Sprayberry's Barbeque, Newnan, Georgia **

Nope. Never again. Edna Earl muses that if you’re going for a barbeque pork sandwich and an order of fries, you’ll be okay – but you won’t be excited – and you certainly shouldn’t expect anything much beyond the sandwich and fries. EE herself ordered the “barbeque chicken plate” which consisted of two boneless, mealy, rubber-chicken breasts grilled (She guessed.) and slathered with this barbeque sauce that just really did not go with chicken. It’s that dark, watery stuff that, EE thinks, was their attempt at North Carolina barbeque sauce. At any rate, it didn’t work – particularly with chicken. One of EE's sides was a “green salad” which consisted of the shredded inner (white) part of iceberg lettuce, with a FEW pieces of diced tomato and her choice of the cheapest of packaged dressings. The other of her sides was a baked potato, which came with one of those packets of sour cream and several packages of “butter.” (EE hates it when she has to open all sorts of packages at the table.) Those were the only sides offered, except that EE was offered a choice between French fries and a baked potato. Oh, and there was a “roll” which was the vilest kind of pre-cooked, packaged thing. EE left it alone, though she did pick it up and examine it. All in all, Edna Earl's meal would have been inedible had she not been so hungry. (It was 2:00 PM and she and her party hadn’t had lunch.)

Edna Earl's ol’ man ordered a barbeque sandwich (pork, of course; that’s what barbeque means down here) and onion rings, which Sprayberry’s touts. Well, he said that the barbeque sandwich was “okay,” that the sauce was “weird,” and he didn’t even comment on the onion rings, which he tasted but left uneaten. EE also tasted and found them to be a veritable exercise in grease retention.

One of EE's complaints with Sprayberry’s is that their menu offerings were just so slim. She simply could not help but compare them to Country’s in Columbus, Georgia, and to other barbeque joints where you can get all sorts of items other than barbeque. Of course, EE is all for those places where barbeque is the lone offering – IF the barbeque is damn good – and Sprayberry’s is definitely not.

And, oh yeah, the place is overpriced big time. Edna Earl's "barbeque chicken plate" of two boneless breasts with a medium baked potato and some dead lettuce and a vile roll was $10.95! The bill for Edna and her ol' man came to $22.43, plus tip -- way too much for a barbeque joint lunch -- especially when it's as lame as this was.

The physical space is alright, though not inspired, and the waitress was nice. (Reasons for the second star.)

Edna Earl's sage advice to Sprayberry’s: Come on down to Columbus and Phenix City to see what a REAL barbeque joint can be.

Pirate's Cove, Colquitt, Georgia **

Edna Earl and her ol' man have eaten here a couple of times, only because they were on the road, hungry, got to Colquitt and their favorite, Tarrer Inn, was closed. Pirate's Cove is a make-do sort of place. Meat and three, served in a right depressing space that reminds EE of a dank, humid church social hall. Food (the usual -- fried chicken and vegetables, banana pudding ...) is served from one of those buffet "food trough" lines. Local folks in there seem to be having a good time, but the food and the place are both a little too "subsistence" for Edna Earl, who's always ready to get outta there and hit the road.

Gibson Inn, Apalachicola, Florida **

What a wonderful dining room! Edna Earl just wishes that the food matched the room. They're trying too hard with the food. Calm down, folks. Take a lesson from the Tarrer Inn up the road in Colquitt, Georgia. And look around your beautiful, historic dining room and take a lesson from the space, too. See how very simple and very elegant it is? Subtle, restrained, traditional -- no? Why not just serve good, traditional food rather than try for something all super-internationalized and hyper-gentrified -- something that often doesn't work? (Edna Earl gets the distinct impression that there's one of those Iron Chef wannabes back there in the kitchen.)

For such high-priced food, Edna Earl couldn't get over how UNgarnished the plates were. Restraint is one thing; PLAIN is another. One of the two meals Edna Earl and her chums ate at The Gibson was breakfast. The next day EE's group ate breakfast across the street at Caroline's, and she'll have to say that Caroline's WAY outdid the Gibson -- certainly in terms of how appetizing the plate LOOKED. (Tasted better, too, and offered more choices, and the service was much better.)

Service at The Gibson was fine once EE's party finally got some, but they waited so long (more than half an hour), that one of the group finally got up and got some menus from a stack near the door.

The place just didn't seem to have their act together. Edna Earl thinks they're trying to define themselves. There's such a wealth of good ingredients there in Apalachicola, one of the seafood capitals of the world -- looks like the folks at The Gibson could look to traditions for some guidance.

Harkin's Bakery, Canton, Mississippi **

What a neat little place, right there on the BEAUTIFUL Canton, Mississippi, town square -- what a perfect opportunity for somebody -- but Harkin's Bakery misses the mark. It's a shame, too, 'cause they come mighty close to makin' it. Their breakfast is same old, same old -- eggs, grits, biscuit, choice of bacon or sausage -- served on a STYROFOAM PLATE WITH PLASTIC UTENSILS. Serving on real china and using metal utensils would really bump the place up a knotch, and how difficult could that be? Then, if they added a little something to their breakfast offering -- something a little creative but not too -- this place COULD be a little gem. (I'm thinkin' eggs creole or somethin' like that.) As it is, it's pretty much same old, same old. The bakery offerings looked okay, but not like anything out of the ordinary. For a bakery, the breakfast biscuits oughta have been much better than they were.