A couple of weeks ago, we were in Macon, having dinner with our friends Rex and Rachel, and I mentioned a restaurant that I’d like to visit one of these days. Rex said that it’s become one of those restaurants where only much older people eat. I knew what he meant; we’ve been to a few ourselves, like The Epicurean in East Ridge TN or Jim Stalvey’s in Covington GA. Heck, for all that youth-skewing magazines like Garden & Gun have celebrated barbecue in the last few years, I am not sure that any students at Wake Forest are joining the crowd at Hill’s Lexington in Winston-Salem. I went there for breakfast last year and the servers there looked at me like they had never before seen anybody in their forties out of bed that early. Continue reading “California Dreaming, Kennesaw GA”
Tag: georgia
Grindhouse Killer Burgers, Athens GA
As Atlanta-based burger chains start getting large enough to leave town, most of them head toward Nashville. Flip Burger Boutique, Yeah Burger, and Farm Burger have all put the Music City on their radars; in fact I believe that Flip just opened in Tennessee this week, or is about to. However, one of my favorites of that pack, Grindhouse Killer Burgers, is happily staying small and scrappy for the time being. Several months back, they chose to open their third location in nearby Athens, entering a very large space on Lumpkin near Five Points. I don’t recognize the building, and wonder whether it was built for this restaurant. It’s a two-story place with seating for a hundred downstairs and a hundred (21+) on the smoking-allowed patio upstairs. The three year-old complained mightily about not being allowed upstairs. Poor fellow. Continue reading “Grindhouse Killer Burgers, Athens GA”
Rooter’s BBQ, Athens GA (CLOSED)
Last month, I was writing about how Brunswick stew in Georgia can contain any ingredient under the sun. We’ve found it at dozens of places around our state and tasted all sorts of recipes, but the diced sausage in the stew at Rooter’s was a very pleasant surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever had sausage in stew before! Technically speaking, however, this isn’t Brunswick stew, but rather “Bundrick stew.” That’s the family name of one of the owners of Rooter’s BBQ on Whitehall Road in Athens, and their lovely old recipe. It was delicious sausage, and really changed the flavor of the stew from what I was expecting. Isn’t it nice to find new things? Continue reading “Rooter’s BBQ, Athens GA (CLOSED)”
Paul’s Bar-B-Q, Lexington GA (take two) (CLOSED)
I think that the most dated story at this blog of ours is of a restaurant where time has stood still for more than twenty years. It’s the first story that I wrote about Paul’s Bar-B-Q, a terrific restaurant that keeps Oglethorpe County on the map of anybody who enjoys good barbecue. If you were to go and read it, some amazing things will probably pop out at you. Continue reading “Paul’s Bar-B-Q, Lexington GA (take two) (CLOSED)”
Simply Thai, Dunwoody GA
A few weeks ago, our friend Kevin came to town from Washington to see his family, and we met up with him at a Thai restaurant that promises a “hot and passionate menu.” We noticed Simply Thai a couple of months ago when we visited Cafe Sababa, which is in the space next door, and even after deciding that Erawan has the best Thai cuisine that we’ve ever had, we wanted to sample someplace new. So we went out and fought worse-than-usual traffic – turns out that the whole Perimeter Mall area is nightmarish the week before Christmas, surprise! – and sat down to a pretty good meal with our old pal. Continue reading “Simply Thai, Dunwoody GA”
Cook Out, Kennesaw GA
Cook Out has continued their slow and inexorable and honestly quite confusing expansion into Georgia. There’s no sense to be made in looking over their list of Georgia locations. I think that the presence of colleges must play a role, so that inebriated undergraduates can get a whole lot of greasy fast food at two in the morning and, what the heck, a milkshake while we’re here. That’s why we see restaurants in Athens (albeit nowhere sensible between the bars and the student housing, confounding that theory), Statesboro, Rome, and Milledgeville. But then there’s one in Pooler, and two stores in Augusta, and one in Atlanta off Moreland that serves the godawfulest barbecue ever. Two more Atlanta stores also opened last month, alongside this one, on Northside and in the former Zesto on Ponce. Continue reading “Cook Out, Kennesaw GA”
Marlow’s Tavern, Dunwoody GA
Marie and I were invited to visit Marlow’s Tavern and sample their winter menu. This local chain continues to impress us with their slow and careful expansion, with the quality of their food, and with the very fresh rotations of their menu. It changes twice a year, but it doesn’t have a simple A- and B- menu. Each new rollout with summer- and winter-themed selections is a little different, with executive chef John Metz tweaking last year’s popular choices. Continue reading “Marlow’s Tavern, Dunwoody GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 