or anywhere else for that matter.

Still in the mood for BBQ I went to POMO's on the Watson.  I have to laugh, in big letters on the menu the Graphic Guru toot's, for us not to be angry if our order takes too long to receive because they caringly prepare each and every order individually.  Kewl, I thought, so I ordered the BBQ Sliced Pork Plate with coleslaw and smoked beans.  The waitress walked into the kitchen and just seconds, really seconds she came back with my full order...Hey the name may be George but not George Jetson...What button was pushed to prepare pork that fast!!! Well, the service was ok, you have to pay at the cashier, I didn't realize that Ice Tea was 2 dollars, I've heard of inflation, but 2 dollars for a glass of Ice Tea in a BBQ Pit... No paws up for this place.

I'm Sick...sick,,, get that taste out of my mouth. Yeck...Now I just returned from lunch 2 hours ago and took a moment to write about the worse tasting food that I've endured on my journey's through time and space.  The THAI restaurant on Watson just outside Robins AFB is the nastiest Food I've eaten since I found myself in a small village outside Matzatlan Mexico several years back.  This THAI Buffet, advertises Thai food, yummy ect.  You know the flair, but it was nasty, the food was obviously left over from the night before and heated up, the curry was done with old nasty chicken and some sort of brown gravy, I believe was grease from the Chicken yeck! I wouldn't even honor this place with a hind leg salute on fear that they'd chop it up and serve it on the menu!!!!

Ask any one in Warner Robins where to go on a Friday night for dinner and they'll Steer you towards Ryan's...Ryan's is a typical all you can eat dinner buffet, like Hometown, Golden Corel, etc. but on Friday night they serve sirloin Steak as part of the buffet.  It was moist and tender, and decent. The rest of the fair was your standard rapidly prepared food from massed potatoes, to corn to your salad fillers etc.  The service was good, but service at buffet? And they expect to be tipped, for what? most of the time at a buffet your dirty plates sit there and the service is pretty snotty.  But at least at Ryan's there was a southern friendly atmosphere provided by the staff. Grilldog gives a paws up.. But for 10 bucks I'd rather go to the Texas Cattle Co.

And that's the Grilldog Report for my Stay in Warner Robins, GA.  Next Stop, Back to Wichita Falls, TX...Of course a lay over in the wine bar at the Dallas/Ft Worth Airport is in the plan!