I’m eating at Ryan’s again today.

I’m going eMobile from my EVO.

Addendum:  Yesterday, Monday, January 30th, 2012, I went to eat at Ryan’s.  I probably had not been there since the 17th, when the above picture was taken.  The week of Jan. 23rd – 24th, I was in Ingeniux Training and we, the trainers & Suzanne ate at several different restaurants that week.  So, as I’m turning in to the parking lot of Ryan’s I see that there is only one automobile in the whole area and that is unusually parked next to the wall near the front entrance.  I see a notice on the door, but it is telling a Christian Tours group to meet elsewhere.  There is nothing regarding the closing.

Later, I manage to google and find a notice from a former staff/waitress saying that Ryan’s closed unexpectedly on Jan. 20th, 2012.  That was a Friday, I think.  So, at my last lunch at Ryan’s I took the above picture.

They had good food.  Alot of different things that didn’t change often, but had good flavor.  They had a good desert bar.

NOTE: Found this article regarding the Ryan’s chain filing for bankruptsy and closing some, but not all locations: http://www.salisburypost.com/News/012112-salisbury-ryans-staying-open-qcd

ADDENDUM [ 11/18/23 ]:  I found the following pictures of the Ryans in Fayetteville on their web site, which still was online.  I guess no one to delete it, until space is needed, and closed eleven years ago.

NOTE [ 11/18/23 ]: Just recalled that it was in January of 2012 that I was diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic, so the deserts would have been nixed, even if Ryans hadn’t gone out of business. Peeing on the bed was mildly traumatic, since I didn’t recall ever peeing on my bed, even when I was a child. A small rectangular spot of urine on my sheet, which I changed out and went back to sleep. But, then it took me about two weeks before I could get a doctor’s appointment, and by that time I was drinking a bunch of different fruit juices thinking that might ease the slight burning around my stomach. In retrospect, you go, drinking a bunch of fruit juices is exactly the opposite of what a diabetic should be doing. And, yes, if I had known it was diabetes related, I wouldn’t have been drinking all those juices.

I do recall the doctor, and I think she was female, said something to the effect when reading my lab results, “It says your BGL is over 400, that must be wrong.” To which my thought was, “Lady if you knew how much fruit juice (apple, grape, orange) I’ve been drinking (several quarts a day), that figure is probably “spot on.” Now I didn’t say “spot on” back then, but the equivalent is what I thought.

ORIENT GARDEN

This is about the 3^rd time that I have eaten at Orient Garden. My friend, Leo Taylor, first introduced me to this restaurant. He lives a short distance from this strip mall. This shopping center is at the corner of Fayetteville (Rd/St) and Hwy 54 (Chapel Hill). It is also only about a quarter mile from The Streets of Southpoint.  *I just checked and according to Google Maps, it is about 6 miles (approx. 11 minutes) from UNC-General Administration Complex to the Orient Garden Restaurant (all on Hwy. 54).

This is probably the second time I have eaten there by myself. I recalled that I had enjoyed a chicken dish with oranges. They had a Spicy Orange Chicken item on the menu. It had orange rind (almost cooked to candy, but not quite), a thick sweet sauce, red hot peppers, and fried, battered chicken (tempura?). I had this with fried rice & hot tea. They have fried wonton crisps that have good flavor and most of these I ate with the egg drop soup.

It is supposed to turn much colder this afternoon, but it was still relatively pleasant outside (about 50 degrees F) when I arrived for lunch at about 11:30 am. I ordered hot tea (green), but after just a few gulps realized that the heat was on in the restaurant, so I had my waitress bring a iced water. She brought a large glass of ice water. I think I finished it with the meal, and did not drink any more hot tea.

The restaurant’s exterior doesn’t reveal how good the food might be inside.

They open at 11am for lunch and the price is currently about $6.56, I think. The dining area is relatively small, but there is a beautiful tiled wall with large dragons rising above a rough sea.

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The last time I actually stopped by here, they were only open for take-out, and they hadn’t mentioned that on their web site. This was a fairly long time after the Covid Lockdown, but Covid related activity on their part.

*Still, a week or so ago, I drove up through the Seagrove “pottery” area and at one of the potter locations they still required “wearing of masks” in the store. I mean, “Get over it.” Although, I have taken the Covid shots and boosters each time, had no serious side effects, and remained healthy. Not sure if I have ever had Covid, but I’ve had nothing that even remotely reeks of Covid. I was a little “muddle headed” one time, about 10 days after one of the shots, but that went away in a day or so.

Boy, I just don’t get those that were/are so adamant against taking these precautions. As if the Government is out to grind them into submission and harm them, perhaps even to death. Now, if I had spent a good deal of my life getting a check from the US Government, would I not appear to be hypocritical by now distrusting that same government so vehemently? I sure as hell wouldn’t have joined the military, of that government, and put myself in “harm’s way” year after year, taking payroll check after payroll check month after month, and then, now, suddenly think the US Government was so distrustful, and acting so sinisterly. Don’t pad you pockets and then… “Don’t bite the had that feeds you.”