Port Mansfield, TX, BBQ and 'Tahta Salad

I decided to stay here a week. The sun is out today, first time since I've been in this state. And....wait for it....there's fishing here! Yep, sea trout, whatever they are, something called redfish...all catchable from shore. So tomorrow, a-fishing I go. All less than a mile from here. Another factor in my staying is a couple hundred yards down the road there's a BBQ place, that was closed until today. Sweet Gregory P's Smokehouse. I had breakfast there (fine eggs and bacon, nearly as good as the BS in Butte), and decided to get some takeout for dinner tonight.

At 4pm I went back, decided on brisket and ribs, with a side of potato salad. The brisket and ribs came, looked wonderful. Then the waitress put out the potato salad, in a styrofoam bowl, and I looked at it. The styrofoam bowl was as it should be, but it looked like mashed potatoes mixed with maybe some green onions and perhaps mustard. Ever the diplomat, I asked "What's this?" pointing at the bowl. "Tahta salad." she replied. Wanting clarification, I said "No it's not."

The two waitress' looked at each other. "What is it, then?" one asked, clearly wanting to engage in dialog. "Mashed potatoes." I said, helping further the exchange. They looked at each other. "Where you from?" the first rather pointedly asked. I wondered if this might be taking a wrong turn, somehow. "Montana." I replied civilly. More looks were exchanged between the two women. "A Yankee." the first said knowingly. To which the other replied "No, that's like from Canada."

At this point, Gregory came out from a back room. "Hells going on?" he asked, at least that's what I think he said, the local dialect is sometimes difficult to understand. The two waitress talked at the same time for a minute, Gregory seemed to take it in and looked at me. "Want a beer?" he asked.

I left a bit later, intact and with some excellent bbq. And the Tahta Salad ain't bad.

I never question the food in a restaurant, my girls can attest to that.