Cotton Blues

photo by Patrick

Cotton Blues, Lunch, Hattiesburg
July 28, 2016

P:
Beet chips, bread and butter slices (complimentary, to share)
Fried Chicken Sandwich - Buttered bun, pimento cheese, tomato jam
Buttered lima beans, French fries

J:
Buttermilk Ranch Salad - Romaine, fried sweet onion rings, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, bacon
Blackened Redfish Tacos - Cilantro jalapeño sauce, sour cream, lettuce, fried jalapeños, black-eyed pea pico de gallo, served with pico de gallo & crab grits


Notes:
Crossing Mississippi on the way to Little Rock, we made an unplanned stop in Hattiesburg for a late lunch.  Originally, we intended to stop for BBQ but we hadn't left Silverhill in time and the chosen place would have been closed by the time we arrived.  For a short while, I agonized over the disruption to my food itinerary (I like to over think our food destinations when traveling), but hunger stepped in and provided some focus.  After combing the interwebs for a worthy spot nearby, we settled on Cotton Blues.

I must say I was (very) skeptical.  Aside from the fact that I hadn't the chance to thoroughly vet this place, it had all the trappings of a (potentially bad) chain restaurant: the nondescript building in a half-empty strip mall, sprawling dining rooms, the extensive, spiral bound menu.  Thankfully, I couldn't have been more wrong.

With our iced teas (sweet and not, of course), they served a little plate of house-made beet chips and bread and butter pickle slices; a nice touch, not to mention tasty.  But let's move on to my looks-as-good-as-it-sounds salad.  Two giant, crispy onion rings balanced atop cut romaine drizzled with a cool ranch and accompanied by salty, crumbled bacon and crisp, cold cucumber, red onion, and tomato.  Yum!  The tacos were brought to the table in some ridiculous taco holder thing (eye roll, just gimme a plate, would ya?), but that aside were very good.  Admittedly, the execution was a little off - some of the ingredients were so wet the corn tortillas became soggy, but frankly, I was just as happy to eat the filling on its own.  Moist and tender blackened redfish with crispy-fried thin jalapeno slices, a cool black-eyed pea relish, shreds of crisp lettuce and cool, creamy dressing made this just another delicious salad (served out of a ridiculous taco holder).  The only miss was the crab grits - cold, stiff, and the crab tasted old.  No thanks.

Patrick's fried chicken sandwich was monstrous and lovely.  The chicken was nicely breaded, and the meat moist and flavorful.  The tomato jam was a tasty addition to the butter-toasted bun and the pimiento cheese was judiciously applied.  The fries were good (I verified this more that once), if not average, and the smoky, hammy white beans seemed to hit the spot.  He did give up on the buttery bun about halfway through, though, (it was huge) and finished the chicken on its own.

Cotton Blues isn't a chain, and it's in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  So, if you ever find yourself hungry in Hattiesburg, you should give it a try.