Mason Dixon Line

After hearing good things about this place, my boyfriend & I decided to try out MDL for dinner last night. Walking in, I was quite surprised by the close quarters but thought the country decor was rather cute. After settling in to the table we chose (the restaurant was completely empty when we arrived), we were quickly brought refreshments & a menu. Opening the menu, I was quite surprised to see that the cheapest entree was $13.95. Considering this restaurant & the area it's in (VERY rural), I was a little appalled. Since the boyfriend was paying & had already decided on his dinner, I went ahead & ordered the Carribean Rum Chicken with a side salad & marinated carrots. He ordered the smoked 1 lb sirloin steak with BBQ beans & a side salad. The salads were very good consisting of lettuce, sliced carrots (would have been better with thin ribbons), red bell pepper & tomato chunks. The bleu cheese dressing was also very good & homemade to boot. Our "appetizer" was homemade french fries with homemade ketchup. Fries were good, ketchup was odd (kind of sweet with a touch of cinnamon?). When our dinner arrived, I was very surprised to see the largest chicken breast I've ever seen on my plate. The lime cream sauce was very good & I was able to get extra half-way through. It definitely made the dry chicken edible. The smoked steak wasn't my cup of tea but the boyfriend at it (& the BBQ beans) with gusto. The beans ended up being pretty tasty, in my opinion. The carrots were pretty interesting & I would have eaten more if I'd had the room. Overall, WAY too expensive for what I got & wouldn't try this place again.

Is it fine dining? A BBQ joint? Or both? You can't tell from the signage outside or the decor inside, but they do have good food. Awesome smoked half chicken and fresh homemade baked beans, cole slaw and pasta salads. Their homemade BBQ sauces are really good.  The owners served us directly, and were very nice people. On the downside, the ribs were dry and not very meaty and really expensive. And the chairs were truly the most lumpy, uncomfortable, odd things I've ever sat on (I know, trivial, but it matters when you're sitting on them for an hour!).  We were the only people there on a weeknight - which was kind of odd.

OK, after getting pushed into trying this place from some friends, and then a random stranger while talking at a gas station, we decided to make the trip.   We ordered the RIBS with all the sides, etc.   I must say, wow, I'm blown away at the quality of the meat.   And, by quality, I'm talking about LACK OF !

Holy crap, I was under the impression this place was the "sh*t", and I've had better BBQ at Seaside, OR!

Seriously, we were not impressed with the food at all, and the prices were somewhat HIGH.  WE MAY TRY AGAIN.   Bummer too, as I always go out of my way for good BBQ.  I love it...