In the previous chapter, I mentioned how some restaurant spaces seem cursed. You might think that one particular building on Broad Street is another contender for that name. For about the last nine months, it has been home to Preserve, a modern American place that boasts a really nice brunch and is owned by local musicians Ella Sternberg and Lenny Miller. The building, erected in the late 1950s, was the home of a drive-up dairy bar called Arctic Girl for many years, but it has also been the home of three barbecue joints: Walter’s, JB’s, and Hollis Ribs. Just to put things in perspective, I mentioned Hollis Ribs in January 2011 and intended then to get over there, but never did. Two different restaurants, a hot dog place and a coffee shop, have come and gone since that story. Continue reading “Preserve, Athens GA (CLOSED)”
Category: georgia
Champy’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Athens GA
Last month, Marie and I celebrated our anniversary, but instead of having a simple date night – or a complicated date night – we decided to have a family day in Athens. This resulted in a little grumbling from the teenager, who wants to be included when she’s left behind, but left behind when we include her. Happily, even she had a good time in the end. We tried to juggle several things that everybody would enjoy, starting with a long stop at Washington Farms, outside Watkinsville. We picked three buckets of strawberries, and the four year-old probably ate a fourth on his own, so we didn’t complain about the price. Four for the price of three’s not bad, really. Continue reading “Champy’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Athens GA”
Burger Chick and Company Drive-In, Tallapoosa GA
Marie and I were last in Tallapoosa four years ago, and while we’ve driven past many times since on our way to Alabama, it’s never been at a restaurant-convenient time, meaning that we have not stopped to get a good look at a dairy bar smack in the middle of town. It’s called Burger Chick, and there’s even a separate seating area in the building next door, a lot like Rosewood Dairy Bar in Columbia SC. Continue reading “Burger Chick and Company Drive-In, Tallapoosa GA”
The Brickery Grill and Bar, Sandy Springs GA (take two) (CLOSED)
Last spring, Marie went to a media event at The Brickery in Sandy Springs – here is her story about it – and while it’s a bit outside our neighborhood radius and while we really don’t make anyplace a regular haunt, we’ve made a couple of trips over there since, for their terrific onion rings and fried chicken. Bruce and Sally Alterman, who met in college at The University of Oklahoma in the late 1960s, opened their first restaurant in Atlanta in 1988. It was called Perimeter Cafe and was just a couple of exits over from where they would launch The Brickery in 1992. Continue reading “The Brickery Grill and Bar, Sandy Springs GA (take two) (CLOSED)”
Nick’s Food To Go, Atlanta GA
“Be careful of this guy,” cautioned a lady in the very small ordering room at Nick’s. Referencing Seinfeld, she whispered “He’s the souvlaki Nazi.” You sort of wish the writers of that show had come up with just about any other nickname for their pastiche of Al’s Soup Kitchen International. Continue reading “Nick’s Food To Go, Atlanta GA”
Smok’n Pig Bar-B-Que, Macon GA (CLOSED)
Wow, it has been more than a month since our last first-time visit to a barbecue place. We’ve been eating well, obviously, but we’ve also been returning to some old favorites more than we have been exploring. Case in point: just two days before we stopped into the second Georgia location of Smok’n Pig Bar-B-Que, we had supper at Southern Soul on St. Simons Island, one of the all-time best, in our book. Continue reading “Smok’n Pig Bar-B-Que, Macon GA (CLOSED)”
B & J’s Steaks and Seafood, Darien GA
Ages and ages ago, we stopped by Skipper’s Fish Camp, a popular, upscale seafood place in the coastal Georgia town of Darien and enjoyed a very nice meal with some excellent, fresh shrimp. We noticed B & J’s at the time, and soon found a gigantic pile of recommendations and love for this decidedly downscale little joint with a partially unpaved lot. Mike from Sweet Tea & Bourbon stopped by B & J’s a little later that same spring and raved about it. Continue reading “B & J’s Steaks and Seafood, Darien GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 