Before vacationing in Ocracoke, North Carolina, we tried out the new Hen Quarter restaurant, in Alexandria. It took over the old Austin Grill but is managed by the same owners with this new Southern cuisine concept. It’s a way to get your Southern fare fix, complete with porkbelly pops, down-home collard greens, fried chicken and some of the best fritter waffles you’ll ever taste and a very smooth-balanced mint julep. Now that’s something coming from a native New Orleanian and still one at heart!
Love their décor and their Southern phrases and charm:
“You’re like the butter to our biscuits…
…and whiskey that warms the heart”
and wouldn’t be the South without the, “Bless your heart” sign hanging.

Classic Southern Biscuits and Fried Chicken

How they make their Belly Pops

Pop ’em in – porkbelly pops melt in your mouth
Here’s the play-by-play video with some good Southern, bluesy music too!

Egg Basket lighting that I’ll have to make someday. Love this idea!

Hen Quarter upstairs décor with wood plank walls that kinda remind me of….

You guessed it. It’s a hole in the wall entrance. The flag is the “doorbell”
Now we’re back to thinking of mint juleps and….

Bourbon flight but where’s the Pappy?
“Free Range Cocktails” (Hen Quarter’s slogan)
…but looking forward now to some much-needed relaxing days while waiting for the green flash at sunset. We haven’t seen it yet but keep hoping!
Ahhh, summer and cicadas, don’t want it to end…