The Susie-Q was in Royal Oak, just outside Detroit. |
What, exactly, do you think happens in the “Beef Room?”
The epic Waffle House run wasn’t our only culinary adventure
on our road trip to Florida.
But first, let’s get to this week’s bad postcard. Certainly
Susie-Q Restaurant, right here in Michigan’s Royal Oak, is intriguing. The back tells us Susie-Q is “A truly good
place to eat.”
It also doesn’t appear to be crowded. There is plenty of
aqua vinyl waiting there for weary travelers. Plenty of good parking spots out
front, too.
But here’s where things get confusing.
The lollypop sign out
front boasts of “Chick’n Chips by Susie-Q.” But the sign on the outside wall
entices us with a “Beef Room.”
We don’t know much about the Beef Room.
Is that where they
store the beef?
Can you only get hamburgers in the Beef Room?
What if some
members of your party want to order the beef and some want the chick’n chips?
How
is the Beef Room decorated?
Well, we know there are vinyl aqua seats.
Where is
the salad bar?
That’s just too much mystery for travelers. And that’s too
many choices. At least those Waffle House guys knew how to specialize.
We were getting a little hungry as we rolled through the
hills of southern Kentucky, and didn’t want to get into the whole chick’n v.
beef debate. We took a vote -- two votes for chicken and one for waffles. I
lost.
Luckily, we were able to use our meal stop to soak up some
Kentucky culture and history.
Corbin is the home of the very first KFC. Col. Harlan
Sanders started selling chicken at his gas station in 1934, expanded to a café across
the street.
The kitchen where Col. Sanders made lots of chicken. |
All was good – finger-licking good, as one might say – until
plans called for the new I-75 to bypass Corbin. Sanders started marketing his
chicken to restaurant owners across the country, then teamed up with some guys
who knew about franchises, including the guy who founded all the Wendy’s
chains.
The original café in Corbin – which is really just a couple
miles off the interstate – is now part-modern KFC and part-museum. There are
displays with some KFC memorabilia, some recreations of Sanders Café rooms and
the kitchen where the colonel whipped up that original recipe using 11 herbs
and spices.
Naturally, the Gnome of Victory and Celebration came along
for some photos. This did not go over well with some of the Corbin natives.
The cashier looked at me rather strangely, as if no one else
had ever ordered a meal with a glued-together gnome tucked under his arm.
Later, a slender, older man with a long, gray beard and
trucker cap stood staring from several feet from our table.
I don’t know if he
was working up the courage to ask a question.
I don’t know if he was silently comparing
beards and caps with the gnome. They might be long-lost cousins, but I didn't see any team insignia on the guy.
I do know that was my signal that we really needed to get
back on the road. We didn’t want any trouble. We quickly finished our chicken
nuggets and biscuits and got back on I-75 heading toward Tennessee.