Happy Sunday. Steve and I went to Regina’s Comfort Classics Friday morning and chowed down on some tasty stuff. I had the chicken and waffle, something I’d been blabbing about having for a week since I looked up the menu. Steve had the breakfast sandwich—sausage, egg, and cheese on a biscuit. That came with seasoned fries. He loved it. Look at the size of that sausage “patty.”

My chicken was perfect. Thin, probably pounded, and fried crispy as heck. Enjoyed eating the fried bits with my waffle and syrup. Waffle was dense, chewy. If they had cooked up a larger waffle, pillow-sized perhaps, I would have nodded off at the table and dozed till lunch. And for the rest of the day, Steve and I texted each other to say how we weren’t hungry yet, and probably still needed a nap.

This town keeps coming up with food options. And since Covid, that thing of mine, and a new puppy, I just haven’t been seeking them out the way I used to.

But now I’m back!

That stretch of Patton Ave keeps changing. About a week ago, I spotted what looked like a new-to-me spot further up on Patton, called Little Louie’s. I researched it when I got home, and discovered that it was apparently run by one of our old bartender buddies. I texted him to ask if he was indeed the man there. He said yes, then urged us to come visit him at an even newer breakfast and lunch place called Regina’s that just opened in June. (Addresses for these places are found on their websites.)

Regina’s has this kind of mid-century vibe. Wood paneling and pink stucco walls. Ceramic animal tchotchkes lurking on every shelf. Pink t-shirts with a retro mom’s face for sale at the checkout. Definitely nailing a vibe that says, “Hey, isn’t it fun to eat decadent American food guilt-free?”

The thing about Asheville right now is that every place that opens has the potential to make national food news in some way. Why? Because the larger chowhound culture is forever interested in what the chefs here are doing. Eater covered the birth of these two restaurants back in March, for heck’s sake.

I’ll probably be back to Regina’s with Denise, now that I’ve scoped it out. But Little Louie’s deserves a visit with a large appetite. It’s got a few Italian American classics on the menu, like eggplant parmigiana, meatball parm, and the intriguing-to-me pulled pork and broccoli rabe sando.

Sweet monkeys, it’s been a long time since I saw broccoli rabe in a sandwich. It was something my mother and father drooled over, but not typically found in restaurants, even where we lived in the Jerz. It’s what my people did with leftover broccoli rabe the morning after.

But this is not Jersey, it is not Brooklyn, it’s North Cackalackie.

Back in the day, when I posted stories about Big-Ass Sandwiches, someone would always make a crack about my health. My health is fine, Hypothetical Wag, thanks for asking. After last year, my weight is down, and I’m actually still finding it hard to gain. Body still healing. As long as that’s the case, I’m in the perfect Window of Chubbortunity to return to the era of King Scarf. Long may he reign.

Want to know what I’ve eaten in the past? Look no further than our Big-Ass Sandwich Department:

• 5 Crazy Big Sandwiches I Ate When My Wife Was Out of Town

• 3 (More) Crazy Big Sandwiches I Ate When My Wife Was Out of Town

• The Hoboken Sandwich

• My Long-Lost Article on Spiedies!

• The New York Times Article That Started It All

In closing, permit me to say that broccoli rabe is, in fact, a vegetable! And if you squint real hard, so are waffles.

All photos by me, wielding the Hipstamatic app.