Tipsy Pig BBQ, Lilburn GA

There’s a place in Gwinnett County that I almost went to visit one day in late October. Review Atlanta had written about Tipsy Pig in Lilburn and made it sound very promising. However, it is so far off the beaten path as to be just about halfway to Athens. I decided to set it aside until the next time we were heading to the Classic City. Since Tipsy Pig is, happily, open seven days a week, we could even go on a Sunday. Continue reading “Tipsy Pig BBQ, Lilburn GA”

Batavia, Doraville GA

As if Tempo Doeloe, nearby on Buford Highway, wasn’t overlooked enough in this fool hobby of ours, there’s another Indonesian restaurant that is also not getting much in the way of blogger attention. Batavia is also a combination grocery store and restaurant. It’s located on Shallowford in the same decrepit but extremely busy shopping center as the very good Colombian restaurant Casa Vieja. Batavia has a fenced-in patio section, which was perfect for our overstimulated toddler to run laps. There were at least eight kids at the late-night bakery and taqueria next door. Both before the meal and once he’d had enough of the indoors and wanted to run around outside some more, the toddler squealed and giggled his hellos at all the other kids playing out there. What a vibrant and wonderful place. Continue reading “Batavia, Doraville GA”

Red Pepper Taqueria, Atlanta GA

Today’s chapter is a very short and simple one. Red Pepper Taqueria kept bubbling up on my to-do list and kept getting knocked off by other things. Then, one day last year, Broderick from Savory Exposure declared that their nachos were the best in Atlanta. Continue reading “Red Pepper Taqueria, Atlanta GA”

Jeni’s Ice Creams, Atlanta GA

Once upon a time, I didn’t object much to Ohio State. Part of it’s because I always thought that Jim Tressel was a class act, but basically, while I have little interest and no real concern about the activities of other, lesser, conferences, it’s kind of hard for me to muster much passion or antipathy for what goes on in the Big Ten. Then they went and hired Urban Meyer and packed their schedule with a bunch of loser teams and had the audacity to announce that they were number two in the country and stood in the way of Auburn playing FSU for the title. Continue reading “Jeni’s Ice Creams, Atlanta GA”

Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria, Atlanta GA

Since I work downtown, the main objection to heading that way when there’s a big sporting event in the city – the price of parking – is not an issue. So while all the surface lots and some of the decks started raising their rates upward of $40 to rip off the fans of Auburn and Mizzou who had come to town to see the SEC Championship Game, Marie and the baby and I enjoyed the crowds and seeing everybody having a great time at no additional cost. But we also got a reminder that there’s no substitute for common sense when there’s a big event in any downtown district. When we returned to our employee lot, Marie and I caught a scam artist “selling” spaces in our lot for $20 a head before beating it. We made sure that none of his victims got towed, but it’s worth a minute to remind everybody reading this to only park in a legitimate space, and give your money to somebody who has a right to take it. Continue reading “Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria, Atlanta GA”

Boyd’s Bar-B-Q, Smyrna GA (CLOSED)

In early November, my daughter and I were driving along South Cobb Drive in Smyrna and were surprised to see that a new barbecue place had moved into the building that had once been the home of StaQs. It’s an old, 1960s-era Waffle House, and this stretch of road has not been all that kind to restaurants in the last five or six years. We decided to swing by the next time we were in the area. She had a doctor’s appointment nearby in early December. I figured, wrongly, that she would eat lunch at school and have a side with me once I collected her. No, I made the mistake of sharing plans and she skipped lunch at school, waiting until we got to the counter to order to hit me up with puppy-dog eyes and tell me how hungry she was, and how good those wings sounded. Dadblasted young’un.

Well, I can’t say as I blame her. I’d have probably pulled the same trick on my parents. Continue reading “Boyd’s Bar-B-Q, Smyrna GA (CLOSED)”

Monterrey, Doraville GA

Longtime readers may recall that once every three or four months, I’m overcome by an insatiable craving for basic Americanized El-This-Los-That Tex-Mex. I’ve mostly given up trying to find someplace new to get this grub, because even though I like the idea of finding some ostensibly new content for the blog, it’s just about impossible to find anything new to say about it. There are, of course, only so many ways to describe the same food from the same supply company doled out to allegedly different restaurants. So the last couple of times I got the craving, I just quietly went someplace by myself and left the camera at home. Continue reading “Monterrey, Doraville GA”