stay in the shallow end

Those of you who actually read my blog posts noticed that I tacked this week’s Monday lunch onto the end of last week’s reviews. After having the Fiesta Bowl at Eppie’s last Monday, I decided I wanted to try their daily specials on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as well. Before I start…

Disclaimer: Dan from Eppie’s is a reader of this blog. Whenever I’m in there, we chat about food and kickball, and we’ve become friendly. That said, I try to be objective, but I figured I’d throw this out there.

With that out of the way…

Tuesday: Turkey Chili: First a picture. This was after I ate about an inch of the chili while walking back to my office.

This is a one quart container filled to about one inch of the top. Also take notice of how large the provided spoon is. I postulate that if you attempt to use that spoon to get to the bottom of that container, you will get chili all over your hand. Of course, I don’t think that my hypothesis can ever be tested because no normal human being can eat this much chili. I made it through about half before putting it in the fridge. This is a theme at Eppie’s which I will address later. The chili was superb. Ground turkey, kidney beans, large chunks of tomatoes and an excellent base all come together for a very robust flavor. I mixed in a generous helping of Cholula, and it tasted like Eppie’s made the chili with that in mind. They complimented each other perfectly. If I could change one thing about the chili, I’d maybe want a few bigger pieces of meat. Despite the fact that there was a lot of meat in there, it didn’t taste meaty. Of course for some people, that might be a good thing. I ended up pulling the leftovers out of the fridge and finishing them off a few hours later.

Wednesday: Chicken Tamales: I appreciate that you’re allowed to choose between one tamale or two. I can’t imagine anyone making it through two tamales and their accompanying sides. Eppie’s tamales come out without a husk. I’m finding it hard to come up with the right words to describe a tamale, but I’ll give it a shot. I really liked the texture: not crumbly and not chewy. The flavoring was a little more subtle than I would have liked, but that was easily rectified with the accompanying salsa and some Cholula. As is always the case with Eppie’s, the chicken was delicious. It was juicy, tender, and worked really well with the tamale. I only wish there was more of it in there. I’d say with 50% more chicken, these would be much better.

Thursday: Turkey Meatloaf: The hunk of meatloaf that came out on my plate was one of the most unappetizing looking things I’ve ever seen. I guess you can’t really control the color of cooked ground turkey, but it was this porous gray block that I found a little disturbing. That feeling lasted until I sat down and took a bite out of it. Mmmmmmm. So good. It did not taste or feel like meatloaf that I was accustomed to, but I just thought about how good it was. Most of the time, I find ground turkey to be really dry, but this was very juicy without being greasy. I think most people would enjoy this dish.

So if I had to rank these three specials from best to worst, I’d say Turkey Chili, Turkey Meatloaf, and Chicken Tamales. Now let’s talk about sides. All of Eppie’s sides are spectacular. All of them. Every single one. The macaroni and cheese is the best in town (although I have not had X-Lounge’s yet). The collard greens are incredibly fresh. There’s nothing fancy about the preparation of the sweet potatoes, but I always enjoy mine. Kate loves their mashed potatoes. Everything is good. And Eppie’s last items, the cornbread and the pumpkin muffin. I’m a big cornbread fan, but something about Eppie’s cornbread doesn’t appeal to me. I feel like it has cake mix in it. I like having a few bites of mine, but I don’t think I could ever make it through a full piece. As for the pumpkin muffin, I’ve only had it once, but I am in love. It’s so sweet and moist, I could have it for desert. Luckily you can sub the muffin for the cornbread, so I’m happy.

There is only one thing that keeps me from going to Eppie’s more than I do: The portions are ridiculously large and the food is so good. I always end up spending a few hours in a food coma after having lunch there, which kills my productivity. I suppose I could just exercise self control, but damn it, I’m an American, and I’d like other people to do what’s best for me.

It is no surprise that Eppie’s is one of my favorite lunch establishments. If you’ve been there before, then you know it’s good. If you haven’t been there, then you should really go. When they first opened, I wasn’t impressed, but since then, they’ve turned themselves into one of the best restaurants on the downtown mall. There’s still a huge sections of their menu that I’m yet to explore (salads, sandwiches, and pasta), so there may be another three days at Eppie’s coming up soon.