Bastie Boys BBQ, Buford GA (CLOSED)

Update: In what has got to be the most ridiculously quick shutdown of any we’ve ever experienced, and hopefully a record we’ll never beat, this restaurant has closed, three days after this post. Best wishes to Russ and James in the future!

I’ve mentioned previously that there are some barbecue places along I-985 / US-23 that I have been saving for a rainy day. Some of these are in the Urbanspoon Gainesville metro listing, but there are a few between exits 4 and 8 that are in the upper north extreme of the Urbanspoon Atlanta conglomerate. I’m aware of three, including one that I’ve been saving for the rainiest day (if you will) and two which are along Buford Highway. Yes, this is the same road that we’ve been discussing at length down in the city and Chamblee and Doraville, thirty miles away. Bella Vivere visited Bastie Boys BBQ back in February and liked it, and so when Matt phoned and asked if I wanted to meet up for some lunch here, I figured we’d have a pretty good meal. Continue reading “Bastie Boys BBQ, Buford GA (CLOSED)” →

Casa Vieja, Doraville GA

Sometime back in the summer, Marie and I were invited to a meetup at this unassuming little Colombian restaurant called Casa Vieja over in Doraville, but we were not able to attend. Some months went by and Emily, who writes Spatialdrift, went here for lunch with some co-workers, and once I read her review (linked below), I just about punched myself in the face for missing out on a meal here. This place looked good. We resolved to get over here before the month ended. Our friend Helen seemed keen to give it a try as well, so one Saturday night, while the Bulldogs held off an unbelievable threat from a powerful and hungry LSU in what was a thrilling, nailbiting, and very distracting game – let’s hear it for smartphones and very patient and understanding friends – and while the girlchild rampaged with friends back in Smyrna at Anime Weekend Atlanta, we dug into some meat. Lots and lots of meat. Continue reading “Casa Vieja, Doraville GA” →

The Mughals, Norcross GA

Back in August, the children and I had met up with Vincent and Helen and some of their friends at Swapna for a big Saturday lunch. I tweeted my pleasant surprise that they had Chicken 65 on the buffet. I’d never seen that on a buffet before. It was pretty good, too, but not a patch on Zyka’s. Continue reading “The Mughals, Norcross GA” →

Stillhouse Craft Burgers & Moonshine, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)

One of the most pleasant surprises that we’ve had in recent months has been our visit to Stillhouse, where we were anticipating some pretty good bar burgers and were given, instead, some downright excellent ones. The restaurant’s PR company invited us to their media launch last month and we left very impressed. Continue reading “Stillhouse Craft Burgers & Moonshine, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)” →

Mr. D’s Barbeque, Austell GA (CLOSED)

One evening last month, while the girlchild was busy with football and friends, Marie and I took a badly overstimulated baby over to Austell to strike another Atlanta-area barbecue joint off our to-do list. The little fellow fell asleep in the car, exhausted after an afternoon spent refusing to nap, and so he missed all the deterioration and sprawl of the southern part of the county. After crossing the East-West Connector, Austell Road takes drivers through some really ugly dilapidation. I’ve always had a soft spot for South Cobb High School because I like the way their stadium is backed right up to and above the street, but all this blight around it and Clay Road is unfortunate. Continue reading “Mr. D’s Barbeque, Austell GA (CLOSED)” →

The Red-Eyed Mule, Marietta GA (take two)

Please don’t look around in our archives for our original story about The Red-Eyed Mule. It was written before we actually started the blog in any formal, branded sense, and was one of a handful of entries – probably the first six or seven, I suppose – that was scripted as a regular entry on my old Livejournal. As our first story, it is an interesting archaeological curio, but not a particularly auspicious launch to our hobby. Continue reading “The Red-Eyed Mule, Marietta GA (take two)” →

Loribell’s Frozen Custard Creations, Kennesaw GA

Urbanspoon sent us north up US-41 for dessert one Friday last month. The baby had been sick for a couple of days, and since he was finally feeling good enough to go back to school, Marie and I got out of the house for some grown-up time. Since frozen custard is still somewhat uncommon in the south (Sheridan’s, one of the few custard chains to try a foothold in Georgia, closed their lone store in Tucker last year), I was curious to try this place. It’s in the “Make Way for the Wal-Mart” sprawl north of Kennesaw and slightly south of Acworth, and it’s an incredibly surprising and fun little treat. Continue reading “Loribell’s Frozen Custard Creations, Kennesaw GA” →