"Mike "Piedmont"" > wrote in message
...
> Jean and I just got back from our trip to Charleston, SC. We ate at two
> places.
>
> One was Sticky Fingers. We both ordered full slabs of ribs. (Not a full
> slab but spare ribs with tips cut off, though some of the tips did make it
> through)
>
> (Sticky has a web site with all their locations throughout the south/south
> east and a pdf menu)
>
> They say the ribs are cooked with wood (but no smoke flavor!) and seem to
> be!, they had some bite to them and weren't that sick soft/mushy bite with
> par-boil process.
>
> They leave the membrane on, but it is edible and doesn't get in the way.
>
> You can order them simply cooked, no seasoning, no sauce, which leaves you
> with a rib that has a plain taste which makes you want to add sauce, there
> is no smoke flavor at all.
>
> You can order them Memphis style which is the plain cooked ribs that are
> coated with a dry seasoning After cooking. I liked it that way or, you
> can order the plain cooked ribs with one of their sauces already added.
>
> They have a variety of sauces, which to me were the same basic sauce but
> with flavor additions. Whiskey, habernaro (not hot!), Memphis original,
> sweet, smoky and a mustard. I didn't like most of them, seemed to have a
> common off taste to them. I did enjoy the mustard which had a slightly
> sweet, vinegary, mustard taste. This was the first time I had a mustard
> based sauce of any type. Plus they keep Tabasco on the table.
>
> On the day we ate there, they had a special of one free bottle of sauce
> for each full slab dinner. I got the mustard and Jean got the Memphis
> Original. ( I make better sauce!)
>
> I had sides of potato salad which had dill pickle and a second side pork N
> beans (the beans tasted like original sauce was added) I liked the beans.
> Jean had green beans and slaw, the slaw was somewhat plain but better than
> the typical horrible slaw one mostly finds at restaurants.
>
> I recommend Sticky Fingers (considering they are a chain).
>
> I suggest you try the Memphis dry, or they will apply half the slab with
> dry and the other half with nothing so you can try all the sauces as you
> go the first time. Nothing stops you from applying sauce to the Memphis
> dry either.
>
> The full slab dinner was around $18.95 each. They play old blues music
> over the PA system. Lunch time they had a small all you can eat buffet
> minus ribs, just pulled pork and sides.
>
>
> Place number two was seafood, a very unique joint called, The Wreck, and
> that is what it looks like! A big shack that is extremely hard to find,
> hidden amongst 4-5 thousand sq foot homes. There are no signs leading the
> way not even a sign on the building. They take cash only! no charges!
> After crossing the new bridge going to Mt. Pleasant stay left, print a
> map, and have patience for it is still very hard to find!
>
> You end up on the water, right where shrimper boats dock. There is a dock
> where the overflow waited 45 minutes for a table. All of us sharing a
> common bottle of bug repellent. An old black lab waddled around on the
> dock. While you wait they have an ice chest full of beverages. It was nice
> with the pelicans flying about, the seagulls screaming, the sun going
> down, used oyster shells piled up under two old plywood tables!
>
> Once seated inside the shack, with widow screen covered with clear
> plastic. They start you out with boiled peanuts! Which is a southern thing
> and not bad, taste like cooked slightly salty beans.
>
> The menu is a hardcore seafood menu. I got the fried platter, with shrimp,
> clams, flounder, scallops, lima beans, red rice, small square of fried
> hominy and one hush puppy. Jean got the fried flounder dinner. You can get
> everything non-fryied too!
>
> Everything was outstanding! All for around $39.00 for the two of us. I
> highly recommend The Wreck, you can find info about them thru third party
> sources on the internet. Copy the address, then get a map off the
> internet, make sure you do a close up detail for all the roads thru the
> residential area.
>
> I got lost and ended up looking for street signs (tall, square, cement
> poles with street names written on them), then followed the signs road by
> road until we came upon a large shack, and luckily a couple were standing
> there that confirmed we had arrived, all the patrons were the other side
> of the shack out of view, and there is no sign on the building!
> --
> Regards,
>
> Piedmont
>
> The Practical Bar-B-Q'r at: http://web.infoave.net/~amwil/Index.htm
>
> What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless,
> whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism
> or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
>
> Mahatma Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War"
>
Can't speak for Sticky Fingers, but congrats on finding the Wreck. Actually,
it's full name is the Wreck of the Richard and Charlene, and it's located on
Shem Creek, pretty much at the end of the road when you turn off of Coleman
Blvd. It used to be very much a locals place, until "Southern Living",
"Coastal Living", and a few other travel mags "discovered" them. Go on a
weekend nite (no reservations) and the coolers on the dock usually have free
wine and beer until your table is ready. On our first trip, we were able to
find them when we wandered up to an undercover group of cops getting ready
to bust a parole violator at the fish dock next door. It's that kind of
place. If you're not offended by butchers paper as your tablecloth, it's the
best, freshest seafood you'll find in the area. On a historical note, for
about 30 years, our favorite place was the Trawler, close to the Wreck but a
little easier to find. They finally closed about a year ago - a victim of
slick marketing winning out over simple, fresh seafood. Another example of
progress in our neon world......