Roadfood in Atlanta

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
- Another Quick Trip thru ATL

Atlanta remains a bit of a mystery to me. I've been through there three times now but never for more than one night. All three of my visits to ATL revolved around driving to and from South Florida. Atlanta is basically the halfway point so it's a good spot to stop. That said I've always had trouble navigating the city and it's pain in the ass traffic. On my most recent visit last May I had a whole eating itinerary planned but I had to scrap it due to the crazy traffic which was so bad I decided we would only stay one day instead of two. So I don't really know much about Atlanta except to say it's not for everyone. As far as the food scene in Atlanta I don't know much about that either. It's harder to read than most food scenes and because I've never spent more than a day there it's still a bit of a mystery. That said 've always said there's good food to be found in every metro area including the Metro Atlanta area. 

Atlanta, Georgia
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1911 Biscuits and Burgers

I love a good biscuit but rarely get the chance to have one due to my home base (Chicago) being very north of the Mason Dixon line. So I made it a point to get a good biscuit sandwich while I was in Georgia. A few of the spots I wanted to try were either not open that day or they were too much out of the way. But 1911 Biscuits & burgers in Smyrna looked much better than anything you'll find back home and it was. I'm not sure how it stacks up against the Piedmont Regions best biscuit spots but the biscuit itself was soft and fluffy and just sturdy enough to remain mostly intact while the fried chicken had a nice spice profile to it. The biscuit and gravy wasn't as good due to an off tasting gravy. 

Fried Chicken Biscuit at 1911
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Busy Bee Cafe

If you're a devout regional eater you cant go to Atlanta and not get some fried chicken. The historic Busy Bee Cafe has been on my radar for a long time now as it's one of the city's most iconic restaurants. The restaurant was opened by a self-taught cook, Lucy Jackson, in 1947 on what was at the time called Hunter Street but is now Martin Luther King Drive. MLK himself was a regular during the Civil Rights Movement and today the cafe is popular with locals and tourists and celebrities alike. Busy Bee is known for their southern cooking featuring all the usual suspects but I had to try what some say is the best fried chicken in Atlanta if not the entire south. As of my visit last May it's takeout only so I went ahead and placed my order on our drive in once we were about 25 minutes out. I got a fried chicken dinner with two sides of my choice - Broccoli Cheddar and rice & gravy. Was it the best fried chicken I've ever had? No it wasn't but I've talked before about how fried chicken is pretty good no matter where you get it, as opposed to stuff like bbq and burgers. So it was still very satisfying. 

Fried Chicken at Busy Bee Cafe
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Heirloom Market BBQ

There's lots of bbq options in Atlanta and Heirloom Market BBQ was the most intriguing of them all. From the outside this place looks like your typical southern bbq shack but when you see the menu you realize that it is not. Heirloom is ran by a pair of local chefs with a Korean background. They incorporate both of their heritages into one with menu items like Gochujang beef ribs and the Spicy Korean Pork Sandwich made with smoked, diced and braised spicy pork topped with kimchi slaw. I couldn't resist sandwich which was probably the single thing I was most looking forward to eating in Atlanta and it more than lived up to the hype. This was a top tier sandwich in every regard. The meat had great smoke flavor and was filled with crispy bits mixed with tender chunks and the slaw was top tier. I wish I could've tried a few more things but I had to save stomach space for some other spots.

Spicy Korean Pork Sandwich at Heirloom Market BBQ
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The Original J.R. Crickets

Atlanta's wing scene is considered second to none by some. Every Atlantan has a favorite spot for lemon pepper wings - a flavor created here in Atlanta. J.R. Crickets is one of the most popular wing spots in town. They've been around since 1982 and were a local fixture long before it became a piece of pop culture too when featured on the hit TV show Atlanta on FX. I visited the semi original location in Midtown which is housed in an old IHOP building, it moved into there back in 2013 after the original location burned in a fire. I ordered half lemon pepper dry and half buffalo and thank goodness trey had a bar where I could have a beer or two because my order took what seemed like forever (best to call ahead like everyone else was doing). The wings were small but still pretty good despite that they didn't seem to come fresh from the fryer. I actually prefer a smaller wing to a jumbo as the smaller wings have much better texture to them but I felt like they could've been fresher in terms of how long we waited. Were they the best wings I've ever had? No not by a long shot but they did hit the spot. 

Chicken Wings at J.R. Crickets
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Bibi Persian Eatery

Ponce City Market was one of the country's first food halls back when it first opened back in 2014. The mixed use development is located in a former Sears catalog facility in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood on the city's eastside. I visited around dinner time and the place was packed. There's more than two dozen food options ranging from small stalls to full fledged restaurants. I was there to check out Bibi Eatery which is a Persian sandwich specialist. Atlanta has a decent sized Persian population as I learned doing research for this trip. Bibi serves up casual takes on popular Persian dishes like Koobideh and Joojeh kebabs and offers them in sandwich form too. The kebab in my Koobideh sandwich was made with a mixture of beef brisket and lamb shoulder and dressed with butter braised tomato, labneh, sumac onions, and pickles in between a piece of rustic bread as described on the menu. My thoughts? More Persian spots should offer sandwiches like these.  

Koobideh Sandwich at Bibi Eatery
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J-Bistro

I was determined to get to the area around Atlanta's famed Buford Highway despite it's out of the way location. The area out by the city's Northeast suburbs is home to a ginormous collection of Korean and other Asian owned restaurants and markets alike. It's only about 15 miles from the city center but it can take alot longer than that with traffic but I went out there anyway only to find the spot I had planned to check out closed due to a building issue. So no Korean grilled tripe this trip. Instead I headed over to this Korean-Chinese restaurant known for their Jjamppong among other things. Even though it was pretty hot outside I wasn't going to pass on a spicy bowl of spicy seafood noodles, with made on site noodles at that. This version had a ton of spice and lots of seafood to boot. Delicious. 

Jjamppong at J Bistro 
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Weekend in Atlanta (2016)

See ya next time @chibbqking

Weekend in Atlanta

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-Quick Trip thru ATL

I've never done anything involving Atlanta except travel through there and that's all I did again on a recent trip. However this time I wasn't flying but rather driving through, with an overnight stop. We were headed to South Florida (report coming) and after stopping for lunch in Nashville we wandered into Atlanta just in time for Happy Hour. We met a friend at a dive and had a few cold brews as I stared into the oblivion after the long drive in. After that we went back to the hotel and then dinner.

Brush

Saw this new Japanese spot that caught my eye so we decided to take the ride over to Decatur and check it out. Walked right in and got a seat at the bar though we could've sat anywhere as it want all that packed. I guess word hadn't gotten out yet. Though they do have sushi we were here for yakitori.

Binchotan Grill

The menu features a variety of meats on a stick including most all of the chicken parts. Aside from the grilled meats they also have a section dedicated to Kushikatsu which are breaded deep fried skewers that originated in Osaka. A double order of each pork belly and mushroom was on point and just the start as far as getting good goes.

Kushikatsu

Best thing going is here is what drew me in in the first place. Real deal yakitori. Real deal meaning random jidori chicken parts grilled over binchotan charcoal. The Japanese coal burns at an extremely high temperature and is the gold standard for yakitori back in the old country. It's high heat causes for all the chicken skewers to crisp up really nicely while remaining perfectly cooked being both juicy and crunchy. You can get the skewers in breast, thigh etc but those are for the pre-teens. It's all about the cartilage, neck, rib, oyster etc. We tried a bunch but I kept coming back to these three below, which I could eat all day with some cold Asahi by my side. Fantastic.

Chicken Yakitori - neck, oyster, tail

I didn't think it could get much better and maybe it didn't but the Chasu bowl was every bit as good as the yakitori. Some of the most succulent pork belly I've had from anywhere. Melt in your mouth deliciousness. Keep this place in mind if in Atlanta and near the Decatur area. We enjoyed. 

House Chashu Rice - seared pork belly, green onion, soy cured yolk

After closing down Brush we were ready to head back to the hotel...right after I got dessert. I wasn't going to let the fact we were a quick ten minute ride from The Varsity become a would've/could've/should've type situation.

The Varsity

I've seen this place countless times on the TV. Usually when there's a big sporting event in Atlanta. The local mini-chain got it's start in 1928 in what was a much, much smaller space. This one I was at must seat at least 500 people these days, not to mention the sheer size of the parking lot. I can only imagine the place over SEC championship weekend or something similar. They love their chili dogs in these parts and that's the best seller at The Varsity so that was my dessert, with an order of onion rings. Chili Dog was pretty good while the onion rings were pre-cooked and thus not all that hot. I'm glad I went but dont need to rush back.

Chili Dog and Onion Rings

Back to the hotel for some rest before the second leg to South Florida. But not before breakfast of course. Was rec'd a place for bagels by Twitters foremost bagel expert and stopped in seeing as how it was kind of on the way to where we needed to go.

The General Muir

Here we have an NYC style deli with an upscale more contemporary look than the old school spots of New York's past. It's hidden in a shopping/living area but if you got google maps it's easy to find. Breakfast looked good but I wanted to get on the road and do so without feeling weighed down so I got a bagel with lox, cream cheese, tomato, onion, capers to go. It came in two parts (each side dressed) and made for the perfect meal for two before the push South. Next time I want to try the hyped burger and the pastrami hash as I'd happily go back if I found myself back in ATL Georgia.

Bagel with Lox etc.

Brush Sushi Izakaya
316 Church St
Decatur, GA 30030
(678) 949-9412

The Varsity
61 North Avenue NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 881-1706

The General Muir
Emory Point, 1540 Avenue Pl B-230
Atlanta, GA 30329
(678) 927-9131