OPINION —
A little over two weeks ago, my good friend Shelly, who lives in LaGrange, Georgia, came to Auburn to go shopping and have lunch with me on Black Friday. Shelly is 10 years younger than I and is my personal shopper. She hones in on great buys and then helps me lug them to her car.
Shelly is also very calm and supportive. When I discovered that I had lost one of my bank envelopes which contained my Christmas money, she kept me from panicking as we retraced our steps, stopping at each place where I had bought something; however, the envelope remained missing.
Shelly said, “I’ll bet you accidentally put it in one of your shopping bags.” We were both praying she was right as we went to her car. Thankfully, she was. My envelope containing my shopping money was in the first bag in which I looked. Believe me, Shelly and I both thanked the Good Lord.
At the end of our shopping day, I was happy at all that Shelly and I had accomplished. However, I am thankful that Black Friday only comes once a year.
When Shelly dropped me off at home and left to go back to LaGrange, I passed out in my La-Z-Boy recliner and took a much-needed nap.
Later that evening, Mike and I decided to try The Breezeway, a restaurant which opened in 1991 and is locally owned by Gena and John Henley. The Breezeway is located at 213 S. 8th St. in downtown Opelika.
Right away, I loved the homey atmosphere of The Breezeway. Also, the Christmas decorations were beautiful.
Since Mike and I were new customers, we were given four free chicken fingers (two fried and two grilled), as well as three different sauces to sample. According to The Breezeway’s menu, their chicken fingers are “hand breaded and fried, or marinated a minimum of 24 hours and grilled to perfection.”
Oh, my two times. Mike and I will now be regular customers of The Breezeway. Their chicken fingers were the best we’ve ever tasted in Lee County.
My three favorite places to get chicken fingers in Auburn (which will remain nameless), slipped down to second, third and fourth place in my personal poultry poll. (I love alliteration.)
Since I was still tired from shopping, Mike and I ordered our supper to go. Mike and I both ordered the five chicken fingers with French fries, coleslaw and Texas toast. Mike chose grilled, and I chose fried.
When we arrived at home, we jumped on those meals. Everything was outstanding. I even loved the coleslaw, and I’m not usually a big fan of that side.
In fact, we enjoyed our food so much, we came back just four days later and ate at The Breezeway. This time, Mike ordered the fried chicken fingers, and I order half fried and half grilled. Everything was delicious again. In fact, we love The Breezeway’s chicken fingers so much, we ordered 50 chicken fingers and three quarts of their coleslaw for our Patton family Christmas at our home on Dec. 20.
During our second visit to the restaurant, we met and talked with Gena Henley, one of the owners, and she was so kind, patient and friendly — as was Johnethen, who waited on us.
I also chatted with the Fuller family, who love eating at The Breezeway. They eat together every Tuesday night at the restaurant.
Besides the terrific chicken fingers, The Breezeway also serves diners a variety of salads, catfish — farm-raised in the U.S. — shrimp, burgers and sandwiches.
The Breezeway is open on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Shelly, this review was for you. Thanks for being a wonderful friend and personal shopper. Love you!
The Breezeway makes the grade with an A+ from this retired English teacher. Remember, “Pooh-sized” people never lie about food. Enjoy!
Stacey Patton Wallace, who retired from teaching language arts for 30 years, is a professional diner. Her column, “Making the Grade,” will appear every other week in The Observer. Stacey may be reached at retiredlangartsteacher2020@gmail.com
On the road to the Breezeway
