THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610220102
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN
TYPE: RESTAURANT REVIEW
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: 81 lines
I lunched recently at Jemison's Eatery on ``soul food,'' the offshoot - or is it progenitor - of old-fashioned Southern cooking. Locals know it as fried chicken, pork chops, chitterlings, yams, collard greens, black-eyed peas, lima beans and such.
During the 1960s, soul food enjoyed a boom, as civil rights demonstrations and legislation, the rise of ``black power'' and other political movements forced mainstream consciousness of the culture of the people we now know as African Americans. Cafes serving ``home cooking'' had flourished for years in the industrial cities of the North, following the great midcentury movement of blacks seeking economic opportunities from the rural South to the cities of the Midwest and Northeast. Suddenly, finally, soul music and soul food were hip and popular.
There's nothing trendy about Jemison's (461-8975), located in the Davis Corner Plaza, just this side of the Virginia Beach line at Newtown Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard, off the feeder road behind an Amoco station. Homey it is, with kitchenlike tables, photos of famous African Americans on the wall, and a television tuned to a cable sports network.
``Soul food is what we grew up on,'' explained retired Navy chief Robert Jemison, whose wife, Dorothy, and daughter, Jacquelyn Booker, have operated Jemison's for three years. ``It's the way our foreparents cooked, good, down-home cooking, not fast food. Most dishes are pan-fried rather than deep-fried. It's basically Southern, country cooking. Back a long time ago, things that were thrown away, like chitterlings, were given to blacks, to slaves, and our food derived from there. Taking it and making the best of it.''
Jemison's serves breakfast, such as three pancakes ($2.09); an egg omelet with toast ($1.35); and a breakfast special of a choice of sausage, bacon or ham, with two eggs, dry cereal, grits or hash rounds, biscuit or toast ($2.95). Lunch offers sandwiches, including a pork chop ($3.55); chicken breast ($3.75); tuna ($2.85) or chicken ($2.95) salad; a barbecue pork rib sandwich, all with fries ($4.50); even a pair of hot dogs ($1.50), and burgers.
Dinner includes two vegetables, roll or corn bread, with pork ($6.50) or beef ($6.75) ribs; baked or fried pork chops ($5.80) or chicken ($4.95); pig's feet ($4.65); chitterlings ($5.50); catfish and steak dinners. I had juicy fried chicken, with heaping servings of back-eyed peas and macaroni and cheese. The food was comforting and filling, but it was a bit unnerving watching bodybuilders on TV while eating fried chicken.
Hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Don Pablo's has opened in Chesapeake, offering an unusual take on traditional ``Tex-Mex'' cuisine. Prepare to wait, as Don Pablo's is so popular it isn't unusual to wait 30 minutes to an hour. The lounge of the cavernous structure at 1308 Greenbrier Parkway (Greenbrier Market Center) offers plenty of space to munch on complimentary chips and salsa.
Texas-based Don Pablo's bills itself as ``The Real Enchilada,'' with 50-plus units in 11 states, and models its main dining area after a Mexican village plaza, with skylights, stucco and exposed brick walls looking like they've been around for decades, colorful tiles, tropical plants and plenty of racket.
The variety and quality of food at Don Pablo's distinguish it from chain competitors. Lunch specials (Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) include a tuna or chicken Caesar salad ($5.95) of mesquite-grilled tuna or fajita-style chicken with honey-roasted pecans over greens; the Don Tomas, a pork tamale and a cheese enchilada with chili sauce, rice and beans ($4.85); Mama's Skinny Plate ($5.15), with 3.5 fat grams per enchilada, two corn tortilla chicken enchiladas, charra beans (pintos with chopped tomato and onions), and rice.
Among 50-plus dinner entrees, combos and a la carte items are entree platters of chicken or beef corn tortilla tacos ($6.15); chicken ($6.50), beef or cheese enchiladas ($6.25); beef or chicken fajitas ($8.75); nachos, burritos, even burgers. Don Pablo's hours (549-2911) are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Members of the Jemison family who work at Jemison's Eatery are, from
left, Charles, Kevin and Robert Jemison. In back are Jacci Booker, a
sister who's the manager, and Robert's daughter, Lemica Rains. by CNB