NW Arkansas/SW Missouri Vacation and Outdoor Adventure Thread

My first suggestion and review will be for a small greek restaurant in bumfrick nowhere SW Missouri call Papouli's.

Interestingly, Latarian is the individual who suggested that I visit this hidden gem located not far from Branson West in a blink-your-eyes-and-you'll-miss-it town called Reeds Spring.

My wife and I have reservations for tomorrow evening, so I will report back with my review of this place. If you google Papouli's, you'll notice different review websites rating it extremely high with either 5/5 or 4/5 stars.

I don't believe that Papouli's is open Monday thru Wednesday, but I could be wrong about that. I'll ask tomorrow evening to make sure...

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Your brother from a northern mother

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RA'd

LINK

you will need help to beat Ole miss

Here is the Papouli's review:

Last Saturday evening, my wife and I visited a somewhat famous little greek restaurant in bumfrick nowhere Reeds Spring, MO, a blink and you'll miss it town about 15-20 minutes north of Kimberling City, MO.

First, we ordered an appetizer called saganaki. Saganaki is essentially cheese on fire. They pour bourbon over the cheese and light it on fire, allowing the flame to lightly burn the outer shell of the cheese. Someone at an adjacent table told me that it tastes like a hot, somewhat stout parmesan cheese. That description is very accurate. In my opinion, the saganaki defines this restaurant and the atmosphere. Don't forget to yell, "Opa," the moment they light the cheese on fire or when you take a shot of Ouzo. By the way, opa is pronounced oom-PA.

For the main course, I ordered the lamb Souvlaki, a large lamb shish kabob with mushrooms, red and green pepper, onions, and tomato served over rice and green beens. The lamb was sort of sweet and complimented the roasted vegetables well. The juices from the shish kabob drip down onto the rice like a light "gravy" which causes the rice to take on the flavor from the shish kabob.

The margarita is excellent! One of the very best that I've had anywhere. The only margarita that I believe could match this margarita is the one served at the Pied Piper in Eureka Springs.

Now for the negative:

Not much to say in this section because the place was legitimately charming and the food delicious.

However, a very polite and overly talkative family of five from Kansas sitting at the table next to us sort of invited themselves over to our table toward the end of our meal to look at and discuss our newborn baby.

Like I said, they were a very polite family and we allowed them to entertain us. What we didn't realize was that our jovial conversation with them sort of overtook the entire restaurant and another table adjacent to us apparently complained about the noise level. The owner of the restaurant, a middle aged greek woman, came over to our table and reprimanded us for a long and awkward moment about our noise level and respect for others in the restaurant.

She had every right to do this and I don't blame her. However, that moment sort of put a damper on the evening. To say that we were embarrassed would be an understatement.

Then, after the Kansan family left and everything calmed down, we realized that our newborn baby needed a diaper change. As I was walking to the bathroom, the owner stopped me and indicated that I couldn't change the diaper in the bathroom because they didn't have a changing table. I told her, "That's okay...I'll take her out to the car."

The owner then said, "You can't take her out to your car...it's too cold!"

I said, "It's okay...I'll start the car and heat it up."

She seemingly got angry and said, "I'm not going to let you change that baby in your car."

This all occurred in the middle of the restaurant in the midst of all the patrons. I did everything possible to hold back my embarrassment and anger only to muster, "Well, I have to change her somewhere. If I can't change her in the bathroom, then I'll change her in the car."

The owner then called over two servers and demanded that I change the baby on a restaurant table in the back corner of the building...right behind a table of 5 or 6!!!

I said, "I don't feel comfortable doing this right next to customers."

She said, "Don't worry about them...you're not going to change that baby in the car."

Redfaced, I was escorted to an empty table near in the back corner of the restaurant. The owner commanded two servers to stand in front of the table in an attempt to create a bit of privacy, which was a bit strange and awkward.

Fortunately for the rest of the customers in the restaurant, our baby did not have a poopy diaper which made the diaper change rather uneventful and odorless.

If the Kansan family and diaper change drama hadn't occurred, I'd rank Papouli's 4.5 out of 5 stars. Due to the drama at the end of our meal, I can't rank it higher than 3/5 stars. However, future visits may prove to be less dramatic which will most definitely result in a higher ranking.


NOTE: Let me just say that I'm extremely grateful that I'm not married to an overbearing greek woman. I understand the Spartans now...

Our family is spending Thanksgiving on Table Rock. Close enough to Branson for the women to shop, far enough away so that I don't have to deal with it.

Holy shite. Glad the food was good, but sounds like the place is run by craxies.

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have you stayed in the Branson area before? Would you like some very solid advice?

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yea I get stuck in that place at least twice a year. I took me a while but I finally figured out how to stay the heck away from 65 using the back roads.

The family does thanksgiving up there every year, and then I take the wife for a few days during the summer to keep the peace.

Celebration Cove, Its on the northside of the lake across from Indian Point.

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Will be at Silver Dollar City this Friday

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I think i'll just stay in memphis then.