Restaurant experiment: Wrecking Bar Brewpub

Wrecking Bar Brewpub

292 Moreland Avenue NE at Austin Avenue NE

Atlanta, GA 30307

404-221-2600

http://www.wreckingbarbrewpub.com/

Dave and I were looking to try a new spot for dinner, and I stumbled across Wrecking Bar Brewpub while perusing Yelp.  It’s funny; I’d driven by the corner on Moreland a zillion times but never knew a brewpub was situated so close to Little 5 Points.  It’s tucked into the bottom of a stately old house.  It appeared that the lot surrounding the house was valet parking, and therefore we drove down Austin Avenue in search of parking.

Once the car was parked and the walk to the pub was walked, the hostesses told us there would be a wait of time unknown.  Therefore the two of us decided to make ourselves at home at the bar until we were summoned to a table.  One of the hostesses did mention that the hightops by the bar were first come, first serve which will come into play later.  Dave got himself an IPA which he liked.  I would like to say that Wrecking Bar’s atmosphere is part-cave, part-woodsy cabin.  We flattened ourselves against the granite-looking walls.  It was certainly busy but not so cramped that people were bumping into you.  Or not so busy that you had to yell to be heard.

When a couple signed their receipt and got up to leave, I pounced upon their abandoned hightop.  Score!  This ended up being perfect since we still hadn’t been called to a table.  We ended up actually staying at the hightop for dinner since it was just easier, and the waitress who was serving us was very pleasant.  I will say that the table was a tad tiny but nothing you couldn’t deal with.

After much deliberation on what we should have for appetizers (seriously, they all sounded delightful, especially the kale ale cheese fondue), Dave and I started off with the steak tartare appetizer and the pickled veggies appetizer.  These were served on blackboard-looking black stone slabs.  Cool.

Pickled Veggies & Pimento cheese … 6
Local veggies, Chef Rod’s Pimento cheese, house made
Altbier grain mustard, H&F sourdough

All my pictures of this item ended up blurry, curses!  The pickled vegetables consisted of baby carrots, okra, beets, and beans that had a hint of a kick to them.  The bread was crispy toasted, and there was plenty of seeded mustard to go around.  Love that stuff.  The pimento cheese was darker than what you’re used too and had more of a smoky taste.  Quite addicting.

Steak Tartar … 9
Painted Hills flat iron, shallot, caper, Dijon, cardamom
butter, quail egg, house mustard & pickles, pain au levain

Again, more mustard than you could shake a stick at.  Mmm, steak tartare.  The quail’s egg atop the mound of raw meat looked cute.

Appetizers safely and deliciously behind us, it was time to put in orders for our entrees.  For my main, I settled on roasted chicken while Dave decided on the beef cheek goulash ($17).  It was hard to make a decision though.

Roasted Chicken … 14
Springer Mtn. chicken, GA heirloom sweet potato, green
beans, confit chicken thigh cornbread stuffing, apple butter

I don’t really get chicken much at restaurants, but I was sick of sandwiches.  Since an acquaintance shared a fiasco at an NYC restaurant where they were not told that their roasted chicken would take an eternity to be ready as the kitchen would just start to roast when the order was placed, I was wary and asked the waitress how long the bird would take.  She informed me that the fowl was pre-roasted, and then the kitchen would heat up the chicken again prior to serving.  That sounded reasonable.  The roasted chicken was superb!  Very tender and moist.  The cornbread stuffing made it feel like a mini-Thanksgiving meal or preview.  Delicious.

For a liquid dessert because I was too stuffed for a non-liquid dessert, I decided to try the fall sangria which was sangria with orange, cranberries, and spices.  Guess I was continuing the fall theme that began with the roasted chicken.  Even though it was deemed a fall beverage, I thought it reminded me of summer, with the ice and pretty magenta hue.  Mmm, refreshing.

Unfortunately, the name of this gastropub is too much like the Miley Cyrus song so I keep getting that song stuck in my head when I’m thinking of Wrecking Bar.  I secretly like the song, so that’s fine with me!

Restaurant experiment: Universal Joint

Universal Joint

906 Oakview Road at East Lake Drive

Decatur, GA 30030

404-373-6260

http://www.ujointbar.com/

Dave and I had never eaten in the Oakhurst area, so we decided to give it a try one Sunday afternoon.  And since we were in the mood for bar food, Universal Joint fit the bill.

There’s no parking lot, but street parking wasn’t an issue.  The patio looked great for warmer days; since it was chilly that afternoon, I suggested we eat inside.  There were TVs showing some NFL game.  I would say that Universal Joint has a family friendly/sports bar personality.  Our waitress was welcoming.  I thought she had a kind of spacey demeanor but Dave didn’t think so.  She was on the ball though.

UJ offers standard pub grub like wings, quesadillas, nachos, and burgers.  We both got burgers; I selected the blue cheese burger.  I forgot exactly how much it was, but something around $9.  The burgers come with your choice of fries or tots.  Salad requires an extra cost.  Never much of a tots kind of person, I went with fries.  There were so many of them that I couldn’t finish them and had to get a to-go box.  They weren’t bad: very hot and thick but at least not wedges because we all know how I hate wedges.  The burger’s bun was kind of sticky.  Or maybe the outside of the bun was very moist and then clung to my fingers.  Odd.  Dave was pleased since he requested his patty rare, and it certainly was on the raw side.  I got medium-well and it was a little more on the medium plane but that was okay.  The burger was pretty good but nothing super out of the ordinary.

I’d liken Universal Joint to Rojo in Birmingham: a neighborhood joint that doesn’t have the best food in the universe but is a staple for the area.