How about another peek into the local eatery options in our new hometown?

Cheese, Please!

One fall Friday night we walked downtown for dinner and found ourselves at Sweet Grass Dairy’s Cheese Shop. I’d purchased a Groupon for Blue Coop, their sister shop, but the coop had, er, flown by this point–first temporarily closed for renovations, then permanently as the Cheese Shop decided to relocate down Broad Street a bit for larger digs. The Cheese Shop was honoring the Coop’s offer, though, so we took advantage of some seats at the large central table and ordered up.

As the name implies, Sweet Grass Dairy is a local dairy creating delectable cheeses and sells cheese and charcuterie from their deli case as well as serving up sandwiches, salads, and tasting flights. (Check out their menu online.)

We started with the Taste of Thomasville cheese flight: 3 local cheeses (this time Lil’ Moo, Thomasville Tomme, and Asher Blue) paired with pecans, preserves, pickles, and crackers. Bonus points to Sweet Grass for having gluten-free crackers available. It was all delicious (I mean, really, it’s hard to go wrong with cheeses) but it’s hard to top the Lil’ Moo for a rich, creamy, spreadable cheese. If you enjoy Boursin, this would be right up your alley.

For dinner I ordered The Nola–Sweet Grass’s version of the classic New Orleans muffuletta–on a gluten free roll. Of the side options I chose the spinach, which came lightly dressed with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. It would certainly sate a craving for the original but in our informal game of who ordered better, I think Todd won this round.

Choosing the Pickled Pig was a bit of a surprise: it includes green tomato relish and Todd isn’t a big fan of anything pickled. Surprising both of us, the relish was sweet and went so well with the Tomme and Prosciutto! It’s a great combination and will be top of my list next time we stop in for a meal.

This was back at their older, smaller location and, while it was certainly charming, it tended to get very loud very fast, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the new space improves upon the ambiance of the shop.

Falling for Fallin’s 

It had been one of those days, a mid-week slump that led to a whole lotta ‘I’m-not-cooking’ setting in once we got home. A day where a bit of comfort food would not go amiss, and that’s how we ended up trying Fallin’s Barbeque for the first time. Their menu is fairly simple and straightforward, but it was a little lacking in combo plates or samplers. Call it a penchant for grazing or just the inability to make up my mind, but I like to try more than one offering, especially at a barbeque place.

So I ordered the Baby Bear (which is described as feeding 2-3) and asked for a to-go box immediately so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat too much. Because it was all so very good. The ribs were tender without being greasy, the chicken breast–frequently the driest of all the options on a bbq menu–was moist, practically succulent! The pulled pork is always a reliable option and when I say it was just okay, it’s not to say that it was lackluster in any way, just that it paled in comparison to the melt-in-your mouth beef brisket.

Even though we got the next size up sampler (the Mama Bear) on our next visit (and had to convince the waitress that yes, we knew how much food it would be and that we were looking forward to bringing leftovers home), if I had to choose only one meat at Fallin’s it would be the brisket.

Which brings us back to our first visit, where Todd ordered the Big Joe sandwich–that aforementioned amazing brisket topped with cheese and an onion ring. It looked fabulous, and Fallin’s seams to do a decent trade in a variety of sandwiches. And how can you not love a restaurant that list dog bones to go? And another plus for Fallin’s: you don’t smell like a bonfire when you leave, unlike the other place we tried a few months back.