Page’s Okra Grill – Definitely not Medi-okra

Guest Blogger Tripp Bennett here, reporting from Page’s Okra Grill in Mt. Pleasant. I’m not going to lie, when the gang (really, just Tripp Boyd) invited me to go with them to the Okra Grill I was a little worried. Mostly because Okra scares me, what with it’s funny sounding name and I wasn’t quite sure how to spell it and it’s oxymoron of fried okra (fried vegetables, really?).
I went in and the first two things I noticed were how big the place is (frickin’ giants could have comfortably fit in this place) and how loud it was. The good news is it wasn’t so loud you couldn’t here everyone talk, so they got that going for them. It had a real Southern down home feel to it, even the chairs seemed Southern, if chairs can seem Southern. I sat down with the Lunchspot gang and AJ and ordered my usual water. The waitress was very simpatico, however as we would later find out she would leave us hanging a few times. Now I have never eaten here before, and truth be told it is not really my kind of place (no chickenfingers), so I took T Boyd’s suggestion and ordered a cheeseburger, cooked medium, and, since we were at Okra Grill, I went with the fried okra, which I hadn’t had since I was a little kid and my parents would take me to Ryan’s. After about a 10 min. wait our food showed up. Now, have you ever seen the commercials that show you a big juicy burger, the lettuce is crisp and the tomato is huge, and then when you order one you get a soggy bun and the lettuce is a tad brown and you’re really not even sure the tomato is on there. This is not one of those times. The burger arrived and the commercial came true. Let me tell you, the lettuce really is that crispy and the tomato really is that big and the burger really is that juicy (and not messy juicy, there was minimal one napkin needed messiness). This culinary creation was a bit rarer than I was expecting, but that just made it all the more juicy and tender. And the beef, which Ish was proposing too, was awesome. Apparently, so I’m told, it is actually ground up on site, and you could definitely taste the difference. It is one of the better burgers I think I’ve ever had. Poe’s beware. The fried okra tasted just like the okra at Ryan’s all those years ago, and I enjoyed the memories. And the okra.
Now, judging from everybody’s reaction, they were all having a similar experience. T Boyd loved the gravy, and by loved I mean he was attacking his plate, and by attacking I mean it looked like his head was glued to the plate, and by glued to the plate I mean he was tonguing the plate. Yes, tonguing the plate because the gravy was so good. And Jay had his biscuit with syrup. But on to other things, even Ish’s salad was good, judging from the way everyone was picking at it. I was damned impressed. The place was very clean and with the exception of a wobbly table I had a great time. After we left I realized I forgot to take a look at the bathroom for this column so I drove by on the way home and inspected. The men’s bathroom is a single toilet and the area was clean but a little messy with pieces of paper left around. It did smell nice, and bathrooms should always smell springy. When we went to pay my total was 7.12 before tip and I get the feeling most of us were in range of that (thanks Tripp). I will definitely eat here again and coming from me that’s saying something.

-Tripp Bennett