The Hillbilly Stomp: February 2015


Hindman, Knott County, Ky.

My oh my, where to begin? First and foremost, if you're actually interested enough in what I have to say by making it this far, then thank you so much for your interest and support! It's much appreciated! Secondly, if you're not from the good land of Knott County, then you have literally no idea what this establishment is going to mean for our local economy, or our overall demeanor. It's a welcome addition to my home town, and "long overdue" doesn't even begin to put it into perspective. Again, if you live here, you know exactly what I mean. It brings me great pleasure for Mi Amigo's to be my very first official review for this blog, with many more to undoubtedly follow.

As long overdue as it may be, I have to try to remain objective enough to give an honest-to-goodness review of the establishment itself. I can sit here and gush all day long about how much it's needed in the community, but if it fails to impress, then it's not going to do anyone any good. So, let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?

Interior dining area. Seats approx. 110 people.

The way this works, is I break the dining experience down into four categories, those being:
1. Food quality (taste, presentation, appearance, temperature, texture, affordability)
2. Ambiance (decor, music, lighting, feng shui, room temperature)
3. Cleanliness (self explanatory, applies to dining area, restrooms, foyer, parking area, etc.)
4. Service (punctuality, knowledge of menu items, attentiveness, friendliness, etc.)

I then award each category a possible 1 out of 5 rating, of course with 1 being lowest, 5 being highest. I then tally the scores to give an aggregate total. It's completely a matter of opinion, and my reflection may not necessarily reflect another's experience on a different day and time. I feel I'm stern but fair in this aspect, and again, I will try to remain as objective and open minded as I possibly can. For example, being in a close-knit, small town rural area, I may know some of these business owners. I will do everything in my power to make sure my relationship with them does not, in any way, interfere with the outcome of my assessments of these establishments. I have also undoubtedly dined at many of these places in the past. I will not let any past experiences, positive or negative, interfere with my current assessment. But enough of the technical stuff. You're ready for 'meant-n-taters' right?

My company and I arrived at the restaurant at approximately 4pm. The weather has been absolutely dreadful for a week now, with record snowfall, freezing temps (it was warmer in Antarctica and Alaska than Eastern Kentucky this past week), and today with sleet, freezing rain, and abundant flooding due to melting snow. Not exactly 'go out and eat' weather. But, this place has been open for a little over a week now, and we figured it was time to indulge. We weren't the only people who felt that way, because there were several other families eagerly waiting as well. That level of patronage during what is typically the slowest part of a restaurant's day, combined with the aforementioned weather, is definitely a good sign to start off with. We were greeted by a nice young lady, promptly seated, and the server took our drink orders almost immediately. Here are what I had already gathered:

Cleanliness: Mi Amigo's is very well maintained. The floors throughout were swept and mopped, and even with the soggy weather, they were still clean and dry. The tables and chairs were wiped down and clean as well. The side stations were well organized, and the men's restroom was thoroughly clean and fully stocked. The posted Health Department score was a 97%, with the only things mentioned being something about food labels, and nothing at all about actual cleanliness.
Overall Cleanliness Score: 4.5/5

Ambiance: This place is unapologetically stereotypical in its "Cheesy Mexican" motif. Is that an issue? Absolutely not! I love it. The interior paint is that off-yellow color that you often see in this type of place, with the booths and support beams inside a nice dull red color. Very typical and not anything new in that department. There are sombreros hanging about, with a very nice large wall clock behind the checkout station. There are also large floor vases with different types of flowers and weeds in them, and large wooden cacti. Yes, cacti.


There's two of them. Cacti.

There's also some light salsa type music playing in the background at a nice volume, and the entire dining area, while it may appear a little cramped at first glance, it actually isn't. You don't feel crowded at all. The room temperature was a tad chilly, but with sub-zero temps and the sheer level of dampness in the air, that's to be expected. There are also two large flat screen TVs on opposite corners of the restaurant for your viewing enjoyment.


Duke won. "Viewing enjoyment" being subjective, in this case.

Everything just seemed to compliment everything else in terms of the overall feel and appearance of this place. The walls were a little bare, but that only means there's room to add more decor in the future if they so choose.
Overall Ambiance Score: 4.5/5

Food Quality and Service:
Our food was brought out fresh and hot, made to order, within 8 minutes. Our drinks and the ever present free chips and salsa, within 2-3 minutes. The server was very gracious, asking us if everything looked/tasted OK, and was very attentive with our drink refills, or anything else, really. He was definitely on top of things. I ordered what was awesomely called the "Hindman Special", which consisted of Mexican Rice, White Cheese Sauce, a choice of steak, chicken, or shrimp, and a side of two tortillas. I went with steak, because steak. The meat was tender and fantastic, the rice was plump, and the cheese sauce was very flavorful. The tortillas were a little lukewarm, but still very tasty. I ordered my obligatory Mountain Dew as a drink. It was very good as well, but it could have been a little more flavorful. It was almost as if they had the syrup hose turned down maybe one notch too much. My mom and step-dad ordered the fried ice cream, and it was genuinely one of the best servings of that dish I'd ever had. Very flavorful, rich ice cream. My meal was $8.99, not including the drink. A more than fair price for the quality of food and service I received. Pretty standard prices in this area for a casual dining experience.


About 5 minutes in, and I wasn't exactly starving when I arrived.

We sat there and traded some funny stories and just basically enjoyed each others company for roughly two hours. It flew by. Our server was very professional, attentive, understanding, prompt, and most importantly, nice. He made our experience very enjoyable, and we made sure to leave him a really good tip!
Overall Food Quality Score: 4.5/5

Overall Service Quality Score: 5/5

In the end, I really enjoyed Mi Amigo's. I stated earlier that this place is a welcome addition to our community, and now that I've experienced what it has to offer, I definitely stand by that statement. Is it mind blowing and life changing? I guess not, it's pretty standard fare for a Mexican casual dining establishment, but that isn't a bad thing at all. It's a wonderful place, and I award it an aggregate total of: