Pre-Thanksgiving Warm-Up At Brandi's

Today, while in the area with my mother-in-law, we dropped by Brandi’s World Famous Hotdogs for lunch.

We were there at 1:00. There was not a parking place available. I drove around the block three times and finally lucked out… I caught someone backing out.
We went in and it was cramped standing room only. Finally we got a table. I think there were some people before us waiting… but all is fair in love, war, and getting a table in a crowded eatery.

The tables are small square tables that sit four. We asked an elderly feeble looking couple standing would they like to share our table. Sure!
Come to find out, we had a lot to talk about. They live in our area from Smyrna 20 or so years ago. Before that they lived in Atlanta.
They told us they are having Thanksgiving tomorrow at one of the Williamson Brothers of Williamson Brothers Barbecue farm near Canton. They said their son-in-law was a Williamson Brother, but he is not part of the barbecue restaurant, he owns a fabric store.

Then a lightbulb in my head turned on. I said, didn’t their son-in-law own a catfish restaurant between Clay Street and East Dixie Avenue in an old house? Yep, he is the one.

And didn’t their son-in-law own a race car parked behind the restaurant? Yep.
The restaurant was in an old house at Sycamore and Garrison Drives. As a child the that same house was empty and scary looking. We thought it was haunted and played in it. There is a posting someplace on this blog about that.

We discussed Brandi’s spicy chili as culinary art. I told them a friend of mine told me his brother believes the chili is better on Monday morning because it had all weekend to simmer in itself. Someone else told me it is better on Friday, because they kept piling it on itself…each time soaking up more fumes. Somebody else told me he believed Brandi used lots and lots of pepper to simmer with the chili.

The man we were sitting with said he always requests that the chili is strained. That gets rid of the runny burning stuff he said. That makes sense.
I noticed today there was a cute little girl about 5 or 6 that is sort of a roving hostess. She had on a black Brandi Tee-Shirt and would circulate among the tables asking did anybody need anything and I noticed several people gave her their empty cups to fill up over at the Coke dispenser. She did a good job. If she is Brandi Jr. I remember when she was born… her picture, much younger, was on the cash register.

Good meal. I made a promise I would not order onion rings…. And I didn't I’m proud of me.