Cook Out has continued their slow and inexorable and honestly quite confusing expansion into Georgia. There’s no sense to be made in looking over their list of Georgia locations. I think that the presence of colleges must play a role, so that inebriated undergraduates can get a whole lot of greasy fast food at two in the morning and, what the heck, a milkshake while we’re here. That’s why we see restaurants in Athens (albeit nowhere sensible between the bars and the student housing, confounding that theory), Statesboro, Rome, and Milledgeville. But then there’s one in Pooler, and two stores in Augusta, and one in Atlanta off Moreland that serves the godawfulest barbecue ever. Two more Atlanta stores also opened last month, alongside this one, on Northside and in the former Zesto on Ponce. Continue reading “Cook Out, Kennesaw GA”
Category: georgia
Marlow’s Tavern, Dunwoody GA
Marie and I were invited to visit Marlow’s Tavern and sample their winter menu. This local chain continues to impress us with their slow and careful expansion, with the quality of their food, and with the very fresh rotations of their menu. It changes twice a year, but it doesn’t have a simple A- and B- menu. Each new rollout with summer- and winter-themed selections is a little different, with executive chef John Metz tweaking last year’s popular choices. Continue reading “Marlow’s Tavern, Dunwoody GA”
Shake Shack, Atlanta GA
The unbelievable mob at our city’s first Shake Shack, part of the new Buckhead Atlanta development and located right on Peachtree Road, underneath Gypsy Kitchen and The Southern Gentleman, gives us some indication what the crowd might be like should In-N-Out Burger ever open in our fair town. About a month ago, Marie treated me to lunch here for my birthday. Our friend David joined us and it was quite a crowd. David commented that he’d never seen a restaurant dedicate one staff member to “queue control” duty. Continue reading “Shake Shack, Atlanta GA”
Pauley’s Crêpe Bar, Athens GA
Since many of my travels with Marie are done with the three year-old in tow, we often arrange lots of fun family activities with him in mind. On this trip to Athens, we spent a long time playing at the awesome playground at the Southeast Clarke Park, visited two friends with children, and spent an hour reading books, rearranging stuffed animals, and spinning pennies around the wishing well donation bucket at the public library. Then I figured that crêpes would be a good, friendly food for somebody his age, and we spent forty-odd minutes at Pauley’s hoping the kid didn’t fall off the high-top chairs and bust his head. Continue reading “Pauley’s Crêpe Bar, Athens GA”
The Taco Stand, Athens GA (take two)
Back in November, I started prepping an old story that I’d written about the dearly missed Mean Bean for a reprint here. Doing so made me crave their nachos something fierce. It also sparked a craving in Marie; she wanted a spinach quesadilla from the Mean Bean’s competitor / cross-town rival, Taco Stand. She loves those things. We love Athens and miss it a lot, and would have gone that weekend, but had plans on the Saturday and saw that rain was on the forecast for the Sunday, and taking our three year-old to Athens and not letting him play at the Southeast Clarke Park is as close to child cruelty as can be imagined. We waited it out for a week. Continue reading “The Taco Stand, Athens GA (take two)”
Iron Works Coffee Company, Athens GA
We received a suggestion to check out Iron Works Coffee, which opened in early November. It’s a little cafe in the lobby of the new Graduate Hotel, and while we don’t actually care for coffee, Marie loves tea and I don’t mind hot chocolate, so we stopped by for a light breakfast before going to visit one of Marie’s friends and drop off some clothes for her new grandson. Continue reading “Iron Works Coffee Company, Athens GA”
Blaxican Mexican Soul Food, Roswell GA (CLOSED)
I’ve been a huge fan of Will Turner’s cooking since the first time we stumbled upon the Blaxican food truck. It’s been a go-to ever since; when we go to food trucks, I’m more likely to want to have a couple of his tacos and that amazing “Mexi mac and cheese” than sample something from anybody else, which isn’t really in line with our mission, but heck, we’re only human. Continue reading “Blaxican Mexican Soul Food, Roswell GA (CLOSED)”
Marie, Let's Eat! 