Papas place

 PAPAS PLACE is now open again for lunch!!!  Now that my husband is back at work I rely on him for some of the blog updates since he and his friends at work LOVE to eat.  They hit all of the BEST lunch spots.  Some people may think papas is just an italian place but they have excllent steaks.  Our favorite dinner is the "Black and Blue" it has been one of thier daily specials for years.  It is a blackened fillet minon ontop of a bed of crabmeat/spinach mixture and covered with a rich delicous blue cheese sauce.  This dish comes with their signature delicous roasted vegetables and either a baked potato or their angel hair pasta alfredo (I recomend the pasta).  Try their daily lunch specials since this is a lunch blog...My husband raves of the blackened fillet steak tips over a bed of angel hair alfredo.  They have some great italian dishes too!  They have renovated so come in and see the new place but remember.....you must bring your own wine, or cooler full of Beer if you are our friend from Ohio.  This restaurant does not have a liquor liscence so join the long tradition of bringing your own.

KRAVERS SEAFOOD:

Located on the quiet back roads of Daphne (corner hwy 181&64) is this family owned and operated establishment.  From the looks of the pictures inside the casual restaruant the family loves fishing and University of Alabama football.  Fortunately for us University of Florida Football fans their food was good enough to overlook all the pics of family with Nick Saban and players.  Definitely a family place, tons of kids with their parents after a football game and many dressed in their favorite college football atire (HEY this is SEC territory......wer'e the best!!!) They have a nice mix of fried, steamed, and grilled seafood.  We of course went with the fried.  My 7 year old devoured an entire order of fried crab claws while my husband and I played it safe with the fried shrimp platters which come mild or spicy.  The food has a little cajun flair and we were very impressed.  The shrimp were fresh, flavorfull, delicious, and huge we almost could not finish the large shrimp platters next time we will stick with the small or get one of the combo platters.  The  Poboys were overflowing with fried seafood (sandwiches for any yanks that may be reading this and NOT NO CRUNCHY GRINDER!).  When I was leaving I overheard someone order the grilled grouper with a "special sauce" over it, she said it was excellent last time and she was comming back for more.  This place is definitely a diamond in the ruff and will be on our list to return to.  Next time I will take pictures of the inside and the food.  Below is a link to the resaurant website and a picture of 3 generations of the Kraver family.  They look like good old Alabama boys who know and love their seafood.

http://kraversseafood.com/

BUCKS DINER

Bucks Diner is run by the Buck family and is actually in downtown farihope but is close enough to Daphne and very close to my office. This place is another good country cooking place with booth seating in the back (we love the booths).  They have "meats and two or three", vegetable plates, burgers, and poboys.  Glen enjoyed the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes and gravy as well as the good southern lima beans.  He gave it a thumbs up. Other meat choices included meatloaf, crabcakes, fried catfish, fried porkchop, and baked chicken.  This diner uses local fresh vegetables so the veggie menu vaires according to what is available and what is in season.  Bucks may be another place where the sides outshine the main dishes.  I chose a vegetable plate with fried green tomatoes, corn fritters, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli salad. The brocolli salad was good but similar to what I have had at other places in town.  Fried green tomatoes were light and not greasy at all, fried lightly in cornmeal...could have cooked longer, I have had better, but they were good.  Mac and cheese was a good mix of creamy, and chewy, toasted cheese.  Friends at work claim Bucks makes a great burger and I have heard good things about the poboys as well.

East Shore Cafe: (Week 4) Cute little breakfast and lunch place in downtown daphne, located in house with porch.  Apparently they are also open for dinner by reservation only.  Lots of quiche, salads, and sandwhiches.  I had the Crab Cake Sandwhich on grilled sourdough with crisp lettuce and ripe tomato.....it was full of crab and delicous.  Glen had the Ruben sandwhich on rye which he said was the best ruben he has had. The red potato salad however was bland and seemed like it was missing some ingredients.  They also had a peanut butter pie advertised that I would love to try.  We want to come back for breakfast or dinner.

WEEK 3: Manci's antique club restaurant has been in the Manci family since 1924.  The building looks the same then as it does today.  It definitely has the locals only feel.  Inside it is covered with antiques, and there are no windows in this old building.  It defintiely has a rustic feel.  I highly recommend the fried shrimp were excellent fresh, plump, and tasty.  They also had homeade chips and tartar sauce which was very good.  Glen ordered the french dip sandwich "It was OK, not the best"  We noticed that of the 7 people sitting around us......they all ordered burgers!  Also Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives filmed here and I think they had a burger as well.  There burgers have some interesting toppings and sauces and we both plan to come back and get one.  
http://www.manci.net/

WEEK 1 & 2:  The Sugar Kettle.  An old house recently renovated and turned in to a southern family restaurant.  The charm of an old southern home with grandma style cooking....so good we ate here twice.  I loved the tomato pie made with fresh tomatoes, cheese, green onions, basil, mayo, cheddar cheese and baked in a pie crust.  Their squash casserole and peach cobbler were also very good.  Glen enjoyed both the meatloaf and chopped steak with potatoes.  The menu which includes choice of meats and 2 or 3 veggies or veggie plate change daily.  We will be back!
http://sugarkettlecafe.com/