Blue Nile Food Market + The Winning Ticket!

We stopped in at Blue Nile on a day when we had been working on the house straight through, and hadn't stopped for lunch. Paul had the ribs, smoked right out front, and I ordered the OxTail soup. I wrote a review on Yelp and Google as I try to do for local businesses when they deserve it. My photo from that lunch just 2 months ago has been viewed over 1000 times on Google they told me the other day. Wow! Here's a link Here's my review:

This gem in the beautiful Fruitland Heights neighborhood has been a mainstay of the community for decades. We're new to the neighborhood so we finally decided to stop in today for supper? (Really it was a super late lunch) around 4pm. Like other reviews said, it is a Very Friendly place, and Alex behind the counter made us feel like we were old friends.The ribs, smoked right there on site, were falling off the bone and so delicious! I especially loved the collard greens and black eyed peas. I ordered the oxtail stew, like it was something I get every day, but in fact I thought it over and it was my first time eating that. The stew just looked so good in the case I couldn't resist, and I like trying new things. It was meaty and savory. Total bill including two drinks $40. We definitely have leftovers for a whole 'nother meal tomorrow. You can order smaller portions, but we wanted to try all the sides so we got the large one. The hang on the porch was a step back in time with all the neighborhood old timers chit chatting.

I caught up with Hayat who's always got a smile on her face, behind the counter there. She told me she and her husband run the business for their cousin Grady whose owned it since around 2002. Grady named it Blue Nile for the river in Ethiopia. Before that he and some staff were up at another restaurant, Piccadilly on 11th Ave and 4th St.

Before Blue Nile, in the same spot, stood Doelle's, and after that it was Sasha's. Before 1995 the building was a liquor store, but it looked very different back then. It's been a soul food restaurant for all these iterations, but now because of the talents of the chefs, they're thinking of adding some Ethiopian food and even Indian food.

If you haven't been for breakfast, they recommend coming out for a hearty breakfast. You can always look in the case and see what's looking good!

Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner!

If, like me, you were unfamiliar with the Blue Nile, and thought it was just a color describing the Nile, here's a little geography lesson.

Thanks Wikipedia:

The Blue Nile Amharic: ጥቁር አባይ, romanized: t’ikʼuri ābayi; Oromo: Mormor or Abbayaa, lit. 'father of streams'; Arabic: النيل الأزرق, romanized: an-Nīl al-ʾAzraqu) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately 1,450 km (900 mi) through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to the Nile during the rainy season.

The Winning Ticket

Here's the story of a neighbor who won 2 million dollars on a scratch off bought a Blue Nile! Link