The Celiathlete

Sometimes, grabbing food on the road can be difficult when you are a vegetarian.  So many restaurants cater to the meat and potatoes crowd.  If you aren’t a carnivore, well, have a salad and, perhaps, some soup…if we’re featuring one without meat in it today.  Those soup of the day can be tricky as a lot of the cream-based one have cream of chicken soup in it anyway.  So…what is a vegetarian to do?

There are some cities in this world that offer up quite the offering for the meat-eaters and the vegetarians alike.  In Nashville, Tennessee, Taco Mamacita is one of those places.

Upon entering, it’s a friendly environment.  The staff is cheerful and helpful.  Drink orders are taken as you settle in, and when they are put on the table, you are asked if you’ve ever been there before.  Since neither my roommate or I had, our waiter was really quick to offer suggestions.  I love hearing what people who work there like to eat.  If it’s good enough for them, well…it’s gotta be good enough for the general public, and foodies like myself.

Of course, I threw the monkey wrench into the circuits with the declaration that, “I’m a vegetarian.”  Have no fear, my veggie-loving friends.  Taco Mamacita has its own vegan menu.  Not even kidding.  An entire menu with vegan selections, all of which made it very difficult to choose one thing to have.  In addition to that, they have gluten-free options as well.  Could this place get any better?

If the chips and salsa were any indication…yes.  Just enough spice to heat up the mouth without being uncomfortable, their salsa was the perfect consistency and the perfect heat.  And…was it ever delicious!

My roommate and I placed our orders.  She decided to start a Travel Channel war, and chose a pork taco, the Carnita, in honor of my chef hero, Anthony Bourdain, and a steak taco, the Royale, in honor of Adam Richman.  Her side?  The cilantro-spinach rice.  She really is branching out these days!

As for me, I ordered off the vegan menu, a delicious order of the vegan enchiladas.  These delicious treats are corn tortillas that were stuffed full of cilantro spinach rice, yellow corn, diced tomatoes, black beans and cilantro.  They were liberally doused in their homemade salsa verde.  They looked amazing when they came out.  They tasted even better.  I enjoyed every last bit…and splurged and got my favorite side with them – sweet potato fries.

Taco Mamacita is doing what more restaurants need to be doing.  They are catering to the average diner, but also have separate menus for vegetarians/vegans and those with a gluten intolerance.  What’s even better…they love it when these special cases come in.  They enthusiastically grab the alternate menu and begin to make suggestions for the new diner.  How awesome!

There are a lot of good restaurants in the Nashville area, but it’s going to be difficult to get me to go anywhere other than Taco Mamacita now.  They serve up delicious food on top of everything else.  It’s a place that needs to be on more people’s maps.  Especially if you are craving a taco…and not those fast-food Taco Bell ones either.  Real tacos.  Real food.  Really damn good.

I came to know about Joe’s Italian thanks to a good friend of mine who suggested it when I was home for the holidays one year.  He and his family went there for dinner with friends as they were passing through and they fell in love with the food.  I know why.  Family recipes, family operated, family oriented, good, old-fashioned authentic Italian food.  This isn’t Olive Garden or those chain Italian places.  No…this is the real deal.  This is the food that Giuseppe and Elvira Bertolone (Joe & Mamma) served when they opened up their first restaurant in California.  It’s a family tradition…and so is their food.

The menu is authentic Italian.  Pastas of every walk and flavor, paninis, soups, sandwiches, and yes…pizza!  And because it’s Italian, plenty of options for a vegetarian.  Always a plus!

Every other time I visited, I have gotten the eggplant parmesan.  But I went for something different this time.  The Spaghetti Aglio, Olio and Peperonicino (which I ordered with mushrooms and broccoli) sounded like spicy Italian goodness.  I opted for the salad, rather than the soup, but my roommate ordered their tomato basil soup with her Tortellini al Pomodoro and I sampled it…delicious!  Their salad, crisp and fresh!

Portions are big so come with a big, hearty Italian appetite.  Savor the flavors, the atmosphere, the way the staff really wants to get to know you.  And when you fill up on their delicious food, find a little more room for one of Mamma’s famous desserts.  Keeping with tradition, we tried the cannoli…and it was different.  Not as good as the one I had back home, but it was good.  The prize however came on Mamma’s Sampler, a plate full of pieces of her homemade cakes.  The Strawberry Cake is her most famous and the most popular for a reason.  It was the most amazing cake I have ever had, and since I’m not big on cakes, that’s saying something.  I even had a second sampling of that one.

Come hungry, leave full.  That’s a good Italian motto.  Even better…it’s a good Italian restaurant run by good people who really want to give you a good time and serve you a little bit of their history through their delicious food.

It doesn’t get any better than that.  And I’ll be hard-pressed to find a better Italian restaurant anywhere where the food and desserts can leave you as full and satisfied as the story and the people who operate, run, and serve you there.

A little bite of Italy with big taste in an unexpected location – Alabaster, Alabama.  It’s worth the trip.

In a world full of Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme’s…it’s a donut eat doughnut world out there.  Everyone having their own claim to fame.  Everyone having their own gimmick.

So, what makes Donut Joe’s, located in Pelham, Alabama, so special?  I knew it had to be something when moments after pulling into the lot, it was filled and people were already streaming in.  It’s a crazy, fast-paced, donut world inside and you gotta be quick to get in on the sugary treats that await.

The best way to sample anything at Donut Joe’s is to make your own dozen.  It’s simple.  You just look through there selection and choose what looks good, sounds good, or just looks interesting.  I even treated myself to an entire order of their yeast donut holes.  Yes…an entire serving.  They melted the instant they hit my tongue.  That’s some good donuts!  My roommate tried one of their cinnamon twists, which I took a sample from and, hit-the-mark delicious.

I’m not the biggest donut eater.  While I love them, they tend to be overly sweet.  While these donuts, yes, do come frosted, glazed, and packed with sugar…they really are good.  In fact, on top of my order of a dozen donut holes, I also found one of the most delicious donuts I have ever had the chance to eat.  The blueberry donut – which was like eating a blueberry muffin…but taken to the next delicious level.  I wish we had more of them waiting downstairs with what remained of the leftovers.

If you are needing a delicious breakfast treat, and just happen to be passing through the Birmingham, Alabama area, take the time to sing by Donut Joe’s.  Treat yourself.  Indulge a little.  You only live once…might as well enjoy every cream-filled, glazed, frosted, cakey, delicious bite.

If you’re going for donuts…do it right.  Eat at Joe’s.  You won’t be disappointed.  Just on a bit of a sugar rush.  But every bite is worth it.  Every sugary bite.

Nothing says “home” like a trip to The Depot, a little diner in between two railroad tracks in Helena, Alabama.  When I go home to visit my family, this is the place to eat.  The locals swear by it.  And there is a reason people come back over and over again.  Good, old-fashioned diner food in a really cool setting.

Is The Depot a vegetarian-friendly place to eat?  No.  I’m pretty certain the grilled cheese is grilled on the same grill as the meat.  But…I’m a big fan of the BLT, no bacon, extra tomato, with the tater tots on the side.  Good, old-fashioned, Southern comfort diner food.  And my roommate, well, she goes there for the onion rings…hand battered, hot, big, and sweet.  They are fabulous.  The best around.  Their food is what you would expect of a “greasy spoon” kind of diner, but it’s what I love.  It’s the food I only wish small places where I lived served.

The atmosphere only lends to the food experience.   The people who work there get to know you…especially if you go there often.  They know your order before you place it.  For example, my brother-in-law LOVES the buffalo chicken tender meal.  It’s spicy.  It makes him cry, but he loves it.  And they know he wants it with extra ranch…because he also uses the dressing for his fries.  This is what I’m talking about.  Small town, big love, awesome food.

So…while very little on the menu could be served to me, a vegetarian…there is always something that can be made and just the onion rings or tater tots alone would be enough of a reason to stop in.  Oh yeah…home town restaurants outside of Birmingham, Alabama.  Good food, good service, good people…and most of all…more good times.

When I come in town…this is always my first stop and it always will be.  Vegetarian friendly or not…it’s my go-to hometown, favorite place to go when I’m with the family.  It’s like being at home…eating awesome comfort food…with good conversation over hot, hot onion rings and tater tots…and a sandwich of choice.

If you find yourself traveling through Birmingham…head to Helena, Alabama…go to The Depot…and taste the reason so many people continue to make this one of their traditions.

Including me.