Remembering Roger at Steak ‘n Shake

I think that like all of us, even the directors of films that didn’t pass muster with him, I had to pause for a moment of heartbreak when Roger Ebert passed this month. I don’t believe there’s a person in the United States that has penned any kind of film or TV or music or literary or video criticism in the last thirty years who has done so without the influence of “Uncle Roger.” Since I’ve walked those avenues, both professionally and blog-a-fessionally, for more than twenty myself, I’ve always been acutely aware of his writing and his passions. I stopped reading him regularly quite some time ago, around the point where feature films stopped thrilling me the way that they once did, but I almost always went back to check his opinion on whatever movie I had just seen. Or whatever Pedro Almodovar has made lately; I never actually get out to see his movies anymore. Continue reading “Remembering Roger at Steak ‘n Shake”

Cheeseburger Bobby’s, Atlanta GA

Not unreasonably, we were once asked whether we ever eat at the same place twice. Clearly we do – hence this month’s trio of “take two” entries – but we don’t really go back to even favorite places all that frequently. One exception, however, is the Cheeseburger Bobby’s near us on Barrett Parkway, where we go as a family about three times a month. Admittedly, you can find three or four better burgers in the city, but we find Bobby’s perfectly fine, especially for the price, and we love the customization and, especially, the service. If there’s a restaurant in Atlanta with a better crew than the Cheeseburger Bobby’s on Barrett, it’s news to us, and you might have noticed that we eat out a lot. Continue reading “Cheeseburger Bobby’s, Atlanta GA”

Sweet Tomatoes, Kennesaw GA (take two)

This is Marie, doing a follow-up article about Sweet Tomatoes. If you recall Grant’s article from a while back praising their tomato soup, he alluded to how sad it was that a restaurant with Tomato in the name, who in fact have a tomato soup recipe that is better than most of their other soups, only has it once or twice a year – March is the month it appears regularly, but we’ve noticed that there is also an occasional week when it will show up outside that schedule. Continue reading “Sweet Tomatoes, Kennesaw GA (take two)”

Photo Post 9: The Varsity, Atlanta GA

Everybody has written about the Varsity and shared all the same anecdotes, but for our 700th post here at Marie, Let’s Eat!, we wanted to come up with something special, so why not finally show off this Atlanta landmark and roadfood classic? But there’s something even more special about the Varsity that you probably don’t know. There’s a secret burger that’s not on the menu and it is, quite honestly, the best thing that you can order here. Continue reading “Photo Post 9: The Varsity, Atlanta GA”

Rick’s Barbecue, Murfreesboro TN

So the road took us back to Tennessee for a couple of days. Marie had some time off and wanted to visit her family, and I didn’t quite have the hours accrued to take the days that she wanted, so instead, she took the baby and went south, and I took the girlchild and went north. I even did the good deed, perhaps, of ringing the girlchild’s mother and offering to let the two of ’em have a few hours together. Continue reading “Rick’s Barbecue, Murfreesboro TN”

Chai Pani, Decatur GA

A couple of years ago, I found my favorite Indian restaurant. It’s up in Asheville and it’s called Chai Pani. They announced shortly afterward that they were looking forward to expanding and opening a second store in Atlanta. I’ve been waiting impatiently ever since. Continue reading “Chai Pani, Decatur GA”

Kay’s Ice Cream, Knoxville TN

As part of revisiting childhood memories, I was happy to share stories last year about the last remaining Kay’s Kastles in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, and its distant relation, Ice Castle in Dalton, Georgia. You should probably read those before continuing; it’ll save me having to recount the history of the chain. As I wrote both chapters, I looked forward to finding a chance to visit Knoxville and see the last remaining Kay’s Ice Cream store. Continue reading “Kay’s Ice Cream, Knoxville TN”