Blown away

I'm not sure which one of my two men, my dog or my husband, loves BBQ more. While John and I were making the final decision to move to the South, part of me always wondered just how much of his decision making was being steered by the promise of southern chicken drenched in sticky sauce. And there are very few things in the world that my dog chooses over cheese--BBQ chicken is one of them.

Turns out, it took only a couple of weeks before the two sets of pleading eyes that made their presence every time dinner discussions began, wore me down.  This might not sound like an extraordinary feat, but since I'm a strict vegetarian, it's no small matter for us to plan date night around meat cooked on a grill.

So last week we went to Blowin' Smoke, drawn not only by the promise of live jazz music on the outside patio, but also the multiple vegetarian options on the menu!

We also had a feeling that this might be a pretty dog friendly establishment, based on the number of outside seating. And we were right! Not only was Barksdale welcomed with open arms, our server promptly brought us water in a proper doggie bowl for him to enjoy only moments after we sat down. The highlight of the night for him was when another waitress stopped off on her way bringing cleared plates to the back kitchen to offer him a giant rib bone that had been left. Barksdale gladly took the offering and took turns both eating and guarding his new treat for the rest of the night. So much so, that we almost forgot that he was there! One small drawback to the night was when we sked for a small plate of chicken or a meatball for him, we were told that it wasn't economically feasible for the restaurant to offer dog-sized portions.

So, for my first dog-restaurant review in Savannah, I would give Blowin' Smoke a pretty high rating (let's say 3 out of 4 bones). Not only was it a great place to bring the dog, but the food, the music, and the overall atmosphere were all great too. My only hesitation in going back to Blowin' Smoke in fact, is that BD will certainly try for a second rib bone, and judging by his stomach's reaction to the last one (as evidenced by the new stains on my carpet), this may not be the best idea...

Stay tuned for many more restaurant reviews as we continue on to the next delectable dog-friendly place!