Wake Up, Maggie Moo...

I like to think that I support the little guy, although I haven't really done that much until just recently. I shop at Wal-Mart and Target, eat at Chili's and get my hair clipped at SuperCuts. And I'll probably keep doing it until I'm six feet in the ground.

But there are a couple of little places I like, which brings me to Maggie Moo's in Charlottesville, up at Hollymead Town Center up on 29 North.

I know, it's a chain. It's not a mom-and-pop store, exactly. But it sort of is. There's this older guy and a couple of teens that I see in there all the time running the place, and I gather that it's a family-owned sort of franchise thing. Which is cool, I support the little guy (see paragraph #1).

The shakes are really good there, especially because you can get them with one of about 50 dozen flavors of ice cream and a dozen mix-ins. My personal favorite is one with cake batter-flavored ice cream and whipped cream on top. (I had one last when I was celebrating a kick-ass interview I did down in Cowtown a couple of weeks ago) They even ask if you want it mixed thin like a milkshake or thick like a malt - I had mine thick, naturally. How else?

Though, honestly, I don't get the deal with the mix-ins and shakes. When they put the stuff in (whatever - Oreos, nuts, M&Ms, etc.), it gets chopped up but not enough so that you can fit it all easily through a straw. Especially if you like your shakes thick like me. So you wind up having to eat it like it's some kind of soup or medieval ice sludge.

First time I went there, I got this tropical pina colada smoothie thing - so you figure, okay, it'll have pineapple juice, some sort of ice cream thing, and coconut milk . (I'll leave out the banana 'cause I hate them) Hold the phone. Instead of coconut milk, they threw in actual shaved coconut, which I guess is their regular mix-in stuff. Which is fine if you want to top off a sundae, but when you want a shake that you can suck on in the car, it makes the thing more like drinking a coconut custard pie. Chew, chew, chew.

But overall, I really like the place, and I'll be going back there again soon. If you're in the area, you should go by too.

Be like me, support the little guy. Moo.