I-95 Travel Food (Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q, Southern Image Buffet & Eatery, Smokin' Pig, and Huddle House)

Over the past several months, I've done some traveling. Much of that travel consisted of driving along I-95 up the east coast. I figured I'd write a post about some of the restaurant highlights.

Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q in Kingsland, GA:

I ended up here when I decided I wanted to sample Brunswick Stew in Brunswick, GA. After getting off the interstate and driving through Brunswick along with consulting the internet, I came to the conclusion that you can't actually get Brunswick Stew in Brunswick. Willie Jewell's in Kingsland, GA was a barbecue restaurant serving Brunswick Stew that I didn't find too long afterwards. This restaurant was located a little ways off I-95. Willie Jewell's is a small chain with a few locations what looks like Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina according to their website.

I ordered the Bo-Hawg sandwich. This was BBQ pork, topped with cheddar cheese and a smoked sausage link. It was served on a hamburger bun. Cheese is unusual on a pulled pork sandwich and I've never had sausage on a barbecue sandwich like this. Willie Jewell's did served mustard based barbecue sauce, which I am a big fan of. Since Brunswick stew was the food item that caused me to seek out a barbecue restaurant, that's what I had for my side.

I liked Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q. The pork/sausage/cheese combination on a sandwich along with mustard sauce made them a bit unique when so many restaurants serving barbecue have an almost identical menu...




Southern Image Buffet & Eatery in Richmond Hill, GA:

Southern Image was a buffet just of I-95. As implied by the name, they specialized in southern foods. Imagine Golden Corral, only with foods on the buffet that the typical Golden Corral diner wouldn't dare eat.

I sampled some of the meats served on the buffet along with a couple sides on my first plate. Fried chicken, fried fish, and baked chicken were all tasty. I didn't leave enough room in my stomach for the fun stuff like the liver. Should have gone for that first...

Plate two consisted of lots of side items. Beans, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and onion straws were all tasty.

Dessert:

Smokin' Pig in Richmond Hill, GA:

I ended up at Smokin' Pig on a return trip to Florida along I-95. This restaurant is located almost across the street from Southern Image Buffet in a building connected to a gas station. I tried a pulled pork sandwich with a side of Brunswick stew. The sandwich wasn't nearly as exciting as the one at Willie Jewell's, with only pork and sauce on a bun. Still, it fulfilled the purpose of being a pulled pork sandwich!




Huddle House in Santee, SC:

I had never eaten at a Huddle House. I've past by these restaurants in my travels and always assumed these were Waffle House knock-offs. This was pretty much confirmed after trying a Huddle House in Santee, SC. I had a Western Omelet with toast and hash browns. The omelet was filled with ham, green peppers, and tomatoes. Even with the fillings, it was pretty bland. I added some hot sauce for extra flavor. The hash browns were nice and crispy and the toast was toast. Being that this was South Carolina, smoking was allowed in the restaurant. It wasn't exactly pleasant having a woman who looked like she was about to die of lung cancer come in right after us, sit a few tables away, and chain smoke the entire duration of the meal...

Maid-Rite Diner in Wilson, NC

Time for another road trip meal along I-95. It was time to have dinner and I found myself getting off an exit in Wilson, NC. I bypassed all of the normal big chains that I'd heard of here and decided on a restaurant in a strip mall called Maid-Rite Diner.

Apparently Maid-Rite is a chain with locations mostly in the midwest. I apparently came across the one and only location in North Carolina.

I tried their turkey sandwich, served on a ciabatta bun with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I was surprised to see actual turkey on the sandwich rather than standard deli meat. This was a good and bad thing at the same time. It showed that Maid-Rite was using better meat than other places that serve processed deli meat, but the turkey on this sandwich was served cold. There's something about turkey like this that rubs me the wrong way if it's chilled. If it seems like real meat, I want it warm. Beside this fact, the sandwich was good enough. Fries and a drink were also included with the meal. The sandwich from Maid-Rite was better than a sandwich from the surrounding fast food places, but wasn't outstanding enough to seek out again on a future road trip.

La Fuente in Brunswick, GA

In order to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I'm pulling an unpublished meal from a Mexican Restaurant out of the Watch Me Eat archives:

During a trip along I-95 a few years ago, I stopped in Brunswick, GA for a late dinner. A Mexican restaurant called La Fuente was very crowded, so it appeared that this was potentially a good choice. The building appeared to be a former Applebees.

The meal started out with tortilla chips and salsa. The salsa was nice and smooth with a nice amount of spice.

For the meal, I ordered an enchilada dinner. It came with four enchiladas, two with green sauce, and two with red sauce. I had two filled with cheese, one with beans, and one with chicken. The cheese was a bit too chewy once it started to coagulate. The refried beans were better, and the chicken stuffed enchilada was the best out of the meal. Lettuce, tomato, and sour cream were included on the side.

I enjoyed my food, but not everyone I ate at La Fuente with was happy. A shrimp dish was ordered and although I didn't try any, it was reported that the shrimp were so rubbery that they were almost inedible.

On my last drive through Georgia on I-95, I stopped for gas in Brunswick and noticed that La Fuente was closed. Were they closed for the day, or are they out of business? I'm not sure...

Mariachis Mexican Restaurant in Manning, SC

After a day of driving north along I-95 from Florida, everyone started getting hungry. Rather than stopping at the normal travel restaurants like Waffle House, Cracker Barrel, Denny's, or some sort of fast food, we decided to try a Mexican restaurant called Mariachis that was advertised on a billboard.

It was located right off of the exit in Manning, SC and was really busy. The hostess' question of "Smoking or non?" caught me off guard at first since it's been so long since I've heard that in most places I eat. After sitting, tortilla chips and salsa were served.

After reading over the large menu, I changed my mind at the last minute and ordered the Enchiladas Supreme. It came with four enchiladas, each one stuffed with something different. There was refried beans, beef, cheese, and chicken. I liked my enchiladas and sitting in the restaurant was a nice break from driving in the car all day!

Ralph's Barbecue...

Continuing yesterday's trip up I-95, today I ate lunch at Ralph's Barbecue in Weldon, North Carolina. It was a buffet, filled with mostly older people, giving the place somewhat of a retirement home look. The food was tasty enough though and had some unique items on the buffet. Some hush puppies were placed on the table to start...

From the buffet, I started out by trying a plate of pulled pork with a vinegar based barbecue sauce, cabbage, black-eyed-peas, salad, and a roll. The pulled pork was the best thing on this plate...

I tried a second plate of cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, beans, and a bit more pork...

I ate a plate of banana pudding, a slice of a beet, and some pickled watermelon rinds for dessert. I have never heard of pickled watermelon rinds before, but they are a very interesting food. They are sweet, but also have a tart vinegar taste. They are translucent and look like jello, but are much more solid. They were very interesting. They tasted good too...