Review of Ma's Grill, Coats

            Ma’s Grill in Coats, NC describes themselves perfectly.  They unapologetically make good down-home southern cookin’.  Their meats and vegetables are right off the farm and you can taste the difference between homegrown and canned once you visit Ma’s.  (Although, we know now that you CAN ordered their fresh veggies canned if you have a hankerin' out of season.)

            Now, we’ve driven past Ma’s countless times on our way to the "big city" for real food, but little did we know that it was right in our home town. Honestly, the only reason we didn't stop was because we were judging a book by its cover. The outside? Is honestly a little rundown looking. In no way am I saying that the place is dirty, because it's not. It's just simple, old, country living. I’ve even heard it described as a hole-in-the-wall, but I think that might be a bit extreme.  (I think it may be a little big to be a hole anyhow.) Inside the tables and booths are wooden and old-fashioned with very high, perfectly straight backs.  There are seven tables in the main dining room, and then another 5-6 in the back room.  I would guess that Ma’s only has four workers: one waitress who is very nice, sweet, a little loud and will talk your ears off, who goes by "Mouth" to the regulars, one counter worker, and two cooks. 

            Ma’s offers a very simple menu.  Their lunch and dinner selections include burgers, hot dogs, sausage dogs, BBQ sandwiches and chicken sandwiches as well as daily specials like meatloaf, fried chicken, a BBQ plate, or a steak. (On a regular basis, you can find an old, worn down marquis sign outside letting you know what their special is that day.) They list their sides of the day on a white board in each room.  Typically they have everything from fresh okra, to potato salad, house-pickled beets and coleslaw.  On Friday nights and Saturdays they have a fried fish and shrimp menu as well. 

            Our first time at Ma’s, Megan ordered the ¼ fried chicken (breast and wing) along with okra two ways, fried and breaded as well as fried and unbreaded.  I tried the unbreaded okra, and for the first time in my life, I thought it was good.  Without the breading, you don’t get the mushy center texture that normally is associated with okra (and also my main problem with it).  However, the fried chicken was without question, the best fried chicken that I have ever eaten.  Yes, it takes 20-30 minutes for them to fry a fresh chicken, but if you can handle the wait, it is worth it.  (You can also call ahead and pre-order it if you are in a hurry or get it for take-out.)  The outside of the chicken was perfectly browned and super crunchy.  The inside was steaming hot and perfectly moist.  Really. This fried chicken puts any other that I have had to shame. (Move over, Colonel Sanders.)  On our first trip, I ordered the meatloaf with sides of beets and coleslaw.  The portion that I received was smaller than I had expected, but when I considered that the price of most of their meals is $5.95-$6.95, you are still getting a bargain.  The meatloaf was good, it tasted just like one you would make at home.  It was meaty and speckled with bits of onions and peppers and topped with a ketchup glaze.  While it wasn’t my favorite dish, there are plenty of other options to keep you coming back.  My coleslaw was average; finely diced cabbage in a mayonaise base.  My beets were good once I got over the shock of them being pickled.  For some reason, I guess I just expected them to be hot since the whiteboard did not specify.  And just like when you expect something like Coke when you have a glass of sweet tea, at first you are shocked.  But their pickled beets were very tasty and I consumed them all.  To be fair, they are the only pickled beets I have ever had, so I have nothing to compare the sweet/sour taste and texture to, but I did order them again on another occasion. (But I can testify that we've seen at least 2 different people on our 5 visits so far, come in and pick up gallon size jars of them.)
           Megan says it's important to mention that the sweet tea is perfect, and she'd know because she drinks way more of it than she does water (or anything else for that matter.) She also claims the hushpuppies are some of her favorites, and they come with every meal. 

            The waitress said it best on our first time there, “We may not look the prettiest, but we’ll feed ya darn good food.”  She was right.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a simple place, don’t expect smoked brie en crute; expect good, home cooked southern food. It's more than enough and well priced. We always get out for less than 15 dollars, and we sleep like babies that night.   

Addendum: We went back two days later for their Friday fish menu.  Megan ordered the trout and I got the flounder and shrimp combination.  Both dishes were perfectly fried and crunchy, and strangely fresh tasting, especially since we don't live THAT close the beach.  While the shrimp themselves were on the smaller side, the sheer quantity of them easily made up for the shrimp’s shrimpy size.  I highly recommend giving Ma’s Grill a shot some time.

Category	Scale 1-5 stars
Food Quality
Food Creativity
Service
Atmosphere
Value for the Price