Barbecue Street is that great big barn of a restaurant that everybody passes on their way to the incredibly popular Big Shanty Smokehouse. Well, perhaps I should clarify that a little. They’ve been in business for a good while, so they must be doing something right, and it is hardly fair to dismiss them so easily, but there’s a little truth to that. Continue reading “Barbecue Street, Kennesaw GA”
Nuevo Laredo Cantina, Atlanta GA
Meredith Ford’s name is still on the front window of Nuevo Laredo, still barred from entering. Four years ago, the former AJC critic penned a quite mild criticism of the restaurant for the newspaper and war was declared. At the time, only a handful of blogs were active, and this was an early-to-our-hobby example of something that all food writers, bloggers and amateur critics have since come to know: conveying the gentlest of disappointments can be, in the eyes of the faithful (or the owners), a blight upon God’s eye. Continue reading “Nuevo Laredo Cantina, Atlanta GA”
Come N Get It, Marietta GA
When a restaurant called Fat Boy in Smyrna shuttered at the end of 2006, the city had an outpouring of grief and nostalgia like it had never, ever seen before. A friend of my parents phoned them to say not to bother going down for a farewell milkshake on their last day of business; the line was two hours long. Continue reading “Come N Get It, Marietta GA”
Hot Dog Factory, Smyrna GA
Here’s a little place on Spring Road in Smyrna that I noticed a couple of months ago and returned to try. It’s in a small strip mall that came up in the 1980s a few paces away from that Dairy Queen which has been on Spring Road forever, and which used to be the home of the first Pizza Hut delivery-only outlet that I remember seeing. I certainly enjoy hot dogs, and there are admittedly better in Cobb County, but this is still a fun place, and worth stopping by if you might be in the area. They have just enough original spirit to keep things interesting and entertaining, and the food is pretty tasty, too. Continue reading “Hot Dog Factory, Smyrna GA”
Red Elephant Thai Cuisine, Marietta GA
Let’s start the new year off right by trying to bring some business to a place that’s having some slow Saturday nights. Continue reading “Red Elephant Thai Cuisine, Marietta GA”
Chicken and the Egg and Canvas, Marietta GA
A couple of weeks ago, I indulged and treated myself to two lunches out at places new to me. One has recently opened and one has been around for a few years. I picked Chicken and the Egg, a new restaurant in a huge space in a strip mall on Whitlock, based on several glowing reports. Amy on Food has been there twice and has been quite complimentary. It’s a farm-to-table place where the owners and chefs are striving for sustainability and a sensible approach to fresh eating. Continue reading “Chicken and the Egg and Canvas, Marietta GA”
Fincher’s Barbeque, Macon GA
I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of a restaurant that divides opinion quite the way that Fincher’s does. It would be churlish to deny that it has its very vocal detractors, and even among loyalty-splitting food like barbecue, people either love it to their core or hate it like something on fire. Surprisingly, chief among the nay-sayers is the wonderful 3rd Degree Berns, of whom I have frequently spoken. When he wrote up his visit in 2009, 3DB pulled no punches, giving the venerable original location in Macon one of his extremely rare one star out of ten ratings. (The only other restaurant to rank so lowly with him is Atlanta’s long-past-its-prime Old Hickory House, where polite nostalgia for locals is the main thing on the menu.) 3DB is by no means the only one to turn both barrels on Fincher’s, yet the small chain – presently at four restaurants: three in Macon and one in Warner Robins – does command a following, and is one of those legendary spaces that campaigning politicians are required to visit. Continue reading “Fincher’s Barbeque, Macon GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 