Favorites

Here are some of our favorite lunch joints. The first ten are listed in the order they finished in the US Today Lunch Bowl Championship Series voting in 2010. For the full rankings of the top 25 see the US Today announcement: 







No. 1 Lunch spot in the Gump!
By the time my plate is piled with mac & cheese and fried okra,
the theory behind the vegetable plate is shot. No cellphones in line please!




The vegetables are really from the Farmer's Market and it really doubles as a bakery. The owner is not really Irish nor a capuchin monkey.  The food is always outstanding. No. 2 in the Gump according to the Lunch Bowl Championship Series.


White tablecoths, real cutlery and fine dinning. Michael's Table menu offers everything from Mezze (hummus, cheese, tzatzki, tomatoes and relishes) to Tuna Nicoise. Not your average "meat and three" fare eh? Number 3 place for lunch in the Gump per 2010 readers poll and county health ratings.

Lek's Railroad Thai


Trains and Thai Food.  Yum. The Red Curry Chicken is always good with a spring roll or Bama Crunch Roll from the sushi bar.  Well run and reasonably priced.  Big favorite with the Maxwell CC crowd.

In 8th place for 2010 is the quaint little hole in the wall near Tomatinos. Known more for its breads and gelato, the place serves a mean Pannini and chicken salad sandwich. Made the top ten despite no reviews from the LITG gang.  A true non-BCS qualifier.



In 9th place is the home of the fiesty chile poblano! Here you can have enchilitos and burladas served at a very reasonable price.  A favorite of the LITG gang.




Rounding out the top 10 lunch spots in the Gump for 2010 is another little place next to Cafe Louisa in Old Gumperdale.  Pizza is their specialty and quirkiness is their style.

Now for the rest of the story:  Here are our other favorites in alphabetical order:




Baumhower's at the RSA
The new menu features a big Louisiana influence and some great bayou dishes. We like Louisiana because "let's have a look at those ta-tas" can be an acceptable greeting down there sometimes.


The Chophouse at Vintage Year


Chef Ben Skelly's steaks and seafood are always delicious and the atmosphere in the bar is special. A favorite of local Gumpers.
Full gastrointestinal function restored by 12:48 PM. A new record.

Word to the wise – unless there is some particular reason you need your cholesterol to be higher, don’t have lunch at CookMa’s right before your annual physical.


Tojo ask Nice Owner Lady if bare feet and kimono okay. She say sure, why not? Tojo real happy now. Tojo feel like Tojo belong.

Many family-owned joints moved east, following the money, or so they thought. Most of these smarties got picked off by the franchises, the chains, the themed-out, high-concept “casual dining” establishments with absentee owners, absentee flavor, absentee service and
absentee senses of community. Corsino’s? Hell, no.
I know it may appear to be a chain, but I hear it has local ownership and involvement by the original family from Tuscaloosa. It sure does not feel like a chain. Chain or not, I am glad it is open on Mondays and is close to my work-release location.

Gov. Riley peered into the bag. “Well, well, well,” he said.
“Looks like we got us some illegal gamblin’ chicken here.” Pulleybones are the bomb.


Las camareras eran muy cortas, pero agradable y eficiente. En medio de la comida una chica bonita de latina entró y se sentó junto a nosotros. Muy fácil en los ojos, déjenme decirles. Bagre gustaba mucho. El babeaba todo su camisa. Ai, ai, ai.

Binion asked for some lemon for his tea and although he didn't get any
real lemons, he did get a shitload of ReaLemon. Burgers are particularly good.

Tojo google Thailand. Surprised to find out Yul Brynner not king anymore. Find out hoochie-coochie trade 10% of tourism revenue. Tojo think, hmmm. Try the curry medium first.


By placing the bottom bun atop the patty during the cooking process, he captures valuable grease that would otherwise escape onto the Hamburger King ceiling or through the takeout window, thereby hastening global warming.

As sort of a poor joke on the obese, there is a LITE menu which features only one huge fried chicken breast along with two sides and three cornbread muffins with unlimited margarine.  Go early in the week.

 
The resulting prize was approximately the size of a nerf football.

... looking out of the window I could almost see and smell Joe's Deli (pastrami burger) and the Cloverdale Pharmacy (fresh donuts) right across East Fairview.
 
 
A hoity-toity, mamby-pamby restaurant reviewer might note sarcastically that nothing says ambiance like the lack of ventilation, boosted cafeteria trays from other eateries and misspelled, handwritten signage. Not so fast, my friend. The place oozes grease and confidence like their patrons. They even give away raw onions and peppers to those who don't care how they smell from either end.

 
Our waitress was pleasant, got the food out real quick and kept those tea glasses full. You wouldn't take her home to mama, but she probably wouldn't take you home to hers either.

Never get up from the table to take a call--especially if Tojo is within
surprise striking distance of your shrimp and pasta.
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