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”
Category: georgia
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”
…but, in the end, we’ll agree on hot dogs.
In the previous chapter, I reported that my mercurial teenage daughter had, abruptly, turned on hot dogs with a vengeance. It’s best not to challenge teenagers when they’re in the middle of one of their seismic changes of mood; it’s best to ride it out and whack ’em with reality a few days later. Continue reading “…but, in the end, we’ll agree on hot dogs.”
I say hot dogs, you say Mexican…
A couple of Saturdays ago, my daughter’s mercurial teenage weirdness reared its ugly head. In the afternoon, we had gone to Chamblee for pizza, since she enjoys pizza so much, only to have her order a salad instead. In the evening, I asked Marie what she’d like for dinner. Marie suggested hot dogs, or possibly Mexican. I leaned toward the former; on Thursday, I had gone out for lunch at Taxco, the venerable Tex-Mex palace on Roswell Road, right where the Atlanta and Sandy Springs city limits crash together, and didn’t enjoy it very much. Continue reading “I say hot dogs, you say Mexican…”
Vintage Pizzeria, Chamblee GA
Back in March, Marie organized a Festival of Dairy for herself to celebrate her return to eating pizza and ice cream. Well, that’s not accurate; actually, she commanded that cheese be obtained in great quantities and set me the task of finding appropriate locations for her indulgence. On the trip, we visited the Frosty Caboose for a banana split, and we noticed that it was across the street from a pizzeria called Vintage. I filed that away for future reference, because that just sounded like a perfect lunchtime getaway for a warm late spring day: a few slices of pizza followed up by ice cream under a shady tree. Continue reading “Vintage Pizzeria, Chamblee GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 