I'm moving more slowly on my trip write-up than I had intended. I think maybe because there's too much to address in one post. So when I think about writing about the trip, I feel a little overwhelmed. And end up writing about the insanely boring MTV awards or somesuch instead.
So I'm going to try writing about just one thing per post and see if that helps. Today's post will be an ode to Keaton's Barbecue, where we had lunch last Saturday on our way to Asheville.
Georg had read about this place on RoadFood.com. It's located outside Statesville, NC, about halfway between here and Asheville. A bit off the beaten track; in fact we got off the interstate too soon and ended up driving in three counties to find it. (Which makes the detour sound a lot longer than it actually was. We must have been right near the tippy end of a county, allowing us to cross into it and then into the next one in the course of a few miles. I think the three counties were Davie, Iredell and Rowan, but don't quote me on that.)
It's funny how the most amazing food can come from the most unassuming places. Keaton's has been there for fifty years, and looked like they'd had the same sign out front most of that time. Inside it worked like most good barbecue joints I've been to: you walk up to the counter, order your food, sit down and they bring the food out when it's ready.
Roadfood described Keaton's fried chicken as so good, they wept with joy. I wasn't inclined to weep, but it was easily the best fried chicken I've ever had. Stupid good. So good we had a hard time obeying the "Absolutely No Profanity" sign posted in the dining room. According to Roadfood, the secret is they deep fry the chicken, then dip it into a pot of hot barbecue sauce. We each had the 1/4 white meat; I got mild sauce and Georg got hot. He said it wasn't as hot as he had expected from Roadfood's description, but still wonderful. And I can attest that the mild sauce was divine. We also both got the spicy vinegar cole slaw, rather than the sweet mayonnaise cole slaw. Georg also had mac and cheese, but I stopped at one side. The only let-down was the bread: the chicken came with a basic hamburger bun, no biscuits on the menu. But since I'm not eating much bread these days, that was just as well. I also wish we had split a dish of banana pudding, but at the time we felt like that would be too much food for lunch.
The staff were really nice too. The fellow behind the counter asked if we'd ever been there before, because he didn't recognize us. When we mentioned we were from Durham, he gave us a business card with Keaton's web address on it. The place would be hard to stumble onto; I think you'd really have to be looking for it. So I'm not surprised that he would notice when someone came in who wasn't a regular.
We loved the portrait of the founder, B.W. Keaton, they had hanging on the wall. There's another picture of him on the site, but the one in the restaurant had him wearing an apron, with a cigarette in his mouth that had nearly an inch of ash hanging off the end. He looked like he had turned away from the grill just long enough for them to snap the photo. It was a great portrait.
I urge anyone who's traveling on I-40 west of Greensboro to check out Keaton's. Stopping on the way is absolutely going to be one of our Asheville food rituals from now on. Also, I saw on their website that they sell bottles of the sauce. Of course I won't be able to recreate the whole Keaton's experience, but I'm going to have to order a bottle and give it a try.
5 Comments
I want to echo everything said about Keaton's. It's the second great place we discovered thru Roadfood.com (the first being Hoover's Cooking in Austin) -- the site is a must for anyone who's driving any distance and wants to avoid McFastFood.
The lame burger bun that came with the chicken at Keaton's reminded me that a slice of Wonder-quality white bread is a standard 'cue side dish outside of the South, the heart of biscuit/hushpuppy country. Lots of places in TX, OK, AZ that I've been to throw in a couple slices of Lame White Bread, for sauce-mopping natch. In fact, the first great 'cue I ever had, at Flint's in Oakland way back in the late 80s (sadly, they don't seem to have a website but they do still seem to be in business) came with nothing more than a big slice of LWB.
Sounds delicious. I have no idea when I'll ever have a chance to try them, though....
As to noticing that you weren't regulars: Without indulging in stereotypes, I bet that there aren't a lot of regulars in Statesville who have electric green hair, have single tattoos covering their entire backs, or drive irridescent blue art cars. Just a hunch.
yes, but we were driving a rental Chevy Malibu, Sarah's tattoo was covered by the shirt she was wearing and I had a hat on...
I imagine that even a hat doesn't hide your hair, but point taken on the other two. Even with less extravagant hair, I think of you two as both looking quite distinctive, especially together.
Woo hoo! We're distinctive!
Actually Georg's baseball cap does pretty much cover all his hair, in the front at least. But aside from his hair, and the fact that the counter guy probably does know all his customers by sight, our accents would have given us away anyway. I think that after 17 years I've developed a touch of Durham accent, but even if I had a thick one it's not quite the same as the accent out there.
by the way, he couldn't have seen this when he was talking to us, but I must concede that I was wearing a sleeveless top which lets a bit of my tattoo show on either shoulder. I have been told that from a distance, it looks like I'm wearing a green bra and the straps are showing. Which is probably also an unusual look for Statesville, NC.