Back in the Day

I was eating my leftovers for lunch, and I had a memory that I attempted to chase down, which, as it turns out, I had a little mixed up.

For starters, lunch today was a Cheeseburger Salad.  We had the same thing last night.  What it is, is a salad, made with lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeno, bell pepper, shredded cheese, and chopped dill pickles. 

For dressing, I like Catalina, given its slight ketchup-y overtones, but ranch, honey mustard, blue cheese would all be equally good.  Vinaigrette, too - I suppose. Anyway, then you grill your burger patties.  Each person gets a bowl of salad and a patty (or two, depending...).  Then you can top it with crispy things.  Like chopped bacon, fried onion bits, potato sticks.  In a pinch, you could use chips.  If you want to get high-class with it, you could cook up some frozen french fries or tots for that bad boy.

It isn't the prettiest salad in the world, but after eating you feel sort of righteous for having had a salad for dinner.

So, anyway, I was eating my leftover salad/patty combo and started thinking about this place in college where we ordered salads quite often.  Grilled chicken salads that were mostly lettuce, cheese, chicken and some dressing. I seem to remember using blue cheese, but you do you.  Anyway, I recalled the name of the place being Rooster's so I did a little Google search.  I quickly realized that the salad was named Rooster.  The grilled chicken salad I ate in the 90s is still being served - the Rooster Salad.  But the restaurant is called Loco's Pub - and yes, they're still in business.

Now, there were other very specific places in Athens that I loved.

Guthrie's - think Zaxby's, but local.  In fact, both Zaxby's and Raising Cane's modeled themselves off Guthrie's.   They had a sandwich, or a plate.  The biggest difference is with the sandwich, they put the chicken fingers between two slices of garlic texas toast - with the plate, one piece of bread.  Their sauce, we were told, would clean a penny - and that's true - it was mostly ketchup.  Both plate and sandwich were served with crinkle fries and slaw.  Good slaw.   It was pretty well established that you should limit your Guthrie's intake, as their takeout earned a nickname - the Gut Box. 

De Palma's - This is where you go for fancy times.  It's a nice place, cloth napkins, wine, and pasta.  I always liked the Pasta De Palma - sub out the mushrooms for extra spinach.  That was my graduation meal.  

Gumby's - OK, so Gumby's is more specifically a college town thing.  And it's no longer in that many college towns.  What it was/is was the cheapest pizza in town.  And it was delicious.  Not everyone liked or would eat Gumby's, but it worked for me.  They had cheesy bread which they called Pokey Stix, and those were equally good-tasting and bad for you.

I actually loved my Freshman dining hall - Oglethorpe House. James Oglethorpe founded Georgia.  Go, J.O.!  The best part was the wall of cereal - I ate a lot of Golden Grahams.

The Bulldog Room - at the student center, there was a little cafe that did breakfast and lunch.  Breakfast, for me at least, was a sandwich made of two slices of buttered white toast with a scoop of scrambled eggs, two pieces of bacon, and a piece of American cheese - put some Tabasco on there, that's good eating.  Lunch was a premade tuna salad sandwich in a little plastic and cellophane triangle packet, some cheetos, and a cookie the size of my face.  Maybe a diet Coke.

If I was on the run, there was a guy who ran a hot dog cart, just outside of the P-J Plaza.  P-J for Psychology and Journalism - they were twin buildings with a theatre style lecture hall in the center.  I could grab a dog and get to class.  I don't remember doing that often.  I do remember a friend buying me my first (and only) tofu dog there.  That was a while back.

I don't miss college, for the most part.  I do kind of miss Gumby's, because these days, pizza costs an arm and a leg.  

Oh, no!  Mr. Bill!