Saturday, November 19, 2011

Road Food along the Way

To visit family and friends, we drive back and forth to various cities from time to time.  These trips are focused and we usually make the trip in one day.  While we don’t like driving on them, we do use the expressways, super slabs, freeways, tollroads, etc., just a convenient means of getting to these destinations in a reasonable period of time. 

Consequently, one critical piece of information that we accumulate for these trips are the midpoints or exits where one can find a decent place to stop for gas and for something satisfying to eat.

So, we were on our way to St. Louis and we decided to check out the amenities at the exit off of I-24 in Kuttawa Kentucky.  Laurie spotted this restaurant, The Oasis Southwest Grill.  It wasn’t part of a national chain and it was new to us…so it was the perfect place to try!


The ambience inside the restaurant was warm and friendly…very casual with lots of wood and brick to make guests feel comfortable. 


As we'd skipped breakfast, we both ordered dinner.  They started us out with 2 nice warm rolls with honey butter…and then, when these were gone, the waiter offered us a couple more just to tide us over.


Laurie had the ½ rack of Applewood Smoked Pork Ribs. ($14.99) Entrees come with 2 sides.  The fries were good, the potato salad was even better and she really liked the ribs.  This was worth noting because we’ve had a lot of good…and not so good…pork ribs in our travels. 


I went with the Country Fried Steak. ($11.99) The meat was thicker than most country fried steaks and it was very nice.  The potatoes were OK and the cole slaw was very good.  I’d order this meal again!

So a few days later, on our way back to East Tennessee…can you guess where we stopped for lunch?  Right you are!

We both ordered the same thing on our second visit…the Oasis Hot Brown Sandwich. (This was a bargain at $6.99!) This traditional Kentucky favorite consists of sliced turkey and ham served over Texas toast, then smothered with southern cream gravy, bacon, tomato and cheeses.  This is real comfort food!

I’ve started posting our restaurant reviews/experiences on Trip Advisor.  The Oasis was my 11th review.  I would recommend Trip Advisor or a similar site for trip planning… Although you sometimes have to dig a little beyond the initial reviews, perhaps pulling up a website or looking at other reviews, these travel websites provide a great starting point for trip planning.
There are 3 Oasis Southwest Grills in operation with another scheduled for opening soon.  The current locations are all Kentucky…Franklin, Madisonville and Kuttawa…with another restaurant scheduled to open in Owensboro Kentucky.  The Kuttawa restaurant is just off of I-24 at exit 40.  The address is 42 Days Inn Drive.  Phone: 270-388-0777.  Website: http://www.theoasissouthwestgrill.com/.
Just click on any photo to enlarge it…
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

2 comments:

  1. That's three good looking meals Dave. I'll give Trip Advisor a try.

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  2. Dear Dave, I never heard of a fried steak. It sounds good. The Oasis Hot Brown Sandwich sounds like real comfort food indeed. I am so glad that you and Laurie enjoyed your visits. Blessings, Catherine

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