Go get grit(s)

Towns with grit (and why you need more grits in your life):

Newsweek might be willing to call Cleveland one of America’s dying cities, but those of us who worked our asses off in school (and know that no one EVER asks for your grade point average or ACT scores) know that there are things that define us besides numbers, and Cleveland is no dying city. So, in homage to a town with figurative grit (ie: indomitable spirit; pluck), here are a few places where you can find great grits. Remind yourself that people might say we’re dying, but we know the truth. We’ve got grit(s).

Zinc — Cleveland’s newest French restaurant, oddly, also serves some of Carolina’s best grits. The waiter told me they were straight from Carolina, so I looked them up. Click here and check out Glenn Roberts who is exactly the kind of person I imagine growing the ingredients of Zinc’s biscuit-brown, super smooth and creamy side dish. If you need a little south in your French, go to Zinc, and order the grits. Grits, you are like warm North Carolina summer breakfast, and on a cold night in February, you are a bowl of summer’s happiness.

Lopez — There aren’t many things that bring me voluntarily to the  mysterious east side, but a bowl full of Lopez’s jalepeno-gouda grits are like Lotus island in a distant land. Spicy, cheesy, and probably the best grits I’ve ever had. Get enough to reheat the next day because you won’t be able to stop thinking about them. And, while you’re at it, have some dinner and a drink. I once got a margarita here before a grad school class, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Their lobster enchiladas are equally gratifying.