Gumbo Shop

I made my second visit to the Gumbo Shop this afternoon for lunch with the Suters, the Coats, and Lynda. My first visit occurred a little over a year ago when I was on spring break and I remember really enjoying the food and the company. The visit today was just as enjoyable and even better than I remember.
I ordered a Roast Beef Poor Boy and it was so amazingly delicious.

You know how sometimes you get an unexplainable craving and when you satiate that craving you feel as though everything is good in the world, you have entered your own heaven on earth and things could not possibly get any better. Well for some reason I was craving roast beef, and this poor boy hit the spot. The gravy sauce was all over my fingers and I wanted to lick them clean in front of everyone in the restaurant in order to continue the taste euphoria, but I mostly resisted and kept it classy. It's hard to stay classy when the food is messy and delicious and all you want to do is lick your plate clean. Today I made the comment that I didn't think of southern food as being fancy or classy and apparently that comment implied that I thought Southern food is trashy. This is not true. Let me explain myself. Southern food is delicious, I would eat it everyday of my life if I could. However, it is not a food that can be eaten and fully enjoyed in a fork and knife manner (like steak or salad). Your hands are essential in the enjoyment. For example, crawfish, fried chicken, and poor boys. The food is greasy and so I would be afraid to wear a nice cocktail dress out to a southern restaurant because I either 1) wouldn't be able to order anything really amazing without sacrificing my dress to gravy or grease drippage, or 2) would order amazing food but would be unable to enjoy it due to guilt steaming from ruining my dress. Furthermore, southern food is so filling that I would prefer to be in something comfortable for the duration of the meal. Preferably something with an expandable waistline.
All that is to say that I really enjoyed Gumbo Shop and I truly love southern food.
Price: my poor boy was around $10, I ate half at lunch and took the other half home for dinner. It was amazing cold, too.
Additional comments: While I and others I was with really enjoyed it, the Suters were not completely impressed. They felt like they had better homemade southern food, but liked it enough to consider coming again.