Holcomb’s Bar-B-Q, Greensboro GA

So we might be moving to Dayton, Ohio.

It’s up in the air, and we don’t know for sure, but if that’s where the job ends up being, that is what we will have to do. But it is going to mean that we want to make the most of our time in Georgia if it is indeed coming to an end this year. Two Fridays ago, Marie went to visit her mother and father and give them some grandchild time. I was not able to join her and the baby due to an early morning appointment that would cost her several important grandbaby hours waiting for me, and so she went one direction and I, once I was finished and the teenager was safely tucked away, went the other. Continue reading “Holcomb’s Bar-B-Q, Greensboro GA” →

Coco’s Chinese Restaurant, Chamblee GA (CLOSED)

I’ve said several times before that I’m not all that interested in celebrity chef culture. I like consistency and history, and places that serve a decent meal for years and years. Nevertheless, I do read many of my fellow bloggers in Atlanta, and once in a while, I see a report written with such enthusiasm that it overcomes my silly prejudice. Four months ago, Chow Down Atlanta wrote a rave report (since lost) about Chef Danny Ting’s work at a Buford Highway shop called Coco’s. Continue reading “Coco’s Chinese Restaurant, Chamblee GA (CLOSED)” →

Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse, Euharlee GA

Several months ago, I spent some time cleaning up Urbanspoon’s listings of barbecue restaurants throughout Georgia and Alabama – I probably need to do that again – and found quite a few that I had never heard of before. Johnny Mitchell’s is one of those. He and his wife Jill boast that they have been in the restaurant business for 32 years, and that the Smokehouse is their second enterprise. Jill is from California and Johnny from here in Atlanta. His aunt was the owner of downtown’s B & G Restaurant, about which I can find no information online. That’s one of the reasons that I wanted to create this blog in the first place, to keep stories about food and community and dining going, even from a perspective as narrow as ours, with just a little information and a couple of photos. Continue reading “Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse, Euharlee GA” →

Mellow Mushroom, Marietta GA

In the late 1980s, when I thought that I liked hippie music – turns out I don’t; go figure – I became aware of the small Mellow Mushroom chain. Fueled not just by Jefferson Airplane records, but by the character of “neil” – always lower case – in TV’s The Young Ones, I probably talked about having a pizza here for years before I actually did. I always said the name in an approximation of neil’s voice. “Mellaww Mushroooooom,” usually with a slight nod and two fingers for peace. Ah, teenagers. The restaurant was started here in Atlanta in 1974. I think that the second store didn’t open for another eight years. They’ve had a presence in downtown Athens since 1986. While still mostly in the southeast, the chain now has a presence in seventeen states. Continue reading “Mellow Mushroom, Marietta GA” →

Soho, Vinings GA

Since I grew up just on the other side of the interstate from Vinings – literally, when we were in middle school, we’d use a huge storm drain to get from the woods on one side of I-285 to the other – I got to see that neighborhood grow and swell. The church that we attended now houses both a Mellow Mushroom and a La Paz, and the small plot of land across the street was transformed into the Vinings Jubilee shopping center when we were in high school. Then we spent most of eleventh grade being bored on a Friday night being told to beat it off the property. None of us in those days, after all, were really dressed for an evening at Cafe Chanterelle, then, the crown jewel of the facility. Nor had we any money. Continue reading “Soho, Vinings GA” →

The Atlanta Food Truck Park & Market

This is Marie, contributing an article about the Food Truck Park, the place that almost didn’t happen. You see, Atlanta laws make it mandatory for food to be cooked in a stationary location. Cooking in a truck that is parked doesn’t count. So practically speaking, the only businesses that can own food trucks are actual restaurants, or businesses that have a relationship with one. There are also restrictions on where the trucks can park and serve food. Luckily, there are events such as Street Food Thursdays downtown or Food Truck Wednesdays in Virginia Highlands, plus the Food Truck Park, but it’s not the same as having a BBQ truck stop by your work parking lot for an hour during lunch time so you don’t have to cross the street to the fast food place you’ve eaten at way too often, or get in your car to drive somewhere. Continue reading “The Atlanta Food Truck Park & Market” →

Tomatillos, Atlanta GA

A couple of Fridays ago, I was driving through East Atlanta on my way to get some ribs. I found that place, but they weren’t going to be open for another hour. I decided that I would try again some other time and thought about where else to eat instead. Amazingly, this would be the first of two occasions that weekend where I could not get the barbecue that I wanted to try; more about that in tomorrow’s chapter. Continue reading “Tomatillos, Atlanta GA” →