Here’s yet another long overdue chapter about a good place in the Atlanta area. Spiced Right is a restaurant that I’ve enjoyed a good deal more since their ownership changed in the early 2000s. In many previous chapters, I’ve mentioned how I used to have an old, ugly, Geocities page about Georgia barbecue restaurants. A reader had encouraged me to visit Spiced Right at what was at the time their only location, in Lilburn. So I trucked on down from Athens and did not enjoy the meal very much. It was my first experience with a barbecue buffet, and, while I can no longer remember details, I did not enjoy the taste of any of the meat. I was, on the other hand, really taken with their gigantic collection of sauces – a collection perhaps rivaled today by Buckhead Barbecue Company in Smyrna – but decided against making a return visit. Continue reading “Spiced Right Rib House, Roswell GA”
Tag: roswell
Ted’s Montana Grill, Atlanta GA
A couple of Fridays ago, I got an incredible treat. I had been inspired, earlier that week, to start doing a much better job simply photographing old buildings. Start following Roadside Rustic and you might be similarly moved. Maybe, every once in a while, I might come up with something a little better to share with you good readers, or maybe I’d just find a few good things for the old hard drive, or perhaps even something worth printing out one day. (Wouldn’t that be novel?) Continue reading “Ted’s Montana Grill, Atlanta 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)”
Papouli’s Gyros, Macon GA
When I was a cubicle farm dweller in Alpharetta, I would often head east on Windward Parkway and enjoy a really good lunch at Papouli’s. It’s located in a large and nice strip mall, where the restaurant failures are many, and cannot be counted on two hands. The supper traffic along this corridor is practically non-existent, so unless a manager can keep a number of big catering accounts or have a thriving after-work scene with drinks specials, their restaurant could be in trouble. Papouli’s has neither, but it still thrives. Continue reading “Papouli’s Gyros, Macon GA”
Lucky’s Burgers and Brew, Roswell GA
Marie’s brother Karl was in town a couple of Saturdays ago and in the mood for a burger. I don’t know that Marie and I were being the best of hosts by not taking him to a reliable favorite instead of taking the chance on something untried, but we wanted to visit someplace new for our blog and so passed on a trip to Farm Burger or something excellent like that, and instead looked on Urbanspoon for the highest-ranked burger joint in Atlanta within a reasonable drive where we had not visited. Continue reading “Lucky’s Burgers and Brew, Roswell GA”
Rhea’s, Roswell GA
I did you good readers a terrible disservice by forgetting about Rhea’s! I should have found time to pop back over to Roswell and sample their food and take some pictures ages ago. I was introduced to it by a nutty girl named Kristi, a former co-worker from a job that I once had in Alpharetta. She was emphatic that theirs were the best hamburgers around, and so I had a few suppers at the closest location to the office on the occasional long workdays at the end of the month that had me getting an evening meal before driving home. Doing a little research for some background now, I see that she’s still preaching the good word. I found her in the comments of CitySearch, praising Rhea’s. Continue reading “Rhea’s, Roswell GA”
Barker’s Red Hots, Roswell GA (CLOSED)
We were very glad to read that Barker’s, one of the two or three best hot dog places in the city, and sometimes, depending on my mood, the very best, was opening a second location, and doubly so when we read that it would be open in the evenings. When the main store on Windy Hill cut back its single dinner-time operation, on Friday nights, that killed our ability to visit much. Mostly, our Saturdays are devoted to getting out of town or trying something new.
Then again, perhaps we’re unusual in that we enjoy trying something new even more than returning to a reliable favorite. Most people in our neck of the woods with a Saturday free and wanting a hot dog, if they’ve any sense, will either head to the Barker’s on Windy Hill or spend the extra gasoline to motor over to America’s Top Dog, because nobody in the city cooks up a dog as good as these places. Well, I suppose the curiosity factor might lead them to Richard Blais’s new place, Hd1, which everybody started yammering about two weeks ago. I may have to get over that way soon.
Typically, during the fall, when we don’t have family plans on a Friday, we might defer to our daughter. She might want to go to a Sprayberry football game or see a movie with friends. While we plan many things in advance in anticipation of trying something new, we sometimes have to wait until the last minute on Fridays to factor in her plans. So a few Fridays back, she had no plans and Marie wasn’t keen to cook, and the girlchild suggested hot dogs, so we drove over to Barker’s new location.
I do wish they had built up our corridor instead of going to Roswell, but that’s just geographic selfishness, I suppose. There’s just no way to get here quickly from us, but if you live anywhere near Woodstock Road and King, around the Roswell High district, this is a fine little evening getaway.
The problem, of course, in taking the family to Barker’s is that it really can get expensive for a family to eat here. I blame the restaurant for having so many yummy things. Their sweet onion rings have a strong claim for being the best in the state, and the beef on weck sandwich, again clearly the best around, really is priced quite high at nearly eight dollars. Normally, we just get water when we go out, to conserve on calories and cost, but their Loganberry punch is just so wonderful that we keep coming back to it. I really do wish they’d offer some combo meal options.
Of course, I could have saved a little money had I just got two dogs like I normally do, but I just couldn’t resist this beef on weck. The meat is just so good, and the salt and horseradish complement it so well. I wish it came with fries. Yeah, okay, so they throw in a bag of Lay’s, but, really, who likes Lay’s? This absolutely delicious roast beef on such a chewy, salty and wonderful bun is not at all served well when accompanied by this imitation “potato” flavored cardboard.
Marie got two original red hots, one with slaw and one with chili. The difference between this slaw dog and the one that I had earlier in the day at the Dari Spot, north of Gainesville, was like Jekyll and Hyde. Honestly, I do have a taste for fast food dogs, but the simple satisfaction of a boiled dog with a mayo-heavy topping is, nevertheless, totally blown out of the water by a charcoal-grilled dog served with a much better blend of slaw, with the mayo not overpowering the flavors of cabbage and vinegar. What’s done over charcoal here is all the difference. One day, my daughter will consent to actually having one of these bad boys, but she is still perfectly satisfied with her steamed “city” dog, served with a ladle of melted cheese.
We’ll probably go to Hd1 before long and see what they have to offer, but for my money, Barker’s is in a very rare class indeed. I’m glad they’re serving the Roswell High community. But seriously, guys, there are some empty storefronts around Sprayberry that could use a big charcoal grill installed. Consider us for your next location, would you?
(Update 8/23/12: Sadly, this location closed in August 2012. The Windy Hill store remains open. Better luck with the next expansion, friends!)
Marie, Let's Eat! 