Atlanta Restaurants

 

I had training for HON Office Furniture in Atlanta this past week.  It just happened to be on Tuesday/Wednesday (which are Lance’s days off work each week), so he joined me for the work trip.  While I was in class, he wandered the city, and then in the evenings, we ate our way around town. 

On our way out of town, our flight out was delayed because of thunderstorms, so we enjoyed beers at the Cigar City brewery right in the Airside C terminal.  They brew beer right there in the airport– and even have some specialties that aren’t available at the other locations (I really liked the Tony Jannus Pale Ale – named for the world’s first commercial airline pilot, who flew from Tampa to St. Pete, Florida). 

We got to Atlanta Monday evening.  One of our all-time favorite restaurants is Canoe – we discovered it last time we were in Atlanta (read more about it on this blog post…)  The menu is innovative and perfectly executed, and the view is beautiful.  It is on the Chattahoochee River and has a beautiful garden behind.  Well, we couldn’t miss an opportunity to eat there again, so we took an Uber there for dinner (it’s a little drive from midtown/downtown Atlanta, so it would be hard to get there with public transportation). 

If you haven’t used Uber before, we had a great experience with it!  Our drivers were much friendlier than the taxi driver that we had from the airport, and if you go here or use my referral code amandan1158ue, you’ll get your first ride for free!  

Lance tried the Wild Heaven Eschaton Quadrupel based out of Decatur, GA, and I had their 4^th Sun Rising cocktail with Old Fourth Distillery, SOHO Lychee, lemongrass, lemon, and egg whites.  My drink was deliciously tart – but probably went a little overboard with the egg whites.  It was hard to get through the thick foam to sip the drink. 

We started with the peppercorn crusted kangaroo loin with caramelized onion tart, olive, and black vinegar gastrique (since when else will we have the opportunity to try kangaroo…)  If I hadn’t known any better, I would have just thought it was steak. 

For our main courses, Lance ordered the pork tenderloin and I had the lamb sirloin.  His actually came with multiple types of meat – the tenderloin, house made sausage, and braised pork belly, with apricot and natural jus.  Mine was served over English pea tortellini, minted tomato jam, and pistachio butter. You really can’t go wrong with anything you order at this restaurant.  We probably went a little overboard with the meat dishes that evening, but it was all fantastic. 

We were really full, but the dessert we had last time was one of the best sweets we’ve ever had, so we finished with their gourmet cracker jack sundae. 

I kept my receipt because it says I bought 1 kangaroo…

For summertime, it really wasn’t that hot outside and it was great weather for wandering their gardens.  There were fireflies lighting up and we visited the chicken coop where they get all the fresh eggs for the restaurant. 

After my training the next day, we visited the Wrecking Bar Brewpub.  We actually wanted to go on our last trip, but it was closed when we were there before.  It’s in the Little Five Points neighborhood in an old Victorian mansion.  The tables were set with pretty wildflowers.  Our waiter recommended the Corn Pups and the Georgia Duck, so we went with his suggestions.   

I’m not normally a fan of hot dogs – personally it just seems gross that it’s a mixture of all rejected meat parts.  But these were made from chedderwurst, battered in corn bread, and fried.  It was served with curry ketchup and yellow mustard – it was good, but would have been better if it was with a whole grain or spicy mustard. 

The duck was served with chioggia beets, red beet root, swiss chard, radish, chanterelles (a type of mushroom), and duck jus.  The presentation was very pretty, and the flavor was just as great as it looked. 

We finished with a peach crisp (which actually turned out to have blueberries as well).  It was topped with oatmeal streusel and vanilla honeysuckle gelato. 

Finally, the last day we had to fly back home, so we had a really early dinner around 4pm.  Several of my classmates from the training had eaten at South City Kitchen the night before and said it was amazing, but another set of people said it was so crowded, even on a Tuesday night, that there was over an hour wait.  We made reservations, but there really wasn’t a need for them when we showed up for such an early dinner. 

They didn’t start serving their full dinner until 5pm, but we ordered from their abbreviated bar menu, which had some of their specialties. I liked the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan ale from Mississippi and Lance enjoyed his Hoplanta IPA – but I wasn’t as much of a fan of Terrapin’s Peach Farmhouse Ale (too sweet). 

We had the buttermilk fried chicken and the shrimp & red mule grits.  It seemed like we should get Southern specialties while we were in Georgia.  Both were really authentic dishes and very filling.  The red grits were a bit heavier than I’m used to – with poblano peppers, house made tasso ham, and smoked tomato gravy.  We didn’t have room for any dessert this time (and figured even if we did, dessert three nights in a row was probably a bad idea…) 

Atlanta has so many fantastic restaurant options – happy to have had the chance to try a few new ones this time!  But Canoe still tops the charts for me…definitely go there if you have the chance.      

Canoe is located at 4199 Paces Ferry Rd SE, Atlanta, GA 30339  and is open for lunch 11:30am – 2:30pm Monday through Fridays, for dinner 5:30pm – 10pm Monday through Thursday, and 5:30pm – 11pm Friday & Saturday, and 5:30pm – 9:30pm on Sundays.  They are also open for Sunday brunch 10:30am – 2:30pm. 

Wrecking Bar Brewpub is located at 292 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 and is open 4pm – 11pm Monday – Thursday, 12pm – 12am Friday – Saturday, and 11am – 10pm on Sundays. 

Southern City Kitchen is located at 1144 Crescent Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 and is open 11am – 10pm Monday – Thursday, 11am – 10:30pm Friday, 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 10:30pm on Saturdays, and 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 10pm on Sundays. 

Atlanta Trip Part 3 – Folk Art, The Vortex, Leon’s, Sweetwater & Antico

The 3^rd day of our trip was mostly eating/drinking.  We loved Highland Bakery so much that we almost wanted to just return there for breakfast, but we decided to try something different, so we headed to Folk Art Restaurant – a Southern restaurant in the Inman Park area just east of midtown Atlanta.  There was plenty of parking – but it was mid-week, so they might fill up on weekends.  The design is rustic & industrial with bits of vintage Americana art. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started with a latte macchiato and Lance had his normal black coffee.  We shared a starter called The Randy – bacon dipped in pancake batter and fried.  It tasted like something that would be served at a carnival. 

 

I ordered the bananas foster waffles and Lance had the cinnamon pecan sticky bun French toast.  Both were super decadent and sweet – more like dessert than breakfast.  They were very generous with the toppings – almost too much so.  I think all the juices got soaked up in my waffle, so it wasn’t as crispy as I’d like.  The dishes were so indulgent we couldn’t even finish them (and we normally clear our plates). 

 

 

 

 

After that we walked to Little Five Points, an edgy area of town filled with graffiti and funky shops.  Most of it was overpriced thrift stores and smoke shops, but we did stop and have some drinks at The Vortex.  It is one of the easiest to spot buildings with a giant skull surrounding the front door.  The menu warns you that everything they serve is bad for you – and that if you’re easily offended, you shouldn’t dine there.  They claim that the customer is NOT always right, and that if you eat there, you should follow their rules. 

 

 

 

They have a pretty extensive drink menu – I tried the Apple Cobbler beer cocktail – a blend of Crispin apple cider with Well’s Banana Bread Beer, and Lance had the local Monday Night Brewing Blind Pirate Double IPA.  I didn’t really taste much of the banana bread in mine – it seemed like mostly cider.  I liked how the label on Lance’s beer had suggestions for what to drink the beer with – including cheese, spicy foods, salty foods, or “your mom”. 

 

 

Next we took a stroll around Decatur.  If I ever moved to Atlanta, it would be the area I’d want to live.  It seems like the equivalent of St. Pete to Tampa – an artsy district with lots of hipsters and great restaurants. 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at Leon’s Full Service for a small lunch.  We both had a cup of the daily soup - Shrimp Bisque.  It had very good flavor, but I wish it had more chunks in it.  The crispy toast it was served with paired perfectly.   

 

I tried “The Good Habit” fall cocktail – made with gin, cognac, spicy masala chai, vermouth, and lemon.  If you like chai tea, you would love this drink.  

 

And since we were on vacation, we split a dessert – tart cherry ice cream, candied bacon, cherry-whiskey syrup, served in a pork fat tuille cup.  The bacon was made from pigs that ate leftover grains from the local Jailhouse Brewery.  The dessert was very unique – sweet and savory – and the cherry and bacon paired nicely.

 

Next we headed to Sweewater Brewery to take a tour.  We saw online that they run 5:30 – 7:30 and that it gets pretty busy, so we showed up a few minutes early.  We were told to wait by the bar until they were ready to line us up for tickets, but they didn’t serve drinks until 6pm, so we spent the next 45 minutes watching all the employees enjoy beers while we stood around awkwardly. But then 6pm came around and it started getting crowded.  We got in line to get our tickets - $10 gets you a souvenir glass and 6 tasting tickets. 

 

 

We started sampling their beers – the higher alcohol volume beers took 2 tickets.  They had brewed a special blueberry beer flavored with Trix cereal – which I actually wasn’t a fan of, but I did like their Georgia Brown and Take Two Pils German pilsner. 

 

 

 

We took a tour of the brewery, which only took a few minutes.  They had several large steel vats with beer fermenting.  Their experimental vat was painted black & white with flames.  Employees can brew whatever they feel like in that one and test out new flavors. 

 

 

It seems like this brewery is where all the locals go to drink – and with the 6 drinks plus free glass for only $10, I can see why.  They also have a nice courtyard outside which was perfect for the cooler weather. 

Afterwards, we headed to Antico Pizza Napoletana – another restaurant I had seen recommended by nearly everyone who wrote about Atlanta food.  Even though it was a weeknight, the parking was insane and people were waiting out the door.  Luckily, the line moves quickly.  You order your pizza at the counter, and then it is freshly made in woodfired imported Italian pizza ovens.  The menu is pretty short – 10 types of pizza and 3 types of calzones.  We ordered the Lasagna pizza with meatball, ricotta, and romano. 

 

 

 

The seating is all communal, so we snagged two spots at one of the wooden benches.  Once the pizzas are ready, the servers carry them around on large metal trays and call your number, trying to find you in the busy restaurant.  They brought us our pizza and we were not disappointed!  It tasted so authentic and fresh – the crust was slightly charred which gave it nice flavor.  You could tell that they use quality ingredients and keep the recipes nice and simple.  They only have one size option, which was a pretty large pizza, but we devoured the whole thing in minutes. 

 

 

 

Antico is BYOB, so plenty of diners had their own beer or wine.  But we already had plenty to drink that day already.  We were in and out of there in a matter of 20 minutes, so despite the crowds, spaces are constantly opening up at the tables.  This is definitely a must visit when you’re anywhere near Atlanta. 

Check out the rest of my Atlanta posts to read about the rest of our Georgia dining experiences!

Folk Art Restaurant is located at 465 North Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 and is open 11am – 10pm Monday through Thursday, 8am – 11pm Fridays, 9am – 2pm and 2:30 – 11pm Saturdays, and 9am – 9pm on Sundays.    

The Vortex is located at 438 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 and is open 11am – 12am Sunday through Thursday and 11am – 2am Friday and Saturday.    

Leon’s Full Service is located at the Hilton Downtown at 131 E Ponce De Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 and is open 5pm – 1am Mondays, 11:30am – 1am Tuesday – Thursday,   11:30am – 2am Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 am – 1am Sunday. 

Sweetwater Brewery is located at 195 Ottley Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30324 and is open Wednesday– Friday from 5:30 – 7:30 and Saturday - Sunday from 2:30 – 4:30.  

Antico Pizza Napoletana is located at 1093 Hemphill Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 and is open 11:30am – 11:30pm Monday through Friday, 11:30am – 12am Saturday, and closed Sunday.