Cotton’s BBQ has some competition.

Last week I ate at the Red Hill Cottage Cafe with my fellow Lake Martin realtor John Christenberry.  He had been there before, and claimed that their barbecue was as good as Cotton’s.  I laughed at him and accepted the challenge.

Verdict:

John was right, it is really good.  Apparently their angle is that they cook everything on Green Egg Grills.  They are also distributors for the Green Egg and you can get related supplies there, as well as a bunch of other lake home decor and furniture.  It all looked nice, but I was there on a mission for Q.

I am an admitted stickler for good BBQ, therefore  I am really tough on Q restaurants.  The Red Hill Cottage Cafe passes easily.

Method: As stated before, they cook on Green Egg Grills, so that means their Boston butts are directly suspended over the coals.  The good thing about this is that when the fat is rendered out, it drips down into the coals, sizzles, and returns as flavor bombs that return to the butt.  Yum.

Presentation: I ate a sandwich, and the meat was of the pulled persuasion as opposed to Cotton’s that chops.  No judgement here, to each his own.  But I do think that the pulled method helped Red Hill expose the fabulous job on the meat.

Sauce: The sauce was good.  Tomato based, sweet yet not overwhelming.  They also did not put too much on it to hide the meat.  That’s one thing I don’t understand about some places, they purportedly spend 12 hours cooking the meat and then smother it in sauce that they cooked in 30 minutes.  Personally I like Cotton’s tomato based sauce better. One suggestion - I wonder how good Red Hill’s pulled pork would fare with a vinegar based sauce that can penetrate every nook and cranny on that sandwich?  Plus they would be the only ones in the area with a vinegar based sauce.

Cost: It was cheap.  $2.95 for a sandwich.  Every lunch gets free dessert. I would say that the same meal at Jim N Nicks would be $15 pre-tip and it would not be 1/2 as good.

The Last Word: Great - a welcome addition to the list of Lake Martin restaurants. Their barbecue is so good that I wonder why they do anything else.  It is every bit as good as Cotton’s, and for me that is saying a lot.  I think they will benefit each other, because they all help traffic, which helps all area restaurants.  In fact, Red Hill, along with Green Valley, Cotton’s, and Catherine’s, are worthy foils to the east side eateries of Niffer’s and another of my prime favorites - Oskar’s.  But thankfully Red Hill’s menu is different enough from each of them that I think all can peacefully coexist.  Johnny G’s, however, had better step it up.

Where: The Red Hill Cottage (I guess it’s the name of the decor store) and Cottage Cafe are located on Alabama highway 229, just south of the intersection with Highway 50, by Castaway Island Road.   Official address is 4068 Red Hill Road, Tallassee.  Phone is 334-857-2233.

When: According to their menu, they are open 7 AM to 7 PM Wednesday through Saturday.

What: DOWNLOAD RED HILL’S MENU HERE - they serve a lot more than BBQ.  Even breakfast.  In fact, I went back the day after the Q meal and ordered 2 smoked turkey sandwiches, 1 smoked ham sandwich, 3 bags of chips, 3 co-colas, and got 3 free desserts (nanner pudding, bread pudding, and strawberry cobbler).  My bill total was like $15 pre-tip.  Not bad, and the sandwiches were great - a worthy “chick option” to the Q.

Hey Reader - what’s your take?  Leave a reply below and let me know about your experience!  If you don’t see the “Leave a reply” below this, click on the word “Comments” and leave one so we can all benefit.

empty plate = good food

Last Friday I ate lunch at one of my favorite Lake Martin lunch spots - Green Valley Market and Deli.

To me it is a joy to experience any business or effort that sincerely tries to give great service, every time.  This time they did not disappoint. I was craving their Reuben but feeling guilty about my cholesterol count from my diet of the day before (below) .  So I asked the waitress (she must be new, I didn’t recognize her) if they can fix me a turkey Reuben - off the menu.  She said, “let me ask.”  The answer came back, “sure.”

The result was I was happy and with a few less grams of fat flowing through my bloodstream.

“Big deal, John,” you say. “Anyone who can make a Reuben should be able to turkey-ize it.”

Not so fast.  I have been in plenty of places that don’t make even the slightest concession on their menu.  Those places are either really good (think the original Dreamland) or really closed. Further, I celebrate the culture of a place where the employees are obviously trained to Look For Yes, not only when they are feeling in a good mood, but every time.

It makes me think about my real estate business. Am I doing enough for my sellers?  Am I asking the right questions to help my buyers whittle down the list?  Am I giving the same pat answers to Lake Martin real estate questions, or am I taking the time to listen to each person’s wants and needs, every time?

Essentially Green Valley, Catherine’s Market, Oskar’s, and ME, we are all in the same business.  People don’t come to Lake Martin looking for a restaurant, they come looking for a good dining experience.  They also don’t come looking for a realtor or a team or company, they are looking for a waterfront home or lot.  I try to continually remind myself to get out of the way and help them get their turkey Reuben.

PS - I also have to give out some props to Catherine’s Market at Russell Crossroads.  I was there last Thursday.  The tea was better.  The burger was excellent.  It was hand patted and served with fresh fixings.  By the way, it was better than the burger I had that night at home.  I fired up my grill and cooked some patties from a very high end, fancy Dan steak place in Montgomery.  Catherine’s beat mine, no questions asked.  That’s hard for me to admit as a prideful griller.  Plus, I ran into Scott Goslin at Catherine’s.  He is doing a great job there and was extremely hospitable.  Scott knows me and my family and how cheap we are, so he will appreciate it when I say that I now realize that Catherine’s can make a better burger, for less money, than I can for myself.

Lake Martin’s newest deli and grocery - Catherine’s Market at Russell Crossroads - officially opened on Tuesday, December 16, 2008.  I went by there today for lunch to check out the inside of the store and deli.  It was really nice, a first class operation.

As advertised, the market section had lots of cool, higher end grocery items.  The wine shop was well stocked.  I even found my favorite Rioja. I didn’t scrutinize the meat counter very closely, but I am sure that it is nice.

The deli was rippin and roarin. It was covered up with Russell Lands sales agents and employees.  I also saw 2 or 3 tables worth of people that drove down from Alex City, including Mr. Ben himself, one of my fourth grade teachers, and a lady we’ve gone to church with for decades.  That’s one thing I like about Lake Martin, I always bump into friends wherever I am eating lunch.

I played it pretty safe and selected the stacked ham sandwich on wheat with pasta salad.  It was good.  A friend got the 1/2 and 1/2 - the soup of the day was some sort of seafood bisque, which he really liked.  You order at the deli counter and then go and sit down, they bring you the food.  It took about 15 minutes for them to serve it, which I guess wasn’t bad for their first week.  With a sweet tea, I was in and out of there for about $11.00, which is comparable to another one of my Lake Martin favorites, Green Valley Market & Cafe.

My only criticism is that I detected some sort of flavor to the sweet tea, like a peach or fruit or some sort of whang.  It  definitely has some sort of fancy angle to it, to which I am morally opposed.  Just give me some straight up tea, please.  If you want to get fruity on me, please put it in a separate dispenser and let me know ahead of time.  Admittedly, I am a purist, a stickler for good sweet tea, so maybe I am on the fringes of opinion here.  But this is a relatively tiny complaint when put against the entire experience. It really was nice, clean, well run, and tasted good.  I expected all kinds of problems as this is their third day in biz.  None such.  Very professional.

Meat Counter:

Fresh veggie aisle:

Lunch menu:

I wish them the best.  I think they are a great addition to the Lake Martin area, I am sure to be back in the future.

Click here for the Catherine’s Market menu

And here for the back of Catherine’s Market menu

Also see:

All of the pics I took of Catherine’s Market, and my entire collection of web photo albums on Picassa, including waterfront property on Lake Martin that I have for sale.

Russell Lands is building Russell Crossroads - that will be, as they put it,  “a ‘town center’ in the heart of the Russell Lands family of developments on  44,000 acre Lake Martin.”

It is being built on Highway 63, just north of Windermere Road.  The town center will serve as resource for the neighborhoods of The Ridge, Windermere, Windover, Trillium, Willow Point, and for that matter, anywhere else on Lake Martin.  Judging from their plans, and the players that they have committed, my candid take is that this will be very good for the Lake Martin community.  There will be a high end grocery called Catherine’s Market, which will also have a deli.  The first phase will also include The Springhouse Restaurant - “fine dining in a casual atmosphere.”  Future plans call for a Hot and Hot Restaurant.

If I understand their overall plan correctly, in the future all of their area developments mentioned above (except Trillium) will be connected by a trail system so that one could jog, bike, or ride a golf cart to Russell Crossroads, and also go back and forth in between each neighborhood.

I snapped some photos a couple of weeks ago.  They are already out of date.  I drove by a couple of days ago and saw that they had the roofs on Catherine’s Market and the Springhouse Restaurant.  But I will post these here anyway.

The Real Estate Sales office and Discovery Center:

Sales Office

Here is the future Catherine’s Market:

Catherine’s Market

And here is one of the future Springhouse Restaurant:

Springhouse Restaurant

Recently around Lake Martin (online and offline) I have heard a lot of talk about eating at the lake. Some were bemoaning a lack of restaurants, others were extolling the virtues of cooking at home.

Still others admitted wanting someone else to do the cooking, but when they get down to their Lake Martin home on Friday night, they’re too tired to go out.

One solution is eating some of the great cooking from a local - The Dirt Road Gourmet. They pre-make casseroles and such, freeze them, and sell them through local retailers. Click here for their website and product list. Also you can click here for their list of retailers.

I pick ours up from Nail’s because it’s close to my real estate office and family’s cabin. They are really good, and really easy. Before you leave for the weekend, buy one, keep it in the freezer. The next Friday, when you get back down to the lake home, pop it in the oven while you’re unloading, it’ll be ready to eat when you are.

I highly recommend the Dirt Road Gourmet as a balance between fixing it yourself and going out. Plus, you can feel good about supporting a local business.

A couple of Sundays ago found us at Willow Point eating lunch to celebrate my Moms birthday. We ate lunch in the Willow Point Clubhouse, which overlooks the golf course, and of course, Lake Martin. I had my camera with me, and it was such a beautiful day, I thought to take a few photos.

Why do most Lake Martin lovers wait until Memorial Day to come to the lake? Beats me. Springtime has great weather “ plenty of sun and temps in the low 70s. What a beautiful day. Enjoy:

Willow Points 18th green:

Willow Points Driving Range:

The tee box on number 10, one of the holes that play along Lake Martin:

Willow Point Villas (available for rent by members):

The Pool & Cabana:

This is not a news flash: Lake Martin’s water level is back!

It’s hard to believe, but in the 5 short weeks since I wrote this post  about the water hitting 480, Lake Martin stands inches away from its highest possible mark of 490.  All of the nay sayers have been proved wrong.  Many (myself included) wondered if it would take more than one summer to recover from the worst drought recorded in 80 years.  The next time we have a rain shortage, I hope we remember how fast it bounced back.

How has it affected businesses around the lake?

Real Estate

I have been extremely busy in the last month especially.  I have picked up all sorts of new waterfront listings.  I have been running all over the lake taking pictures and shooting video tours.  Buyers are calling again.  Turns out, my phone does work!  It’s a good feeling.  I am no exception, many other Lake Martin realtors tell me the same thing.

All agent fluffery aside, 2008 will prove a great time to buy property on Lake Martin.  There is still a lot of inventory out there from the doldrums of 2007.  Sellers have reduced prices and (if they’re smart) are still eager to sell.  Interest rates are down, so conditions are still very favorable for buyers.

Retail

JT Voltz at Blue Creek Marina tells me that they are “covered up” in work already.  Their staff is back full steam and looking forward to a better summer.

I spoke to Oskar (of Oskar’s) this morning and she said that their business has bounced back as well.  They are ready to forget 2007 and are looking back to 2006 to plan for their restaurant traffic this summer.

Early season success has not been limited to the Dadeville side of Lake Martin.  Green Valley Market and Cafe tells me that last weekend they served about as many meals as they ever have.  They opened in 2007, so they anticipate to easily break their own records of catering and restaurant business this summer.

David Naile of Nail’s Convenience Store in downtown Kowaliga says that the last couple of weekends’ nice weather has shown a spike in gasoline and c-store sales.  Naile confirmed that he is planning to expand his offerings inside the store to accommodate the higher traffic.

Lake Martin has another great dining choice! The Green Valley Market and Cafe is now open.

The Green Valley Market is located in the Eclectic or Kowaliga area of Lake Martin, next to the Kudzu Corner. They are located on Highway 229 about halfway between where 229 intersects highway 50 at Castaway Island Road, and where 229 intersects highway 63 (aka Kowaliga Road) in downtown Kowaliga.

The Green Valley Market and Cafe sells sandwiches, and offers a good assortment of meat at their meat counter. If you need a lot of food for your Fourth of July party, you may want to ask them about their catering. One of the newer trends on Lake Martin is selling ready to eat casseroles and such for people who don’t want to cook yet would like some home cookin. They sell a lot of the warm up and eat type of fare, which I am sure is very good. They also sell boutique looking spices, and little gifts, etc.

I have tried just about every sandwich they make, and I must say, I am pleasantly surprised. They serve the sandwiches with sides like potato salad or pasta salad, but my favorite is the black bean salad. Usually a lunch menu on the fru fru side does not do much for me, but their sandwiches taste really good. They use good quality meat and give generous portions. It is a great choice if you are looking for something other than fried foods.

Check them out! I recommend them heartily and wish them the best. Their phone is (334)857-3663. Street address is 2415 Red Hill Road, Eclectic, Alabama, 36024.

Related post: Four Great Lunch Meals Around Lake Martin

It’s lunchtime on Lake Martin - where should we eat?  When I was growing up on Lake Martin, there weren’t many restaurants around the Lake, much less on the water.  Families had to pack their on provisions and make do.  You drove to the cabin, unpacked everything, and lived on ribbon sandwiches, chicken salad, hamburgers, and BBQ.

Today we have many places to eat, with more on the horizon.  I eat a lot of lunches around Lake Martin, so let me suggest four great lunch orders, in no particular order:

1.     Cotton’s BBQ - a couple of miles south of Kowaliga Bridge on highway 63.  In my humble opinion they have the best Q the closest to Lake Martin.  When I am really hungry I go for a double cheese with a BBQ sandwich and polish it off with a slice of egg custard pie.  Otherwise I go for the sandwich with fries.  I absolutely love good BBQ, but I detest bad BBQ.  Cotton’s passes every time.

2.     Oskar’s - when in Lake Martin’s Blue Creek area, it’s a great spot.  I have tried almost everything on the menu, it’s hard to go wrong here.  If I’m in a big hurry I do the lunch veggie special.  Also I love the catfish fillet sandwich - but I get it blackened - not fried, with no sauce and no onions.  Oskar’s is a rare find in that they actually know how to cook fish correctly - juicy and hot yet not overdone.  Lots of restaurants, most of which charge quadruple their prices, could learn from Oskar’s.

3.     Kowaliga - You can call it Sinclair’s on the Lake or Cecil’s at Kowaliga or whatever, but it will always be Kowaliga to me.  The name has changed over the years, but the best lunch order has not.  Order the same thing we have been getting since they were in that old building with the carpet hanging from the rafters.  Forgo the fancy stuff and order a plate of onion rings.  Wash it down with a cold beverage and soak in the ambiance.  If you’re really hungry get a burger.  The rings and the view are the best on Lake Martin.  You won’t be disappointed.  In the springtime they are only open for lunch Friday through Sunday, so you may want to call to make sure they are open.

4.  Chuck’s - another Blue Creek gem.  Your order?  What else?  Pizza.  It’s very good, even by city folks’ standards.  Great atmosphere, too.  They sometimes have a band there, and it’s perfect for people watching.  Tip - call ahead from your boat to place your order if you want to grab and go.
 
Bonus meal - it’s a couple of miles north of highway 280 in Alex City, but Sho’ Nuff BBQ is worth a look if you are in the area.  Order the Sho’ Nuff Baked Potato.  It sounds weird but trust me, it will hit the spot.

 Can you think of a great lunch meal that I have left out?  Leave a reply, and share it with everyone else, too!