Long story short version: I was looking for a place new to me to visit a couple of Fridays ago, and the earlier that it opened for lunch, the better, since there were many things to do that afternoon. So I found a very popular hot dog place in Avondale Estates, a little town just east of Decatur that I had never, in all the years I’ve lived around this area, had reason to visit before. Skips opens at the agreeable hour of 10, serving up nicely-priced Vienna Beef dogs from underneath the requisite collection of Bears, Blackhawks and baseball memorabilia and banners. If their collection is not quite as wild and esoteric as the museum on the walls of Marietta’s Chicago Delights, it’s still enough to satisfy the homesick. Continue reading “Skips Chicago Dogs, Avondale Estates GA”
Tag: hot dogs
Circumnavigating South Carolina – part one
Earlier this year, I took a two-day “circumnavigation” of Alabama, just driving around the state in a big circle and eating a spectacular amount of barbecue. The resulting series of chapters here at our blog, which you can begin reading here, have proven to be among the most popular things that we’ve written in two and a half years. I’ve been planning a follow-up ever since. Continue reading “Circumnavigating South Carolina – part one”
Charlie Joseph’s, LaGrange GA
In Alabama, specifically in Birmingham, there is of course a long tradition of hot dog joints started in the early 20th Century by Greek immigrants, and often today run by their descendants. The Southern Foodways Alliance made a fun little thirteen-minute documentary called Hot Dog-opolis that you can watch on Vimeo about this small addition to the overall culture of food in the southeast. Continue reading “Charlie Joseph’s, LaGrange GA”
Dogfather’s, Marietta GA
I enjoyed talking with Steve McCollum over at a new hot dog place near our house a couple of weeks ago. It’s called Dogfather’s, and it is not related to similarly-named joints in Illinois and Massachusetts. I’m sure you won’t recall (joke) the heat wave at the end of June, and how nobody could stand to be outside for more than a couple of minutes. Marie and the kids and I had gone to lunch at Bub-Ba-Q that Saturday, and drove past some poor boy on the corner of Chastain Meadows and Barrett Parkway waving a sign for this new hot dog place. The sign worked; we were so startled to see anybody jumping up and down and waving at cars in this heat that we actually paid attention to what he was advertising. I sincerely hope that kid got a bonus in his paycheck that week. Continue reading “Dogfather’s, Marietta GA”
The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, Atlanta GA
Over the years, I’ve taken my share of potshots at a certain type of Atlantan – and these are a very, very small minority of us, I trust – who cannot countenance the idea of traveling anywhere outside I-285. Now, I understand a reluctance to make long, unnecessary journeys, but having been raised as a suburbanite who would, in high school, ride or drive all over the city and the northern ‘burbs looking for certain scarce comics or records, my mindset might be a little different from some. When I was trying to assemble a complete run of Mark Evanier and Will Mueginot’s DNAgents, arbitrary boundaries like an interstate didn’t mean anything to me. Plus, we walked either under or across the darn road all the time. It was just a road, and certainly not a barrier keeping people from tracking down a really good hamburger. Continue reading “The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, Atlanta GA”
Up and Down Tiger Town
The road took me north, as hoped, to Clemson, which, as college towns go, is a little underappreciated if you ask me. Sure, it’s no Athens, Chapel Hill, Morgantown or Oxford, but it’s a darn sight more impressive than Starkville. Plus, the campus is a real beauty. Continue reading “Up and Down Tiger Town”
Hot Dog Depot, Westminster SC
No kidding, this is what happened. I saw a sign in Toccoa pointing me toward the town of Westminster and decided that would be the road that I would take. In a few minutes, I crossed the Tugaloo River into South Carolina and immediately U-turned – safely – and, as though I just remembered that this state elected a moron like Nikki Haley to be their governor, sped back into Georgia. Continue reading “Hot Dog Depot, Westminster SC”
Marie, Let's Eat! 