600380 Sun Mar 01 22:34:44 -0800 2009 13 61 Austin 0 4464727 With Birmingham [and Family Reunion Cafe] a good 800 miles from Austin we have to content ourselves with the Soul Food that's given us,not the soul food we dream of weekly. With that in mind I wheel down 12th street towards Galloway Sandwich Shop and the delicious country cooking of the esteemed Galloway clan.Husband,wife and mother all team up to put out some seriously righteous comfort food. There's parking right in front on the street which is a decided rarity with the popular White Swan and barbershop nearby. The instant I park I'm descended upon by a group of young bucks all of whom proffering a variety of goods and services. "What you need mayne?" "Well I guess I could use a pocketful of goofballs to get me through the afternoon". "What the Hell's goofballs?" "Never mind.I'm going inside for a big plate of chow.Talk to y'all later" Walking inside the cafe always makes me happy.I know I'm going to be well fed,treated good and the view out the big plate glass windows couldn't be better: The busy barbershop across the street...the tumult of folks at the quick mart...the busy foot traffic of the sidewalk right outside the front door...it's as prime people watching territory as you're likely to find in Austin,think of it as a slightly more urban Phil's Icehouse on Burnet or perhaps the patio of Shady Grove. I queue up at the steam line and notice a big,new wet/dry erase board delineating the specials of each day of the week.Smart move.In honor of Lent there is now Fried Catfish on Friday which I note for next weeks visit. Today's special is Roast Beef and Gravy,Black eye peas,Scalloped Potatoes,Greens,Corn Bread and a couple other offerings I ignore because I can't remember the last time I had a really good plate of Roast Beef. At some point during my years of patronage I graduated to getting my food brought from the kitchen instead of being served off the steam line.I wear this degree with roughly the same honor as a freshly minted M.B.A from Yale.It just feels good to be served from the home skillet in the kitchen. The Roast Beef is a meaty luxury,tender and smothered in rich brown gravy nicely balanced with salt and pepper.The Scalloped Potatoes are creamy with yellow cheese and cow's milk,the Black eyes sweetness suggests a bit of sugar in the recipe which I temper with Louisiana Hot Sauce and black pepper.The cornbread,always dry,comes to life once it's dunked in my requisite side of gravy. Entertainment,far better than 95% of bands that pollute the restaurants around town,is provided by the steady stream of neighborhood folks coming in to dine.One odd fellow staggers in "Does anybody know where I am?" Mr Galloway"Yes sir you are in Austin Texas" "Oh,I'm from East Texas.Y'all got a hog maw you can sell me for a dollar?I'm broke and hungry." Mr Galloway takes out a sheet of paper and writes down directions to a local soup kitchen which the man gratefully takes and spins out the door. Finishing up I make my way to the counter. "Did you get enough" "No I'm leaving here hungry again.I swear I'm going to have to quit coming to this place,I never can get fed here" "Now,now we'll heap some more on your plate.We don't want anybody leaving out of here hungry" We pass the time for a few minutes.Business has been good.The Chronicle's review didn't bump up the coffers too much but that's ok,the good people of the 12th and Chicon neighborhood know where to come to get to get a plate of homecooking so we'll have the Galloways around whether the cognoscenti dine here or not. I take my leave and straddle my bike,just as I start the motor the young gentleman with whom I'd chatted before my meal comes dashing up with a huge smile"I got them goofballs mayne". Where have you been eating your soul food of late? From the past: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/392558 http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/420043 Sun Mar 01 22:34:44 -0800 2009 16897 scrumptiouschef 1 4464961 LOL @ goofballs. Haven't heard that in years. Mon Mar 02 04:49:45 -0800 2009 4464727 104183 bloody hammer 1 4465155 This post started my day off right! Mon Mar 02 06:30:31 -0800 2009 4464727 14268 Rene 1 4474375 scrumptious -- Your writing is getting better and better! Time to accumulate some of your best posts and reviews into a blog -- I'd bookmark that. Wed Mar 04 17:32:39 -0800 2009 4464727 10855 nosh 2 4477015 I second this! Thu Mar 05 13:11:36 -0800 2009 4474375 271263 Monsignor 1 4483055 Thank you, what a great post! Sat Mar 07 15:28:40 -0800 2009 4464727 81120 foodiegal71 2 4500237 Took me a few days to get this one finished: With the end times close at hand [Charlie Daniels band performing with the Austin Symphony Orchestra tonight] I had to think long and hard where my final meal should be.Recent visits to Tacos El Rico,Galloway Sandwich Shop and Tam Deli meant I was going to need to branch out a bit. Time to visit the Queen. I've done my fair share of evangelizing over Queen Lola since wandering into her little storefront a few years ago."Honey I sure would love to feed you but we're still trying to get everything working before we open the doors". Multiple visits over the next couple years had my friends sick of me telling them they've got to go visit the nice Black lady from Louisiana who's set up shop in the Rosewood projects. Times changed and my repeat visits dwindled to stopping in a few times a year for some conversation and reliably good Soul Food cooked and served at a pace that could be best be described as glacial. If you don't have plenty time to eat, Lola's is not going to be a good spot to dine.Perpetually understaffed and genuinely caring about the quality of her cuisine contribute to New Orleans style lunches that can stretch out all afternoon.Saturday,unfortunately is about the only day that I can have a bon vivant style 2 and a half hour meal. So with all this in mind I head on over to Lola's.Rolling through the Rosewood Projects the streets are buzzing.Brisk trade is popping in the open air drug market of the food store diagonally across the street,a phalanx of hookers are making their way up Poquito street,their steps are light in the fresh spring air.Five-oh rolls by without a care in the world... I'm the only eater in Lola's handsomely appointed dining room.The walls and ceilings scream New Orleans with all the beads,purple paint and masks festooning every visible square inch. "What did you do to earn all these beads Lola?"I tease. "Honey you know I don't raise my hood for beads". We share a laugh at the thought of the very religious Lola down on 6th street hustling for beads in a tank top and some hiked up high waters. I order Fried Pork Chops,Red Beans and Rice and French Fries and set back to soak in the scene with a Texas Monthly.Lockhart's Christian radio station is set at a frightful volume with lots of foot stomping and hand clapping as the good singers exhort everyone to get back on the path to righteousness. I love the ebony Betty Boop on the counter and note all the fine African wood carvings for sale on a nearby shelf.Mid wait a scruffy young girl comes in with a wiry haired crumbcrusher in tow and hits the Queen up for some cash.Lola pulls out her purse and dutifully hands over a few bucks. At the 45 minute mark here comes Lola trotting out of the kitchen with a giant plate of steaming hot food. The pork chop is lightly breaded in a highly seasoned[salt,garlic,black pepper] flour with a little more dust sprinkled on top for good measure.I recognize the flavor of Accent from all the church socials I attended as a child.It is delicious.The red beans and rice have unfortunately made acquaintance with liquid smoke at some point which I find to be disgusting.The french fries are a nod to the power of a properly cooked potato.Hand cut and twice fried,they are absolutely perfect.As close as you'll get to RailRoad Barbecues local benchmark.The corn bread is from yellow meal,baked in a sheet pan and lightly sweet which is not my preference. It still eats fine. Lola is a newly minted married woman[lovely photos on the counter of the beaming bride]and I ask her how married life is treating her?"Oh it's fine honey,not that much different".We don't broach the subject of her grooms' current residency behind bars. Lola has big plans for the future.She's secured a new space a few blocks north to move her restaurant into as soon as she raises the money for the relocation.Next time you've got a hankering for some good home cooking head on over to Rosewood and set a spell.You'll eat some good Louisiana soul food and put Lola a little closer to realizing her dream. Thu Mar 12 21:31:42 -0700 2009 4483055 16897 scrumptiouschef 3 4507728 Try her burger some time. She griddled the onions and the huge pickle slices on it. It's a two-hander and the bun is just about ready to disintegrate by the last few bites. I do wish she'd put some of the homeless she feeds to work helping her bus and wait tables tho. Sun Mar 15 17:20:49 -0700 2009 4500237 166436 chascates 4 4508390 chascates, I love Lola's burger. I loved it even more when she had dollar fifty burger Tuesdays. However as an ardent hater of Miracle Whip[what is that stuff made from?]I always have to bring my own mayonnaise.When I can plan far enough ahead to do so I think it's one of the best in town.Burger and fries at the Queen's is now Five dollars even. Sun Mar 15 23:09:41 -0700 2009 4507728 16897 scrumptiouschef 5 4684266 Part of the allure of Galloway to me is the nature of the neighborhood where it sits.The dusty old Austin that I love has basically been wiped clean,buffed, polished and readied for sale to whomever shows up with a pocketful of cash. Not so at 12th and Chicon. Yet. I know a Walgreens is going to be popping up adjacent to Stephen Galloway's soul food joint in the next year or two so in the meantime I like keeping my head up and swapping banter with the rough'uns around where the Nation of Islam[soon to be a Mighty Fine/5 Guys franchise!] used to hold court. I love taking foreign nationals to Galloway.Their image of USA is so skewed from media that they just don't know how to react when we navigate past all the hustler,hookers and street toughs that like to hang out streetside out front. "Ever seen the Wire?"I ask my friend from Turkey as we roll down sunny Poquito street. "Yes and you're making me nervous.Isn't that the gangster show?" The parking lot and sidewalk out front are mysteriously empty.I reckon the swine flu scare has all the ballers on the run or holed up waiting on the tumult to subside before they hit the streets. We gaze for a moment at the steam line as Mr Galloway opens all the lids so we can see the bounty of deliciousness that's rolled out of his mom's kitchen not 15 feet away. Our plates are identical:3 pieces of fried chicken[two wings and a thigh]boiled cabbage and mashers with brown gravy.A cornbread muffin completes the picture. Galloways is in my top 5 for fried chicken in the US[Green Acres Cafe Bham,Burger Boy London Ky,Prince's Nashville and the late lamented Chez Helene NOLA,round out the lineup]...and today he's spot on.This is black iron chicken,nicely salted then fried in clear oil to a perfect turn.The mashers are dense and starchy with the good brown gravy providing a nice sop.The cabbage has been simmered in pork stock til spoon tender.Cabbage is good for you but I eat it anyway. We make our way streetside as a young lady clicks up in high heels wearing a Cedric Benson Longhorns jersey as a dress.She's looking for a date but since the Turks' about to start hammering code and I have a prior engagement we kindly thank her for her very generous offer and make our way to the parking lot. What have y'all enjoyed at Galloway lately? Thu May 14 13:41:17 -0700 2009 4508390 16897 scrumptiouschef 6 4695175 went to galloways on friday, as i hadnt been there in almost a month. i could feel the hunger for being needled by passersby if i had any change/wanted drugs/would put my blank in their blank for x dollars as much as i thirsted for stewed beef and catfish. thanks to the new whiteboard, you dont even have any questions about whats on the menu! just point and click like an old adventure video game! i got some collared greens, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese, and like everything else there, it was off the chain! the place was pretty quiet, perhaps because the galloways have had to raise their prices to nine bucks (which is what i always gave em anyways) to deal with the local economy. i eat my meal in loving silence, read a newspaper, then bounce as old man galloway asks me as always "did you get enough?" yeah dude, i think you know the answer to that as well as i do. im always so full that i can barely even choke out sentences without running out of breath. id probably make more sense if i was drunk. one thing that was weird though about this time: the streets were empty! i pointed this out to mr galloway, who just laughed when i asked him if the knuckleheads on the block were still slingin krill out the back and side. i did see a bunch of people posted up a few streets down, though. guess the cops can only do so much! i swear to god though, if galloways ever goes out of business, im going to hunt down and kill will wynn, lee leffingwell, brewster mccracken, and john kelso and make the white man pay for getting rid of the finest restaurant on the east side (perhaps in the whole of austin?) Mon May 18 14:55:33 -0700 2009 4684266 242786 glorpisgod 1 4722685 oh wow...another Birmingham native (exile?). Love your mention of Green Acres, though I would give a slight edge to Niki's myself. I tried to hit Lola's last weekend, but it was already closed. What are the hours there, and Galloway's too? so having read this, I am sufficiently reinspired to hit either Galloway's or Lola's, so it comes down to: who has the best sweet tea? Real sweet. You know what I'm talking about. Thu May 28 13:05:55 -0700 2009 4464727 286526 NWLarry 2 4812476 When po-po swept through the 12th and Chicon neighborhood last week their timing was a little off. It's the end of the month so a lot of the miscreants that would've been holding are dead broke waiting for that guv'ment check before they can cop again. It's quiet rolling up on Galloway,Austin's soul food mecca for the past decade.I feel a little lonely parking in the nearby red dirt lot with nary a baller nor hustler to debate the finer points of the underground economy with. I reckon they're all down in the Travis County Hilton eating baloney sandwiches and drinking Kool-Ade wishing they'd set on a different path-a path that would allow them access to the Galloway's fine southern cooking instead of being penned up playing cards without even the most base comforts such as access to the remote control to the teevee. Good clean living being the order of my day I make my way inside and make a bee line for the steam line.Todays' offerings are a handsome spaghetti casserole weighed down under a thick mantle of bright yellow cheese,smothered chicken,cabbage,mashers,green beans and creamed corn. It's a tough decision but I can't resist anything Galloway smothers as his gravy is fit for a king.His wife laughs at me when I mention they should put the stuff on draft and offer pints and pitchers of this country nectar.I sit down near the front door and look out on a forlorn sidewalk.The usual assortment of neighborhood characters strolling about are gone.Downtown trying to figure out how to make bail I inwardly reckon. The chicken is plastic spoon tender,the gravy a fine rich sauce.My sides are cabbage which I spike up with Louisiana Hot Sauce and potatoes which I take to be mashers but are actually whippers.Pureed to a pudding like consistency.The cornbread that comes with is good once submerged in a monkey dish of gravy and rode into mush. Be aware that Galloway,like a lot of other restaurants in town has risen his prices.My meal ran me $7.87 which is still a very good value given the trencherman portion and friendly service. Sun Jun 28 06:48:49 -0700 2009 4722685 16897 scrumptiouschef 1 4844023 I don't know what took me so long, but I went to Galloway's today for lunch and had some real food worth eatin'! Now they sure know how to cook, I can tell you that. I had the smothered porkchops, greens, and creamed corn, and it was all to die for! I just wish I lived or worked closer so it would be easier to get there. Oh, and I asked him about the name "Sandwich Shop" and he said that when it started out the name fit, and they just never got around to changing it; I always wondered about that. Thu Jul 09 13:44:49 -0700 2009 4464727 223330 danny_w