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Mr. Naked Taco and Homemade Ice Cream

BigBoy — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 02:38:39 +0000

Taco's and Ice Cream make the world a better place

My family has been a big fan of the Mexican ice cream in Albertville for a long time. Any time I’m traveling thru there with friends, I try to make it a point to stop in for some ice cream. We have never been disappointed. When I found out we were getting one in Huntsville we were excited about it to say the least.

I will say, we did go in a couple times for just ice cream when it opened but after seeing the large menu for the food side, we had to give it a try.

Let me say, this is the real deal Mexican restaurant. It’s not a tex-mex or Americanized establishment. We did have some musical entertainment on the night we were there and it was fun listening to him while our food was being prepaird.

They have a salsa bar that you can help yourself to with several different kinds of salsa including a standard and very good salsa along with a hot salsa and some others that I didn’t try but were very different than any others I’ve seen.

For the kids, they do have hot dogs and chicken fingers with fries if they don’t want to try any mexican food off of the kids menu.

Hawaiian Polo Loco

This dish is your classic Polo Loco (chicken over rice with melted cheese) with added pineapple. I was told this was very good and would be selected again when we go back.

The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters are three different chimichangas. One chicken, one beef and one shrimp. The beef was a chopped steak style, where the chicken was a pulled chicken. All three were good but I’d rank them in order of shrimp, chicken then beef. All were covered with cheese sauce and came with 2 sides.

Juan Colorado

So this was on the specials board (pic above) so I’m not sure if it’s something they are going to have all the time or not but my wife got this and said it was amazing. You can see from the board what is on it and it was big enough that she took some home and still didn’t have room for ice cream.

Now on to the good stuff

Mexican Ice-Cream

I tried to get some pictures of the different kinds of ice cream they have. There are your standard flavors like we are used to and then there are some you would have never guessed. Like Avocado, Corn, Gansito (Mexican snack cakes), 3Leches. Many, many popsicles and ice-cream on a stick ready to go. Below are the shots I took but I believe some of the flavors will change when they run out. I will say my favorites are the coconut and the Oreo. I did have a sample of the banana pudding ice-cream and it was wonderful. It was spot on for banana pudding. It didn’t have the Nilla wafers in it but had sugar cookie wafers and it was great. They do offer samples so I’d encourage you to give them a try. Who knows, the Avocado ice-cream may be good. You’ll have to tell me about it and I’ll take your word for it.

Information

Address: 2030 Cecil Ashburn Dr. SE, Huntsville, AL 35802

Phone: (256) 650-3086

Hours: 10 am to 9 pm 7 days a week

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Luigi’s Italian Grill

BigBoy — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 03:43:07 +0000

Welcome to a new Italian restaurant in Madison

I caught a couple of posts about Luigi’s Italian Grill on Nextdoor. I didn’t even know it was there. It’s located far enough off 72 that you won’t see it if you don’t look for it. Our family was excited about giving it a try so we took a weeknight dinner with a friend and headed over there. They are a family-owned business serving very good Italian food in Madison. We went on a Wednesday night and had to wait for about 15 min to be seated. It was a little confusing because the waiting area is to the left of the door when you walk in but it’s behind a short wall so you don’t see anybody sitting there unless you walk around it and take a peak. They are understaffed (like every restaurant around here) so they don’t have a dedicated host or hostess but they work very hard and take care of you just like you’d like. This is a real Italian family as English is not their first language but they are pretty good with it and you won’t have a hard time communicating. It’s was funny as you could hear the cooks ‘talking’ in the back in Italian and it sounded like they were about to throw down but it’s just the loud Italian accent. You could see in the kitchen that they were working hard and having a great time with each other.

The Restaurant is located on the corner of Nance Rd and Hwy 72 on the southeast corner. You’ll need to look off the road to see it in the shopping center with Marco’s pizza.

To start the meal, you’ll get some fresh baked garlic rolls that were very good. We ended up asking for some more with our meal and it didn’t take them long once they got our order to have the meal ready.

Chicken Parmesan

One of my favorites is a good Chicken Parm. This one really hit the spot. I was torn between the Spaghetti works (spaghetti, meat sauce, meatballs, and a whole lot of other things) I went with the parmesan and was not disappointed. The flavors were outstanding. The chicken was a little on the tuff side but not enough to even think about getting something else. The sauce combined with the melted mozzarella cheese on the breaded chicken was very, very good. Most of the time when it comes to spaghetti, I consider it a side but this time the spaghetti could have been a meal in itself. Maybe I should have tried the spaghetti works, oh well, there will be a next time.

Lasagna

My wife got the Lasagna. Yes, it’s in there somewhere. This was a very hearty portion hidden below the melted cheese in the outstanding sauce they make from scratch. Lots of fresh flavors in this. Easy to tell it came hot from the oven and was delicious. Everything you would expect from a homemade lasagna.

Kids Cheese Ravioli

Our daughter had the kids cheese ravioli. It wasn’t listed on the menu and we thought we would have to get a regular meal for her but they created her a kids ravioli for the same price as the other pasta dishes on the kids menu. In her words, very filling, better than Olive Garden’s. Very cheesy inside and on top. Plenty of sauce and stringy cheese on top. She said it’s the best cheese ravioli she has ever had.

Dessert

You know we had to try this. The Limoncello cake was very good. Not as big of a piece as I was hoping for but after that big meal I don’t think I could have done much more. The Cannoli was spot on also. The filling inside the pastry was something to save room for when you go.

About the Menu

There is a very wide assortment of dishes on the menu. From Chicken to seafood and a lot in between. Several choices made it hard to pick from but makes me look forward to going back. I’ll be able to go several times and not have the same thing twice.

About the Owners

This is a hard-working family. They are doing it all and doing well. Very nice and apologetic about taking so long but it really wasn’t longer than any other place around here. This place will be a hit if they keep doing what they are doing. Once the word gets out, it’s going to be busy.

Information

Address: 7559 US-72 Ste 112 Madison, AL 35758

Phone: (256) 715-1173

Hours:

Closed Monday

Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 9pm

Sunday 11am – 6pm

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LJz Backyard Bayou

BigBoy — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 23:08:18 +0000

So we’ve been hearing a lot of our friends talk about this great cajun place in Harvest. When I looked up the address I thought, I’m about to get lost. I know this area pretty good and there isn’t a restaurant around that location. Little did I know what we were about to find.

We arrived about 10 min before it opened for lunch on a Saturday with 3 others already sitting in the parking lot waiting for them to open their doors. That’s always a good sign. If you want to visit them, they are only open on Friday, Saturday (11 to 7) and Sunday (11 to 5). What a great family running this place. They were very nice and glad to see us there. I felt like we were at home especially since the restaurant was someone’s home at one time. Get there early as there are only about 10 to 12 tables there but they were pushing out to go orders just as fast as people were coming in to eat.

Main Course

For dinner, my wife and I both got the ‘Shrimplicious’ platter for $15.95. As you can see here it was a generous portion of shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn, a boiled egg, and a house special boudin ball. Wow what a great meal. I hadn’t eaten that day and it hit the spot. The homemade sauce they served with it was perfect with the shrimp. As with any boil, the seasoning was really soaked up in the potatoes and corn. The shrimp were perfect, and when you start on the sausage and veggies, get ready for your nose to start running. Nothing you can’t handle but the seasoning was spot on. Perfect cajun food.

Kids Meal

For the kid’s meal, she went with the fried shrimp for $5.95 and it hit the spot for her. She had a choice of cocktail sauce or ketchup and she went with the ketchup but when she tried my sauce, that’s all she wanted. Those ketchup packets never got used. Nice breading on the shrimp and they were all gone. I may have to try the fried shrimp next.

Jambalaya

Mr. Big G had an entre of Jambalaya for $16.95. He said it was very good. Apparently, they had a special and he got the seafood jambalaya instead of the regular jambalaya. He said it was full of crab meat and hit the spot. There were enough spices in it to get his nose running pretty well. He’s not usually somebody that eats a lot of spicy food so take that for what it’s worth. had it with a cream sauce and I was a little hesitant about it. Amazing! once I started r

Dessert

We were all done and ready to go when someone ordered an ‘ooey-gooey’ it was described as a Oreo brownie heated up and trust me, those two downed it with a quickness. It never had a chance. I asked about bread pudding and of course they had it. I couldn’t go there and not try it. First time I’ve ever had it with a cream sauce and I was a little hesitant about it. It was Amazing! Once I started rolling the pieces of pudding in the sauce, it didn’t last long. What a great way to end a fabulous meal. Sorry I didn’t get a picture, those went pretty fast.

Our Thoughts

We liked everything from the super nice family that owns this restaurant to the food to the service. It was all good. Be aware that all the drinks are cans or bottles but they don’t try and take all your money from that. Cans were $1 so by the time you get a 2nd or a 3rd, it’s about the same price as a restaurant with a fountain drink. The music was a little loud for me so I guess I’m getting old. It wasn’t unbearable but it was to the point where it was a little hard to hear the others when having a conversation. If you want to watch the game, there are two big TV’s hanging on the walls so you wont miss anything. Go visit them, you won’t be sorry. It’s going to be a regular place for us.

Information

Location: 3155 Old Railroad Bed Rd Harvest, AL 35749

Phone number: (256) 489-0759

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LJBackyardBayou

Hours: Fri-Sat 11-8 Sunday 11-5

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The Juicy Seafood

BigBoy — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 23:16:20 +0000

The Juicy Seafood Restaurant opened in Huntsville a couple of weeks ago. we had an opprotunity to visit them and see what it was all about. I had never heard of this establishment before but since eating there, I’ve seen them all over the place. It’s good to see them in Huntsville. They are located at the old Chili’s Restaurant on University Drive. This is not the seafood place that originally bought the building as that deal fell through. After eating there, I’m happy with the Juicy Seafood taking over they building. One thing I liked about them, is you get the crab crackers, a zipper to pry them open with and some disposable gloves so when your done, you are clean.

How about some Onion Rings

For an appetizer, if onion rings are available, we are going to try them. So we did. I got this pic a couple of rings in and they were very good. Hand breaded and cooked to a crispy golden color. We enjoyed these very much.

The Main Attraction

We decided to try a combo on the menu, You can make your own or do one of the menu choices that are pretty popular. This one has Crab Legs, Shrimp, Sausage, Corn, Potatoes and eggs.

It was very good. They have several choices of seasonings and we went with the cajun. I’d defently do this again.

The only thing I didn’t care about was the crab legs were very had to get out of the shell. I’ve always heard that it’s the way they are cooked but I can’t confirm that.

When we go back, and we will, I’ll get the shrimp and sausage combo. Our daughter ended up eating most of my sausage and I know why, they were very tasty. The shrimp were my favorite and we got a bunch of them in this combo. Mom and child shared one and I had one that the little crumb snatcher got some from too.

I like the remodel to the building as it’s clean and has that seafood theme now. Plenty of TV’s hanging around if you want to watch a game. They also kept the Chili’s bar with plenty of TV’s for your viewing.

Check out their menu here. The Juicy Seafood

Star this baby up

Rated 8.5 out of 10

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Ro’s Grille

BigBoy — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 04:39:56 +0000

So we had some good friends of ours tell us about Ro’s Grille in Athens. I had driven by there several times and remembered it years ago as a BBQ restaurant of a different name. I had no idea what Ro’s offered or what to expect. Our friends told us how good it was and how much they liked it. So one day we had some business in Athens and made it over there for lunch. Boy were we pleasantly surprised. They told us how good the steaks are and the homemade hush puppies. They had me at hush puppies.

Entering into the building you come into the lobby with the somewhat small dining area to the left. It wasn’t very busy when we arrived but soon filled up with some people waiting. They seemed to do quite a bit of to-go orders also.

Bearded Stuffed Pups

I knew going in that we were going to get some of those Hush Puppies so looking across the menu, I see these. Bearded Stuffed Pups. They are the homemade hush puppies stuffed with cheese and bacon. Could it get any better than that? No Really? You bet we got an order of them. Now there were a lot more in the basket when they came out but I was eager to give them a try and didn’t want to wait for a picture. So I took one about 4 or 5 puppies into the basket. These were very good. And I’d get them again. The hush puppy itself was great and the cheese and bacon put it over the edge.

Chicken Tenders Kids Meal

My daughter decided it was a chicken tender day and that’s what she went with. These were hand breaded all white meat chicken tenders that she couldn’t finish so I got to try one out too. Very good. Cooked perfectly with a very good seasoned breading. I would consider getting those myself it it wasn’t for all the other good looking choices on the menu.

Beef Tips

My wife got the beef tips. They came with two of the hush puppies and a side. She really liked the beef tips. Cooked to a medium just like she requested. These were very lean as she is a filet kind of girl and likes the lean steaks. These were approved by her and were a favorite with the first bite. This review was during COVID and here was a $1.00 up charge for red meat . I’m sure that is a temporary thing and they will be back to the regular pricing as soon as possible.

The Jack Jack Burger

Let me tell you right now, this thing is a BEAST! I was looking at all the good things on the menu and I was having a hard time deciding. I asked our waiter what he recommended and he suggested the Jack Jack if I wanted a burger. WOW was this big. Melted cheese and thick cut bacon with the onion straws really set this off. The Thick cut back was just that. It was as thick as any bacon I’ve ever had with a great flavor. The burger was so big, I had to cut it in half just to get started. I managed to put half of it in me after the bearded pups and huge amount of onion straws. Let’s talk about those onion straws. They too were homemade and just what you want in an onion straw. Some of my favorite in this area.

Our Final Thoughts

We loved it. I’m looking for a chance to get back there and try some of the other menu items out. I love the home town businesses that take pride in what they do. Even if it was lunch, I felt like they put a lot of heart and work into their products. I can’t find anything bad to say about Ro’s Grille. The staff was very friendly even when the dining area filled up. Our waiter still had time to answer our questions and give suggestions. When you go, and you better give it a try, don’t wait for the peak times as the small dining room is sure to fill up quickly. I’d recommend sometime that you are in the Athens area or looking for something new, give Ro’s Grille a try. You won’t regret it. https://www.rosgrille.com/

Star this baby up

Rated 9 out of 10

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Little Libby’s Catfish

BigBoy — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 03:43:49 +0000

Little Libby’s Catfish is a nice family owned restaurant in Madison located at 234 Lime Quarry Rd, Madison, AL 35758. Menu has a wide selection of items. You can see the sign on the north side of I-565 just east of the Wall Triana exit. Tonight was a very busy night and yet the service was spot on with an average wait time for dinner.

For Dinner, they bring you a basket of hush puppies while you are waiting for your food. Lunch you usually get a desert of the day with your meal. Those have always been good and seems like a bonus when you are done with lunch.

Tonight we had a group of 5 of us so we got to see a variety of different menu items.

Fried Catfish Filet

I had the fried catfish filet with fries and slaw. This has to be one of the best places for catfish around. It is always cooked perfectly and that’s why it’s one of their specialties.

The seasoning in the breading on the filet is worth it. I haven’t had the whole filet but it looks as if it has the same breading and I’m sure it’s good. I don’t like digging thru the bones so I go with the filet. I’ve never gotten a bone from the filets.

Hamburger Steak

Another favorite of ours is the Hamburger steak. You have an option of grilled onions and/or gravy. This one was no gravy and would have been my choice too. Instead of fries, the potato wedges are a good substitute.

Grilled Chicken Dinner

Looking for something a little healthier, the grilled chicken dinner looked good. Mr. Big G said it was very good and he would get it again. Regular fries for him along with a salad. This looked really good and I’ll have to give this a try next time.

Hot Dog Kids meal

We can’t forget the kids meals. My Daughter got the Hot Dog which normally comes with chips or fries but she’s a fan of fried okra so she substituted it (not pictured). It’s your normal frozen okra but was good. She got the bread from another guest that didn’t want it. I couldn’t get the picture until after she hit it with the ketchup but you can still see it somewhere on the bun. Way too much ketchup for me but that’s the way she likes it. Mustard was on it’s way but I was a little too fast for that.

Summary

Libby’s is one of these places that you can go, sit down and have a good meal. It’s nothing fancy so come as you are or as you want to be. Get it to go or sit with them and enjoy the TV’s while you eat or just spend time talking with your friends or servers.

Breakfast is good with a variety of different breakfast items. Check out the Lunch/Dinner menu below and a map of the location at the bottom.

Star this baby up

Rated 8 out of 10

Little Diner

BigBoy — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 21:32:17 +0000

My First Review

I felt it fitting for my first review to be one of my all time favorite places to eat in Huntsville for lunch. The Little Diner is one of the hidden gems. I’ve been going there since the late 80’s and originally it was just what the name says, Little Diner. Several years ago, they expanded to take over the suite next door and now they have a pretty large dining area. No more waiting around for someone to leave so you can get one of the 6 or 8 tables. The room next door (attached) is pretty big and will hold quite a few customers.

Happy Burger

I believe this is one of if not the best burger places here. Whenever I have someone ask what’s for lunch, my first responses is have you ever been Little Diner? If they say no, I then ask if they are hungry and if they like good burgers. If you have never been there, you have to try the Happy Burger. Don’t look at the pictures, don’t look at the menu, just sit down, tell them you’ve never been there before and they will suggest the Happy Burger. It’s nothing that will hurt you but you need to be hungry when you get it. I have people that still order it every time the visit but like I said, you better be hungry.

If you’re not up to a burger or if you have friends going that don’t want a burger, they have plate lunches that change daily that are a favorite for many. They are your basic meat and three type dishes. They are good but nothing that will make you plan your day around lunch.

Patty Melt

They have an assortment of various items from single burgers to my favorite, the patty melt. Texas toast with a single patty, grilled onions and cheese. The patty melt is the same burger as the Happy Burger but only one patty. This is my “go-to” burger when I go there.

It appears their facebook page is updated to let you know the status and any specials. Check it out here Little Diner Facebook Page

Star this baby up

Rated 9 out of 10

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