Amerigo Italian Restaurant

Jackson, MS
$12-$25 Entrees


Thus far, I have only reviewed single-location restaurants. Today, I must make an exception. I can do this because ... well, it's my blog. However, I will review the first of the four Amerigo Italian Restaurants. The original is located in Jackson, Mississippi (the other three are in Memphis, Brentwood, and Nashville, TN). Jackson is also the location of my alma mater, Millsaps College. While in school, I dated a guy whose favorite restaurant was Amerigo. While our relationship did not last, my relazione sentimentale with Amerigo did.


Amerigo has a relaxing, elegant atmosphere created by dark wood, white tablecloths, and black and white tiled floors echoing the black pants and white shirts attiring the wait staff. A red awning, one of the few splashes of color, adorns the kitchen area. Diners consider their menu options to the sound of jazz piano music, while enjoying asiago focaccia bread accompanied by olive oil with fresh herbs. In short, it is romantic.


One may order from the dinner or lunch menu at lunch time. I started with the Prince Edward Island mussels (L.M. Montgomery fan that I am). Beautifully presented, with a flavor as sweet and delicate as the tiny forks with which they were served, I simply closed my eyes in ecstacy and enjoyed the religious experience, leaving the opalescent shells behind. This was followed by the goat cheese and walnut salad, complete with red onions and roasted red peppers. Divine. I then partook of the pan-roasted veal piccata. The veal was topped with lump crab meat and served over angel hair pasta with a white wine lemon butter sauce accented with fresh mushrooms and capers. Perfect.

Amerigo has the excellent, professional service one would expect from a white tablecloth restaurant with surprisingly reasonable prices. With a full bar, an excellent wine list, a children's menu, and to-die-for desserts, Amerigo has something for everyone. You will enter with high expectations and will leave ... replete.


5 Kudzu

Archibald's Drive Inn

Tuscaloosa, AL
$5-$8 Entrees

Have you ever had ribs so good you wanted to shop-vac the meat off the bones? Well, I hadn't until I tried Archibald's Drive Inn (yes, that is how it is spelled) in Tuscaloosa, AL. I am not sure how they got a health department score of 98. To know what I mean, you'd have to see it. Archibald's is located in a small, low-ceiling building behind the modest Archibald family home. You will know you are getting close if a) you see the smoke rising from the smokehouse or b) your mouth inexplicably starts watering right before the heavenly scent of hickory and pork hits you right between the eyes. If you are driving one direction on MLK Drive, you will not see the sign for Archibald's, which only faces one direction.

The Archibald family has been serving ribs from this tiny, one room shack for almost 50 years. The red paint on the walls is peeling, the floor is, shall we say, unpolished, and five vinyl, black stools line the counter. While you wait for your ribs, you can watch fuzzy baseball games on the tiny TV by the wall, here and there catching glimpses of your ribs cooking in the pit behind a thick metal door near the counter. Or, you can observe the socioeconomically and racially diverse crowd drawn in by Archibald's magnetic force field, including attorneys, politicians, mechanics, retirees, and fraternity boys.

I asked the nice lady behind the counter whether it was true that Archibald's does not use any spices on their ribs. She confirmed this. I then held the squeaky screen door open for a tiny, elderly, African American woman just leaving with her order. She scolded me in a whisper, "You don't need to keep asking all them questions. It's good. I promise." That promise came to fruition when the lady inside defensively but generously handed me a sample rib. I almost fell out. If you're not from Alabama, I'm not going to explain to you what "fell out" means.

The meat was so tender, it almost fell off the bone. The smell of burning hickory wood, which had tantalized me since I had been at least a mile from the restaurant, proved to be all it had portended as the rich flavor hit my taste buds. The thin, vinegar-based sauce was unobtrusive and only served to enhance the succulent meat.

I suggest that you order the large rib plate. This comes with five ribs. If you order the small rib plate, which comes with three, you will only be left wanting more. I wanted more even after the large rib plate ... but you know me (see the subtitle of this blog). At first I thought Archibald's didn't serve side orders, because it was just too complicated. After eating there, I realized that it would be a tragedy for anything other than the ribs to take up even one square inch in a diner's belly. Go to Archibald's on a pretty day, on which you can relax at the picnic tables set up around the two buildings. Be sure to bring cash. Something tells me they aren't hooked up for Visa or MasterCard.

4 Kudzu

Naji's Pita Gourmet

Homewood, AL
$5-$9 Entrees

As I have mentioned in a previous post, my husband's family on his father's side is Lebanese. This interesting heritage does not stop my husband from being a typical American (a.k.a. "unadventurous eater"). Therefore, it is left to me to patronize Naji's Pita Gourmet, a Middle Eastern cafe and market.

Naji's interior displays a joyful phantasmagoria of Lebanese and family-oriented memorabilia, including first communion portraits, hookahs, little dark-haired baby pictures, and mementos from ancestors past. (Hookahs are not bongs, by the way. Think "caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.") As I entered, the owner stood in the foyer, speaking Arabic, a velvety, melodic language. The cafe resembles an indoor hamburger stand, with picnic benches and plastic ware. We are talking casual, folks. The friendly cashier/cook is a mother of five with the multitasking skills to prove it.

Middle Eastern fare is a close cousin of Mediterranean, with shared ingredients, such as feta, lamb, cucumbers, chickpeas, olives, and yogurt. Some of you may be relieved to find that Naji's serves its kibbi cooked, rather than raw to be dipped in hot butter. I was not one of those people, but understand one must adhere to the health code. The hommos is perfect, but the pita a little dry, rather than the chewy consistency I prefer. The baba ghanouge is well made and the tabouli delightful, if short on fresh mint. Naji's meat pies, redolent of garlic and cumin, are made with beef and parsley on pita. Although served with plain yogurt, they are best dipped in tzaziki. The pickle detracts from the otherwise balanced flavors of the gyro, but perhaps they would be willing to hold the pickle? No matter what you order, be prepared to strap on the feed bag. This inexpensive restaurant will ply you with generous portions. When you go, be sure to take time to browse the disorderly market boasting exotic, imported ingredients not to be found anywhere else in Birmingham.

2.5 Kudzu