Last Friday evening, the hubster and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the storied Crystal Grill in likewise storied Greenwood, Mississippi.
Established years ago in downtown Greenwood (the HEART of the Delta as my husband loves to say) it is located on Carrollton Avenue. If you are ever close, you really need to taste their 1/2 order of Veal Cutlets. To say they are good, is an understatement. (Do NOT and I repeat do NOT order the full order! You will never in a million years be able to finish it! Unless, of course, you have an 8' 300 pound Viking with you or maybe a 16 year old boy.) The Veal cutlet is smothered (and I mean to death) in gravy...if you are very concerned about cholesterol, you might ask for the gravy to be (gulp) served separately. But, caution, then everybody knows you are an outsider...of course, everybody will know anyway because "everybody knows everybody" in G'wood. Sidenote: (When I was first introduced to my husband's friends, they were silently appalled that he was dating a "hill woman".... I lived 25 miles away in Grenada, MS. "They" (deltonians) call those people (the rest of us) Hill people....hmmmm)
Look at those beautiful doors. The Crystal certainly has southern charm and ambience ... very much like a Southern Belle who has aged rather gracefully.
The Crystal welcome mat is always out and please note those tile floors!
The old church pew is a welcome respite for those who have to wait for a table. We arrived early so we wouldn't be in that pickle. And now that pickles have been mentioned, may I say that I haven't eaten Thousand Island dressing that delicious since I used to eat at the old Monte Cristo in Grenada (aka: Hill Country). Now THAT was Thousand Island at its finest!
Naturally, every southern- leaning magazine in America has penned some lines about this eatery.
The lady pictured directly above on the left was our waitress and has worked at Crystal for 52 years! Can you imagine?! I know it's true, because I asked her (and embarrassed the hubby.) You should have seen his face when I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures of the pie display! (Anything for the blog is my mantra.)
Speaking of pies, these were the last two left in a huge glassfront hutch. The lady even opened it up so the glare of the glass wouldn't be evident in my pictures. Since the hubster and some of his friends are somewhat "legends" in G'wood, I tried to keep the picture taking to a minimum so as not to embarrass them...as you can see by the "few" I took..lol. When is the last time you've seen meringue like that?
Now that you've brought up meringue, I guess it would be ok to divulge a deep, dark family secret...my husband, the Coach, makes the BEST chocolate pies and coconut pies in the universe..they are to die for! He once made pies for a lady's bridge club and she tried to pass them off as her own...but his reputation preceded him and the card playing ladies caught her in her act of deception! Banana pudding, you ask? Just ask the people in our Presbyterian church who makes the Banana pudding that makes the world stop dead in its tracks! They will certainly say...you know who...(for new readers: he insists that his name not appear in THE blog... ) That is a blog for another time...just thought I'd let you know, but don't tell anybody.
Ok, what else have I forgotten? Restrooms..oh, yes the restrooms...granite countertops and clean. Here's a tip: If a restaurant's restroom (in the south we say restroom, not bathroom, please) is clean, then it's ok to eat the food...if not, then I'd put the hospital on speed dial, just in case. At least have some Imodium handy. Our evening was a fun night out, and my personal opinion is everyone should dine in the DELTA in G'wood at the Crystal at least once in their life...one of those 100 things you need to do before you die.
Bon Appetit Everyone!! Now go make this weekend a good one!
Angela (who knows where my "signature" signature went!)
