Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021 - 26

Places: EXCELLENCE THROUGH ADVERSITY
FAR LEFT: Johnson City's
Shamrock opened a few
months before the stock market
crash of 1929.
LEFT: Edelweiss brings Black
Forest flavors to Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley.
BELOW: Marion, Virginia's
Dip Dog Stand survived the
coming of Interstate 81 in
1963. Pam and Grant Hall
will quickly tell you that a Dip
Dog is not a corn dog.

Table from our very first visit, when we
were served fresh turnips cooked four different ways.

The Hob-Nob, Gate City, Virginia.
Since Bent and Elgie Strong opened it in
1952, The Hob-Nob has nourished the
citizens of Scott County with hamburgers, hot dogs and soup beans. Their grandson, Ross Jenkins, now offers emu burgers
as a leaner option, counterbalanced with
Monster Cones of soft-serve ice cream.

The Texas Tavern, Roanoke, Virginia. With the stock market crash happenket crash. Its freshly squeezed lemonade is
legendary. Despite a full menu and every
kind of cigar imaginable, owner Jack Cox
says his business is " nothing but an expanded, glorified lemonade stand. "

The Dip Dog Stand, Marion, Virginia. The coming of Interstate 81 in 1963
meant the end of many businesses along
U.S. 11, the Lee Highway, in Southwest
Virginia. But The Dip Dog Stand, officially
The Hi-Way Drive-In, held on. It has even
survived food fads and dietary dictators. A
Dip Dog is a red-dyed hot dog, skewered,
dipped into a secret batter, deep-fried and
painted in mustard. The method hasn't
changed since opening day in 1957. The
business has been owned by the Hall family since 1966. Grant and Pam Hall cite the
closeness of their family as one reason for
the survival of The Dip Dog Stand. There
is always a member of the family present
at the restaurant. " We might be business
people, but we get in there and get our
hands dirty with the kids, " says Pam. That

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joyous labor goes on seven days a week,
and the Halls rarely take a vacation.

Edelweiss German Restaurant,
Staunton, Virginia. Ingrid Moore is an
octogenarian whose morning routine
includes pounding pork for her various
versions of German schnitzel. A native of
Karlsruhe, Germany, she came to America when she was 23 and learned English
while cleaning houses in Queens, New
York. Now she and her son John bring
the flavors of the Black Forest to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Says Ingrid, " We
use old-fashioned cast-iron skillets. They
make such a difference. Cast-iron works
best for schnitzel. "

The Harvest Table, Meadowview,
Virginia. Most of the vegetables and
herbs come from a farm two miles outside this tiny Southwest Virginia town.
That farm was the site of novelist Barbara
Kingsolver's experiment to see if she and
her family could eat only local food for a
year. We were captivated by The Harvest

ing the year before, 1930 may seem like a
bad year to have opened a restaurant. But
that's exactly what Isaac Newton " Nick "
Bullington did in downtown Roanoke,
Virginia. You can sit at his original 10-person counter still today and learn the history of the place from current owner Matt
Bullington, Nick's great-grandson, while
having a bowl of chile (Nick always said
cheap chili ended in an " i " ) and a Cheesy
Western. Dressed with cabbage relish and
a fried egg, the " Cheesy " occupies a prominent place in our pantheon of quirky
hamburgers.

El Gran Sabor, Elkins, West Virginia. The population of Elkins is barely
over 7,000 people, but it supports a Venezuelan restaurant. At El Gran Sabor,
we were introduced to cachapas, and
we have been thinking about them ever
since. " Try cachapas one time and you'll
be back, " owner Derdlim Lopez Masten
tells us. Masten grew up in the town of
Mérida, Venezuela, about 5,300 feet up in

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Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021