73 replies to this topic

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks to all for these ideas...keep 'em coming! I'm starting to regret we will only be there for two lunches and two dinners. Manuel's sounds like it may be right up my daughter's alley.

[tanstaafl2]

About to make my first visit to Atlanta, and it will be a short one. (In fact it will be my first visit to the Southeast.)

The only thing I'm sure of about Atlanta is that it's bigger than I think. We will rent a car for our two night stay, but I don't really want to spend all my time driving around and probably getting lost. I've read over some of the Atlanta threads and I'm guessing the food at Empire State South, JCT or Eugene would please me totally, but the three strikes against them are: price, location and my daughter's contempt for destination dining and consumer excess. We will be staying near Emory, about halfway between the school and downtown Decatur, and I would be fine with some places that are located in East Atlanta/Decatur area.

I'm expecting a trip to the Brick Store, since my daughter has become a beer lover recently and has already checked that out, along with some other bars in Decatur. Some places that at least sound promising in the area are: Taqueria del Sol (not that I need to go to Atl for Mexican food), Leon's Full Service, Fox Bros BBQ, Fat Matt's. Any other suggestions for mid price dining or funky neighborhood joints that have good food and fun atmosphere? Local gems? Southern style? Fresh vegetables? Nor do I want to eat Vietnamese or Ethiopian food away from home, but my daughter might appreciate recommendations, as she is missing Berkeley a bit.

I must say I found your comment that one of the three strikes was your "daughter's contempt for destination dining and consumer excess" kind of amusing! I suppose having one meal on your own a place you would enjoy is out of the question...

Atlanta does have a lively and growing Ethiopian scene, much of which seems to be focused on the intersection of Briarcliff and Clairmont roads, not far from Emory on the opposite side from Decatur. I have only been to Ledet and Desta but both were good, if very casual places.

As was mentioned in this thread earlier you might consider Mary Mac's Tearoom for lunch one day for the classic southern "Meat and three" menu. As a long time Atlantan and Emoroid alum from long past I have been there many times over the years and not much has changed. Although in towards town it is a pretty easy drive from the Decatur/Emory area on Ponce.

Hopefully it won't be considered "destination dining" although I can't speak to "consumer excess" as I am personally rather fond of it. After all, nothing exceeds like excess...

[Katie Meadow]

I must say I found your comment that one of the three strikes was your "daughter's contempt for destination dining and consumer excess" kind of amusing! I suppose having one meal on your own a place you would enjoy is out of the question...

When I was a 20-something I couldn't have defended making high-end dining and having a social conscience exist in the same reality either. I find it touching, to tell you the truth. And as a poor grad student it is an attitude that serves her well. Right now she needs some help to replace her bike and is no doubt not in the mood for upscale dining. She bought a new road bike when she got to Atlanta last month and it was stolen on campus while she attended a talk by Jimmy Carter. Someone must be stalking the Emory campus with a heavy duty bolt cutter.

After Atlanta we head on to NY for a few days, and she won't be there to adjust my moral compass. I'll be sure to let her know about the Ethiopian places, she's very fond of injera and likes eating without utensils!

[tanstaafl2]

I must say I found your comment that one of the three strikes was your "daughter's contempt for destination dining and consumer excess" kind of amusing! I suppose having one meal on your own a place you would enjoy is out of the question...

When I was a 20-something I couldn't have defended making high-end dining and having a social conscience exist in the same reality either. I find it touching, to tell you the truth. And as a poor grad student it is an attitude that serves her well. Right now she needs some help to replace her bike and is no doubt not in the mood for upscale dining. She bought a new road bike when she got to Atlanta last month and it was stolen on campus while she attended a talk by Jimmy Carter. Someone must be stalking the Emory campus with a heavy duty bolt cutter.

After Atlanta we head on to NY for a few days, and she won't be there to adjust my moral compass. I'll be sure to let her know about the Ethiopian places, she's very fond of injera and likes eating without utensils!

Believe me, I understand what you are saying. When I was a 20-something 30 something years ago at Emory I may well have felt the same way although it is all a bit of a blur nowadays! I was on scholarship whilst many of the students I was there with seemed to have cash to burn. Although I was never much of one for dwelling on social conciousness. Mostly I was just jealous and looked forward to the day when I could afford a little consumer excess myself! Fortunately that day has arrived for me. But I still volunteer to teach the occasional class at Emory and as a result have a little interaction with the students of today. In many ways it seems little has changed.

I sympathize with the bike theft. It went on in my day as well. Somehow I think it isn't restricted just to the Emory campus though. Or Atlanta for that matter. An unfortunate sign of the times I suppose.

Hopefully you will enjoy your trip to Atlanta. The city has a lot to offer and this thread should give you some good options no matter what limitations the good ol' moral compass may encounter!

[Crouton]

If you don't mind a 3 hour cab ride the best food in Atlanta is actually in Birmingham, Alabama at Frank Stitt's Highland's Bar and Grill.

[Milt]

Desta is a fantastic Ethiopian restaurant. Queen Sheba is also very good - although just a bit less impressive than Desta, in my opinion. One would not go wrong with either place.

[Katie Meadow]

Following up on my very short stay in Atlanta (actually Decatur) while digesting my lunch in a hotel room in Hell's Kitchen NY.

We arrived at night, hungry but pleased with ourselves for managing to drive in the dark from the airport to our B & B without making one wrong turn. We met our daughter at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur at about 11 pm. We had to wait for a table--it was hopping. We ordered a few small plates and some chips. Their version of chips are actually large wedges, very tasty, not overly salty. I had some kind of delicious stout. We also ordered the grits fritters, which came topped with little rounds of sausage. I'm not a sausage fan, but the fritters were quite good--very hot and melty in the middle, crispy on the outside. And just because none of us had ever had pimiento cheese we ordered that. I have no idea whether this was a good or bad example of this southern treat, but none of us will be ordering this in the near future.

The next morning we met our daughter for a walk in Grant Park and a look at the Cyclorama, then a walk around the old Oakland Cemetery, which was very pleasant, but then the weather was perfect and I'm a person who likes wandering about looking at gravestone inscriptions, especially this time of year. For lunch we went to the Flying Biscuit, along with what appeared to be a good portion of the city. Had to wait for a table. Excellent root beer, really good biscuit--a little on the sweet side but still yummy--and shrimp and creamy grits. The shrimp were some of the tastiest freshest shrimp I've had in a long time and the grits were perfect; richer than I usually make them. It was served with a ribbon of fresh tomatoes, not spicy.

Dinner was at Miller Union. Drinks were very good, can't remember exactly what they were, but two were house cocktails and the other was a Manhattan with Rittenhouse rye. My daughter and I just ordered small plates/starters, all good. She had the pork peanut fig pate served with an apply relish and a salad, I had a swiss chard soup (totally delicious--just pure veg, no cream) with a drizzle of some peppery oil, and the pork belly appetizer, which was out of this world good.

My husband had a grilled chicken dish that came with a side of roasted okra and field peas. That side was so great we ordered another side of it. Best okra I've ever eaten, and first time ever for field peas. Loved it.

The next day (our last) after a tour of the Emory campus and RSPH and a look at the exterior of the CDC we stocked up our poor student's pantry at a remarkable market called the Dekalb Farmers Market or International Market. I've never seen anything like it; sort of a cross between Berkeley Bowl and Ikea; Ikea because it's a two story warehouse as big as four football fields with inventory stacked way up high about the shelves. The produce was beautiful and the prices are amazingly good, even for stuff from CA. There were plenty of multi-ethnic greens and veggies I've heard about but never seen, like culantro and cubanelle peppers. Most amazing was the careful signage, showing the picture as well at the name, so if shoppers don't speak English they can easily find what they want. I couldn't resist buying some fresh boiling peanuts (green?) out of a huge bin and had to ask another shopper how she boiled them. I find them interesting just out of the shell, raw. They are now in my mother's frig, so we can try boiling them tonight or tomorrow. My mother thinks I've gone round the bend. Any one living in Atlanta who doesn't shop at this place is missing out. The meat department alone made my jaw drop: organic goat from one source, Berkshire pig from some place else, etc. And perhaps it doesn't impress any one but me, but seeing sections devoted to different turkey parts such as necks and wings was enough to make me want to move to Atlanta and start making giant vats of stock.

[Tri2Cook]

I couldn't resist buying some fresh boiling peanuts (green?) out of a huge bin and had to ask another shopper how she boiled them. I find them interesting just out of the shell, raw. They are now in my mother's frig, so we can try boiling them tonight or tomorrow.

Now you're talking. I like them boiled with a few jalapenos added to the salt water to give them a little kick but they're tasty without that too. You can boil them, divide them in bags and freeze them. Pull a bag from the freezer, toss it in the microwave for a few minutes until hot again and they're almost as good as they were when just boiled.

[onrushpam]

A co-worker does the most awesome boiled peanuts. She gets these ginormous peanuts from a farmer in Chipley, FL, boils and freezes as described above. She uses lots of salt and I think a bag of crab boil, which gives them a little "kick". Our annual department party (Octobeerfest) is this week. Our IT department does brats and beer for the whole organization and a lot of guests. Her peanuts have been a tradition. But, we have a new co-worker who is deathly allergic, so we'll get no peanuts this year. (We try to do only finger food, so we don't need cutlery. We were afraid to do the peanuts with everybody eating them, then picking up buns, getting beer from the kegs, etc. )

[onrushpam]

Oh, meant to say I love the Brick Store Pub! I've had their pimento cheese. I think it was added to a BLT or something. It was pretty decent, but I love pimento cheese! Theirs isn't as good as what they used to have at Watershed. Don't know if Watershed still does it. I SO want to go to Miller Union. Your post just jump-started me into making that happen on our next trip to Hotlanta.

[LindaK]

The next day (our last) after a tour of the Emory campus and RSPH and a look at the exterior of the CDC we stocked up our poor student's pantry at a remarkable market called the Dekalb Farmers Market or International Market. I've never seen anything like it; sort of a cross between Berkeley Bowl and Ikea; Ikea because it's a two story warehouse as big as four football fields with inventory stacked way up high about the shelves. The produce was beautiful and the prices are amazingly good, even for stuff from CA. There were plenty of multi-ethnic greens and veggies I've heard about but never seen, like culantro and cubanelle peppers. Most amazing was the careful signage, showing the picture as well at the name, so if shoppers don't speak English they can easily find what they want. I couldn't resist buying some fresh boiling peanuts (green?) out of a huge bin and had to ask another shopper how she boiled them. I find them interesting just out of the shell, raw. They are now in my mother's frig, so we can try boiling them tonight or tomorrow. My mother thinks I've gone round the bend. Any one living in Atlanta who doesn't shop at this place is missing out. The meat department alone made my jaw drop: organic goat from one source, Berkshire pig from some place else, etc. And perhaps it doesn't impress any one but me, but seeing sections devoted to different turkey parts such as necks and wings was enough to make me want to move to Atlanta and start making giant vats of stock.

The DeKalb Farmers Market is a treasure. Once upon a time I visited Atlanta frequently, and never missed an opportunity to shop there. It is everything you describe and more. If you're a tourist and have somewhere to cook, you owe it to yourself to visit this place. If you're a resident, lucky you!

[Katie Meadow]

I couldn't resist buying some fresh boiling peanuts (green?) out of a huge bin and had to ask another shopper how she boiled them. I find them interesting just out of the shell, raw. They are now in my mother's frig, so we can try boiling them tonight or tomorrow.

Now you're talking. I like them boiled with a few jalapenos added to the salt water to give them a little kick but they're tasty without that too. You can boil them, divide them in bags and freeze them. Pull a bag from the freezer, toss it in the microwave for a few minutes until hot again and they're almost as good as they were when just boiled.

First of all I don't really spell "fridge" the way I spelled frig; that's just appalling. Now about those peanuts: A 25 lb. bag of those boiling peanuts below the bin (sorry I don't remember the price) said to boil 2 or more hours. Someone in the store said 30 minutes. Any opinions? And don't tell me to boil them until they are done. I KNOW that. The only thing everyone seems to agree on about boiled peanuts is that it's necessary to use enough salt to send your blood pressure off the charts.

[Katie Meadow]

How to boil peanuts really is sidetracking on this thread, but just to finish up with that:

Of course I forgot about the peanuts being in my mother's fridge until yesterday, our last day in NY. Surprisingly they were not appreciably different than when we bought them. We boiled them with almost enough salt (about six times more than my husband thought was prudent) and promptly forgot about them until they had been boiling more than 45 minutes. They were quite good, could have used a bit more salt, and about 15 minutes less boiling time. They weren't mushy at all, but could have had just a bit more bite. Anyway, I like 'em. As predicted, my mother thought they were a waste of good peanuts. She also thought peanuts grew on small trees, but 93 years of living in big cities can make a person opinionated and naive about where food comes from--and what interesting things people can do with it if they live outside of the greater NY area.

[Katie Meadow]

Another three days in Atlanta and Decatur, so I thought it worth updating. This time we were there for Rollins School of Public Health graduation. Originally I thought to repeat my good experience at Miller Union, but my nephew, who is in the restaurant business, just came back from Atlanta raving about a new place called The Optimist, so we opted for that. The space is pretty great, although the whole ambiance is too hip by half. There were highs and lows. There are a lot of drinks based on sour and salty, and wow, they were salty. The bread was delicious, and there was lots of it. My husband had the green curry mussels (super generous portion for an app) and declared them very good. I started with a knockout she-crab soup. Really really great, not too heavy or creamy, also a good size portion, swoon-worth and served with an over-the-top sinfully greasy piece of shrimp toast--sort of fabulous and frightening at the same time. The Optimist is mainly a fish place, which might seem unusual for Atlanta, but it's welcome. They make a very big deal about the menu changing every night depending what seafood they can get that's freshest, which all sounds very politically correct, but they also were serving swordfish and some not very sustainably fished critters. I had grouper served in a tomato broth and it was excellent. Never had grouper before, and my husband had cobia, also a first. Good too. The fish is served pretty much on its own, so if you want a veggie you have to order a side. The sides were mostly excellent. We all scarfed down the bok choy and the grilled baby vidalia onions. Desserts were a bit of a let down. The cuteness factor got out of control and the dessert menu was complicated and way too "ironic." All in all though, if you want fresh fish in Atlanta and a noisy young crowd, this is a good place to go. Raw bar too, with a selection of east coast and west coast oysters.

 

The next day, day of graduation, was complicated and we ended up starving for most of the day, then overeating for the rest of it. We spent the mid-to-late afternoon celebrating with some of my daughter's friends and their families at, of all places, a bar in Little Five Points called The Vortex, which is basically decked out like a friendly colorful goth funhouse, inside and out: Haight Ashbury meets Nascar meets Halloween. The main menu, which we didn't go for as we had plans for an early dinner, was proud-of-it heart attack food worthy of Paula Deen, burgers mainly with as much added fried and fatty things you could imagine. I had a wonderful classic bar experience with a new-to-me drink and snack: I had a draft beer called Boulevard Coffee Ale and a plate of deep fried pickles. Loved them both.

 

Dinner was a radical switch. To meet the boyfriend's parents for some reason my daughter wanted the opposite of party atmosphere, and she seemed very concerned that the place not be expensive. I was a bit wary when I learned the place didn't serve any alcohol, so her choice we thought was pretty strange, until we saw the menu and realized this was not an ordinary hole in the wall. She chose a place called Nam Phuong, a Viet restaurant in Druid Hills among the string of ethnic restaurants on Buford Hway. Apparently the boyfriend was sick recently and my daughter brought him some take-out pho from this place. Now growing up in the east bay she's very familiar with Viet food, since it is always our go-to for inexpensive nourishing fare, but this was the boyfriend's first pho and apparently he loved it. Turns out the parents had never eaten Viet food before. The upshot is that this is a gem, so if you live in Atlanta and like Viet food it is outstanding. Best papaya salad I have ever eaten; and happily the boyfriend's mom thought it was terrific. The menu had a category called "street food" so my daughter and I shared a small plate of lemongrass quail. Amazing! After all those fried pickles and beer I didn't need much more food, so she and I also shared an order of lemongrass chicken bun, also very good. There were sauces for everything, and some new ones to me. The quail came with an excellent spicy light sauce which I have no idea what was in it, and my husband ordered a version of grilled beef on watercress which, instead of being served as a room temp salad, was served hot, over rice, with a dipping mix of salt and pepper and lemon. If I lived in Atlanta I would live at this place. I wish I had a chance to try the pho, but don't know the boyfrlend well enough to ask him to pass along his bowl. His parents seemed pretty happy, and no one but me was concerned there wasn't even a beer to be had. Dinner was split and I think it came to around $110 for the six of us. I'd kill for this place in Oakland. And amazingly, the portions were enormous. The kids were thrilled to take home the leftovers.

 

The next moring we met my daughter and a girlfriend for breakfast at Cakes & Ale, which I didn't get to my first trip. Coffee was lovely and expertly baristed (is that a word?) and I had the plain croissant, which was really good. I almost never eat this type of breakfast pastry, and there are only two croissants I've ever had that were better: one was from a wood-fired oven in France and the other was at Tartine in the Mission. I try to limit wheat and butter, so having a croissant is a really special treat--so it better be good, is how I look at it. This was a sweet place with very relaxed vibe. The breads came out of the oven and looked delicious just as we were leaving.

 

Just a cranky aside, but the ATL airport is hands-down the worst place for airport food in the US. Basically the concourse consisted of vending machines and chain fast food counters with little seating. Not that I would tout any airport for its food. Here's an unsubstantiated fact told to me by the person next to me in the endless cattle shute of a security line: twice as many people go through ATL on a daily basis as through JFK.