Friday, March 21, 2008

Breaking Out of the Restaurant Rut

We love to go out to eat, no matter what time of day. It's fair to say that most days we have to talk ourselves out of going out. It would be easy to take the path of least resistance and patronize the chain restaurants, but I try to help the local restaurant owner whenever I can.
One of The Bosses and I recently took a noonday diversion to Shreveport's Highland district and ducked into Lila's. We thought we would be getting away. Sadly for us and happily for Lila and her family, it simply wasn't the case. We saw some high-profile people from work there, as well as a couple of local celebrities. So, I guess we were among the last people to be let in on the news that Lila's is a little midtown gem.
As you can see in Mike Roseberry's photo, the place has an old-school charm.

More recently, my wife and I found ourseves in Broadmoor at dinnertime, so we ducked into Rollin' in the Dough. The place was packed, and after eating there I know why. It was fantastic. We saw some people we know and confessed it was our first time there. It looked like somebody slapped them. They literally flinched. Their faces showed complete surprise, kind of like "Are you kidding me?"
The place doesn't have much curb appeal, but obviously its food, reputation and loyal customer base are enough to help it thrive. They were doing a robust take-out business, too.
Both of these new culinary encounters came to pass because I got out of my neighborhood. I recommend it.
I'm glad we have usual complement of chain restaurants, but I get a little embarrassed eating there sometimes. (I admit I ate at Olive Garden this week and it was pretty good.) My mother-in-law loves McAllister's Deli, for instance. She has a friend in from out of town, and that's where they went to lunch. That makes me a litte uncomfortable because I think it shows a lack of imagination. McAlister's, Friday's, Ruby Tuesday, whatever. It's all like McDonald's. You can eat there anywhere.
We need to support places that are unique to home. Can anybody say Herby K?

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your father in law and I got to both Lila's and Rollin' in the Dough
before you. I agree, quite good, both of them. (We also went to
McAllister's a lot, also Jason's.)

Believe it or not, although I grew up in S'port, I had never been
to Herby K's until about three months ago. I ate there with a colleague one noontime. Boy,
what I have missed. We sat across from one another, sharing a long
table seated between two other parties.

Dave and Shannon said...

Oh how I miss Shreveport food... the great rolls in the box lunches at Rollin' in the dough, and the cake balls at Lila's!

Not to mention the shrimp buster... All favorites.

And, every place has sweet tea, or at least decently brewed unsweet tea... ah me!

Darrell said...

If you decide to move back, you can stay with us indefinitely. We'll eat out a lot, I promise!