We spent last week eating our way around tribal casinos for today’s GO section. You can read our analysis of eats at the Emerald Queen Casinos in Fife and Tacoma, the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn and the Red Wind Casino in Olympia right here.

Craig Sailor and I both noted in our reviews the pervasiveness of the cigarette smoke in the restaurants at the tribal casinos (tribal casinos on tribal land aren’t governed by Washington state’s public indoor smoking laws). I have been so accustomed to eating in smoke-free restaurants, it was quite a palate shock.

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Today in our food section, TNT staffer Ernest Jasmin had a Q&A with Thurmond Brokenbrough, owner of Uncle Thurm’s Finger Lickin’ Chicken and Ribs.

Ernest, or EJ as we call him, is from Kentucky and has quite a hunger for soul food. Click the read more button to read his list of favorite soul food offerings in South Sound.

Tell us about your favorite places around town to eat soul food. Where do you find the best greens? Corn bread? Chitlins?

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Kalua pork with cabbage is served with a side order of macaroni salad at Aloha Hawaiian Grill in Puyallup. Malasadas egg-sized balls of yeast dough that are deep-fried in oil and coated with granulated sugar are in background at right.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

(Editor’s note: The Drop-In Dining report from today’s GO section)

By Sue Kidd
sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com

The scene: You know you’ve landed in the land of mahalo when you enter the door at Aloha Hawaiian Grill. If the sunny island music doesn’t set the mood, then the smoky scent of pork certainly will. This is a delightful, bright and welcomed new addition to Meridian. This place is fast – you order at the counter and wait for your food – but the food is far superior to the typical fast-food cuisine of South Hill.

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Remember the German restaurant in Freighthouse Square? The owner just called and left me a message saying they are open in their Fern Hill location on Park. I’ll get out there and give you the scoop.

Funny enough, I had just stopped by B&B Barbeque in Freighthouse on Friday. They just opened in the space previously occupied by the German restaurant.

B&B Barbeque is a Texas style barbecue place with ribs, pulled pork and smoked chicken. It’s also the kind of joint that is no frills – as in a menu written on yellow notebook paper taped to the counter, and rolls of paper towels on every wooden table. It may not be fancy and the German Alps mural on the wall –a remnant of the previous tenant– may not scream Texas, but the waft of smoked meat out the door creates all the atmosphere a barbecue place like B&B needs.

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Everyone in the newsroom – and anyone within earshot of me lately – already knows I spent most of October working on a project I am calling “Seven Days of Sushi.” I’ve been eating my way around sushi restaurants to tell you what you need to know about the sushiscape here. Who makes the most interesting nigiri? What long roll is the most inventive? Which is the most ridiculous? In a few short weeks, I’ll give you my answers (and tell me your sushi questions if you have any).

I’m pretty much done with my research – under

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Maggie Sandford, a producer with the Food network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” called this morning asking for suggestions in the Tacoma area. A visit by the show apparently is in the works.

Boy, do I have a list for her. We have no shortage of little joints with character around South Sound. Click the “read more” button to see my list.

What’s on your list? Who would you want the show to pay a visit?

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