Why Our Meatloaf Might be our Best Kept Secret
True to our southern roots, our meatloaf might be our best-kept secret on the menu! It may not be glamorous, but one thing’s for sure: it is so good! Homemade, hand-formed, and served up with a heaping side of childhood memories, there’s just something irresistible about a great slice of meatloaf. Pull up a seat and dig in, we’re having meatloaf today!
Why We Love Meatloaf
Meatloaf tastes a lot like home, and that's all the reason we need to love it. Just like grandma used to make when the whole family would gather around the table, something about the dish embodies the true flavor of comfort and togetherness. Long-underrated, meatloaf perfectly encapsulates our love for great southern food. Popular with kids and adults of all ages, great for lunch or dinner, cold or hot, alone, on a sandwich, and even better the next day, meatloaf is always a winner.
The Beef About Meatloaf
Meatloaf became a staple of many American diets during the Great Depression. Original recipes were intended to let home cooks stretch protein scraps and use up excess root vegetables. Our modern version of the meatloaf was first recorded in an American recipe from the late 1870s. Using any cheap cuts of ground or minced meat, early chefs added salt, pepper, onions, and slices of milk and egg-soaked bread. Today, the recipe remains mostly the same, while still remaining incredibly flexible. Crackers, bread crumbs, or other starches are used to bulk up the ground meat, as well as any vegetables, providing more hearty servings for hungry bellies.
There’s a lot that goes into making a good meatloaf! At McCray’s Tavern on the Lawrenceville Square, we aim to create a moist and flavorful loaf: compact but not too dense, slathered with ketchup, and baked to a perfectly crispy crust on top. Served with mashed potatoes and green beans, it’s truly a meal your mom would make. And like all our dishes, we make it from scratch! Each day our kitchen team prepares the day’s meatloaves from freshly ground Angus beef, adding in farm-fresh ingredients and mixing it by hand before baking. Sliced and plated right before serving, it’s a full-sized portion of home-cooked comfort.
As a beloved dish, meatloaf serves as a connection to something bigger, a deeper nostalgia and long tradition in southern food. What once served Americans through hard times is now a special treat, one that often goes overlooked on our menu. Join us on the patio for meatloaf with all the fixins' for lunch or dinner throughout the week, and brunch on the weekends. We’re saving you a slice!
