In some of the chapters here over the last couple of weeks, we have spotlighted a few of the restaurants that have, happily and wonderfully, kicked down our biases and our preconceived notions about Chinese cooking. That’s not to say “out with the old,” permanently. Marie will, unaccountably, get occasional cravings for Golden-This-Happy-That stuff for the rest of her life, just as I will, equally unaccountably, get occasional cravings for El-This-Los-That Tex-Mex food for the rest of mine despite since learning to appreciate authentic cooking, because when you find a “favorite food” around the time that you’re in high school, it’s nigh impossible to get rid of it for good. Continue reading “Gu’s Bistro, Doraville GA (CLOSED)”
Category: georgia
Bigun’s Barbeque, Talking Rock GA
Here is a restaurant that has been on our to-do list for a couple of years now. Kelly and Lisa Teal opened Bigun’s Barbeque in a great location on GA-515 between Jasper and Ellijay in 2008. We had actually planned to stop when we were last in the mountains last November, but I got a hankering for Poole’s in Ellijay and that became our second barbecue restaurant of that day instead. Continue reading “Bigun’s Barbeque, Talking Rock GA”
Chow Bing Chinese Grill, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)
This is Marie, contributing a description of a visit to Chow Bing, a Chinese restaurant in a tough location that I hope it can overcome. With any luck the Grady Hospital staff will discover the place and prop it up as more people discover it. It’s just around the curve from the hospital in the new Pencil Factory Lofts building. Continue reading “Chow Bing Chinese Grill, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)”
Big Joy, Marietta GA
Big Joy is the first of two restaurants that we have visited recently – come back Saturday for a story about another – that offer a fun, modern American-style take on traditional flavors from Asia. This time out, the flavors are Korean, and they’re offered principally in either wraps or in bowls. The inspiration behind this place seems to be fast casual burrito joints like Moe’s or Willy’s, where guests walk down a line selecting ingredients to add to their order. All of their principal dishes of bibimbaps or burritos start as vegetarian offerings, although a few meats can be added. The veggies looked so good and so fresh that I didn’t figure that I needed any chicken or steak this evening. Continue reading “Big Joy, Marietta GA”
Scratch Fresh, Alpharetta GA
Several months ago, Todd at A Hamburger Today (linked below) wrote another of his indispensable reports about an Atlanta-regional burger that I needed to try. As you’re no doubt tired of reading, it then sat on my to-do list for the better part of forever until Lee at Roots in Alpharetta mentioned it in passing recently. Scratch Fresh is located in a strip mall just north of Windward Parkway on GA-9, in a space that, when I worked in this community five or six years back, was home to a Jersey Mike’s Subs. Now it’s home to a family-owned business that packs ’em in every morning for biscuits and, at lunch time, serves up one of the best burger options in the area. Continue reading “Scratch Fresh, Alpharetta GA”
Bei Jing Kabobs, Doraville GA
One of the many benefits to come from expanding our knowledge of authentic foods from other countries has been learning that I actually do like some food from China a whole lot. Of course, I have suspected forever that the stuff that I’ve shrugged about and tolerated all these years because it makes other people happy while I find it inoffensive is all made from ingredients in giant cans from Sysco of Szechuan. I’m not intentionally being judgmental, but it’s the same reason I ask whether fries are hand-cut or frozen before I order them. I know what Sysco fries taste like already, and I equally know what the Moo Goo Gai Pan tastes like in every city in America. I’d like to sample the tastes and flavors of food that hasn’t been made for mass appeal. That said, here is the first of three stories sprinkled over the next two weeks in which we sample some Chinese food quite unlike the Golden-This-Happy-That mall standard and come away really enjoying the new experiences. Continue reading “Bei Jing Kabobs, Doraville GA”
Joe-Bear’s and Sons Bar-B-Que, Macon GA
I finished up my trip to Macon with yet another visit to a place that cooks their pork – in this instance called “chipped pork,” as you see around the Columbus / Phenix City area – in the sauce. I’d tried the barbecue at three places already that day and each restaurant’s offering had been a little less memorable than the one before it, so my heart sank a little when Leonard Joubert, owner of Joe-Bear’s and Sons, told me that I couldn’t get his chipped pork dry, but it turned out more than all right. This was the best meal of the day by some distance. Continue reading “Joe-Bear’s and Sons Bar-B-Que, Macon GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 