where to eat in Owensboro | Genuine Kentucky

Why Your Next Meal Should be at Bob Evans in Owensboro, Kentucky

April 24, 2012 by Joi Sigers Leave a Comment

If all grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and chicken gravy tasted like they do at Bob Evans, I’d never eat anything else.

We have quite a few great restaurants here in Owensboro, Kentucky – something that makes doing my Kentucky restaurant reviews a joy! You always have to pull for the home team, right? For a long time I’ve thought that one of the most underrated restaurants in our town is also one of its best. Bob Evans, on 54, is consistently delicious, consistently friendly, and consistently clean.. charming, even. It’s mind boggling to me that it isn’t packed at all times of the day.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – and possibly the reason more people don’t flock to Owensboro’s Bob Evans madly. When the restaurant first opened several years ago, it was… how shall we put this… horrific. Was that blunt enough? Seriously, it took forever to get your food, then when you did get it, you couldn’t give it back fast enough.

I had a fries incident that I still can’t talk about. However, it would appear that someone higher up the food chain (literally) got wind of the crimes against human decency that were going on and whipped everyone into shape.

By the way the restaurant is now, I’m thinking we should put these people in charge of the country. They GET THINGS DONE!!! I only bring up Bob Evans in Owensboro’s unsavory past in case anyone had bad taste in their mouth, so to speak, from an early experience. Times have changed and you won’t believe the difference.

Fast forward to the present. The servers and host/hostess are always very, very friendly and helpful, the food is exceptional (delicious, with a homemade taste), and you don’t have to wait long at all for your food.

I remember the first time I tried Bob Evans after my first negative trip (I gave them a year to figure things out). My food was brought to me so fast, I looked around to make sure I hadn’t gotten someone else’s. Then, after one bite, I realized that even if I had (which I hadn’t) – they weren’t getting it back! On that particular trip, I got bacon, which is frankly the best in town. Breakfast at Bob Evans is always a delicious and wonderful way to start the day.

A few nights ago, my husband Michael and I had dinner at Bob Evans. Great move. I had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, salad, and a hot fudge sundae for dessert. Well played, me, well played.

The grilled chicken was extraordinary. Grilled chicken is a personal favorite of mine, so I get it often. I’ve never, ever had grilled chicken in a restaurant any better than this. In fact, I’m not certain I’ve ever had any as good. The grilled chicken comes with special sauces, but you’d be crazy to put anything on this chicken except for your teeth. I chose one of the sauces – but I wasn’t sure if it’d be good or not (I’d never heard of it), so my server put it in a little dish to the side. THANK GOD! The sauce wasn’t good, so I never let it anywhere near my heavenly grilled chicken. When you order grilled chicken at Bob Evans – and you should do it as soon as possible – do not get a sauce. No, no, no, a thousand times no. This chicken is so tender, juicy, and grilled tasting that it doesn’t need anything.
The mashed potatoes were the bomb, but the chicken gravy was an absolute masterpiece. I can’t even begin to describe how delicious their chicken gravy is. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
We were served a big beautiful salad in a bowl a la Olive Garden. It was perfect and the French Dressing was very, very good.
The warm dinner rolls served at Bob Evans are some of the best rolls you can get out. They’re scrumptious.
The hot fudge sundae was as good as the picture makes it look. Michael got the strawberry sundae and it was also spectacular. Of course I snuck a bite.
They serve Heinz Ketchup. Yay!!! You know what that means to me. When I see off brand or cheap-o ketchup in a restaurant, I die a little inside. But when I see a bottle of Heinz on my table, I smile. Then promptly take a picture of it. People probably think I’m nuts, but that’s okay. Let’s not even pretend it’d be the first time.
Michael’s beef gravy and steak were also outstanding. Yes, another bite stolen. Maybe two. Bob Evans really, really, really knows how to make exceptional gravy. Man oh man is it delicious. You’ll see how wonderful it looks when you click through the slideshow below.
The macaroni and cheese was creamy and outstandingly good.

Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese in Owensboro

Bob Evans is at 3123 Highway 54 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Just get close, your nose will lead you the rest of the way.

🙂

Bee Bops for Burgers and Daily Specials: We’ve Got it Good in Owensboro Kentucky!

May 26, 2011 by Joi Sigers Leave a Comment

The Manhatan at Bee Bops in Owensboro, how delicious does that look?!?!

My husband and I ate lunch at Bee Bops in downtown Owensboro this afternoon. Delicious, delicious, delicious! He had the Daily Special, which today was the “Manhattan” (Texas Toast with Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, and Gravy – shown in all of its beauty above) and green beans. He ate it inside of three minutes, yet your’s truly still had the gall to ask, “So. How was it?”

You guessed it, outstanding.

As great as today’s daily special sounded, I HAD to try their Bopper Burger and Onion Rings. I was tempted by their crinkle cut french fries, but you know me and my onion ring obsession. My rule: If onion rings are on the menu, order onion rings. If they’re not on the menu, demand an explanation. So, yeah, I’ve eaten onion rings all over God’s green earth – and I’ve never had any that were any better than the ones in Bee Bops 50’s Diner.

They were excellent. My burger was, too, as a matter of fact. Just thinking about the burger and onion rings right now makes me wish I could go back in time and do it all over again. I know my husband would jump right in the time machine with me.

Although the past might not be THE place to be. After all, tomorrow’s special at Bee Bops is Shrimp Burgers. Oh, man….

If you haven’t been to Bee Bops yet, what in the world are you waiting for. The workers are uncommonly friendly, the food is delicious, the prices are great, the 50’s music and decor is adorable, and the entire experience is a lot of fun.

Bee Bops Hamburger and Onion Rings – I’ve never had better onion rings.

Old Hickory BBQ in Owensboro Kentucky: Outstanding Every Time

May 21, 2011 by Joi Sigers 1 Comment

I had lunch yesterday with my youngest daughter (Stephany) and future son-in-law (Rusty) at Old Hickory here in Owensboro. It’s one of our favorite places to eat – lunch or supper. The food is just outstanding. Truth be told, simply sitting in the parking lot with your nose pointed upward is a other-worldy experience. The experience only gets better when you go through the doors.

They’ve recently added mashed potatoes and gravy to the menu and I wanted to hug them for it. Stephany ordered this as one of her sides, along with macaroni and cheese. Rusty went with the macaroni and cheese and green beans, which I’m pretty sure he could eat his weight in. He ordered the “Combination” Plate which came with his choice of 3 meats, in addition to two sides. One of his meats was ham because, this is something you really need to know, Old Hickory has THE best ham in the world. True story.

He also had ribs which looked amazing. I can’t remember what the third meat was because I was busy enjoying my own meal. (Although I did eye that ham!)

Stephany and I almost every single time order chicken, ham, or chopped Bar-B-Q pork. They’re just EACH so outstanding, ordering something else seems silly. However, curiosity got the better of us and we BOTH ordered a catfish plate.

Seriously? We entered one of the best Bar-B-Q restaurants in Kentucky and we ordered catfish? How strange for mother and daughter to both lose their minds at once. The catfish wasn’t bad, by any means, but if I’m going to be honest, it doesn’t at all compare to every other meat on Old Hickory’s menu. Again, it’s not bad (it’s actually crunchy and flavorful), it just simply gets overshadowed by the world’s best ham, chicken so good you want to weep, and pork bar-b-q that makes you wish you had 2 mouths so you can enjoy it twice as much.

If you read very many of my Kentucky Restaurant Reviews on Genuine Kentucky, you know how I feel about sides. I hate (with a cruel and unusual hatred) for a restaurant to focus solely on it’s meat items. It’s as though they say, “We have great steaks, what does it matter if our baked beans taste like microwaved pork ‘n beans?!”

It matters, buddy, it matters.

Old Hickory obviously doesn’t rest on the laurels of it’s spectacular meats, their sides are so remarkable that you actually have to sit and think before choosing, With most restaurants, you order the same sides each time because they’re the only two worth ordering! Old Hickory plays a different game with their sides – every single one of them is mind numbing-ly delicious. It causes a real dilemma, to tell you the truth.

Potato Salad – Excellent
Cole Slaw – Excellent
Bar-B-Q Beans – Excellent
French Fries – Excellent
Onion Rings – Excellent
Green Beans – excellent

And now they’ve gone and added mashed potatoes and gravy that are also Excellent.

Another pet peeve is when restaurants overcook their fries or home potato chips. Someone needs to tell them that food continues to cook when it’s removed from the oil – so if you allow it to become a little dark in the oil, it’ll be positively brown when it makes it to the plate. This never, ever happens at a couple of restaurants and Old Hickory is one. Perfect fries and/or onion rings each and every time.

The Bar-B-Q Plates each come with pickle, onion, bread (our catfish came with wonderful fried cornbread!), the meat(s), and two sides. The meats include mutton, pork, beef, ribs, mutton ribs, chicken, chix strips, turkey, ham (did I mention that it was the best in the world?), and catfish.

Sandwiches include: Sliced mutton, chopped mutton, sliced pork, chopped pork, sliced beef, sliced turkey, sliced ham, sliced ham and cheese, chicken, hamburger, cheeseburger, grilled cheese, and catfish. They also serve chili (but it’s seasonal), burgoo, and bean soup (with cornbread).

If you have room for dessert after all of the excellent food, you can choose between various fruit cobblers (blackberry, apple, cherry) or pecan pie. Order your dessert “A la mode” for just a little more.

Old Hickory gets extra bonus “Genuine Kentucky” points for serving Coke products. Oddly enough, that’s one of the first things I notice about a menu!

Just to give you an idea of how much our family LOVES Old Hickory, we don’t just frequently eat there for lunch or supper, we gave them the ultimate compliment in October of 2010. Our oldest daughter (Emily) and my now son-in-law (Dill) were planning their wedding. We all looked at the many different choices for catering and unanimously chose Old Hickory. One of the most important dates in our family’s history and we invited Old Hickory to the celebration.

Everyone loved the food and asked where it was from… as well as how to get to the restaurant. And they hadn’t even tried the ham!!!

Old Hickory is on 228 Washington Avenue in Owensboro Kentucky – Off of Frederica. There’s a large parking lot, with parking on either side of the restaurant. Use the map below for directions – I don’t want you to miss out on this outstanding food.

It’s the flavor of Owensboro, and it’s really something to enjoy.

View Larger MapVisit Old Hickory on Facebook.