Eating Out

My wife and I went on a much needed re-supply run to Market Basket down to Rochester, NH yesterday. There was nothing unusual about it other than it had been 4 weeks since we hit a grocery store. Our usual food shopping rhythm is two weeks, sometimes three. Needless to say we were out of not just the basics, but many of the miscellaneous support foodstuffs that help keep our diet from being too boring.

Neither my wife nor I are "shoppers" like the folks who knock down Walmart greeters on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. We shop because we have to. We don't hate it. We just see it as another needed chore that is best done quickly and then forgotten until the next time we need to refill our larder with the common foods found in American homes where folks still cook meals on occasion.

 Our normal grocery shopping routine is to hit Market Basket after 5:00 PM on a weekday. The place is not so jammed up with antsy, obnoxious customers who think they are the only customers in the store. But before we shop, we always hit a fast food place so we don't carry our hunger in with us to the grocery store.

Yesterday, we switched gears and went to a sit down restaurant with a waitstaff and porcelain plates. It was the 110 Grill, one of those chain satellite restaurants that locate near bigger chain anchor stores like Walmart, Target, and the New Hampshire Liquor stores,...... You get my point.

Over the years I have had mixed feelings about eateries of any kind. I ran into so many bad food experiences when I was driving trucks over the road, I came to rely on chain restaurants of one kind or another. The food was more likely to be consistent no matter where I was. For a long time the only meal I bought at McDonalds usually consisted of  2 fish sandwiches, small fries, and a coffee. I lived on them and sometimes the fare of various truck stops I had learned to trust.

So I was wary when we walked into the 110 Grill. I walked out a happy and content man. The menu was basic with not too many choices. The food was very tasty and the service was excellent. Best of all, the cost was reasonable.

I had a sausage burger with their sauce on it and their version of onion rings on the side. Both were unique and tasty. I also had their signature beer. Forget the name, but it was also very good. My wife had a cheeseburger and fries. She came away very pleased. Portions were decent and in the case of my sandwich, it was not the usual fare. I really liked it.

All in all, I would recommend the 110 Grill to anyone traveling in New England or upstate New York along the Mohawk Trail. And if you have allergies or that concerns you, 110 Grill is supposedly one of the Top 10 allergy aware restaurants out there. The waitress made a point of asking us twice if we had any allergies they should be aware of.

Next time I plan to pony up for a steak, .......... medium rare.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ......................................

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Tough one to pick appropriate music for. I did find one song that kinda, sorta, fits. Please enjoy "Johnston's Grocery Store", by Lost and Fund, a traditional bluegrass band. Never heard of them, but I should have. They are a damn good.