2012 has actually been a pretty eventful year for Cajun and Creole cooking in Cobb County, with one new restaurant, one closure, and one reopening. Perhaps the first four months of every year are like this, and I only just happened to be paying attention this time out, but it seemed unusual to me. Continue reading “Cobb County Creole”
The Starlight Cafe, Marietta GA (CLOSED)
Growing up, I remember a restaurant on the Marietta Square called Jimmy the Greek. At the time, I was aware that CBS Sports had a commentator who went by that name. It’s not like ten or eleven year-olds pay that much attention to who provides commentary and picks before the games or the fights, but Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder (born, according to Wikipedia, Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos in Steubenville, Ohio in 1918) was so well-known that, like his peer at ABC, Howard Cosell, he was parodied on many of the sitcoms, variety shows and Saturday morning programs that I watched as a kid. And, as a kid, using child-logic, I concluded that the real Jimmy the Greek must have not only owned the restaurant by that name in Marietta, but also greeted guests and cooked all the food. I vaguely recall being disappointed to learn that was not the case. I really wanted to meet another celebrity. By the age of eleven, I think the only celebrities that I had ever met were behind tables at car shows. Continue reading “The Starlight Cafe, Marietta GA (CLOSED)”
Bloggers Invade Double Zero Napoletana
After we returned from our trip to Chattanooga, we had a day to relax and enjoy some delicious chicken that Marie cooked, and then the night after that, we joined the Atlanta Food Bloggers Society for a meeting of fun, shop talk, gossip, and learning more about food. This was our second meeting, and this time out, we met in Sandy Springs at Double Zero Napoletana for pizza and pasta. We were joined by Atlanta Etc., Atlanta Foodies, The Food and Me, Hot Dish Review, and Meals With Megan, and learned a little about one of our city’s most popular new restaurants. Continue reading “Bloggers Invade Double Zero Napoletana”
Miller Brothers Rib Shack, Dalton GA
For the last stop on our trip through the land “from Soddy-Daisy to Sand Mountain,” we pulled over in Dalton for the first time in more than two years of blogging. We have registered on the Urbanspoon Dalton leaderboard already, because, strangely I’d say, that service registers a giant, sweeping expanse of the northwest Georgia mountains, from Summerville to Ellijay, as one metro area. Despite the fact that Dalton is smaller than Rome, which is unincorporated in Urbanspoon and registers simply within the general Urbanspoon Georgia heading, all of this sparsely-populated expanse of beautiful mountain country is all called Urbanspoon Dalton, and our visits to nice mountain restaurant getaways have logged there. Continue reading “Miller Brothers Rib Shack, Dalton GA”
Kay’s Kastles, Soddy-Daisy TN
Revisiting Kay’s Kastles has reconnected me with another part of my past, and, reading up on the very small ice cream parlor, I’ve learned a lot about this very old company, and how its fortunes have withered so badly. There is only one Kay’s Kastles store left, north of Chattanooga up US 27 in Soddy-Daisy, and it is a shadow of its former self, but I’m so glad that I stopped by to say hello to an old friend. Continue reading “Kay’s Kastles, Soddy-Daisy TN”
Hillbilly Willy’s Bar-B-Q, Chattanooga TN
Hillbilly Willy’s was already several years old before I discovered them. George Foster started his business in a tiny little shack in Ooltewah, on the other side of Chattanooga from his present location, about eleven years ago, doing carry-out and catering. Around the same time that he was growing and thriving and looking for a larger space, I was stopping at a Bi-Lo just off I-24 on my way to Nashville for occasional twelve-packs of Double Cola. In time, the Bi-Lo closed, the shopping center’s owners lowered the rent on the smaller spaces to attract business to the mall as it lacked an anchor, and Foster moved in, setting up billboards letting people know about his great barbecue on the west side of town. Continue reading “Hillbilly Willy’s Bar-B-Q, Chattanooga TN”
Two Dairy Bars in Northeast Bama
While dairy bars are not unknown in Georgia – we’ve visted, for example, Dari Spot near Gainesville and Jiffy Freeze in Canton – the actual name “dairy bar” is very uncommon. The only place in the state that I’ve found that uses that name is a joint called Cree-Mee down near Unadilla. In Alabama, the term is more widely used. Just so we’re on the same page, I’m talking about little places that specialize in no-frills fast food and soft serve ice cream, effectively the same sort of food that you could typically expect to find at a Dairy Queen, but independent, local and, usually, very old. Continue reading “Two Dairy Bars in Northeast Bama”
Marie, Let's Eat! 