I was just in Atlanta, GA for a week for a conference-type thing. I didn't have a ton of free time, but luckily I did get to see the city a bit and try out some of the great food that Atlanta has to offer! I had been to Atlanta once before, to visit Ben's family a few years ago for Thanksgiving, but that was a very quick trip - we just went into Atlanta once for an afternoon to go to the Coke museum, and that's it.
Here are the places that I ate on this trip:
The first night, I pretty much just followed the crowd to Max Lager's. I went with Shannon, Mark, Amanda, Kelly, Kyle, girl I can't remember her name, and.... Josh? This was a while back now and my memory sucks. This place was very similar to Herkimer, I thought. It was not as "chain-y" as Rock Bottom, and had a few unique menu items as well as the beers that were brewed in house. I had a "Max Burger" which was pretty good. I asked for it to be cooked medium, which it was not, but I'm willing to forgive (but not forget). All photos here are from Kyle's iPhone since I left my camera at the hotel. Thanks Kyle!
The next stop was Mama Ninfa's in the Peachtree Center with Janelle, Melody, and Carlie. We wanted somewhere close to our hotel and that could satisfy carnivores, vegetarians, and gluten-free dining. This place fit the bill, but didn't do it THAT well.
Melody and I split one of the combo dinners - it was alright, but nothing to write home about. The cheese dip was ok, but very bland, and didn't have much "chili" in it, so I had to load it up with salsa to make it taste good. It was fine, and reasonably priced.
(Before, and after adding the salsa)
(The meal Melody and I split)
Melody and I split one of the combo dinners - it was alright, but nothing to write home about. The cheese dip was ok, but very bland, and didn't have much "chili" in it, so I had to load it up with salsa to make it taste good. It was fine, and reasonably priced.
(Before, and after adding the salsa)
(The meal Melody and I split)
The next night, I was very glad that Janelle and Melody were willing to venture outside of downtown Atlanta to see a different neighborhood. We took the recommendation of someone who had lived in Atlanta to go to midtown and try the Flying Biscuit. I really liked this place, and midtown was a very fun part of Atlanta - I'd highly recommend checking this area out if you are there.
Janelle asked the waiter for some recommendations, so we got the Fried Green Tomatoes for an appetizer. I thought these were great! They came with a huge hunk of goat cheese on the top. Despite my repeated trials, I can't seem to develop a taste for goat cheese. This makes me very sad, since there are many dishes that I would otherwise love if it weren't for the goat cheese. It didn't ruin this appetizer for me though, because I could just take the cheese off. Maybe someday I will like goat cheese, just not yet.
(On the menu it says: dredged in seasoned flour, sauteed in a cast iron skillet and topped with a cashew-jalapeno relish and goat cheese)
(On the menu it says: dredged in seasoned flour, sauteed in a cast iron skillet and topped with a cashew-jalapeno relish and goat cheese)
Janelle and I both had drinks. Below you will see her reaction first to her beer, and then to mine.
For our main dishes, Janelle got a salmon salad that she said was good, but that she got a little sick of by the end. Melody got Love Cakes, which are: three black bean & cornmeal cakes, sauteed and topped with a tomatillo salsa, sour cream, feta cheese & spears of red onion. She seemed to enjoy them. I got the Eggs-ceptional Eggs, which were basically love cakes topped with over-medium eggs. De-lish! I also got a side of potatoes AND grits, because I just couldn't decide. I didn't really like the grits.
For our main dishes, Janelle got a salmon salad that she said was good, but that she got a little sick of by the end. Melody got Love Cakes, which are: three black bean & cornmeal cakes, sauteed and topped with a tomatillo salsa, sour cream, feta cheese & spears of red onion. She seemed to enjoy them. I got the Eggs-ceptional Eggs, which were basically love cakes topped with over-medium eggs. De-lish! I also got a side of potatoes AND grits, because I just couldn't decide. I didn't really like the grits.
Moving on. The next night was the night where I had pre-chosen the restaurant based on input from Shannon and Eric. We even had reservations. Amanda, Kelly, Shannon, Kyle, Eric and I set out on the Marta from downtown to go to Buckhead.
The chosen restaurant was Lola. We had a slight wrong turn from the Marta stop and thus walked several blocks in the wrong direction, but eventually (40 minutes late for our reservation) we got there!
This place is pretty posh (and filled with a-holes, as Shannon so eloquently stated when we walked in the door) so we didn't really fit in. Luckily we had a nice cozy booth and didn't really have to see any of Atlanta's beautiful people while eating. Our waiter bordered on too friendly, but he was entertaining. He had great recommendations. Lola is a beautiful restaurant with great decor and atmosphere, despite the snooty clientele.
You get a little drink of some stuff like champagne when you get there. It is a Bellini bar, so apparently it is the stuff that is inside Bellinis. I tried 2 Bellinis when there, and really liked both of them. Unfortunately, I don't know what they were called. One of them had something to do with oranges.
(first little drink, my first Bellini, and Kelly's Bellini that she didn't really like. My orange Bellini didn't photograph well so that isn't on here, although it was VERY good)
This place is pretty posh (and filled with a-holes, as Shannon so eloquently stated when we walked in the door) so we didn't really fit in. Luckily we had a nice cozy booth and didn't really have to see any of Atlanta's beautiful people while eating. Our waiter bordered on too friendly, but he was entertaining. He had great recommendations. Lola is a beautiful restaurant with great decor and atmosphere, despite the snooty clientele.
You get a little drink of some stuff like champagne when you get there. It is a Bellini bar, so apparently it is the stuff that is inside Bellinis. I tried 2 Bellinis when there, and really liked both of them. Unfortunately, I don't know what they were called. One of them had something to do with oranges.
(first little drink, my first Bellini, and Kelly's Bellini that she didn't really like. My orange Bellini didn't photograph well so that isn't on here, although it was VERY good)
We ordered a bunch of starters for everyone... here they are. If you hold your mouse over the photo you will see what each thing is.
For my main course, I went with the cheapest possible thing, the Bianca pizza. It was good, but there was a reason it was so cheap - there wasn't much to it. Oh well. Here it is:
Everyone else's meals looked way more fun. Here they are:
Since we have no willpower, we also ordered several desserts. Here they are.
Wow, if you are still with me, thank you for reading my longest blog post ever! My last meal in Atlanta was a chicken sandwich at Popeye's at the airport. It did not merit a photograph, and I would not recommend it.
