Drinking tea is known as one of the best benefits for a person’s body. Tea can help get rid of a cold, give you antioxidants, help you to sleep, reduce risk of stroke and heart attack, keeps you hydrated, and much more. Hillbilly Tea (120 South 1st St.) offers a variety of teas as well as food. All their products come from local venders and after eating there I can honestly say it's the best food I’ve ever eaten. The only thing I can think of to describe this experience is a quote from Adelle Davis, “We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.”
Not only do they brew tea but they also make their own soda products; which I could not fathom, but having had it I see why they do this. I tried their lavender soda and it was better than any soda product I have ever tasted. Lavender soda contains about 70 calories for one bottle, at this restaurant with the glass I’d say it contained about 140 because the glass was so large. This homemade soda has less sugar, carbohydrates, and calories than what you find in your average restaurant beverages. I believe out of all the restaurants around town this is one of the healthiest.
The teas that my guests and I drank were remarkable. I had the tea with cream milk; this had just the right amount of sweetness in it to make me feel like I had sugar in it. Someone else ordered “good earth” (article photo)which has minty undertones to it. After I tasted it I could definitely see the appeal to drinking this tea during the winter or when feeling sick. I suggest going to this restaurant to taste their tea selection if not eat there, it is amazing.
If you would like to eat there the food is delectable. For lunch I tried the special for the day and it was delicious. The special was duck burger with havarti cheese on a house made focaccia bun, this totals at around 501 calories. And this was the best duck I have ever tasted; they know how to cook it just right so you don’t feel like the meat is too dry or not done. I also had some sweet potato fries which were amazing.
The other food at the table was goat sausage (another special), smoked catfish, and their home made chow chow (pickled red cabbage). I took a bite of each of these things and was dumbstruck at the flavors. I have never gone into a restaurant and tasted so many flavors in one bite. The catfish had undertones of mint (I think they use the same herb from the good earth tea to spice it up).
Before eating the goat sausage I was wary because I have never eaten goat before, but it was incredibly good. The chow chow is better than any type of cole slaw out there; it is not cole slaw but reminds me of it. If you’re not a cole slaw fan you’ll love this and if you do love cole slaw you’ll find a new love in this dish. I recommend getting the chow chow if you want a side for your lunch or dinner. The only bad thing is that everything you by is separate so it adds up. If you get a lunch or dinner in a box they come with sides; if you get a single item and want sides it costs more. So it is worth it to get the boxed meals.
(I get my calorie information from fatsecret.com and caloriecount.com)
Photos by Kathleen Quinn
