The Restaurant Meme

Mandalyn tagged me for this meme I'll call the restaurant meme! Anyone who knows me knows that I love food so it will be a challenge to name only 5 of my favorite places! I'll give it my best effort! We live in east Tennessee in the United States and we enjoy our southern cookin'! Huh, we just enjoy food! Here are the rules:

Link to name of person that tagged you.
Include state and country you live in.
List top five favorite local restaurants.
Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged.

1. Crazy Tomato--This is an Italian place in the town near us. They have wonderful food and we love several of the things they serve. Our favorite is their jumbo pepperoni pizza which is an 18' pizza. This baby is loaded with cheese and IS NOT figure friendly! LOL! They also have things like stuffed tomatoes, great salads, etc. Their prices are also very reasonable. That big jumbo pizza is only $11.95!
2. Dixie BBQ--This one needs no explanation! We love us some BBQ and Dixie has the best! I think I'd say hands down the best BBQ joint in the area, although we have several others that are fabulous! Dixie BBQ has a great atmosphere, wonderful beach music, great pulled pork, awesome sauce, and the best BBQ beans I've eaten to date! Mmm Mmm good! If you're ever near Johnson City, TN, give me a holler and I'll take you to lunch here! I love a good excuse to eat at this place! In fact, I may go there for lunch today! **Update** I did go here for lunch today and it was so very good! I also forgot to mention earlier that this place is the epitome of all things southern. They play Andy Griffith reruns and the decor makes this joint very lively and fun! Oh, and I have to mention that the East TN red BBQ sauce I ate today is my all time favorite!
3. Mad Greek--The name gives it away so yes, it is a Greek place. It's owned by a Greek lady who lives near us. This place is wonderful. They have tons of things on the menu and everything is excellent. They have great pizza, stromboli, calzones, gyros (Jeff's fav), baklava, and a host of other things. They also cook up American food for those picky eaters. Did I mention that they have great prices?!!!
4. El Matador-- Without a doubt, our favorite type of food is Mexican. We LOVE it! This place is not much to look at but boy is the food out of this world! They have authentic Mexican and the staff is a friendly bunch. We've been going here for years and have enjoyed many great memories here. The manager (who is no longer there) used to bring his guitar to the table and sing to the girls. They loved it! They have huge portions and it's hard to leave anything on your plate. It's just that good! Did I mention that their salsa is YUM-O (as Rachel Ray would say!). You have to try it if you're in the area!
5. La Campina-- I have to mention this Mexican place because again, it's our favorite type of food! It's within a few miles of us and is just good, good, good! They have Fajita Nachos (which Jeff and I love) and it is probably the best thing I've ever eaten! It consists of flour tortilla chips smothered with white queso, pico de gallo, chicken or beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and a dollop of guacamole on top....not just any guacamole, the BEST guacamole I've ever eaten! It's so light and fresh. Yummmmmmmmy!

There are plenty of other little places in our area that are so good. I wish I could name them all but these are a few of our favorites. Come on down and yell at us and we'll take you to lunch!

I'll tag Jenny, Shawna, and Stacy unless they've already played along! If anyone else would like to join in the fun, please do and let me know if you do. I'd love to hear of other great places to eat in other parts of the country.