Fausto's - Iowa, LA

Chicken Fried Road Trip: New Orleans (Part 2 of 2)

On my return trip to the Lone Star State from New Orleans, a colleague recommended Fausto’s to me in a little town about halfway to Houston in Iowa, Louisiana (no, this is not a typo).

Inside Fausto’s is more like a fishing lodge than a restaurant with several impressive large mounted fish and pictures of the catch of local fishermen adoring the walls. It was clearly a family run place, with family pictures on the wall of people I recognized from the restaurant.

The CFS: Moist, tender and tasty, but clearly pre-formed and frozen. It resembled a hockey puck as it was poised curvelinearly on my (styrofoam) plate.

Breading: Dense and salty. Clearly had been pre-professed. More like a protective shell than breading.

Gravy: White and creamy but without much to it. A bit like wallpaper paste. Not much flavor or depth and too runny to be much good.

Knife: Plastic, for goodness sake. Quality aside, these were inappropriate for the size of the job.

Sides: One side to choose one that was fixed. The fixed item was a small cup of cole slaw which was awful – too much mayo and too much vinegar made for a sloppy mess. The sides you could choose among French fries, baked potato or onion rings. I ordered the French fries; my server brought me the onion rings. In a hurry, ate the onion rings. My mistake. The onion rings were awful too: cold, overly salty, dense breading and too thin to get any onion flavor. The meal also came with a roll that was like eating a cold pillow – it was clearly pulled out of a bag with hundreds of other rolls.

Cost: $ 8.99. Too much considering the quality of the meal.

Service: Counter service – place order from a large menu with small type and they bring out the food. Service was friendly although not totally competent.

Music Selection: None.

In retrospect, I should have had the fried chicken as recommended to me but I simply couldn’t resist trying the CFS when presented with the option. I mean, what kind of chicken fried blogger would I be if I didn't? So, stick to the fried chicken at Fausto’s and stick to Texas for Chicken Fried Steak.

105 E. Miller Avenue, Iowa, LA.

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Getting All Political.

The Chicken Fried Texan is not political. I accept all fried food-loving people, be they gravy on or off the meat folks, lovers of fried or fresh okra or deep-fried over pan fried CFS aficionados.
But, action to ban delicious trans fats from Texas eateries recently passed by the Texas Senate has pushed me into action! (see below article or read the legislation here).

Image borrowed from here.

Texas Senate OKs Bill Banning Trans Fat
By JANET ELLIOTT
Houston Chronicle
May 8, 2009

AUSTIN — Chicken-fried steak with zero trans fat? Are you kidding? Not at the Texas Legislature, they’re not. Under a bill passed Friday by the Senate, restaurants across the state would be banned from cooking with oil that contains trans fat. Many major fast-food chains and doughnut shops already have stopped using trans fat, said Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, sponsor of the measure. Trans fat raises LDL, the “bad cholesterol,” and lowers HDL, or “good cholesterol,” which can lead to clogged arteries and an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. It now heads to the House, where it has passed in committee, giving it healthy odds of making it through the full Legislature. New York and California have banned the substance, developed during World War II to extend the life of cooking oils by adding hydrogen. Large restaurant chains would have until Sept. 1, 2010, to comply; chains with fewer than 15 restaurants would have an extra year. Bakeries, grocery stores and nonprofits such as state fairs or rodeos would be exempt. Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, mocked the bill: “Is there a charge in the bill for assault with a deadly triglyceride?”

The legislation must now be passed by the Texas House of Representatives to become law. So, write, call or email your Texas House Member today to preserve our beloved fried vittles forever!

Fat lovers unite!

To paraphrase fellow Texan Lyndon Johnson, “we must either love [our fried goodness] or we must die.”