Cuisine Review

So much for my healthy eating. It lasted all of seven days. I got back into it on Monday, but not after a fried food extravaganza at Heroes Sports Bar and Grill in LoDa.

Surely you have eaten here, or watched any number of sports events on their many televisions. Heroes has developed into a Mobile institution. Large and lengthy, Heroes is mainly a bar at night that serves food. But during the day and on weekends, they draw a fairly mixed crowd. You will find guys out to watch football, baseball, any sport event going on; couples; hung over singles and smiling families.

Heroes was lucky in that they were granted the opportunity to build a deck outside their restaurant. Along with Spot of Tea, this is grand seating to enjoy nice weather, people watch and let the kids play in Cathedral Square. Before Mike Dow left office, there were plans for two more in LoDa — Wintzell’s and 219. Unfortunately, John Bell, the city’s director of Public Works, having wormed his way into the merit system several years ago, is uninventive and is against any progress downtown.

His bio states that his only real job experience is in the area of waste management. He has the ear of Sam Jones, and thinks just about any improvement impedes traffic flow. Does John Bell have any statistics to support this? I think not. Has he any studies to show from other areas to meet this? I think not.

We’ve all experienced the wonderful planning over the years from his department — take the beltlines for an example. I would think William Carroll, the city councilman for downtown, would take this up, along with Councilpersons Brooks and Hudson. Heroes alone has seen a 30 percent increase in business since getting the deck. The impact of extra tax dollars, along with no facts to support not doing this (other than John Bell’s opinion) would seem to outweigh Bell’s laziness and unprogressive views. Call William Carroll at 208-7441 to express your support, asking him to take up this matter!

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful-but-windy Sunday and we decided to head downtown for lunch. A number of friends wanted to join us, and we ended up with six adults and eight children out on the deck. Our waitress handled and kept up with everything perfectly, she was quite deft and kind to put up with kids running around.

Immediately after ordering the kids took off for Cathedral Square with the adults taking turns watching out for them. I was quite hungry and first asked for the appetizer sample platter ($7.95) before the crowd arrived. Piping, sweltering, bulbous fried mushrooms, a few hot wings and mozzarella sticks came quickly to the table. All were snatched up immediately. None appeared or tasted like they were prepackaged, but Sysco can do some great things these days. The sauce for the mushrooms was viscous and zinged with a touch of horseradish.

Having such a large group provided the opportunity for me to taste just about everything on the menu. My kids wanted chili cheese fries and grilled cheese. My wife and her friend each ordered a Reuben ($6.75). Many children got the chicken fingers. Another adult chose the culo grande nachos, someone else the chili. I got a smoked cheddar burger with fries and onion rings.

The Reubens were smaller than I had remembered them, a little flat with not very much corned beef. It was well grilled with the right amount of butter, not soggy but crisp. My wife ordered it without the Thousand Island dressing, and while she does not like it, I believe our friend’s Reuben tasted better with the dressing, because she had high compliments for it. The chicken fingers ($6.25) are awesome, large real chicken breast meat, crunchy outside, hot on the inside.

The “culo grande” nachos ($7.95) were nothing special. Pretty bland in fact — I never saw much chili, it was mostly kidney beans. There was lots of lettuce. The best, most seductive items were the three orders of chili cheese fries (basket, $5.95). Heroes does have among the best French fries around, and the baskets are piled high.

There was approximately two cups of cheese and a large amount of chili (that did have plenty of meat and beans). Everyone gorged on them, including me. Actually, I ate off of everyone’s plate — pigging out on chicken fingers, biting into the grilled cheese, hogging the appetizers. I did not eat until almost lunchtime the next day.

I am not someone who always orders the burger. I tend to wait until I know a restaurant has or is known for great ones. My office is a block away from Heroes, and at times I have ordered a burger to go from there and have consistently been pleased. Grilled and a touch greasy is how I like burgers prepared. So, I had great expectations when I decided to get the burger with smoked cheddar (burger $6.25, cheese .50 extra).

I did order it medium rather than my typical medium rare, because previous times here it was grilled a little on the rare side. Maybe this is why it was rather dry for me. This was further complicated by the large sourdough bun, which again has never and likely will not bother me in the future — it was just maybe not my day to order a burger. I would not discourage you from ordering one. I do recommend that you pay fifty cents extra to add onion rings as one of your sides.

The sandwiches all come with a choice of slaw, baked beans, fries and the onion rings if you pay more. The rings are rather generous in size, onions sheathed in a thick batter. The baked beans are a bit sweet, but I like them this way, but do always order the fries as a side.

Not perfect? Well is anyone or anywhere perfect? Heroes has great atmosphere, typically good service and is satisfying. They also have some well prepared and tasty food. You really can’t go wrong eating at Heroes.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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