Last month, one of our readers, Cheryl Kitchens, sent a recommendation that we stop by Bar-H Barbeque near the neat little town of Royston. I agreed that was a terrific idea; I had not been anywhere around these great towns in northeast Georgia that I enjoy so much in a really long time. Bar-H was, therefore, the last restaurant that I deliberately looked up and planned to visit before I set out on my trip. I noticed that I could get there from Athens via one of two roads. I’d driven US-29 through the area many times in the past, but I’d never seen GA-281 before, so that was the one that I took. I also thought about where I might go after Royston. I glanced very briefly around Google Maps and figured that Toccoa and Clemson would be eventual destinations, but I backed away after making that conclusion. I was resolved not to print out directions or use Urbanspoon to lock myself into a schedule. After I left Bar-H, I would be on my own. Continue reading “This land is Billy Dilworth’s land.”
Tag: georgia
Farm 255, Athens GA (CLOSED)
Ah, Farm 255. At last we meet, if only fleetingly.
Readers with long memories and a habit of reading between the lines have probably realized that there has been some restaurant or other in downtown Athens where, for months, I have tried to have a meal. Well, not consistently; I only ever head to that great little city every six or eight weeks or so. Anyway, not knowing at first that the restaurant – which is only open for supper – has an outdoor “farm cart,” I thought that I might not ever get the chance to stop. Then I learned of the cart, and, in the winter, made two visits, found it shuttered and left, scratching my head. Eventually, I read that the cart is not open during the colder months. Then they delayed opening it this year. Then I stopped going to Athens during the week. Continue reading “Farm 255, Athens GA (CLOSED)”
Holcomb’s Bar-B-Q, Greensboro GA
So we might be moving to Dayton, Ohio.
It’s up in the air, and we don’t know for sure, but if that’s where the job ends up being, that is what we will have to do. But it is going to mean that we want to make the most of our time in Georgia if it is indeed coming to an end this year. Two Fridays ago, Marie went to visit her mother and father and give them some grandchild time. I was not able to join her and the baby due to an early morning appointment that would cost her several important grandbaby hours waiting for me, and so she went one direction and I, once I was finished and the teenager was safely tucked away, went the other. Continue reading “Holcomb’s Bar-B-Q, Greensboro GA”
Coco’s Chinese Restaurant, Chamblee GA (CLOSED)
I’ve said several times before that I’m not all that interested in celebrity chef culture. I like consistency and history, and places that serve a decent meal for years and years. Nevertheless, I do read many of my fellow bloggers in Atlanta, and once in a while, I see a report written with such enthusiasm that it overcomes my silly prejudice. Four months ago, Chow Down Atlanta wrote a rave report (since lost) about Chef Danny Ting’s work at a Buford Highway shop called Coco’s. Continue reading “Coco’s Chinese Restaurant, Chamblee GA (CLOSED)”
Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse, Euharlee GA
Several months ago, I spent some time cleaning up Urbanspoon’s listings of barbecue restaurants throughout Georgia and Alabama – I probably need to do that again – and found quite a few that I had never heard of before. Johnny Mitchell’s is one of those. He and his wife Jill boast that they have been in the restaurant business for 32 years, and that the Smokehouse is their second enterprise. Jill is from California and Johnny from here in Atlanta. His aunt was the owner of downtown’s B & G Restaurant, about which I can find no information online. That’s one of the reasons that I wanted to create this blog in the first place, to keep stories about food and community and dining going, even from a perspective as narrow as ours, with just a little information and a couple of photos. Continue reading “Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse, Euharlee GA”
Mellow Mushroom, Marietta GA
In the late 1980s, when I thought that I liked hippie music – turns out I don’t; go figure – I became aware of the small Mellow Mushroom chain. Fueled not just by Jefferson Airplane records, but by the character of “neil” – always lower case – in TV’s The Young Ones, I probably talked about having a pizza here for years before I actually did. I always said the name in an approximation of neil’s voice. “Mellaww Mushroooooom,” usually with a slight nod and two fingers for peace. Ah, teenagers. The restaurant was started here in Atlanta in 1974. I think that the second store didn’t open for another eight years. They’ve had a presence in downtown Athens since 1986. While still mostly in the southeast, the chain now has a presence in seventeen states. Continue reading “Mellow Mushroom, Marietta GA”
Soho, Vinings GA
Since I grew up just on the other side of the interstate from Vinings – literally, when we were in middle school, we’d use a huge storm drain to get from the woods on one side of I-285 to the other – I got to see that neighborhood grow and swell. The church that we attended now houses both a Mellow Mushroom and a La Paz, and the small plot of land across the street was transformed into the Vinings Jubilee shopping center when we were in high school. Then we spent most of eleventh grade being bored on a Friday night being told to beat it off the property. None of us in those days, after all, were really dressed for an evening at Cafe Chanterelle, then, the crown jewel of the facility. Nor had we any money. Continue reading “Soho, Vinings GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 