Green Truck Pub: Waiting till the cows come home

I’m sitting here no more than five days after eating at the Green Truck Pub thinking that I don’t really remember my meal.  All I remember is it seems like I waited for an eternity.

Green Truck doesn’t “do” reservations so Chicken Sandwich Girl arrived at 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening to “hold our place” for a table for eight people. The other seven of us arrived promptly at 8 p.m.

We waited outside with the bugs and the Savannah humidity. It was 9:07 p.m. before we saw the inside of the restaurant.

I know, I know. I’m the asshole who tried to go to a popular restaurant on a Friday night with a few friends and their sweeties. Regardless, 97 total minutes is excessive.

My food was good. I’m not going to rant about it because I’m sitting here questioning why I waited that long for food when there are so many other local restaurants in this town with great food and no wait. I have no immediate answer.

Green Truck is a burger joint with a small menu. But to be fair, there is a lot of flavor crammed into that tiny menu. And the best part is that with their impressive variety of choices, they can make any one of them with chicken sandwich or into a veggie burger. 

The hostess split the eight of us into two tables and many of us ordered the same things because we couldn’t confer choices over the aisle.

Must get: Pimento appetizer

The best part of the meal was this appetizer that Mike ordered. It’s pimento cheese with some pickles and really perfect crostini. I recommend this over everything else I tasted at the Truck.

I ordered an El Jefe burger which is cheddar, black bean and corn salsa, avocado and jalapeños. It was good, I didn’t get my Mexican passport stamped or anything, but it was tasty.

Chicken El Jefe style

Patricia ordered the same thing and when I yelled across the aisle to ask her how she liked it, she nodded with her mouth full that it was good. She might soon be nicknamed Lady Nodsalot, I’m not sure yet. And Chicken Sandwich Girl had the same style burger we did, but with…you guessed it, CHICKEN!!!

Mike had the Rustico which is goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and basil. He neither gushed about it, but he didn’t bring out his Big Baby persona to terrorize our waitress either.

Steve and Dean both ordered Chicken and Apples. It sounds pretty gross to me, but they both liked it.

Angela's Trailer Park Burger

Angela had the Trailer Park Burger which is Green Truck’s pimento cheese and bacon. She said it was good, but she thought it was weird they didn’t ask her how she wanted her burger cooked. I agree.

Allison’s meal takes the cake for being the craziest and for looking the weirdest in these photos. She got The Whole Farm and it is a burger, bacon, cheddar and a fried egg on a bun.

Whole Farm Burger

No one was really too chatty about their meal. I think the wait and the bugs turning us into a meal outside as we waited killed it for us.

If you are going to the Green Truck, my advice is to go around 11 a.m. when they open. I hear there is no wait then.

Or if you’re like me and you don’t like to wait at all, Sol has some great burgers and Sammy Green’s makes amazing sandwiches.

Saigon: Oyster crisis averted

Saigon is the second “Asian” restaurant I am reviewing for this blog and the second “Asian” restaurant to teach me a lesson. The first was Wasabi, teaching me the treachery of bad lighting and my iPhone camera.  So, this time, Chicken Sandwich Girl brought a real camera. And sadly, we still didn’t get awesome photos.

Saigon taught me my second lesson - as someone who is allergic to shellfish, I need to be more responsible with what I order.

Despite all that, my meal (the replacement one) was AWESOME.

My peanut salad

For starters, I ordered the Thai Peanut Salad. And, it is exactly what you think it is. It’s a salad with that yummy Thai peanut dressing.

Mike ordered the duck spring rolls. He loved them. He also loved my peanut dressing from my salad. He asked for a side of it and finished his spring rolls off covered in peanut sauce.

Mike's Appetizer

Erin had the shrimp spring rolls with some Sriracha brought on the side. Erin is my firey ginger friend and she likes her food hot.

Erin's appetizer rolls

I first ordered the Garlic Tofu. And here is where the meal could have gone horribly wrong.  They make this dish with oyster sauce.  The menu description said nothing about oyster sauce but I tasted and took on the role of “that guy.”

Our waitress handled the situation flawlessly. She apologized profusely, made sure I was ok, and suggested several things that I could try sans oyster sauce. 

My entree #2: red curry

I settled on a red curry tofu dish and I can honestly say their red curry is one of the best I’ve ever had. Side note, their house cabernet is really good with said red curry.

Erin and I had a total of four glasses and due to the mishap with the oyster sauce, the wine vanished off our bill.

Mike had the Masaman Curry tofu for his dinner and it was fully of curry and peanuts. He was pleased, he left his Big Baby persona holstered and polished off his food.

Mike's Masaman curry

Chicken Sandwich Girl reverted back to being just Ingela because she could not order a chicken sandwich. She ordered dumplings and when I texted her the next day to confirm if they were chicken, her response was, “I believe they were a meat medley.” Enough said. 

Ingela's meat medley dumplings

Patricia mixed a few apps to make a meal.  She started with the Tom Ka soup which is a coconut ginger soup with veggies. She nodded agreeably when I asked her how it was when her mouth was full. I did the same thing again and asked her how her veggie spring rolls were. Same full mouth, same head nodding.

Patricia's Tom Ka soup

Erin had the Saigon Special Noodles. She chose tofu and added shrimp and broccoli. She also loved it. She asked for her noodles to be Super Thai Hot. They were, her face was too. It was all very hot.

So Saigon, thanks for not killing me with shellfish. Thanks for a great meal, upscale atmosphere and an overall awesome time. I think you can tell a lot about a restaurant by how they handle guests when things go wrong. So, you have my vote for best Thai in town.

Café Florie: Chicken feet over rice

Before your panties get all uncomfortable, I would like to tell you that I don’t think they serve chicken feet over rice at Café Florie, however, it is the name of their Wi-Fi network as detected by my iPhone.

Yup, this just happened

I enjoyed my meal here even more because I know the owner, or at least the person who set up his/her Wi-Fi network, has a sense of humor.

For weeks Chicken Sandwich Girl had been trying to get me to eat at Café Florie. It only took a wing, a prayer and a Groupon to get me here.

Cafe Florie on the outside

Let’s pause for a moment to talk about the exterior of this place. Yes, it looks like a shack. Yes, it has the words “organic” and “soul food” on it. Yes, I was nervous about these two words showing up on the same sign. Yes, the building does not fit with the surrounding neighborhood.

But it’s beautiful and when you walk inside, it’s even more beautiful. I spent some time on the island of Anguilla and walking inside is like stepping into the Caribbean.

Cafe Florie inside

Enter four American tourists with a Groupon for a meal plus a drink for just $5 each. (Normally meals are about $8 - $10 and drinks are about $2). That’s right, four of us ate lunch here for $20. (I wrote that in my best “I saved a ton of money on my car insurance voice.”)

My food was really good. I had the organic roasted vegetable sandwich. I was pleased with the vegetables’ taste, texture and seasoning. And someone actually cuts those French fries by hand. I believe they also make their breads in-house also. Mine was a hearty wheat variety.

My veggie sandwich

Maryann and Allison decided to order the same meal thereby cheating you out of a photo. They each had a really tasty fried chicken sandwich with the same French fry goodness as my sandwich. And the same goes for their roll - made here.

Fried Chicken Sandwich

For this particular meal, Chicken Sandwich Girl got something slightly different. Still chicken, yes, but she ordered the stewed chicken over rice. Notice it is chicken on the bone (I’m not sure if there are feet in there, it is over rice after all) with some seasoned summer squash and one of the best mac and cheese sides I’ve ever had. Her plate won not only in taste, but also in visual presentation.

Chicken Sandwich Girl win!

That little biscuit on the plate caused quite a stir. Maryann said, “It smells like butter.” And it did. And it tasted like real butter too. This place was a win on taste, price, variety, ambiance, everything.

The only thing about Café Florie that stinks, and soon to be "stunk," is the hours. At the time of this review, they were open only for breakfast and lunch and closed on Sundays. According to their Facebook page, on May 29 they are adding dinner to their lineup. Hooray! If you haven’t had a chance to check them out because you have a nine-to-five gig, staring next week you can.

Sammy Green’s: I wish I knew how to quit you!

Chicken Sandwich Girl aka Ingela had been trying to get me to go to Sammy Green’s for weeks. Had I known Sammy Green’s was going to change my life, I would have gone much sooner.

Sammy's exterior

It was a sunny afternoon when I first laid eyes on Sammy Green’s. The date was Friday May 11, 2012. I had been looking for love in all the wrong food places, but May 11 was a day to remember.

(Side note, as of today, May 20, 2012, I have already been back to eat here three more times. That’s right, four of my meals in the last nine days have come from Sammy Green’s.)

Sammy Green’s might be my favorite restaurant since I started this blog. The food always tastes good, there is always ample parking, they serve food during the times that I want food, it is affordable and they have a wide array of choices. It doesn’t get better than this.

The F2 Sandwich

On my first trip, Chicken Sandwich Girl convinced me to get the “F2.” According to their menu, the F2 is Falafel, spinach, lebnah and eggplant mayo. And they serve it on a real New York hoagie roll. Their French fries are also perfectly seasoned and fried. Seriously. It is hard to achieve that balance between hard fry exterior and delicious fry interior, but they managed to do it. And what the heck is lebnah? I don’t care and I don’t think you will either.

Mike had the “Harry Nilsson” which is roasted eggplant, fresh mozzarella, onion jam, lettuce, tomato, basil and mayo. If you remember from earlier posts, Mike hates mayo. So, he got it without the mayo and he loved this sandwich. He also advises that you get it with the couscous side or the mac and cheese side.

Harry Nilsson with fries

In one of my return visits since this first trip, I have tried this sandwich and I think it is my favorite sandwich here. Mike is right, it doesn’t need mayo.

Chicken Sandwich Girl had a chicken sandwich called the “China Town” which is hoisin bbq sauce, pickled cucumber, mayo and sriracha. You have a choice of fried fish or chicken with this sandwich. She also recommends the mac and cheese. Chicken Sandwich Girl truly loves this chicken sandwich.

Ingela's China Town

On a subsequent visit back to Sammy Green’s with Allison, she had the “Valentina” which is fried or grilled chicken, guacamole, tomatillo salsa, lettuce, cilantro and mayo. It was also very, very good.

In addition, Sammy Green’s does delicious brownies for a dollar. You can make any of your $6 sandwiches into a combo with a side and a drink for $2.50 more. They also have 12 dipping sauces for your French fries for $.25 each. In addition, they make their own ginger ale, lemonade and grape soda.  I could keep going, but do us both a favor and go eat here already.

Juarez: You sneaky little diablo

For some reason, I find it really hard to find quality Mexican food in Savannah. I used to love Jalapeños but stopped eating there when I started this blog. And I know there’s that place on MLK downtown but it’s so forgettable, I don’t even remember the name of it.

Enter Juarez. 

It was late on a Friday night and Mike and I went to eat here by ourselves. Why didn’t I bring my full entourage including chicken sandwich girl? Because, I hadn't planned on reviewing this restaurant. I also didn’t plan out my photos or lighting and you can see the harried results.

I thought Mike and I would have a quiet Mexican dinner without him asking the poor server a million questions and without me trying to Instagram my way into your stomachs.

But, truth is, Juarez surprised us last Friday. Our meal was great, our server was great, the meal was cheap, and I was full. We were both a little shocked at how well this all went down.

Queso dip, chips and salsa

For starters, we added some queso dip to our chips and salsa. As you can tell by the photo, it looked amazing. It also tasted like perfection. Not too thick to break your chips into pieces and not too thin to run down your beard. (Or your lady chins)

Mike's Tacos al Pastor

Mike ordered “Tacos al Pastor” which is three pork tacos served with rice and beans. He killed it too. I saw his food long enough to take this photo and then, BLAM, gone. 

 

I ordered the “Black bean burrito, cheese quesadillas and guacamole salad.” And again, BLAM, my food vanished too.

My quesadilla and burrito

My meal cost $6.95, Mike’s was $8.99. We also added two soft drinks and the queso dip, but SCAD students get 10% off so our meal was under $20. And for a Friday night dinner for two, it was pretty great.

Like I said, I was left full and this meal was banging. Juarez took us completely by surprise.

(I need to pay a tiny bit of attention to the amount of mixed reviews out there. After further investigation, there are a ton of positive and negative reviews on places like Yelp.com. This is one you are going to have to judge for yourselves. My experience was highly pleasant, and I hope yours will be also.)

Basil’s: 25% really awesome

The cover of the menu at Basil’s says, “Local Family Owned and Operated Since 2000.” Ok, perfect, so Mike, Allison and I met Ingela Marie Johnson Smith Volvo out on Wilmington Island to check it out.

Proof of menu jargon

As I already mentioned, outside dining in Savannah this time of year is pretty awesome. Sometimes, bugs can be an issue, but Basil’s has you covered with a screened porch for outdoor chowing.

Appetizer going, going, gone...

For starters, we ordered the “Cheese Bread Margherita.” According to the menu, it is olive oil, fresh basil, tomatoes, feta and mozzarella on fresh baked bread.  And according to an online review Ingela read, this is the best appetizer. This appetizer is definitely worth getting. (Word to the wise, if you are ordering pizza for your entrée, you can skip this appetizer because it is essentially just a mini pizza.)

 

Next, Mike and I ordered a Greek and tossed salad respectively. They were both really good.  I chose balsamic vinaigrette and Mike chose feta vinaigrette. Basil’s makes most, if not all, of their dressings in house. By this point everything is still going strong.

Basil's Greek salad

For my entrée, I had the “Pesto Perfection” personal pizza. They make it with a robust pesto sauce and two cheeses that complement the sauce really well, as well as spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes. Bravo, I loved my dinner and Ingela and Mike both agreed I had the best one on the table. (Finally!) By this point, the meal is going really strong.

Pesto Perfection

I hope you’re sitting down, because Ingela ordered, yup, a chicken sandwich. Well, gyro really. “I’m really disappointed they chose to use fried chicken instead of gyro meat,” was her response. I tend to agree with her on this assessment. On a positive note, the sandwich came with Ruffles potato chips and I don’t feel Ruffles get any play anymore so that was nice for them.  Also, they make their own pickles and they are both sweet and salty. But from here, it just kept getting worse.

Chicken sandwich strikes again

Mike ordered the “Big Blue” personal pizza. It consisted of Marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, Canadian bacon, asparagus, red onions, Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheeses. According to him, it was “nothing special.” He neither finished his meal nor wanted the to-go box.

Mike's "nothing special" pizza

Allison ordered the Margherita Pizza that consisted of olive oil, mozzarella, fresh basil, sliced Roma tomatoes and feta. She said it was good, but it looked alarmingly like the appetizer we all just split. Hopefully now you see why I advised you skip the appetizer if you are ordering pizza for dinner.

Allison's pizza aka appetizer

Each of our mini pizzas cost around $10. Overall, I walked away happy because mine was awesome. My dinner companions didn’t feel the same way. If you live in downtown Savannah, the price plus the drive make this place skippable. If you find yourself on Wilmington Island and remember to order exactly what I had, you’re in for a treat.

Sol: Fusing environment and epicurism

Sol is one of those fusion-type restaurants. I never know what these places are fusing exactly, but in this case, Sol puts really good food together with a highly enjoyable dining environment. No matter where you sit in the restaurant, it feels like you are eating outside. And for this time of year in Savannah, that works for me.

For starters, when you go to Sol, you must try their chips with a variety of salsas. This time we tried three: mango habenero, pico de gallo and the tomatillo avocado. All three were killer but my favorite is by far the sweet and spicy combination of the mango habanero.

Sol chips and salsa

Our server was perfect and she recommended we try some sort of vodka and cucumber spritzer type drink special and if I wasn’t already two glasses of wine into my evening, I would have loved some vodka. Everyone else at my table ordered one and they all loved them.

Best veggie burger ever!

For my entree, I ordered the veggie burger with sweet potato fries. This is probably the best veggie burger I have ever had anywhere. They make their veggie burgers from scratch and it comes out a deep red color from the beets that go into it. Also, I was picking up pieces of chickpeas and zucchini that fell out of the burger and on to my plate. To me, if a chef makes a veggie burger with real tangible veggies, well, that’s a pretty darn good thing. Also, look at all that sprouty goodness in the photo.

Mike (aka Big Baby) had the “Sol Burger” and it was also delicious. I tasted a ton of blue cheese and onions and these all complimented the beans and rice he ordered as his side. Word to the wise, the black bean side is spicy!

Sol Burger, pretty damned good

Ingela Marie Johnson Smith Volvo, not wanting to tempt fate, ordered a “Jerked Chicken Sandwich.” We jokingly call her the chicken sandwich taster now, and the title is starting to fit. Her sandwich had a ton of manchengo cheese, mango aioli and a healthy helping of avocado. She also got the beans and the chipotle slaw on the side. Also, a win.

Ingela's chicken sandwich, surprise!

Steve went in a totally different direction and ordered the “Lime Marinated Skirt Steak Salad.” Visually it was the most impressive thing on the table and he very much enjoyed the taste as well. The yellow things in the photo are jicama root. The dressing has a tequila kick to it.

Steve's skirt steak salad

Sol has dessert, but frankly, we were all way too full to even consider it. Sol is a top choice for a great weekend meal out with friends. It also is a favorite haunt for ordering chips and salsa and sitting outside to drink an afternoon away.

Zunzi’s: Stick with the chicken

If you’re reading this, you probably have a very positive opinion about Zunzi’s and normally, so do I. My opinion of Zunzi’s is so high that I even debated not writing this entry because it’s only going to be 50% favorable. But alas, I must be true.

Zunzi's, a local fave

Zunzi’s specialty is the “Conquistador” which means “best chicken sandwich in town” in Spanish or Portuguese or something. I think everyone will agree on this.

Ingela Marie Johnson Smith Volvo is our token chicken sandwich tester and she even agrees. On this most recent trip to Zunzi’s, Mike and I decided we had to try something different.

I got the falafel. And, I was INCREDIBLY full and satisfied and it was cheap and just plain delicious. Onions, tomatoes, pita – all good. There are four large chickpea patties and their yoghurt sauce is great. Overall, this sandwich is killer.

My new favorite falafel

Mike decided to order the salmon sandwich called “The Fisherman’s Deck.” This was a complete fail. He asked them if the sandwich had mayo on it. Since he hates mayo, and the sauce has mayo in it, we were already set up for doom.

Mike gave in and let them put some sauce on it and agreed it “wasn’t too bad.” Side note, Mike hates condiments. Ketchup, mayo, mustard and though more garnish than condiment, he also hates pickles.

Mike's Fisherman's Deck Salmon

But Bravo Zunzi’s you got Mike to eat something with mayo in it. But wait, there’s more…when he bit into his salmon sandwich, the entire bottom of the roll was soaked in mustard. Houston, we have a big problem.

The menu says nothing about the mustard infraction; so, I marched up to the counter and asked for another roll for Mike, heretofore known as Big Baby. He ate his sandwich, swore he could “still taste mustard” and hated it. Sulking the entire time of course.

Big Baby and his two rolls

This is clearly not Zunzi’s fault. Like I said, the Conquistador and falafel are good, but if you are like Big Baby and you don’t like condiments, check with Zunzi’s before ordering a sandwich.

So, what is the lesson here?

Don’t mess with a good thing. Get the Conquistador and go home happy.

Blowin’ Smoke BBQ: Better if you’re hammered

My most recent visit to Blowin’ Smoke was my second visit and I convinced four other people to join me because I swore the BBQ was amazing. The first time I ate here was about three months ago and I was a little drunk when I arrived.

I tried to duplicate this experience not only for me but for my four friends. I didn’t succeed.

And it would have been ok if just my food wasn’t as good as I remember, but everyone had separate complaints and I don’t think anyone finished their food.

To start, the night was beautiful and we had all planned on eating outside. When I arrived, the band was playing so loud that I doubted we would hear each other talk if we ate outside, so we moved the party inside.

The first time I ate here, there was an ambiance of rocker cool. We sat outside, heard good blues, ate BBQ and drank beer. This time, we were inside and there were dressed up toddlers running the place.

I then found out the restaurant was hosting three separate wedding parties that evening.

Despite that, the meal started out well. We had a personable waiter and we ordered some fried pickles and fried mushroom appetizers.

Fried Pickles

For one, I prefer pickle chips to spears, but that’s just me, so for the pickle aficionados out there, they serve spears here. The mushrooms were tasteless but the dipping sauces helped fix that.

BBQ Chicken & Black-eyed pea cake

For my meal, I ordered the BBQ chicken breast and added a black-eyed pea cake to it. Last time, I ordered the same thing and it was one of my best meals in Savannah. This time, it was pretty bad. The chicken was dry and burnt and the BBQ sauce wasn’t good. The black-eyed pea cake was dry and too many onions dominated the coleslaw. In addition, the French fries were soggy. But I kept my mouth shut and waited for input from my dinner companions.

Mike had brisket and fried okra. He said the BBQ sauce on the brisket tasted watery and I tasted his and he was right. His fried okra also was unimpressive.

Mike's BBQ Brisket

Ingela's Chicken Wrap

Ingela had the chicken wrap and had the same soggy French fry issue and the wrap was mediocre.

Allison had the pulled pork sandwich and didn’t like the potato salad at all and she also didn’t finish her sandwich.

Allison's BBQ Pork Sandwich

Patricia our poor vegetarian had the black-eyed pea sandwich and she also didn’t like her coleslaw because of my oniony observation and said her black eyed pea cake was “fine.”

Patricia's Black-eyed Pea Cake Sandwich

Our table was a mixture of Yankees, Southerners and a Midwesterner. We all have different ideas about BBQ and though some BBQ rivalry exists, our geographic notions of BBQ did not affect our response to this meal. Blowin’ Smoke did just blow smoke and nothing else.

So far, the best BBQ I’ve had in Savannah was Wiley’s Championship BBQ on the way to Tybee Island. It’s cheaper, the food is better, and there is no live music competing for your conversation.

Starland Café: One of Savannah's brightest stars

The main problem with the Starland Café is that I always want it. I eat sandwiches at other restaurants and in my head I compare them with sandwiches from the Starland. I do it much like the way you might compare past lovers to the a potential new mate.

But the problem with Starland is that they are only open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Do you know what this means? No dinner.

I'll let that slide because if you show up around 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. and avoid the lunch rush, you will have one of the best food experiences in Savannah all for around $10. Promise.

Right now, the weather is perfect for sitting outside and enjoying lunch while looking on at the Starland Dog Park or the row houses across the street that remind me of a cross between the opening credits of Full House, Key West, and New Orleans. You might even see this neighborhood cat stroll by and welcome you to his 'hood. The cafe is inside the first floor of a restored home. It just adds more flavor to the already perfect menu.

The chair of the welcoming committee

The Starland Cafe menu is basic Panini, soup and salad. If you order a Panini off the "everyday" menu, you get a whole sandwich.

The Gobbler

If you order the special Panini of the day, you can substitute a salad or soup for half of your sandwich. Sandwiches range in price from $8 - $11.

For some reason whenever I go here, I mix myself an Arnold Palmer and it just seems to go perfectly with sitting outside on a bench and eating. I recommend doing the same.

I most recently ordered their daily special which had the word Gobble in it. This made total sense to me because biting into the sandwich was like biting into the best parts of Thanksgiving dinner minus Uncle John's racist rantings or Aunt Betty boozing it up in the bathroom (sorry Mom). The sandwich had cranberry chutney and thick slices of cheese and onions. And now, I'm hungry again.

The Gobbler and Tomato Bisque Heaven

I chose a cup of tomato bisque soup for my side that also had a dollop of goat cheese in the center and I was seeing stars. I think my exact words were, “Let’s order more so we can hoard it and pour it over pasta.” I’m pretty sure I have a food problem.

Mike had the chicken sandwich from the regular menu and it was full of hunks of white meat chicken, peppers, and swiss cheese. He also got a small salad which is a mini version of their kitchen sink salad. It has an amazing homemade vinaigrette dressing, cheese and crunchy noodles. Of course, it was gone in sixty seconds.

Chicken sandwich, salad and Arnold Palmer

Overall the Starland Cafe is that place in Savannah where I feel I have to take out of town guests to show them that we do have good local food culture here. I've never had a bad meal here, and I'm sure you won't either.