Mark’s Feed Store
1514 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40205
The last leg of our BBQ tour was a stretch from Nashville to Chicago. We rolled into Louisville a little before lunchtime, and we were looking for something to tide us over before we hit Indiana. We had read good reviews about Mark’s Feed Store, and being unfamiliar with Kentucky, we decided to give it a try. The building that houses the restaurant did indeed formerly house a feed store, and is quite an interesting structure, with exposed rafters and a hand-painted sign on he weathered brick exterior.
Turns out Mark’s is a mini-chain in the Kentucky area. Mark’s slightly glossy and carefully appointed interior (think Fridays, but with BBQ) was a bit of a change of pace for us, and we were a little disappointed when we found out that they did not in fact smoke the meat in house. We decided to give the place a chance however, since we were facing 200 miles of nothing but fast food chains ahead. The confluence of motorcycles parked in the lot, gave us an additional glimmer of hope.
The BBQ was Kentucky style, with a vinegar and tomato based sauce. The main protein in Kentucky BBQ pork, so we both ordered pulled pork sandwiches ($6.99) which came with a side of fries. The pork was tender, but a little dry. Fortunately the table was well stocked with sauce bottles, which we slathered onto our sandwiches (that’s where the roll of paper towels at the table also came in handy). In addition to the basic “red” tomato and vinegar-based BBQ sauce, there was also a spicy variety, and a half-mustard and half-tomato sauce. After Sweatman’s we weren’t impressed by the mustard sauce, but M, being a fan of hot foods enjoyed the spicy variety.
Though in the end, this probably isn’t the most authentic place to get some que, we enjoyed our meal at Mark’s Feed Store. It would probably be a very good place to take guests or people who are not up for some of the more rustic joints we visited along the way. As we took our extra-big gulp of sweet tea on the road we bid our BBQ tour farewell. It was a great ride.
We hope so! We are huge fans of Peruvian food – and are excited it is gaining a foothold across the USA. The New York Times has a piece about Peruvian food’s 
Sweatman’s makes its home in a large wooden cabin, attached to an equally large barbecue smoker. That fact should be a dead giveaway as to how the place operates: for two days each week, ten hours a day, Sweatman’s pumps out huge amounts of perfectly smoked pork – and only pork – drizzled with its famous mustard-based barbecue sauce (central South Carolina’s specialty). As a result, Sweatman’s can be packed during peak hours, with patrons coming from all over the state (much like us) for a generous BBQ helping. The service speeds this along: one dry-erase menu gives the limited options (sandwich or buffet, both pork and both with mustard sauce) to a fast-moving line of customers, whose orders are rung up on an aging cash register. L ordered a pork sandwich, M the buffet. For dessert, a cup of the famous banana pudding – described elsewhere as the “best 63 cents you can spend,” its creamy goodness definitely lived up to the hype.
And so did the barbecue. Generally, when one place receives almost universally positive reviews, as Sweatman’s does, you almost have to be skeptical. Were we being set up for disappointment? We hoped not – and decided to see if Sweatman’s famous pulled pork stood up to reviews. Suffice to say the lines are for a reason. The barbecued pork by itself, both for the buffet and the sandwich, was impressively lean and fresh. It managed to be filling without being heavy, and lean without being dry.
Africa Harambee [Closed]
7537 N Clark St.
There was no seating available at the picnic tables outside, so we set off on the road, eventually stopping to eat at the UT-Chattanooga campus, which was nicely set up on a hill. We found a bench and dug into our platter. The BBQ was a tangy Memphis-style, with a nice kick of spice. t was thicker and richer than other sauces we had tried, and it was so good we ended up sopping every drop up with our bread. However, we were divided on the chopped pork. When they said chopped pork they meant it -everything comes right along with the meat: fat, cartilage and all. While I know that’s what one should expect from chopped pork, I had been spoiled by the lean pulled pork on the rest of the trip, though M did not seem to mind. One thing we regret though – was missing getting a bottle of BBQ sauce to take home with us.
Some of the best known drinks of summer are the colorful Aguas Frescas from Mexico, However, here at ETW when the sun is shining we have a new favorite drink from Venezuela – 
Inside, Zunzi’s is barely bigger than a breadbox, though there is just enough room for the extensive menu to be written above the counter. The menu boasted a variety of South African-inspired favorites like a 
Gullah Grub
The menu consisted of mainly Southern favorites. Fried chicken and BBQ ribs seemed to be popular choices, but the menu boasted some more unusual items as well, including a fried shark-n-shrimp dinner ($17.50). Sharks are not uncommon in these coastal parts, we suppose. Not in the mood for shark, L ordered the BBQ Chicken ($8.50). It came with a side of potato salad and a generous slathering of red, vinegary Carolina -style sauce. Despite the heat, M was feeling the soup, and he asked our waiter if he would recommend either the gumbo or the She Crab Soup. He replied that “Well, they are both good, but the gumbo is healthier.” M therefore, made a beeline for the she-crab soup ($6 for a medium bowl/$9 for a large). True to our waiter’s word, the She Crab soup was creamy, filling and delicious.
[Via 
Hudson’s
Rolling along on our roadtrip, we finally reached our destination – Hilton Head, South Carolina a resort town by the sea. And since Hilton Head is by the sea, there are no shortage of seafood joints of various stripes. Hudson’s is one such seafood joint, and it fits somewhere between a seaside clam shack and a Chili’s, if you can picture such a place. We arrived at Hudson’s with a group of 14 – and before being seated we hung around on the seaside patio, where a man with an acoustic guitar was playing Jimmy Buffet cover songs. Next to the outdoor patio, and flanking an outdoor bar, was a gigantic pile of clamshells (below). So I guess you could say the place was a bit touristy. But as tourists, who are we to complain, especially as we were treated to a lovely sea-side sunset.
The interior of the restaurant continued the nautical theme, as did the menu, which was printed to look like a newspaper. We figured this place, if anywhere, was going to have some good seafood, so we decided to go all out and order nothing that could be found on land (a rule disobeyed by other members of the party – who were treated to some lackluster steaks). Before we ordered, several free baskets of hush puppies were placed on the table, which we quickly devoured. We started off with Seafood Gumbo ($4.25) and a Crab Cake (below, $10.99). Both appetizers were good, with the gumbo being pleasantly richer and spicier than expected. However, for 10.99 we expected the crab-cake to have less veggie filler and more crab. For our mains we ordered Broiled Shrimp ($17.50) and Stuffed Flounder ($20.99). both the shrimp and fish were obviously fresh, and were well cooked, but we found both to be too lightly seasoned. The little plastic cups of condiments were also a bit out of line with the price point.
Of our meal, the gumbo was a standout, as was the house-made Key Lime Pie ($6.50), which was a great way to finish the night. Service was actually very good, and it seemed that they had experienced their share of 10+ crowds before. The food was decent, but we found it all to be a bit overpriced. But in the end, the real reason you come to place like Hudson’s is not the haute cuisine. As they say in real estate, location is key, and that is probably where Hudson’s shines the most. You’re paying a premium for the ocean views and the inimitable mountain of clamshells!
Left woefully without camera, over the weekend we had lunch at one of the type of hole-in-the-wall tasty gems that we at ETW love. Pete’s Hamburgers has been going strong for over 100 years, at roughly the same spot on the main thoroughfare in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Pete’s keeps the menu simple – the only thing you can order is a hamburger (no cheese available) by each burger will only set you back 3 bucks even. The main option present is ordering the burgers ‘with’ or ‘without’ grilled onions.
It was kind of a surreal experience – ordering pizza from a drive-in restaurant on a creaky old phone, as the sun set on an eerily quiet stretch of road. When we arrived at 8, the place was teeming with cars, as you can see above. The restaurant seemed to be doing a brisk business with pizza orders, and it being called ‘pizza palace’ we thought we couldn’t go wrong with some pie. We ordered a medium half-cheese, half-pepperoni pie ($10.85). Despite looking primitive, the old phone system attached to a wooden box worked just fine. Pizza Palace makes Sonic look like something truly out of the space age. But that was all part of the experience. 
Restaurant Magnus
On May 31, I walked up to the door of Restaurant Magnus in Madison, hoping to sample some of my favorites from its South American-inspired menu before the restaurant’s dramatic shift the next day (signaled by the Norwegian flag fluttering over the canopy). It was locked. An employee eating outside quickly walked up to me, saying – with a wide smile – that the restaurant was closed to the evening to prepare for their exciting new menu the next day. But all the dishes I wanted were on the old menu, and when Magnus got rid of them on June 1, both L and I were disappointed and frankly a little angry.
For main dishes, we tended to migrate toward the ever-changing tapas menu, but there were some old favorites that kept bringing us back (and Magnus knew it, because they kept putting them on. The Peruvian bay scallop ceviche ($12) was an interesting take on an old classic, with diced scallops placed in a makeshift bowl of cucumber slices, garnished with minced mixed sweet peppers, avocado, and drizzled with mango-habanero (M’s favorite combo) vinaigrette. It was smaller than similarly priced ceviches but the inventiveness was worth it.
And then there was the Xinxim. Take a Brazilian staple and create the hell out of it, and you get Magnus’ Xinxim. It sounds simple enough on the menu: chorizo verde, blackened chicken, blackened beef all in a bowl, sitting in a special cream sauce of habanero and coconut milk and cashews. But this seemingly simple dish was, unquestionably, my favorite meal of all time. The coconut milk worked to take down the habanero’s heat enough to let its fruity tropical flavor beam through, and combined with the cashews, the effect was deliriously perfect. The chorizo was always spiced to perfection, and the chicken, beef, and shrimp provided a wide set of texture and flavor options that always worked in tandem with what I am sure will remain the best cream sauce I have ever eaten.
Scandinavian restaurants have had a tough time of it in this country, and Wisconsin would seem like a logical place to start one if, well, Scandinavian food had ever succeeded here before.
Inka Heritage does all these things, and does them well. The anticuchos are true to the original dish, using the best pieces of beef heart muscle (some other restaurants keep the anticuchos marinade but substitute white meat chicken for the beef hearts, which is not only inauthentic but culinary highway robbery) with a slightly spicy, tangy marinade that works well with the ají on the side. The ceviche too is solid, with the right citrus juice mixtures we’ve come to expect – though the very high onions to fish ratio, as well as the smaller serving size, makes us wonder why the price is higher than what we found at 
Eating The World 