For almost three years, my commute was a simple one. I’d hop on Oak Street (just around the corner) and drive down River Road all the way to Hickory Avenue. It was an easy-breezy, beautiful drive that only took 10-15 minutes, seeing as I was going against traffic both to and from work. Every day on my way home, I would pass the brightly-painted Rivershack Tavern and everyday I thought to myself “I really need to stop and eat there sometime.” Did I? Not till very recently…
What the hell took me so long? Well, I’m not quite sure. I don’t really have an excuse other than I just never got around to it. Better late than never?
John and I decided to go on a Thursday night about a month ago and, much to our surprise, The Rivershack just happens to have phenomenal specials on Thursday nights and we gladly took advantage. We sat in the corner, placed our order, and watched all of these families and friends greet and gather together in a place that seemed like their home away from home.
We started out with a big basket of Fried Pickles, sliced dills that had been dredged in a cornmeal batter and deep fried into crispy, tart discs of heaven. We dipped them freely into ranch dressing, blue cheese and ketchup…mmm.
Before we could make a big dent in the pickles, our entrees came out. John got the steak special which was a grilled, 8 ounce “Bourbon-Whiskey” steak served with both fries and a side salad, while I got the Seafood Platter. Both dishes were only $10.75 each! Talk about a bargain! Not to mention the quality (and quantity!) of each dish.
John’s steak was juicy and flavorful, though a little over-done. He asked for medium rare and got a bit more than medium. His salad was like a big wedge with fresh, plump tomato and thickly-sliced cucumber. My seafood platter had a huge catfish fillet, lots of shrimp, oysters, a big hunk of andouille sausage and a pile of French fries.
Everything was quite good and we both had leftovers to take home. Now I need to go back and try Chef Mike Baskind’s other specials like Crawfish & Corn Soup or Tuna Steak au Poivre. This time I won’t wait so long…
