Ray’s Donuts, Marietta GA

This is Marie, contributing a little article about something sweet. This time it is about a place called Ray’s Donuts. Ray’s is a recent addition to Canton Road and quite a noble one at that. Continue reading “Ray’s Donuts, Marietta GA” →

Circumnavigating Alabama – Part 5

When I woke on Saturday, I surprised myself by being a little hungry. After all that I ate on Friday, I didn’t expect that, but I also knew that I’d be eating a little less on this day, and light salads for a couple of days after. I also surprised myself by sleeping as late as six, which is seven on my Eastern Standard Time clock and a couple of hours later than I normally rise. Still, I had about an hour to drive before lunch and five hours to kill, so I puttered around and played online and took a very leisurely morning. Eventually, I pulled on one of my Georgia Bulldogs T-shirts, checked out, went back to Jackson’s main street to photograph the restaurant where I was unable to eat the night previously, and wound my way down the road toward Mobile. Continue reading “Circumnavigating Alabama – Part 5” →

Dough in the Box, Marietta GA

I continue to be pleasantly surprised to find successful restaurants in the suburbs that mostly avoid online notice or raving. Now, it’s certainly true that I do have one of my fellow bloggers, Blissful Glutton Jennifer Zyman, to thank for bringing Dough in the Box to my attention when she gave it a writeup for Creative Loafing last year, but, heck, everybody should be talking about this place. Marie and I drove over there to bring home some breakfast last Saturday and these are really excellent doughnuts. Certainly, Sublime Doughnuts does everything oh-so-right with their carefree and vaguely ridiculous creations, but these basic and simple no-frills creations, quite reminiscent of the Great American Donut Shop in Bowling Green, Kentucky are just about as good, and really nicely priced at $7 for a dozen. Continue reading “Dough in the Box, Marietta GA” →

J. Christopher’s, Kennesaw GA

This is Marie, contributing an article about breakfast. Recently, my brother came for a visit. He is more of a hearty eater than I am. For one thing, he likes bacon. Although we have a number of excellent breakfast places, my current dietary limitations mean it’s not quite as much fun to go to places like the delightful Stilesboro Biscuits. On his first day here, we went to a national chain restaurant. I decided that for his second day here that an alternate had to be found. Which is ironic, because we wound up going to a chain after all – the difference being that it was a local chain that started right here in Marietta. Karl suggested J. Christopher’s, and I am glad he pointed it out because otherwise I might not have known it was that local. They currently have 22 stores in Georgia and Tennessee. Continue reading “J. Christopher’s, Kennesaw GA” →

King’s Grill, Valdosta GA

In retrospect, it’s almost funny that I told Chris that we might see a little bit more of north Florida on this last trip down to visit him. We left after sunset. We didn’t see anything. Well, as Marie and the children slept, I did see a really funny series of signs along I-10. Heading west, there’s a sign that reads “Lake City: Next 3 Exits.” Then there’s an exit for US-90, and then you enter the Osceola National Forest and spend about twenty miles driving through the darkness. Then you exit the forest and a sign reads “Lake City: Next 2 Exits.” Continue reading “King’s Grill, Valdosta GA” →

Noshville, Nashville TN

This is Marie with an article that contains no desserts at all, though it does have something that is nearly as yummy – salami. I didn’t like salami nearly as much before I got pregnant and swore off the stuff for a very long time. This article is about a place that is, as a result, nearly synonymous with salami for me. On our first visit, sometime while we were still dating, we stopped by this place mainly because it was across the street from a comic and music store that was dear to my husband’s heart, but now it is a destination to itself. Which is good, because the comic and music store moved to a soulless strip mall that probably has better rent prices and definitely has more floor space. Continue reading “Noshville, Nashville TN” →

Rise-n-Dine, Atlanta GA

This is Marie, contributing an article about breakfast. My relationship with breakfast has been a little out of the ordinary because I am one of about four people in the world who dislike bacon (on its own merits, that is – not for religious, moral, or health reasons). When I was a teen, I learned how to make pancakes so I could tie up the griddle and get something to eat, then escape before my dad and uncle could fill the kitchen with the smell of frying meat. It was also fun to make smiley face pancakes and such for the littler kids.

My personal favorite breakfast is a bowl of fresh fruit with good yogurt, a bowl of cereal if it is warm, an egg or oatmeal in cold weather, some toast with a top-quality jam, and some hot black tea. A nice creamy Dutch cheese also goes well with the toast. Obviously, it’s easier to have this breakfast at home. Except on workdays, of course, when peanut butter on half a bagel is more typical!

However, every so often I am called to go out for breakfast. In this particular case, it was a friend’s visit. Our friend Chris, from Jacksonville, was back in town on the last leg of a road trip up to New Jersey and back on family business. When someone is visiting from out of town you let them have a good bit of leeway in picking out a place to meet, and he was the one to pick Rise-n-Dine, based primarily on the fact that it was the highest-rated breakfast place near his hotel. I made the trek to Decatur with the kids to meet up with Chris, knowing the wait time would be pretty daunting, so a bottle came along for the baby. It’s fairly popular place and if you either like people-watching or are meeting more for the opportunity for conversation than a quick meal, the wait isn’t bothersome. The wait was a little hard for a 12-year-old to take, but she managed with a little window shopping and the help of her phone. Twosomes will get in faster than larger groups. There don’t seem to be many larger tables.

Once actually inside, we were served quickly and had a cheerful server. He was a little bewildered by the request for a mug of hot water to heat the bottle, but complied promptly, and barely in time – the baby just barely began to fuss before his milk was done. The baby passed out in time for the food to arrive, nice timing on his part, and generous of him considering the fairly high noise level inside. The server had pretty decent hearing. I have been avoiding dairy due to the apparent allergy of a certain little person who shares my meals, and I have been unpleasantly surprised before to get rye toast (with butter on it) instead of dry toast; despite the noise, that server got it right.

Ivy saw grilled cheese on the menu and asked if she could have that. Generally the answer is no, because we feel it is not right to pay 5 bucks for something that costs about 11 cents to make at home. However, in certain circumstances, such as when the restaurant uses multiple kinds of cheese on bread that isn’t unnaturally square, we make exceptions. She also ordered the orange juice. When her drink arrived and I saw how brilliantly orange and dense it was, I had to have some for myself. That, I think, was the best part of the meal, and it was surely better than the hot tea that would have been my alternate choice.

Unfortunately we didn’t order anything terribly photogenic. The table voted the herbed fried potatoes the best item after the orange juice. Next time I will make a point of getting the sweet potato pancakes.

Breakfast isn’t a hard meal to get right, as long as service is reasonably fast. However, Rise-n-Dine manages to take a step past the ordinary. I’d go again.