Farm 255, Athens GA (CLOSED)

Ah, Farm 255. At last we meet, if only fleetingly.

Readers with long memories and a habit of reading between the lines have probably realized that there has been some restaurant or other in downtown Athens where, for months, I have tried to have a meal. Well, not consistently; I only ever head to that great little city every six or eight weeks or so. Anyway, not knowing at first that the restaurant – which is only open for supper – has an outdoor “farm cart,” I thought that I might not ever get the chance to stop. Then I learned of the cart, and, in the winter, made two visits, found it shuttered and left, scratching my head. Eventually, I read that the cart is not open during the colder months. Then they delayed opening it this year. Then I stopped going to Athens during the week. Continue reading “Farm 255, Athens GA (CLOSED)” →

Five and Ten, Athens GA

Well, there’s no getting around this: Marie and I tend to eat inexpensively. We don’t set out to, but I figured out a long time ago that the meals that I genuinely enjoy the most can be had for under $9 or so. These would be the out-of-the-way barbecue joints and roadfood places that don’t have master chefs competing on, or judging, game shows on The Food Network. This is one place where Marie and I don’t completely agree, though we’re mostly in sync 99% of the time. A couple of weeks ago, she was remembering a very good meal that we enjoyed several months previously at The Sound Table in Atlanta, and suggested that we visit some place with that kind of experience. Since we’d spent the late morning enjoying barbecue miles and miles out of town, and the afternoon snacking at simple college favorites in downtown Athens, I had to agree that getting something a little different would be in order. Continue reading “Five and Ten, Athens GA” →

Snacking in Downtown Athens

When Marie and I visited Athens a couple of weeks ago, we had more on our mind – honestly! – than just driving around eating. In fact, we really just enjoyed our barbecue lunch, and, several hours later, a nice supper, although we did have a few snacks between them, and enjoyed some driving and visiting. After going to Hot Thomas, we popped just up the road to the Elder Covered Bridge. Unlike Watson Mill, which is about twenty-five or so miles away, this bridge doesn’t have a park built around it, and neither of us were dressed to tackle the steep grade down to the creek below it, but we enjoyed looking at the flowers and taking photos, and getting out of the way of other people driving through it. Continue reading “Snacking in Downtown Athens” →

Pig O’s Bar-B-Que, Crawford GA

Two Saturdays ago, Marie and I enjoyed a Date Day. The teenage girl was off one direction and the baby boy was with my mom, and so we drove up to the Athens area to enjoy some time without the company of younguns. Our first stop was Oglethorpe County, where we went to Shaking Rock Park, one of our favorite places, and enjoyed a nice walk in the woods. I always enjoy the sight of beautiful creatures sunning themselves on the rocks, like these fantastic lizards that I snapped: Continue reading “Pig O’s Bar-B-Que, Crawford GA” →

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and ADD Drug, Athens GA

I got stymied for the umpteenth time with this one place that I wanted to eat in Athens. Let’s not go into it now. Maybe the time after next.

Anyway, on one of my previous trips to town, I noticed that a big sports bar was going in the space near the Morton that had previously been home to that tapas place. Actually, I don’t think that it registered then as a sports bar; I just saw that it was a taco place. I’ve always got time for a taco place, but I somehow wonder whether Athens is large enough to have room for a new one. In college towns, you occasionally see a little friction between established restaurants with a lot of history, the fun and trendy new places, and the out-of-town interlopers who come in and suck business away, particularly downtown. Fuzzy’s is definitely in the latter category. It’s a chain from Texas with, at the time of writing, forty-eight locations in ten states, all of which have cropped up since 2005. The Athens store is their first in the southeast; a second, in Charlotte, is due to open in the spring. Continue reading “Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and ADD Drug, Athens GA” →

Keba Spitfire Grill, Athens GA

Here is a restaurant that I remember well from back when it had an even sillier name. See, about three years ago, Achim Reus, who, before he became a restaurateur, was once the principal French horn player in the Stuttgart Philharmonic, decided that it was time to corporatize the restaurants that he’d been running since 1999 or 2000 or so. Back then, he had two in Athens and they were called Achim’s K-Bobs. There was one downtown and one by the track and the football practice fields and I really enjoyed them. They were proper, ramshackle restaurants for a college town and I ate at each of the two frequently. Continue reading “Keba Spitfire Grill, Athens GA” →

Your Pie and The Royal Peasant, Athens GA

A growing little pizza business that started in Athens has been on my radar for ages, since they started getting lots of press and regular notices from one of that city’s best food writers, the wonderful Hillary Brown of Flagpole. Unfortunately, at the time that I’m writing this, that newspaper’s web site archive is unavailable, thanks to an alleged attack of “spam monkey trolls,” so I can’t look back and refresh my memory about anything, but if I remember correctly, Your Pie sort of arrived fully-formed, corporate and ready for franchising in 2008. There are already eight stores in Georgia – it was spotting the lone Atlanta-area location, in Roswell, that reminded me to try these guys out – along with two stores each in Florida and South Carolina. There’s a thirteenth coming to Murfreesboro, near the MTSU campus, pretty soon. Continue reading “Your Pie and The Royal Peasant, Athens GA” →