Slummin' it at Pedro's Casateria in Dillon, South Carolina

When we're road tripping, we like to stop at odd places sometimes. One of the stops we routinely make when heading south from Richmond is South of the Border in Dillon, South Carolina. It's schlocky as all get out but I adore it precisely because of that. Here you will find a hotel, some gift shops, an enormous fireworks stand, a small amusement park kinda area, a campground, and several eateries with the Mexican theme (although not necessarily Mexican food). One of these road trips we decided to eat at Pedro's Casateria.

I think the first thing I should mention to you is that Pedro's restaurant is 100% smoking. There is no non-smoking area. Some of you may want to avoid it solely on that info... to me it was a welcome sight. I also must say that I've heard rumors recently that South Carolina has passed legislation making it illegal to smoke in any restaurant, so this may well have changed. You might want to call ahead and find out, if this is a concern to you.

Having said that, Pedro's is very close to the entrance of this tourist trap. You'll find it over there to the left of the access road off I-95. There are lots of windows but no curtains or shades of any kind, so it may get uncomfortable certain times of the day. The walls are a grey knotty wood and the floor is a dirty black & grey checkerboard tile. Yes, I said dirty. This isn't the cleanest place we've ever eaten, that's for sure.

Pedro's menu is very limited with a few breakfast items, burgers, and hot dogs. I went with a Hot Turkey Sandwich which came with fries rather than mashed potatoes. The turkey was fresh carved but the gravy was really very thin and weak. I don't recall the exact cost now but it wasn't much more than 5 bucks or so. Kinda mediocre at best.

My partner in crime went with the Cheeseburger which was not a frozen patty, but a fresh formed patty from pretty good ground beef. He liked it pretty much. I mean, it was a burger, yanno? It looked pretty standard to me for a fresh burger. Nothing real special. Again, this was under 5 bucks.

The staff at Pedro's wear black jeans with white blouses and I gotta say they don't seem real thrilled to be there. We over heard quite a bit of whining and moaning from them while we ate. Now, it's not like this is a nice fancy place or anything, but please do keep it to yourself. We really do not want to hear it... well OK yeah I get some warped amusement from it, I admit it... but still.

Our waitress was pretty much typical of what you expect if you stop at a truck stop for food. A little overly friendly and chewing gum. You know the type. But overall she was nice and I can't complain too much. I mean it's South of the Border fer chrissakes... not exactly an upscale kinda tourist trap at all.

I seriously doubt we'll eat at Pedro's again, although we will in all likelihood be visiting South of the Border next time we're in the Dillon area. We'll just eat at one of the other spots there. It's that whole filthy floor thang... rather a turn off, that. I'm gonna have to go with 2 stars and suggest you eat elsewhere too.

800-845-6011

I-95- US 301-501, Dillon SC 29547