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| - It was our first trip to Mattie's -- but it won't be our last.
I eat at many places where I'm not impressed enough to write a review. But Mattie's? I am compelled.
We arrived at 12:30 in the middle of the lunch hour. As expected, there wasn't a cool seat in the house. But a booth was soon vacated, cleaned, and occupied by yours truly.
Read all these reviews. Every one has a favorite menu item mentioned, so that's a task I need not belabor. I had the BBQ sandwich and my wife, Rita, had a cheeseburger. That gets an unenthusiastic yawn, right?
Wrong! She finished it!
People, my sweetie eats like a bird. When we go out we usually bring home enough in the doggie bag for two or three more meals.
That didn't happen at Mattie's. Instead of a little bird peck peck pecking at her plate, she was a lolcat nom nom nomming. A genuine pleasure to watch.
My BBQ sandwich was piled high and the top bun was leaning precariously. The meat was moist and tasty, but, for some reason, without the smoky flavor. I'm not a fan of the Eastern NC, vinegar-based BBQ sauce, but Mattie has done something to his version and it's delicious. The fries were good, hot and flavorful. If I had to critique, I'd cut them just a bit thicker,
Nom nom nom.
Dessert was apple pie for me and four-layer chocolate cake for Rita. Although the pie was good, there was nothing special about it. Rita finished her cake, too! Wow! Then she scraped the plate with her fork for the last little bits of frosting. That's all the recommendation anyone should need.
During the lunch rush, it's a noisy place with everyone talking at once. That includes the guys behind the counter who kept up a running conversation with customers and friendly wait staff while crankin' out the orders.
One of those guys turned out to be Mattie himself. When things slowed down, he came over to our table and chatted a bit and gave us the story of the diner and how he had it hauled from New Jersey or someplace and spent months and months getting it ready for the grand opening.
Oh yes -- we'll be back.
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