Fran's Fueling Station Feeding Frenzy and Skanking

It is very rare that I eat myself into uncomfortability. Last night was one exception. With a heady mix of beer, good food and friends, I chowed down like it was my death row meal and at the end of it all, I was full.

It all started with the Mrs. and I deciding what we wanted for dinner while sitting on the couch having an after work cocktail. We had tickets for The Pietasters show and knew we needed to stay up late. We gathered some ideas and called up the Whiskeys to see what they were up to. Between calling them and them calling back we stumbled upon the idea of going to Fran's. I had never heard of it before so I checked out the website and decided it looked promising. Just after finalizing arrangements with the Whiskeys, we got a call from Mr. Chelsea about a matter of which will be discussed in a future post. Spoiler Alert, half a cow. So we convinced the Chelseas to join us and we were on our way.

We met around 6:30 and the place was packed. It is a small space with a dozen or so tables. I would not recommend any groups larger than six. We had a bit of a wait ahead of us so we got a round of drinks. The selection is limited, but a good mix of craft brews and imports. We discussed news of the day and the finer points of Olympic competition. Realizing our wait could be awhile we asked for a menu to get a few appetizers. I would have preferred it had been offered, but no big deal. The staff seemed half crazed and slightly overwhelmed. We skimmed the menu and all of us hit "it" at the same time. A hush fell upon us in awe and wonder. "Bacon wrapped tatter tots, are you kidding me, Yeah, we'll have some of those. Fried Pickles, sure. And an order of deviled eggs for the Mrs." As these tasty items arrived, our table was ready. So we sat and devoured our morsels.

The tater tots were good but not as life altering as hoped. The Bacon was outstanding but the tots themselves didn't quite hold their own. Mr. Chelsea would disagree with me on this as his world was suitably rocked. The fried pickles were deceptively tasty. First taste and you say, "eh". Then a few seconds later, "man those are good". They use sweet and sour dills and a cornmeal crust that, could have been fried a tad longer but still awesome. The deviled egg was gone by the time I had paid our bar tab, which is just as well since I am not a fan. But, the Mrs. says it was delicious. Deviled eggs are done as a daily special, last nights was Bloody Mary and reported to be very Worcestershire saucy. When our waitress finally made it around to us she had some specials to tell us about and we listened intently. And as we did, another collective hush fell upon us, "did she just say Pastrami wings". Picturing Pastrami wrapped around a chicken wing I was slightly disappointed to find out it was Pastrami spices on a chicken wing, but my curiosity got the best of me and a basket was ordered. Some questions were posed and answered, another round of drinks ordered, and we were left again to decide on our meals. And when our waitress arrived with wings we were ready.

In an effort to fulfill my New Years resolution and prepare myself for our upcoming trip to Brussels I ordered the mussels in beer and herb stock, with fries of coarse. The Mrs. had the Mac and cheese with a side of collards. Mr. Whiskey had pot roast, Mrs. Whiskey the Mediterranean veggie burger, Mr. Chelsea got the beef and lamb, burger of the day and Mrs. Chelsea seconded the mac and cheese. With orders taken we turned our attention to the wings, which were unique in a good way, very meaty and also deceptively tasty. Their true selling point was how moist they were. Rarely do you get a wing that is that well cooked.

Next our attention turned to convincing Mr. Whiskey to accompany Mr. Chelsea and I on a beer adventure to the East in celebration of the impending arrival of baby Chelsea. Since he is not the biggest beer fan we tried plying him with the promise of food. Though not convinced last night, we will break him.

On to the main coarse, I will start by saying I have not had mussels since I was a small child and, as you may have gathered, I'm not a huge fan of the bounty from the sea. But, fortified with beer and having been on a No Reservations bender for the last few weeks, I dove in. It was really good. The mussels were not rubbery or fishy; just tasty. Everyone seemed truly enthralled with their food, we were shoving bites of this and that in each others direction and cooing like children. The pot roast was excellent, the lamb burger thing also very tasty. The mac and cheese was almost perfect and the collards would make any southern grandma proud.

And, just when we thought it was over."Would you like dessert?" , "Oh sweet Jesus" (pause) "well, what have you got?" The Mrs. and I decided on the malted milk ball pudding. Chocolate overload, but we finished it.

And, with that the carnage was over. So we waddled out the restaurant and said our goodbyes promising to come back but never eat that much again and see each other soon.

The two negatives of the evening were that the service was a bit slow and haphazard but they easily made up for this with personality and self deprecation, and really, we were in no hurry. The other issue was either the fryolator was having a hard time keeping up with the constant flow of people or the kitchen staff was pulling it a little to quick to keep up. In either case nothing was woefully undercooked. It just wasn't quite to my view of fried perfection.

We capped the night at the Visualite Theater skanking to the sounds of the Pietasters, a ska band from our youth who haven't lost a thing. And we arrived just in time to see the opener IED, who are friends that I did not realize were on the bill.

Fran's Filling Station - is located in Dilworth at 2410 Park Rd. - Facebook