Tasty summer travels, final chapter

Each summer, my son, John Taylor, spends a week at Twin Lakes Camp in Florence. After picking him up on the last day of camp, we headed up Hwy. 49 to Jackson for some family fun. It was nearing lunch time, so we asked him where he wanted to go. He didn't know, so I started suggesting places as we headed up the highway. When I spotted a DQ Grill & Chill, I asked him if he wanted to go there. He replied, "Nah, I don't feel like eating at a franchise today." That just proves he belongs to me. After a few chuckles, we decided to head to a pizza joint in Downtown Jackson that had been on my list of restaurants to try for quite a while.

The Pizza Shack

If you're looking for ordinary pizza, try the chains. If you're looking for extraordinary pizza, look no further than The Pizza Shack in Jackson. I had heard how awesome the pizza is from several sources, so I had to see, or should I say taste, for myself.

 

If you want the normal flavor pizzas, i.e. pepperoni, beef, etc., you'll have to build your own from the variety of toppings they offer. Their specialty menu boasts combinations inspired by all parts of the globe. Choices include Chicken Curry Delight, Cajun Joe, Hawaiian, Shrimp Alfredo, Thai Chicken, The Greek, Mexican Fiesta, and more. After several minutes of poring over the menu, we finally settled on Buffalo Chicken.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Once it was delivered to the table, my husband grabbed the first piece. "Dang, that's a heavy piece of pizza," he exclaimed. He wasn't lying, either. I have never had a pizza so heavily laden with toppings. It was wall to wall chicken and was by far the best Buffalo Chicken Pizza I've ever eaten. I'll have to go back and try something different to see if it's overall the best. It was full of the buffalo chicken flavor without being overly spicy. It was so loaded that we each only ate one piece. Normally, we devour the whole thing.

 

We also ordered the cheese sticks with marinara sauce. They were delicious as well. There's more on the menu than just pizza. Choices include salads, deli sandwiches, subs, and buffalo wings. There are 11 flavors of buffalo wings to choose from, including Southwest Garlic Ranch, Lemon Pepper, and Spicy Thai.

Cheese Sticks

We boxed up the leftovers and took them home for supper. Before I reheated my slice, curiosity got the best of me. So, I pulled out the kitchen scale to weigh it. One slice weighed 1/2 pound, making a medium size pizza weigh 8-9 pounds. Now that's one heckuva pie.

 

Next time you're in Jackson and hungry for pizza, try one of their two locations. The original is located on State Street across from Baptist Hospital and their newest location is on Old Canton Road across from Colonial Country Club.

 

Madison Cupcake Company

Most folks  who know me know that I'm crazy about cupcakes. So crazy that I'm on a constant quest to find a cupcake that's better, in my opinion, than Sprinkles. I just need to live closer to a Sprinkles so I wouldn't have to do this.

 

After filling up at The Pizza Shack, I trekked up to Madison to check out Madison Cupcake Company. It is located in the section of Colony Crossing Shopping Center that faces Bozeman Road.

 

Like most cupcake joints, they have their daily usuals and several specials that rotate. On this particular day, they had Banana Split cupcakes. It was a good cupcake, but just couldn't top Sprinkles. My favorite thing about it was the frosting. I asked what kind it was since it didn't taste like the usual buttercream. It was extra light and fluffy. The lady in the kitchen told me it's called bettercream and has marshmallow cream in it. I'm going to have to find a recipe for that to use on my own cupcake creations.

Madison Cupcake Company

 Chilly Willy's Grill

A quick trip to McComb around lunchtime one Friday had my daughter and me searching for somewhere to eat. Since I like to try new or new to me places, I consulted the Urbanspoon app on my iPad for suggestions. I stumbled upon Chilly Willy's Grill and decided to drive a little out of the way to try it. It's just off the Fernwood exit South of McComb near the airport.

 

We were quite impressed when we finally found it. The building resembles a beach house, and the beach theme is carried out inside.

 

Sadly, we got off to a rough start there. When you enter, you seat yourself and someone is supposed to take your order. Well, we sat there, and sat there, and sat there and no one stopped to take our order. One waitress passed our table at least five times and never even looked at us. Just as I was about to get up and embarrass my daughter, I'm sure, another waitress came over and waited on us. I was so glad because I really wanted to be able to write a good review. Hopefully, next time I go, they will be more prompt.

 

Their logo touts that they're the home of the Big Willy Burger. That's not the only burger they offer, though. There are 16 burgers on the menu. Names like The Comeback Burger, The Lava Burger, The Volcano Burger and The Malibu Sunset Burger draw your attention. If you're not in the mood for a burger, there's plenty more to choose from. They have tons of appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, grilled chicken platters, seafood platters, po boys, loaded potatoes, and grilled entrees to choose from. If you can't find something to eat here, you are just too hard to please.

 

Like most everyone else in the universe, I love Fridays. But, there is one thing I hate about Fridays in Mississippi. Virtually every restaurant's special is fried catfish. It must be some law that you have to serve fried catfish on Fridays in Mississippi. If there is, Chilly Willy's is a law abiding establishment. Luckily, they do it with a twist. Their Friday feature is Catfish Willy, which is a fried catfish fillet topped with a crawfish cream sauce over a bed of cajun rice. That's what I chose and it was delicious. Anne Morgan chose The Comeback Burger, which was loaded with comeback sauce, bacon, and cheese. She said it was delicious as well. They also had a glass pastry case full of tempting desserts, but we were too full to try one.

Catfish Willy

The Comeback Burger

Chilly Willy's is a fun place to visit. They offer karaoke on Saturday nights to make it even more fun. It has been open for three years and I don't know why I haven't heard of it before now. Plus, they opened a second location in Hammond, La. last year. I'm ready to go back and take the rest of my family for a fun night out. I think I'll pass on the karaoke, though.

 

As the old English proverb goes, "All good things must come to an end." School break is now over and so are our impromptu culinary adventures. We'll just have to make do on the weekends until next year. Oh wait, I just remembered, we have a holiday coming up. There's no telling where our taste buds will take us.