Of the many, many, many, many tamale places we’ve been to in the Delta — best goes to Hicks’ in Clarksdale. Hicks’ forever:
Shug loves the hot tamales at Hicks’ (they were a little too spicy for Shugie) — but they both agreed that Chamoun’s Rest Haven has great coconut cream pie:
…and since it was going to be late getting back home, we picked up a few little goodies to tide us over during the night drive at Delta Donut:
Other restaurants in Clarksdale include Madidi (Morgan Freeman and Bill Luckett’s finer dining restaurant, where we had an awful experience), Ground Zero (MF & BL’s idea of a juke joint, which we’ve been to and was okay), Rust (that I really want to try next time), Abe’s (not a fan), and Ramon’s, the Ranch, and Delta Amusement (also want to try that next time).
After a day full of doing fun things with the boys, we drove over to Greenwood for supper at Lusco’s, another of our favorite places. We thought they would get a big kick out of the private tables behind a curtain, where if you need a waiter you just ring your own buzzer. It’s more private and somehow more fun. 
Well, Lusco’s didn’t work out (we should have known: Saturday night + no reservation = one awful table in a 150db room and leaving before even ordering so as not to endure the noise).
We figured Giardina’s (love it) would be similarly busy and Crystal Grill (oooh those pies!) was too…so supper was a grilled cheese in Winona!
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An article in last month’s Chicago Tribune mentions the city’s ‘barbecue renaissance’ and attributes part of it to a style popularized in the Delta, with reference to aquarium smokers. If you can think of someone in the Delta using an aquarium smoker, please email me. Thanks!
