Manna Grocery & Deli

There is no better place in Tuscaloosa to get food with fresh ingredients, healthy options, vegetarian options, and all natural products than Manna Grocery & Deli.  I often tell people I had lunch at Manna and get the response, "I didn't know they served food". Yes, the deli in the back is open for lunch Mon-Sat and has really delicious food. The grocery part of the store is open all day and offers vitamins, snack foods, cleaning products, frozen foods, and much more.

The deli has daily specials that range from a sandwich, salad, or "burger" to salmon or crab cakes. The Monday crab cake special is delicious and I hear the salmon is really great too. I am not a salmon fan so I haven't tried it. I went for lunch twice in the matter of a couple weeks and I had the special both days. One day it was a turkey burger and one day it was a black bean burger, but some of my favorites on the menu are the portabella mushroom panini, any of the hummus plates, and the veggie and goat cheese pizza. You can see the menu online.
On the first trip, I had the black bean burger with guacamole spread.  This burger had a Mexican flair to it. It was very flavorful. I love anything with guacamole and this was no different. You also get a side and as you can see below, I went with the fruit cup. Your other options are a side salad, chips, or one of the soups of the day.

I had never tried the dessert at Manna, but seeing as I was eating for two this day, I decide to try one of the daily specials. I had the blueberry and goat cheese pound cake. And, wow, it was delicious. It came with homemade whip cream on top and a blueberry sauce. You could tell the goat cheese was there, but not in the way you would in a salad. It was a subtle flavor that just kicked the pound cake up a notch. It was certainly enough to share, but I didn't. I ate the whole thing!!

If you are looking for a great lunch spot, Manna Deli is a perfect place. The healthy, flavorful options will make you feel good about any of your choices.

Pie Lab

Wes and I finally made it to Pie Lab back in December after talking about it for months. Pie Lab is a quick drive down 69 South to the quaint town of Greensboro. It has a really cool ambiance. With just one big open room, with exposed brick walls and tables and benches, the place feels like small town meets cool hip city place.
The concept of this pie shop is pretty cool. On Facebook, they say this:
PieLab is a pie shop meant to gather communities together. It’s founded on the idea that simple things, like delicious pie and good conversation, can bring us together and spread joy.Pie+Conversation = Ideas.Ideas+Design =Positive Change.

The menu is different everyday. They offer a couple of lunch options and several pie options. If you follow them on Facebook you can see the selection for the day. We went on a Saturday when there was a sandwich option and two quiche options and about 5 pies.

Wes went for the pimento cheese  BLT. How can you go wrong with a BLT that ads the yummy goodness of homemade pimento cheese. You can always tell homemade pimento cheese, it is nice and creamy and not thick like the store bought kind. You can see in the picture, it was so good we barely stopped to take a picture. As a side, he had pasta salad. It was really flavorful and fresh.

Pimento cheese BLT

I had one of the daily quiche special. It was a spinach, mushroom, and goat cheese quiche and it was delicious. Of course, they are great at pie crusts, so the crust of the quiche was perfect. I had the side salad instead of the pasta salad and it had homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. And, in the picture below, you can see the drinks come in mason jars.

quiche and salad

But, of course, the main course isn't why I wanted to go to the Pie Lab. I wanted to try the pies!! We both got a piece of pie. Wes went with banana pudding pie and I had the honey pumpkin pie with whip cream. I watched as they made my whip cream fresh right then. And, it was the absolute perfect topping to the pie. In all honesty, it might have been my favorite part of the entire meal.

banana pudding pie & honey pumpkin pie with whip cream

The concept is great. The food is great. And, I can't wait to go back and try some more. It isn't a bad drive from Tuscaloosa and the place has such character, and cute shops nearby, that it is a must stop for Tuscaloosians.

Little Donkey

Ok, Little Donkey is such a fun name for a Mexican restaurant! It is so unique and stands out from your traditional Mexican names. Which is appropriate, because this isn't like your normal Mexican place.  Little Donkey is located in Birmingham, or Homewood more specifically. Now, I know this isn't in Tuscaloosa, but, Birmingham isn't that far away and we Tuscaloosians often find ourselves in Bham needing somewhere to eat.

Outside shot (I forgot to take a picture so I borrowed this one from my company) :)

I was in Birmingham for training this week and stayed over night.When planning dinner, I wanted to try somewhere I hadn't already been. I had heard that the food was extremely fresh, unique, and good at Little Donkey, so that was my pick. Wes joined me as well as a couple of our friends.

On their website, Little Donkey claims to be original Mexican food, inspired by Southern roots, with slow-cooked meats, and scratch made everything. You could tell that all of these things were happening on the menu. I have already said it was unique, or as they say, original. The variety of meat was really cool. They offered tacos with steak, chicken, fish, brisket, and pork all with different fresh ingredients. And, you could tell the tortillas weren't store bought.

We started with guacamole. This is one of Wes and my go to items at Mexican restaurants, especially those that seem to be using more fresh ingredients. My hope was that it would be made at the table. But, that didn't happen. It did end up being delicious guacamole. Topped with a little tomato and cheese, and the chunks of avocado brought extra flavor and freshness to it.

guacamole (half eaten)

I chose the enchiladas verdes. The fresh tortillas were filled with chicken and cheese and topped with the green salsa. I thought the cheese was a little thick and not as melted as I would have liked. I guess I was imaging the idea of traditional queso cheese in the enchillada, but this was more of a slice of cheese with the chicken. But, the flavor was great.

Enchiladas verde

This dish was served with two sides. The sides are unique too. You can choose from mexican rice, black beans, pinto beans, street style corn, fresh fruit, or la concoction. This last item was rice, with black beans, some sauce, and a poached egg on top. I tried the black beans and corn with mine. The corn had a seasoning on it that was really interesting. I am not sure what it was, but it wasn't spicy, it had a little kick of sweet to it, and the flavor of the corn, which was roasted on the cob, was yummy. The black beans seemed just normal to me; not bad, but nothing special either.

black beans and street corn

 

Wes got the tacos and tried a steak and a fish. His favorite of the two was the fish. I didn't try either of these but there wasn't a bite of either left! And, he had the la concoction as his side. It was really cool looking and definitely had neat flavor and texture. I did try this and it was tasty.

Fish and steak taco and la concoction

All in all, Little Donkey has a really cool atmosphere and vibe. The fresh ingredients and unique ideas make this a really awesome spot. I hear that we may be getting a Little Donkey in Tuscaloosa, which is really exciting. I think local places like this are exactly what we need in town.

Glory Bound Gyro Co

I was totally excited to hear about this new restaurant opening in Tuscaloosa. Glory Bound Gyro Co. is owned by the same people as Mugshots, a now very popular restaurant in downtown, so I had high hopes for the quality of food. And, they serve one of my favorite types of food, Greek. I like to give a new place a couple weeks to work out all their kinks. But, from what I hear, others have been having a great experience since it opened. Glory Bound is located on the corner of Greensboro and University in downtown T-town. This spot is one of the coolest in town, but, if you have been around for a while, you know that things have had a hard time making it here. After one meal, I certainly hope that this one is different. The feel is funky and casual.

Cool guitar art everywhere.

Anyone who knows me, know that I am a hummus freak! I seek it out, order it just about any time I see it on a menu, and always have some in the fridge at home. So, when I say to you that this was literally some of the absolute best hummus I have ever had, you should know it is a big deal.  They offer quite a variety of flavors and you can order them individually or as a trio. I went for the trio so I could taste a few. After the recommendations from the waitress, I decided on the original, roasted red pepper, and the garlic basil. All of them were phenomenal. The original was a little salty but that doesn't bother me. You could tell the roasted red pepper was made with fresh ingredients and just plain fresh. And, the garlic basil was my favorite. It will be hard for me to visit again and not get all the hummus I can eat!!
Oh, and everyone at the table agreed with me. Great hummus and the pita bread is just as great.

Hummus trio

I was almost stuffed after this, but of course I was trying one of the gyros. On Tuesday, they have a special where all the gyros are $5 and the steak and shrimp gyros are $6. What a deal!! They come with cottage fries, which are homeade potato wedges, and are amazing too. I went with the surf and turf gyro. This came with steak and shrimp with mushrooms, peppers, and onions and their come back sauce. This sauce is similar to the shrimp sauce at a Japanese restaurant. So, if that means anything to you it should mean deliciousness.  This was way too much food, but I couldn't stop eating. It was amazing!

Surf and Turf gyro

This was book club night, so I had 5 other girls with me eating. Glory Bound and its food was well received by all! I can't wait to go back and try some of the other meals. Apparently their signature sandwich is the Pepperjack which is a traditional gyro with pepperjack cheese, bacon, and come back sauce. What! I think I will need to split that one.

Birmingham food

Saturday Dinner

Ok, so for the final round of birthday fun, we spent Saturday night in Birmingham and did dinner Saturday night and brunch Sunday morning. Birmingham has really become somewhat of a food destination. I have been hearing all kinds of great things about lots of different restaurants downtown. We were excited to have a night out and then follow up with something yummy on Sunday too.

I had gotten a gift card to Ocean and we had saved it for out birthday celebration week! I had heard great things about their food and it was all true. Everything we had was fresh, unique, and delicious. Everyone gets bread with olive oil and a cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta, and olive oil salsa type spread. I must say the fresh tomato topper was one of the best parts of the meal. Even Wes, who isn't a big fan of anything like that, really enjoyed it. I tried to take a picture but I just couldn't capture the real essence and deliciousness with a picture.

Our first item ordered was the calamari appetizer. This is always one of Wes's favorite starters, so when I see it on the menu I usually want us to try it. This was perfectly breaded and tender! One of the worst things is getting really chewy calamari. Of course, this one was perfect. And the sauce!! It was described as a remoulade. You know I have a hard time waiting to eat until I have taken the picture. As you can see, this one was no different.

Calamari appetizer

I followed this up with the Ocean salad. This was the best part of my meal! Imagine a Greek Salad topped with fried feta cheese. Yes, fried feta cheese. In the picture below, the piece of cheese look like croutons, but no, it's cheese.

Ocean salad- with fried feta

For my entree, I ordered pan seared scallops. Not only do they offer several special meals, they also offer a list of meats cooked in a variety of ways (pan seared, greek, fried, etc). All of these came with sage mashed potatoes and root vegetables. I chose the scallops with mashed potatoes and vegetables instead of doing the special meal with risotto. I know I would have like the risotto better than the sides that I had with mine. But, the scallops were perfect.

scallops, mashed potatoes, and vegetables

Wes went with the grouper. His sides were white cheddar cheese grits and a crawfish cake. Everything on his plate was delicious. It all has lots of flavor and as I mentioned before, you could tell it was all fresh.

Grouper with cheese grits and crawfish cake

I find that no real dinner is complete without a dessert. And I especially feel this way at restaurants like this with specialty desserts that I can't find just anywhere. So, I politely asked the waitress to hold off on bringing us the dessert menu until I was a little less about to pop. And, we were so glad that we did. The strawberry shortcake was spectacular, mainly because of the tempura battered pound cake. Neither of us were sure about the basil whip cream. It was wonderful consistency, but the flavor just wasn't my favorite. It also came with white balsamic sorbet. I thought the tangy, crisp, and fresh flavor was really interesting. Wes did not.

strawberry shortcake

All in all, this was a great night out at a really delightful restaurant. I told Wes I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. I think a big reason for this is the fact that I didn't order the risotto. Risotto is always my favorite. When I didn't really like the sage in the potatoes, I knew that the risotto would have made all the difference.But what we had still made for a wonderful night out on the town.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday morning, we got up and headed over the mountain to Chez Lulu. Even though we had asked a few people their suggestions for brunch, we just used the handy iphone and asked yelp for some brunch ideas. We narrowed it down to 3 and honestly, I probably picked this one because it seems French-ish. I am currently all about anything French in preparation for our big trip. This quaint restaurant is in Mountain Brook. With cute little tables outside and Christmas lights up inside, it was an adorable spot for brunch.

The bakery next door is also a spot where you can pick up items like croissants, muffins, and pastries and I am sure that all their offerings would be as tasty as the things we had at the restaurant. They start you with a very European breakfast option, bread and olive oil. There was a variety of bread, of course we tried them all, and were quite pleased with this start to our meal.

Bread at breakfast!

For my meal, I decided to go with a crepe. It was a French inspired place, right? With a wide variety to choose from, I decided to go local and chose the Chilton county peach crepe. Light, flavorful, and yummy whip cream on top, made this a great selection.

peach crepe

I also ordered the white cheddar biscuits. This was to share with Wes, but, who can resist trying some cheddar biscuits.  My comparison here would be the asiago cheese bagel at Panera. I love the way the cheese is delicate in the bread and not overpowering. But, you still get such a strong flavor. They also served these with fresh jam which made these biscuits Amazing!!

white cheddar biscuits

Wes has the daily frittata special. I now can't remember what was in it, but the bite I had was delightful. And, I didn't take a picture of his either. Oops.

This is a really cute place for brunch and I can imagine their lunches are just as great. I wish I had stopped in the bakery and picked up a couple of things to go. But, the weekend of food had to stop somewhere.

Depalmas

Since my days as a college student, Depalmas has been one of my favorite spots to eat. So, it just makes sense, that when celebrating a milestone birthday, this would be my dinner choice. And, as always, it didn't disappoint. Here are a few of the things we had this evening, but honestly, I like almost everything on the menu that I have tried, and that is quite a bit!

The atmosphere is really cool. You are surrounded by wine bottles from special occasions with names and dates written on them. Posters, pictures, and art decorate the wall. And, you can see the hustle of the kitchen preparing all the freshly made meals.

To start, we ordered our two favorite appetizers, stuffed mushrooms and the antipasta platter. Half of the mushrooms are stuffed with pesto and half with sausage and cheese. For a few years, we ordered double sausage stuffed mushrooms, but I am glad we added the pesto ones too. Both of these are yummy!! Sometimes I forget to take the picture before we start to eat. Oops!

Stuffed Mushrooms (or half of them)

The antipasta platter is similar to any you will find. It has salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, and maybe asiago cheeses, artichoke hearts, olives, grilled zucchini, onions, and the best balsamic vinaigrette dressing in town. I love to mix and match the flavors on this plate!

Antipasta platter

Now, when it come to the main meal, you can't go wrong with any pizza or calzone. Of course there is the option to get a combination they have on the menu or make your own. But, I am a pasta fan. So, when at Depalmas, pasta is my usual main course. The pasta depalma is one of my favorites, and has been for years. It is a baked pasta with a light cream sauce. It has so much flavor and is very unique. I also really enjoy the Mediterranean pasta that is lighter and has feta, banana peppers, tomatoes, and I add chicken, all tossed with tri colored pasta and olive oil. I also have loved most of the specials I have tried like the chicken florentine lasagna, the lobster ravioli, and the gorgonzola filet. This is actually one of the best steaks I have had before. So, again, it is hard to go wrong!

This night, Wes and I both ordered the radiatore with pesto sauce. If you like pesto, this dish is for you! We add the chicken and sun dried tomatoes which really makes a difference.

radiatore with pesto (half of it)

radiatore with pesto and chicken and sun dried tomatoes

 

 

Happy Birthday week was a great success. We both enjoyed celebrating with friends at all of our favorite spots in Tuscaloosa.

Nick's in the Sticks

In celebration of both Wes and my birthdays, we have a had a week and a half (still more to come) of birthday fun. We started with two of our favorites here in town, FIVE and Innisfree which can be seen in previous posts. But, Saturday night, we went to one of the most hole-in-the-wall restaurants I have ever seen, and certainly one of the best.

Nick's in the Sticks is literally in the sticks. You go through West End and keep going until there is nothing else around. The building, which holds about 30 people, is a plain brick building with one room for dining, a bar, and paying your ticket. It is certainly not glamorous but it is delicious, a great value, and one of the most popular places in Tuscaloosa.  As I mentioned, it is a small space, so it isn't uncommon to have a decent wait especially on the weekends. It is totally worth the wait!

Ok, so you are waiting, why don't you have a drink. Their famous Nickodemus, is a fruit punch looking drink that isn't quite as sweet as it looks. I can't come up with anyone who really knows what is in this drink, but I know that for years, it is one of the most talked about drinks in Tuscaloosa.

Once you are seated, you will have pretty quick service. The menu is short and I can tell you that every time I have been I have ordered the small fillet with baked potato for a whopping $9.99. What a deal right! It is one of the best steaks I have had anywhere. And for the price, you really can't beat it! It also comes with a salad. One of my favorite things at Nick's is the salad dressing. They have a ranch blue cheese mix that is unbelievable. We always ask for some extra to keep for the steak. Oh, and Wes would want me to share that they have some of the best Chicken gizzards, or as far as I know, the only ones. This weekend, both Wes and John were excited to order this appetizer. And, proudly, Amy and I did at least try them. I have nothing to compare them to, but again, Wes says they are some of the best.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. This is truly one of the most beloved locations in Tuscaloosa. Part of the charm is that you have to know about it to find it. While the other is great quality at a great price and a unique experience.