About a year ago, I described a little drive that I took with my daughter and baby boy up through Hoschton and Winder to Athens and back, passing two barbecue joints along the way with which I was unfamiliar. I intended then to come back to Winder, and it is actually becoming depressing to realize just how long it is taking us to get back to some of these places. There’s never enough time or money, but I really would like to provide a little better documentation of the world of barbecue restaurants in this region, and we’re not getting any younger. Probably not the wisest course of action to think about such things after spending about five hours wandering about campus, visiting the ol’ comic book store and listening to early ’80s British chart music, honestly. Continue reading “Smokin’ Po-Boys BBQ, Winder GA”
Month: October 2012
Nostalgia Burns in the Hearts of the Bulldogs
I gave in to an absurdly nostalgic day in the Classic City a couple of Fridays back, revisiting old haunts, walking around, having some beer and reading. I did not eat as much as I might have; my trip coincided with a social media-led lunch at Weaver D’s, the world-famous meat-n-three that has been having some financial difficulties. When word got out that Dexter Weaver needed his guests to come on back, they did so in droves. I don’t know whether it sparked enough of a reminder to get people back here regularly; time will tell. It didn’t for Harold’s Barbecue in Atlanta. Nevertheless, there was enough of a mob and parking was impractical, so I wished him well and moved on. Continue reading “Nostalgia Burns in the Hearts of the Bulldogs”
Crowe’s Bar-B-Que, Madison GA
For the third time this year, Marie left town without me. This time out, it was most convenient for her work schedule to go down to Saint Simons Island to see her family at the same time as a big event at my work. On the Friday morning, however, I had several hours of free time after a short shift, and, while she and the children drove to south Georgia, I went east out I-20 to one of my favorite small towns, Madison. Continue reading “Crowe’s Bar-B-Que, Madison GA”
Havana Restaurant, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)
Once upon a time, Atlanta was home to a pair of remarkably good sandwich shops where people could go for authentic Cuban food: Havana and Kool Korner. Then, across two terrible years, Kool Korner’s owner retired (only to move to Birmingham, get restless and reopen his beloved store) and Havana burned to the ground. Fortunately, around the time that Silvesonso Ramirez went back into business in Alabama, Debbie Benedit and her son Eddie Benedit Jr. reopened Havana using most of the same recipes that Eddie’s grandfather Guido had used when he first opened Havana on Buford Highway in 1976. Then there was, briefly, some bad blood boiling as Eddie’s uncle started his own sandwich shop with a very similar name. That’s all in the past now, but doing further reading of older stories about this restaurant – see the list below – will probably find traces of the family disagreements. Continue reading “Havana Restaurant, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)”
Seasons 52’s Autumn Menu
Our friends at Seasons 52 invited us to come back to their Dunwoody location to sample highlights from their autumn menu. We’ve written about this chain twice before, and noted that they revamp their menu somewhat about every thirteen weeks, adding a selection of wines that they label “Before they’re famous.” Continue reading “Seasons 52’s Autumn Menu”
Swapna Indian Cuisine, Smyrna GA
Since I mentioned a few chapters back that I intend to do a better job looking for reliable Indian restaurants in the Atlanta area, I received some recommendations from readers that sound terrific. I intend to visit those in the next month or two, but first, opportunity presented itself and I had lunch at Swapna on Cobb Parkway just outside the perimeter. I really wanted to try this place because, unlike several other places around Atlanta, it gets rave reviews for its buffet lunch. I really did enjoy the buffet at the since-closed Moksha in Roswell a lot more than I thought plausible, and I was keen to try different things at different restaurants. Continue reading “Swapna Indian Cuisine, Smyrna GA”
Daddy D’z, Atlanta GA
I’m pretty certain that, after Daddy D’z, there aren’t any more of what we might call the “iconic” Atlanta-area barbecue places waiting for us. It has been on my to-do list for many, many years and, one Thursday last month, I finally made my way over to Memorial Drive, near the state capitol building, to give it a try. It has been what you might call a “seasonal favorite” for quite some time. Its location is perfectly suited to drivers coming to see the Braves at Turner Field, and does most of its business during the baseball season. Continue reading “Daddy D’z, Atlanta GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 