Thursday, June 28, 2007

Tea Wars

I'm from the South. I drink sweet tea.

Now, being from the South doesn't mean you must drink sweet tea. And sweet tea isn't limited to being only for Southerners.

But I do believe that any restaurant in the South should serve sweet tea. Oh, also serving unsweetened (we call it "unsweet") tea is fine. Especially if you serve a bunch of Yankee tourists. But also because there are a number of others who are from the South who prefer unsweet tea. The Wife, for instance.

What brought this up?

Well, while we're vacationing in Panama City Beach, we've eaten at several different places, local and national. I will often get tea. And that means, sweet tea.

The other night, we went to Black Angus restaurant in Panama City. A little pricey for the amount of food you get (click here to see $1.59 worth of shrimp) but the food was good.

It would have been better with sweet tea, though.

They don't serve sweet tea. Which means one of two things. Either it's run by a bunch of Yankees who still think they're in New York City or something, or they are one of those who think offering sweet tea lowers the quality of their establishment. Or both.

Now, I happen to know that Panama City is in Florida. And I happen to know that Florida is south of Georgia and Alabama. But these jack-holes don't seem to grasp that fact.

You see, I wasn't the only one who ordered sweet tea and was told they didn't have sweet tea. The table to our right and the table to our left also ordered sweet tea, and were properly rebuked. Maybe "rebuked" is too strong a word. The server was very polite about it, but he had to tell all three tables I heard order (ours and the two tables to our left and right) that they couldn't get sweet tea.

But, thank goodness, it's not like that everywhere down here.

Last night, we went to Angelo's Steak Pit. That's the place with the big bull ("Big Gus") out front. And I ordered sweet tea.

I got sweet tea.

Boy, did I ever get sweet tea.

You could have poured it over pancakes, it was so sweet.

Maybe it was just one pitcher that was that sweet, because when I got a refill, it was much more to my liking. Or maybe I just got used to it.

Either way, the food was good, and the tea was sweet. And, yes, you can get unsweet tea there, if you prefer.

At Black Angus, the food tasted good, but I won't be going back to that place.

Angelo's? Of course we'll be going back.

A restaurant ... at least a restaurant in the South that plays on being in the South ... should offer sweet tea. And unsweet tea, too, for those that can't drink it for dietary or customary reasons. But they should offer sweet tea.

Or they should take their happy asses back up North.

2 comments:

  1. When I moved to Texas 4 years ago, sweet tea meant the server handing you the glass of tea, the sugar dispenser and a spoon. I'm happy to report that true sweet tea is becoming more readily available in Houston restaurants. In fact, Mc Donald's is even serving it now. Happy, happy, joy, joy! Side note - the best sweet tea I've had was at the Tastee Freeze in Hinesville, GA when I was stationed at Ft. Stewart in the mid 70s.

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  2. Ah, the Tastee Freez! Haven't been to one of those in years. There are still evidence (rusty buildings, etc) of some of those in Baxley and Jesup, but not sure about Hinesville. Haven't been to SE GA for a few months.

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