Thanks goes to my brother Joe for finding the Franklinton Grill for me. Some of my favorite down-home lunches and dinners have come from the Grill. Look at the size of that hamburger. And you can get fries with it … if you want.
The Franklinton Grill is located on Washington Street, the main drag of Franklinton, Louisiana. If you can find Franklinton, you can find the Grill. The town is located on LA-10, 16 and . All three highways turn into Washington Street when you hit Franklinton.
Chicken Cordon Franklinton with Mac-n-Cheese:
Chicken Cordon Franklinton starts with a boneless chicken breast, and that's the end of the healthy stuff. The breast is breaded and deep fried, then topped with bacon and bar-b-que sauce. And it doesn't end there. All of that is topped cheddar cheese ... lots of cheddar cheese. Ummm, is that good. Oh, by the way, there's a chicken cordon bleu on the menu, but why?
Now the heavy eating doesn't end here. Of the many sides, I chose the mac-n-cheese. And this isn't any mac-n-cheese. According to legend, the recipe came from another famous Louisiana restaurant in Saint Bernard Parish, Rocky and Carlos. This is a three-cheese casserole dish with orange cholesterol-in-the-raw oozing from the macaroni.
See the side of corn in the top right. The choice was to finish my mac-n-cheese or to eat that. Guess what I did.
Catfish Fillet Dinner:
Look how perfectly fried the catfish is. But what is even better is the side of jambalaya. Look how much jambalaya they give you. By the way, the catfish comes with jalapeno corn fritters. Sorry, forgot to photograph them.
Red Beans and Rice:
The red kidney beans are stewed in ham and served with rice. Grilled pork sausage comes with this dish. This is on the luncheon menu and served as a special on Monday nights as well. They put the glob of rice in the middle for ambience. I just mix it up with the beans when I add the hot sauce.
Golden Fried Shrimp and Onion Rings:
This dish is my brother's favorite. Look how light the onion rings are. If you want to know if a place knows how to deep fry, order their onion rings. If they are as light and grease-free as these are, the cooks know how to deep fry ... anything.
Chopped Steak:
Look at that rich brown gravy … on everything but the green beans. My brother ordered this dish. The chopped Salisbury steak here is a wondrous culinary combination with mashed potatoes. This is the place to come for down-home cooking.
The Bacon Cheeseburger:
The meat in this burger is great. The taste is like a Salisbury steak, but on a bun. I truly enjoyed this burger. And instead of fries, I ordered their great mac-n-cheese. Gotta have their mac-n-cheese!
Desert -- Bread Pudding:
Traditionally, a home-made restaurant desert in Louisiana is the bread pudding. In the olden days, bread pudding was what the Louisiana cooks made with day-ole French bread. Look how much the Franklinton Grill gives you. I could have made a meal off the bread pudding alone!
The Drive:
I go to Franklinton to visit my brother and the Grill is a side trip ... or is that the other way around? Regardless, the food is worth the drive which is about two hours outside of New Orleans or Baton Rouge. If you're passing through the area, the Grill is a great stop for lunch or diner.
Their web page shows a breakfast, but I'm not sure they do that anymore. Also, some of the great sides I displayed get inadvertently dropped from the printed menus from time to time. Ask for them, they still serve jambalaya and mac-n-cheese whether there on the current menu or not. For more information on the Franklinton Grill go to www.franklintonsgrill.com.
