I'm not on the west side of town very often. I never go to the Galleria. And, I haven't been to a Baron's game since they played at Rickwood. There just doesn't seem to be very much for me to grab ahold of out there.

Every so often, though, you find out little tips and hints. People drop lines to tell you about a shop or a deli that nobody knows about. Like, if you just drove two miles further down the road past the clutter, you'd get the real thing, right?

So, as I piloted the vehicle past the spot where the abandoned water park used to be and alongside the beautiful, defunct trestles, I had such information tucked away in admittedly haphazard brain.

First stop on the tour was Muffaletta's. A pizza and sandwich shop tucked away in Bessemer. Iwas excited. because,a well made muffaletta is one of my all time favorite things in the world. I was not to be disappointed.

We arrived and found a spot in the tiny parking lot next to a huge work truck and went in.

What immediately caught my eye was the inclusion of "Papa Joe's" hidden neatly in their logo. Could this be the thing of legend? The original Papa Joes's was a magical spot from my youth. Post little league and a regular Friday night spot for my family. It was a pizza spot that never failed to kick ass. And yes, it WAS the sauce that sits at the forefront of my memories regarding the place. Well, that and the fact that they had a Zaxxon machine in the game room.

I ordered a muff and Liz got a calzone. It was dead in there, but the guy behind the counter was nice and we settled in for a "little bit of a wait." A wait, that turned out to be worth it for sure.

The muffaletta was exactly what it was supposed to be. On the correct bread, with no stupid sauce and an incredible and obviously homemade olive salad. Fan-fucking-tastic. Liz's calzone was in a unique crust that had sesame seeds dotting the top. And, it came with a healthy (meaning big, in this case) side of that legendary sauce. Out of control! It has to be the same family running the place.

We split that scene and cruised over to Cajun Cleaver on 150 to grab some specialty items. Hot Italian sausages? Check. House-made boudin? Check. Tasso Mac & Cheese? Check! Heck, they even had the original 1960's formula Schlitz in longnecks. A bit disorganized, but, all of the product turned out to be top-notch.

Next up was 2nd & Charles for some scrounging through the stacks for ancient cookbooks. Again, we came away with the goods. My favorite score of the trip is a cookbook called "Recipes on Parade: 200World Wide Favorites of Military Officer's Wives." First recipe in the thing is Mrs. Robert McNamara's Beef Bourguignon. pretty sick. They also carry new and used vinyl there. I found a reissue of Black Flag's "Slip it In", too.

A zip down Lorna found us at the Mercado, buying snacks we couldn't pronounce. Well, except for the chorizo flavored Fritos. Which, I might add, should be avoided at all costs. But, the store was cool and they had a pretty amazing butcher shop in there. Complete with all the offal and hooves you can handle. I'm still on the hunt for my favorite Mexican soda, Rio de los Suenos, though. If you come across any, anywhere else, please let me know.

The night was finished off at the new spot downtown called El Barrio. It's sort of an upscale-ish place featuring a nicely varied Latino menu. The decor is really boss. a big graffiti mural styles one whole wall of the place. Be prepared for a wait if you get there past six. It got stacked up in there, quickly.

Since we were still pretty stuffed after a long day of gorging, we settled on a couple of quesadillas. One shrimp and one braised beef and twoo sides of the red and green rice. Id like to know if they make their own tortillas, because it sure does seem like it. And, I mean that in a good way. The shrimp were cooked perfectly, and the braised beef didn't disappoint, either. Cool folks running and working the place made it out to be a seriously fun night. Points awarded for having Good People on tap. Brian, one of the owners, came by the table and chatted for a minute. I like that dude. He's a good egg.

So, all in all, the west side had a few surprises in hand for me that day. Can't say I didn't enjoy my trip out there. Now, if Vestavia would step it up and get shit going, (Besides the amazing Kool Korner)I might be tempted to cross it's town limits again.