Oh Paula Deen You Disappoint Me!

I am without a doubt a big Paula Deen fan. I have been a fan for a long time...not just one of those "fan-come-latelys". I have the recipe books...the early ones. I have "tivo"d the show for years.  I actually MAKE the recipes.  Yes, I like her.  So when Harrah's Casino in Cherokee announced that it would be adding Paula's Deen's Kitchen Restaurant to their property I was just a little excited!


I learned too late that Paula herself would be there for the opening so I missed it. But true to her spirit, she stopped at the Manna Food Bank in Asheville to help distribute Smithfield Hams.

I knew the stars had aligned a few weeks later when my daughter was scheduled to play basketball against Cherokee High School.  You got it...just a few miles from Paula Deen's restaurant! So I quickly made hotel reservations at Harrah's and headed to the ball game! However, we were quickly disappointed as we learned the restaurant would be closed the next day due to renovations/construction in the restaurant. So we left Cherokee with no Paula Deen cooking!


However, the stars lined up again for me just a week later when my daughter tells me her soccer team is headed to Cherokee! So my oldest daughter and I leave early to give plenty of time to grab lunch at Paula Deen's.  We arrive at the restaurant, take a few arrival pics (yes we were excited) and head in to check out the menu.

   

And here is the Paula Deen's Kitchen Menu...not exactly a value meal! http://www.harrahscherokee.com/images/non_image_assets/Paula_Deen_Menu_All_Day.pdf

After walking through the fabulous Paula Deen Store we are seated.  We look over the menu and choose fried chicken with okra and tomatoes and collards for Lauren, and cornmeal crusted catfish with creamy coleslaw and sweet potato wedges for me.  After nearly one hour of waiting for our food (in an almost empty restaurant) our food arrives.  And it is HORRIBLE! I couldn't believe it. It was cold, the fried chicken was tasteless, the catfish was BLEH! Not quite sure how to explain how disappointed we were. So after almost $50 and one and half hours we left Paula Deen's with sad faces.

I am sure Paula has no idea that the folks at Harrah's Cherokee are totally ruining her rep.  Someone needs to tell her! It's that bad! Oh well...hopefully we will make it to the Lady and Son's in Savannah one day and all will be made whole again! In the meantime, in my next post I will share one of my favorite Paula Deen recipes that you can make at home...and it's guaranteed good!