So Good My Ass!

Thelma's Chicken and Waffles is Fucking gross!  I have never been served such crap by such a shitty staff in my life.  Now don't get me wrong, I love soul food, I gave them 3, count em', THREE strikes and they are out.  After my third experience where on an early friday night we were dealing with horribly spent fry oil and I was served fried green tomatoes (literally).  They dropped tomato slices in a deep fryer and served them to me.  I felt like I should have left a recipe for them on the table.  GROSS.  Horribly displeased with the service or lack there of all three visits.  The only redeeming factor of this place is they typically get the waffle right.  But I will never go back, not even to see a band.  Roanoke needs a good soul food spot, Thelma's is not it.  Surely to be another failure in that supreme location on Market.

Hope Re-kindled

In the abyss of devastatingly horrible restaurants that I have come to know as Roanoke, I find a beacon of light, a skill not forgotten, a challenge overcome, and one of the best efforts put forth in my presence by a kitchen in Roanoke lately. Blue 5 on Second Street Downtown definitely didn't pull out all the stops for our meal there this past Thursday. They didn't have to, we ordered an appetizer and sandwiches; not exactly, or maybe just exactly, giving it the college try.  The food was on point. They offered us a little Pre-App as our waitress called it.  Nothing fancy, just four little corn muffins with melted butter, but already I was smiling, I'm a sucker for freebies.  Freebies can be the life or death of a restaurant, but a little cornmeal and butter isn't going to break the bank.  It made me feel as if our patronage was appreciated, even if we were just getting sandwiches.
We started our meal with the fried green tomatoes.  Served with a slightly spiced shrimp remoulade with endive and parmesan, and they were perfect.  I then had a crab-cake sandwich with asparagus and part of my guest's chicken sandwich.  While there was a rather large chunk of shell in my crab-cake, it was delicious and so it was easily overlooked.  The asparagus was cooked perfectly and the chicken sandwich was huge and tasty.  All of this accompanied with a couple of Arrogant Bastard Ales and I was in bliss. Throughout the meal there was also an extremely attentive porter whom I have to guess had a greater purpose there, like a kitchen manager or chef. He observed the room allowing no empty dishes to accumulate. I liked that. In times like these where money doesn't flow as free as it used to, it is the little things that stand out and people remember.  A clean, welcoming restaurant with an invested and attentive  staff will win over the repeat customers every time.
This experience was the perfect start to an amazing evening that included the Blue Man Group at the Roanoke Civic Center, and Welcome to Hoonah at the Cornerstone.  We will definitely be coming back.  It has been too far between my visits to Roanoke restaurants that I find a kitchen that does what is expected of it, and cranks out a fabulous meal.  Good to see a crew good at there job.  Blue 5 is also a great venue to check out Blues bands and craft beers.  I believe I even walked into a Salsa night there once.  While I am disappointed that it took me so long to finally check out this place, I am certainly happy that it is on my list of stops now.  I am highly recommending this joint for any occasion, big or small. You won't be disappointed.
http://www.blue5restaurant.com/

In the Beginning

In the Beginning
there was light to see by, followed by sound to hear by,
then we were given flesh to move, so we danced
Now we sit unmoving while our spirits go trampled.
Evil is the man that would crush another man's faith.
My faith is in the freedoms I was born with, given, or granted.
No man should have the power to limit another's freedom
Give me something and take it away, that is the power of the One.
Now imitators believe in the extension of their corporate firewall across the Nation.
Stop the flow of information, slow the spread of globalization, Limit Knowledge and Learning.
Control.
My country wouldn't do that. Would yours?
Stand up and be Counted. Tell your  Legislators to vote against SOPA and PIPA