Manci's Antique Club

Yes, they serve food. Anyone who asked me where I was eating for this issue responded with surprise when I said Manci’s Antique Club in Daphne was my next review. I had stopped in a few weeks ago for a solo lunch on my way back into Mobile. On a recent weekday evening, the family piled in the car for a more complete experience.

Located on Main Street in old Daphne, Manci’s is a local institution. When you enter, your eyes don’t know where to focus first. The décor is eclectic, the aura similar to a union hall or VFW post. A long bar runs the length of the entrance room, devouring much of it.

Just a step up is a larger dining area, a poolroom off of this and a private area for meetings or large gatherings. “Antiques” are everywhere - neatly organized items like old Victrolas, hammers, tools, pottery pumpkins, horseshoes - covering the walls and ceiling. Over the years I have spent some time drinking Bloody Marys and beer at Manci’s on Saturday football afternoons, and some less-than-I-can-remember evenings.

Lunch was a nice respite. There is a wide-screen TV tuned to FOX News (which I just barely tolerate) in the main dining area and a mix of older retired men drinking red wine with lunch, and a few office workers. The lunch menu consists of sandwiches, burgers, some salads and an endless list of fried side orders.

Among the more interesting side orders are chili cheese fries, fried broccoli, homemade cheese sticks and onion rings. They range in price from $5.65 for fried mushrooms to market price for crab claws. I was torn between a burger, Rueben ($7.45) or the fried flounder sandwich ($8.25). I chose the flounder, which, like all the sandwiches and burgers, comes with fries. I felt bad eating everything from “fried city,” so I asked for a house salad with blue cheese (3.25). It was a waste of money to get the small bowl of iceberg lettuce, tomato wedge and purple onion ring. The dressing was quite good and tasted as if it was homemade.

A chunky filet of flounder was larger than the soft sub style roll it was in. It was piping hot, crisp and had a delicate, fresh taste. The bread would not have been my choice. This is definitely a good place to stop into for a quiet lunch alone, or for someone having an affair who lives in WeMo or when you want to visit with your tablemate rather than having to air kiss everyone who comes in the door.

My son complained the entire way over the Bay, which was quite annoying. He wanted to go to Cock of the Walk. Another time. He was quite happy when he entered and saw all of the “cool stuff” to look at and the menu. I was hesitant at first to take the kids, but there were a few other families with kids above the age of 7. Remember that this is a bar first, so act smart when thinking about taking little children. Just don’t do it.

The sandwiches and burgers are still found at dinner in addition to the salads. None of us tried a salad, but they have a grilled shrimp delight salad ($11.95) with tomatoes, Greek peppers, egg, bacon, cheese and bell peppers, a grilled chicken delight salad for a $1 less and the crappy iceberg salads with either grilled chicken or shrimp ($8.95).

I wanted to order “Gwen’s Cut”, a 16 oz. steak with baked potato, house salad and garlic bread, at market price. Way, way too much for me, but I thought maybe my wife would split it. But each of us has to order something different so that was not an option. A petite older couple did come in and each ordered the gargantuan steaks – they were quite appealing.

From the large list of sides I decided to get some fried pickles as a starter. A basket containing a piping hot pile of fried pickles ($4.75) with a bowl of excellent ranch dressing had all of our hands fighting and almost getting first-degree burns. Eventually the pickles cooled somewhat and hands clashed less often.

Surprise—neither of my kids ordered chicken fingers for once. My son wanted a burger and other than the typical, there is “Gwen’s ultimate” ($6.95) which is a bacon cheeseburger with grilled onions and a special sauce, a half-pound slaw burger ($7.25) with chili, cheese, bacon, grilled onions and slaw. The last special burger is the hurricane burger ($9.50), another half-pounder with cheese, bacon, grilled onions, mushrooms and jalapenos covered with sour cream.

Not very adventuresome, my son chose the cheeseburger ($6.65). The burger is nothing to complain or rave about necessarily. The fries are good—more crisp and hard than limp and soggy. My daughter won the prize with her bacon, egg and cheese sandwich ($4.50). Fluffy eggs are folded into melted cheese, forming a soft omelet’s consistency with substantial bacon fried to perfection, hard and salty. Manci’s knows how to fry, and should, since almost everything on the menu involves some sort of frying.

I was torn between the Rueben and the Manci club ($8.25). Manci’s was out of sauerkraut so the club won. It is a heart attack but well worth it. The largest breast I have ever seen fried, it engulfed the sandwich and was full of bacon, Swiss cheese and topped with honey mustard. You can hardly get your mouth around this breast alone, much less the sandwich. This was almost a tie with the egg sandwich.

Now you would think that seafood would be a specialty here. My wife was determined to order the combo sandwich ($8.95) a half oyster, half shrimp deal, dressed. There sure was plenty of bread, but it seemed that the oysters were decoration with just a few more shrimp. There were three shrimp and three or four small oysters for a $9 sandwich. It was also cold.

Stop in for a drink and stay for the food. I guess due to this experience you should avoid the shellfish. And guys, don’t remove the fig leaf when you go into the bathroom.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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