Ever Heard of Chicken Fried Steak?

Yesterday on my way home from work I was listening to some talk radio on Sirius XM.  One of the hosts was talking about his recent trip down to Texas (I believe the show is located in the New York area).  I didn't catch it all, but sounded like he must have stayed with a friend somewhere near New Braunfels (which is located just north of San Antonio).

I'll spare you most of the boring details I remember, but there were two things that he said I wanted to point out:

1. He had never had (or heard of) chicken fried steak.  He started making an issue about is it supposed to be chicken or beef...this is some crazy dish from Texas, etc.  The other guys on the show pointed out that he can get this "crazy" dish at several restaurants in their area.
2. Much like John, he had never heard of Twang.  He couldn't actually remember what it was called, but he saw lots of people putting the salt-like substance in their beer while tubing down the Guadalupe River.

Okay, I'll give him not knowing about Twang.  But not knowing about chicken fried steak?  If that is the hidden gem of the South that he made it out to be then people are missing out.  Maybe I should open a place in New York specializing in chicken fried steak, steak sandwiches (The Project style), and putting Twang in the beer.

The Project Lounge

One of my favorite places to hit while in Biloxi is The Project Lounge.  It's a very dark and seedy bar on Iberville drive that is a nice place to finish up a long evening of drinking.  The bar used to have hundreds of caps lining the ceilings, but recently it appears they have redecorated and replaced the caps with hard hats.  The bar is complete with a jukebox and free popcorn.  It's a cash only establishment and they have one of the best steak sandwiches known to man.

Friday night, after drinks at Treasure Bay, we (JT, Lisa, Shey and me) headed over to The Project for dinner and to wrap up the night.  The bartender/owner/waitress came by and took our drink orders and then came back to get our food order.  We all ordered the steak sandwich and she asked each of us how we wanted the meat cooked.  Three of us opted for medium and JT went for the medium rare.  As the waitress walked away she commented that she was surprised that it was a man at the table that knows how to take his meat.  She obviously doesn't know JT very well.  By day he is a 9-volt battery tester, but by night he knows how to work the meat.

Later in the evening Shey decided to switch from beer to water and went to the bar to get one.  As she ordered, one of the shady characters sitting at the bar commented about the bar serving water.  The bartender quickly reached over the bar and slapped the shady character to put him in his place.  You gotta like a place that will get violent with it's patrons.

Lisa had been drinking 7-up and somehow or another I was tasked with getting her and Shey a refill.  When I went to the bar I asked for another 7-up (I believe it was her 3rd or 4th serving) and a water (Shey's 2nd serving).  As the bartender filled the glasses she commented, "...that is one 7-up sucking b!tch!"  I couldn't agree more.