Marie and I are occasionally asked how on earth we eat out as often as we do, and the truth is that we honestly don’t, not as much as we may appear. She cooks most evenings – and she cooks amazingly well – and our lunches are frequently either leftovers or deli sandwiches. I believe that what we do differently from many people is that we plan in advance and don’t waste meals on convenience or fast food, and when we do go out, we don’t often revisit a place, even if we enjoyed it. Certainly, there are exceptions – we can be found, many Tuesdays, having our family supper at Cheeseburger Bobby’s – and admittedly, we indulge on road trips, but for our staying-in-Atlanta meals, it’s reasonably simple to come up with four chapters a week and not burst the budget, especially since we often eat at two new places on Saturdays. Continue reading “Bell Street Burritos in the Irwin Street Market (CLOSED)”
Tag: closed!
Jerk Kitchen, Marietta GA (CLOSED)
We’ve hinted before that Urbanspoon has a flaw or two in it – just hop back two chapters – but that shouldn’t release restaurant owners from the responsibility of taking advantage of the darn thing. Take Jerk Kitchen for example. This is a pretty darn good Jamaican restaurant that’s just down the road from us, and it’s been there for almost a year without us knowing anything about it. The owners, a husband and wife from Kingston, working with a chef from Montego, chose what looks like a murderously tough space on the far end of a strip mall, sort of in the elbow between a Wal-Mart and one of those Chinese super buffet places. We never even look in the direction of either of those businesses, and had no idea this place was here. We only found it one Friday evening when, unsure what to eat, we started paging through the “recently added” restaurant list in Urbanspoon and found it listed, about ten months late. Continue reading “Jerk Kitchen, Marietta GA (CLOSED)”
The Greater Good Barbecue, Tucker GA
It has been several weeks since we last mentioned a barbecue place in our blog! We have, recently, been enjoying some pretty good ‘cue, but at places that we’ve visited previously. In July, we enjoyed stopping by Bub-Ba-Q, Ebony & Ivory, and Big Shanty Smokehouse. A couple of weeks ago, Marie and the baby and I also visited a very new place that opened in Tucker last month. The Greater Good Barbecue is owned by Clay Harper and Mike Nelson, who own Fellini’s Pizza and La Fonda Latina, and are, I believe, co-owners of Ringside Franks & Shakes, all of which we enjoy and have also featured here. (I’d link you, but too many blue words in a single paragraph is bad for your eyes, you know. Seriously.) Continue reading “The Greater Good Barbecue, Tucker GA”
Figo Pasta, Alpharetta GA (CLOSED)
Last month, Marie and I were invited to come join the staff of the Alpharetta Figo, along with ninety-nine hundred other hungry people, for their grand reopening celebration. We’ve written about Figo previously, and so we knew that we could expect some very good eating. What surprised us, pleasantly, was how incredibly well the staff at this location handled one of the biggest, wildest mobs on one of the warmest evenings of the summer looking for a free dinner. The place was jammed with hot, sweaty, hungry people and, doors wide open, precious air conditioning escaped into the sticky Alpharetta sky, and that staff rose to the challenge like champions. Continue reading “Figo Pasta, Alpharetta GA (CLOSED)”
Sisters Creole Market, Athens GA (CLOSED)
When Marie and I first began dating, we would probably most often eat in Athens at the restaurant that was nearest her house: the original location of Jot Em Down. The building was erected in the 1920s and, once upon a time, had been a small grocery store. Jot Em Down, for a time much beloved as the favorite barbecue in Athens of many writers, moved to the larger space on the old Macon Highway that had been the home of Parsons Restaurant, but it only lasted there a year or two. Continue reading “Sisters Creole Market, Athens GA (CLOSED)”
Curly’s Fried Chicken, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)
So, let’s get the obligatory mention of LeRoy’s out of the way. I liked LeRoy’s. It was pretty good, but pretty expensive, and it didn’t last long, and it closed and a family rented out the property and put their own recipes in the fry vats. Curly’s Chicken is even better than LeRoy’s and less expensive. Continue reading “Curly’s Fried Chicken, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)”
Brown’s BBQ, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)
Many years back, there was this terrific hole-in-the-wall barbecue place called Benny’s. It was located in that ramshackle strip mall right where Ashford-Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry have that obnoxious intersection, where so many restaurants have thrived for a year or three before vanishing. Once upon a time, French Quarter Too was here. So was this Golden-This-Happy-That Chinese delivery place that had a really curious and impossibly spicy dish called Zyu Cheng Chicken on the menu. And then there was Benny’s, one of the loudest and most wonderfully chaotic businesses that I’ve ever seen. The notion of ordering meat dry never occurred to these good people. You joined a line and a woman bellowed questions at you, ending in “HOT, MILD OR MIX?” I think that everybody who sat down with a plate of food had to wipe their brow, relieved that the interrogation had finally finished. Continue reading “Brown’s BBQ, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)”
Marie, Let's Eat! 