Out and About: Real chow at Porky's Last Stand

Staring at a rattlesnake skin and seated next to an antique water pump, it dawned on me that from time to time I actually do like a little country atmosphere. And, I guess if you're going try that, Porky's Last Stand is about as good as gets.

It was George's idea to have dinner at the busy little restaurant and lounge. I went right along with the plan because I know this is one place the locals try to keep secret, while an occasional very lucky tourist swears by it.

Porky's has been around for awhile, but one can forget what it's like if you don't frequent the place anymore than I do. There's something about the wood motif and a lounge out back that works almost as much as the staff does.

The menu offers an assortment of "native" dishes from frogs' legs and gator nuggets to catfish and oysters and all of it is complimented by homemade sides such as baked beans, cole slaw and potato salad.

I really wanted to try the Everglades "wings" – frogs' legs in buffalo sauce – but was out-voted in favor of Jalapeno Poppers ($7.95) and Mozzarella Sticks ($6.95). The baskets were filled to the tippy top and were enough that we could've stopped right then. We did our best to eat through to the bottom of the pile because both were super yummy. That was probably a mistake.

As we perused Porky's collection of all things pig and studied the menu, George told me about the latest technology his company uses to template granite and marble countertops. He's the estimator for a small, family-owned company that does big business thanks to the mammoth computerized machine.

He finally decided on a 12-ounce Delmonico steak ($18.95) and I selected the "Ma"-sized pork Spare Ribs ($14.50). While waiting on the entrees, we decided to take our one trip to the salad bar and were tremendously impressed at how nice a variety was presented in such a compact space.

Our salads certainly didn't look as though they came from the same source. I like to try a little of everything, and had to ask what the secret ingredient in the potato salad was. Turns out, the chef uses leftover baked potatoes to create a scrumptiously unique taste.

As for the conch chowder, there was something special going on there, too, but our waitress wouldn't share that particular magic with us.

George ordered his steak medium and was a little disappointed to have it arrive without a pink center, but enjoyed it nonetheless. He left not one smidgen of his baked sweet potato and by the time I finished my baked potato, soup, salad and coleslaw, I could only eat one wonderful rib.

Never ones to let things go to waste, we asked for take-home boxes and dined for a week. The next night, I made stir fry with the pork rib meat. Sunday afternoon, George made his signature "You Name-it Soup" with the remains of his steak. And Monday, determined to consume all the leftovers, I used the rest of the stir fry and soup to make a positively dynamite chili without so much as a peek at the cookbook.