Maggie's Diner

Maggies’s Diner is Tuscaloosa’s best-kept secret. Most of Maggie’s customers discover the restaurant by word of mouth. Located next to a cemetery and a jail, Maggie’s Diner is off the beaten path: a white run down building with black and white awnings and metal security bars on the windows. When I opened the door I was greeted with the perfect whiff of fried and greasy foods. The aroma of fried food and sweet desserts triggered vivid childhood memories of my Granny’s soul food.

I would consider myself half Italian and half southern mutt. I am lucky to have the best of both worlds because I have two grandmothers who are experts in cooking their regional dishes. Unfortunately, neither of my parents inherited the ability to cook. Every Sunday after church I would look forward to going to my dad’s mother’s house for lunch. Grandma Campisi would cook all Saturday to prepare for Sunday lunches. She would have homemade meatballs, sauce, and cannolis waiting for us. I enjoy nothing more than homemade meatballs.

My mom is an Alabama native and her side of the family still lives in there. Every summer my mom would drive my brothers and me up to visit our family. Upon our arrival my grandmother and great grandmother would greet us with a home cooked southern meal. We would get so excited for a warm home cooked meal we would run up the stairs to her house and eat before we unloaded the car. Just like Maggie’s, we would have a variety of vegetables like fried okra, mashed potatoes, green beans, and black-eyed peas that were cooked slowly in a lot of grease. This was a special treat for us because if we wanted to have soul food at home in Florida we had to settle for Cracker Barrel. Sometimes my mom would get desperate enough for traditional southern food she would drive us into predominately black neighborhoods to fulfill our cravings.

My favorite afternoons were spent in north Alabama at my Aunt Chris’s house. She had her own garden where she grew cucumbers, squash, onions, peppers, and other herbs. My cousins and I would play hide and seek and get lost in the tall corn and bean stalks that were like mazes. We would help Aunt Chris pick the cucumbers and watch her make her homemade dill pickles. Aunt Chris would put the fresh cumbers in the jars and then she would boil vinegar on the stove. Then she added homemade dill, garlic and hot pepper and poured it on top of the cucumbers. In two weeks she would have dill pickles. She would make us huge mason jars of dill pickles to take home with us. I could eat all of them in one sitting if I was allowed to.  She would also take her squash and cut them up with onions and peppers and boil them in vinegar. After boiling them together she would pour it on top on her canned squash and have squash pickles. She would also can her own tomatoes. I wish my Italian grandmother could use her homegrown tomatoes. She would make us huge mason jars of dill pickles to take home with us. I could eat all of them in one sitting if I was allowed to.

When I walked to the counter at Maggie’s began to drool as I passed by the peanut butter cookies, cinnamon rolls, and pies. The smell of the desserts reminded me of me of visiting my Granny and spending time together while eating her famous pound cake together. Some of my most vivid childhood memories with my family were spent eating cake together. Pound cake Granny’s pound cake is a southern delicacy and a staple in my family’s dinners. This family recipe was originally handed down orally. It got is name because it was originally made with a pound of butter and a pound of sugar. My grandmother explained that southerners used everything that they had on their farms to make breads and desserts. Their desserts were made of fruits from their orchards and the pie crusts were made from flour, eggs, and butter. To make a pound cake you have to first cream your butter and sugar. Then you alternate adding liquid and dry ingredients like milk and sugar. Pound cake is very versatile because you can add peaches, strawberries and custard to top it off. Now that my brother and I are in college my grandmother will freeze her pound cakes for us and send them to school. If my brother finds them before I do he will hide them from me or eat them before I can ever get a slice. Now that my great grandmother is in assisted living my Grandmother cooks the pound cakes. Unfortunately, I don’t think my mother will continue this tradition but I hope I can.

Black-eyed peas, creamed corn, and fried okra with buttered cornbread are a favorite of the Phillips family. One of the jokes that my grandmother laughs about is when my little brother came to visit and asked her for slimy corn instead of creamed corn, and now it continues to be a family joke. My favorite vegetable to eat is black-eyed peas. To cook them you boil the peas in water with a little salt and grease (butter, oil, or pork fat). Before margarine and butter were popular it was common to use mostly pork fat. This gives the peas a richer flavor. Even though I was full I could not stop stuffing my face. At Maggies I ordered mashed potatoes and gravy, fried okra, green beans, and corn. They tasted similar to my family’s vegetables because Maggie cooks them in as much oil and grease as my family does.

Poor people in the south ate biscuits because they didn’t have anything else. Over the years it has become popular to get a biscuit through a drive through and it became everybody’s breakfast. A lot of old southern foods that were related to poor people have now become gourmet and popular for everybody. For example, Cracker Barrel is very popular. Soul food has survived for a few centuries and is now one of the most popular cuisines in America. Instead of eating at these mainstream chains I support and encourage others to try eating at restaurants like Maggie’s. There is nothing like your grandmothers homemade dishes but Maggie’s Diner is as close to home as you can get. Southern food is food for the soul. College kids still love their pizzas and hamburgers but every now and then we get that craving for comfort food. Maggie’s Diner fills that void and provides a sense of grandmas cooking in Tuscaloosa.