White Windmill, Doraville GA

(Taking a break, again, from anything that even remotely resembles a restaurant review.)

I will clearly never, at this point in life, ever learn to appreciate tea the way that Marie does. Or the way that her mother does. Or the way that pretty much everybody in Europe seems to. That’s perfectly all right; I appreciate tea just fine on my own terms. Tea, served sweet and chilled, is, six days out of seven, my favorite thing to drink. I may enjoy a Buffalo Rock, or a Kutztown Birch Beer, or, once in a great while, a bottle of Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout a whole heck of a lot, but really, nothing beats a nice glass of iced tea. Continue reading “White Windmill, Doraville GA” →

Barbecue, for Better or for Worse

In several previous chapters, I have sung the praises of various children’s museums in Tennessee, but I have not taken the time to really talk up the very good one that we have in Atlanta. Since we are members here, we’ve been watching our baby grow in the toddler area since he was about six months old. It had been a few months since we were last here, and at that time, he completely drenched himself in the fishing area. Resolving that this time, we’d not let him get soaked from head to toe, we felt he was big enough, at nineteen months, to explore the rest of the exhibits. Continue reading “Barbecue, for Better or for Worse” →

Waikikie Hawaiian BBQ, Atlanta GA

Here’s an example of some pretty nontraditional barbecue. Waikikie would probably not have shown up on my radar if they didn’t have “barbecue” in their name, as what they serve isn’t much like pulled or chopped southern-style pork or chicken. It’s a very curious little place on Briarcliff just north of Lavista Road that serves a pretty fun lunch. Continue reading “Waikikie Hawaiian BBQ, Atlanta GA” →

Windy City Grill, Marietta GA

For the first time since starting the blog, Marie and I were waylaid one weekend by a plague. It was not the fault of any restaurant; rather, the toddler brought it home from daycare. So it was that, after a pretty good Friday lunch at Pho Dai Loi, and, after Marie’s brother Karl arrived for a weekend stay, a downright excellent supper at Moxie Burger, we spent Saturday in bed being awful hosts, asking the girlchild to step up and watch the baby, and left Karl to the TV and books. I was too miserable to even try to watch the Dawgs get five yards from beating Bama. Continue reading “Windy City Grill, Marietta GA” →

Pho Dai Loi #2, Atlanta GA

As I fumble and bumble my way through learning a little bit more here and there about different cuisines and the regions what concocted ’em, the road took me back over to Buford Highway to sample a little more Vietnamese cooking. Marie and I had intended for some time to dig back into this part of town and try some more pho parlors, but our weekends became backlogged, especially with out-of-town guests and preparations for her big, long bizness trip to Ohio. So even though we’ve established that Marie enjoys Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese foods more than I do, I decided to make a solo outing to Buford Highway and see what I could find, and maybe see whether my preconceived notions could be foiled. Continue reading “Pho Dai Loi #2, Atlanta GA” →

Empire State South, Atlanta GA

So, if we were to put together a chart of Atlanta restaurants that I was long overdue for sampling, Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South must surely be near the top of the list. It has been open for about two years, and just about everybody else that I read has paid them a visit already, and, despite liking Acheson’s food on the considerable strength of Five & Ten in Athens, I just hadn’t found the right opportunity to swing by. So a few Thursdays back, when the New Orleans Saints were in town for a game, I decided that I was overdue and then made my way by for lunch. Continue reading “Empire State South, Atlanta GA” →

Skips Chicago Dogs, Avondale Estates GA

Long story short version: I was looking for a place new to me to visit a couple of Fridays ago, and the earlier that it opened for lunch, the better, since there were many things to do that afternoon. So I found a very popular hot dog place in Avondale Estates, a little town just east of Decatur that I had never, in all the years I’ve lived around this area, had reason to visit before. Skips opens at the agreeable hour of 10, serving up nicely-priced Vienna Beef dogs from underneath the requisite collection of Bears, Blackhawks and baseball memorabilia and banners. If their collection is not quite as wild and esoteric as the museum on the walls of Marietta’s Chicago Delights, it’s still enough to satisfy the homesick. Continue reading “Skips Chicago Dogs, Avondale Estates GA” →