Restaurant experiment: Brockett Pub House & Grill

Brockett Pub House & Grill

4522 East Ponce De Leon Avenue at Brockett Road

Clarkston, GA 30021

770-938-1080

http://brockettpub.com

Dave and I were searching for a new place to get wings, and Brockett Pub House & Grill came up when I was browsing Yelp.  We went later on a Friday night, and it was busy but there was no wait.  A welcoming waitress told us we could sit anywhere.  There were a couple of beers on tap and some TVs were showing various sports like a Braves game.  The clientele seemed to consist of locals of various ages and backgrounds.  The wait staff seemed to know several of the customers by name.  All positives.

The menu featured typical pub grub but Dave and I were focused on the wings.  The wings came in a couple of different flavor options.  I ended up with my usual of lemon pepper while Dave had the hot wings.  Ten wings were $8.75, not bad.  We occupied our wait time by watching baseball games on one of the TVs.  After a reasonable while, the greatly anticipated wings made an appearance.

As I saw in a review on Yelp, the wings definitely did remind me of Taco Mac’s offerings, especially with the crispy outside, moist inside, and generous size of chicken.  The blue cheese dressing was homemade, always a plus in my book.  You can request your wings with either celery as a side or fries.  I chose celery, and the stalks were long and fresh.  Dave was complimentary on his wings, though he remarked that hot could have been hotter and that there could have been more sauce in general.  I really liked my wings, and the lemon pepper wasn’t too lemony or peppery.

This time, I was so besotted with the wings apparently that I forgot to take a picture with my camera.  Or that’s the excuse I like to give.  I just plumb forgot.  Oopsie.

What we liked about Brockett Pub was the relaxed and friendly atmosphere, along with the delicious wings.  We’d come back!

Restaurant experiment: Papi’s Cuban and Caribbean Grill

Papi’s Cuban and Caribbean Grill

216 Ponce de Leon Avenue at Myrtle Street

Atlanta, GA 30308

404-607-1525

http://www.papisgrill.com/

Dave, Evelyn, and I decided to check out Papi’s since none of us had eaten Cuban food in some time. So we parked on Myrtle and walked into the entrance. Turns out the doors closest to Ponce are for to-go orders; you have to take the stairs down one floor to the dine-in area. As it so happens, there was a door on Myrtle that we completely missed.  Well, that was confusing!

Even though it was a Friday night, Papi’s closes at 9, and I was a bit concerned since it was after 8, but I shouldn’t have fretted as the place was full of patrons in no hurry to get the heck out. It’s grab-a-table-when-you-see-one, so we stood around for a bit and quickly pounced on a table when its occupants slid out to leave.

Papi’s has a daily lunch and dinner entree.  Since it was Friday, the dinner special was ropa vieja for $8.99 (lunch is $6.99), with black beans and white rice, though they let you sub yellow rice for no extra charge. Dave and I decided to share the ropa vieja and the pork since we couldn’t decide what to get, so why not both? It was funny since pork is available every day as a daily special so I guess all entrees are daily specials? Not sure.

Also Available Daily:
Your choice of Palomilla steak, Ropa Vieja, Jerk Chicken Breast, Pork, Jerk Pork, Chicken or Fish served with homemade black beans, white or yellow rice. –$8.99

I did consider getting a good old Cuban sandwich. I had been on a Cuban sandwich kick even though I haven’t actually eaten said sandwich anywhere yet.

Our waiter wasn’t super outgoing but he was nice. The food did take a while to appear but we chalked it up to the place being pretty busy. As all entrees come with plantains and bread in addition to the black beans and rice, it’s such a good deal! I’m a sucker for a good deal. I love the Cuban-style bread. The roja vieja rocked, and the pork was memorable though adding Papi’s special sauce really kicked it up a notch.  Really soft and falling-apart meat. Yum.

I had a picture of my meal but due to technical difficulties, I can’t post it at this time.  Darn computer.  You’ll just have to use your imagination for now until I can access that photo.

The three of us agreed that Papi’s had generous portions of tasty food at reasonable prices. Viva Papi’s!

Some notes:

• There were a couple of homeless men hanging around, so just be prepared.
• Also, Myrtle has rules about parking only on certain sides of the street, so keep that in mind as well.
• Papi’s has several locations in the metro Atlanta area, but this Midtown one is the only restaurant in Atlanta proper.

 

 

Restaurant experiment: Six Feet Under

Six Feet Under

437 Memorial Drive Southeast at Wood Street Southeast

Atlanta, GA 30312

404-523-6664

http://sixfeetunderatlanta.com/locations-hours/grant-park

Six Feet Under is not a themed-restaurant based on the HBO series of the same name.  Too bad since I love that show.  It however does have to do with death, as the restaurant is located right across the street from the Oakland Cemetery.  I suppose some people would be creeped out by this, but I thought it was rather cool.  I haven’t been in Oakland but it’s a historical site and looks very lovely.  I suggested this place for meeting up with Virginia and Nate since it was new to me, had a unique setting, and was suitable for the pescatarian in our group.

Since it was a Saturday evening, Six Feet Under was jam packed with bodies waiting to be led to the tables.  I was trying to be all undertaker there but that didn’t work.  Anyway, the wait was supposedly 40 minutes, but Nate’s phone was texted in about 20, just as we were wetting our whistles at the adjacent Octane.

Our party of four was seated upstairs which was excellent considering the mild clear weather.  On the open-air roof deck, you can take in the Atlanta skyline while chowing down on your delights from the ocean.  I sipped on the cheapest margarita available ($7.50?), which I thought was generously-sized, pretty pleasant, and plenty strong enough for me.  Our server was nice, and she even brought me a plate of lemon wedges for my water.  You can see that in the photo below, along with the margarita and my salad entree.

• Cajun Shrimp or Salmon Salad

  Fresh spinach topped with bacon, red pepper, cotija cheese, scallions, avocado & our homemade sweet cajun dressing. Top it off with your choice of grilled cajun shrimp or salmon.

  12.5

I mistook “sweet cajun dressing” to not be that spicy, but I was wrong.  I guess I ordered the wrong thing since I’m not a spicy lover, but I will say that the salad ingredients were fresh, and there was a fair amount of salmon in the salad.  Everyone else seemed pleased with his/her entrees.

I can’t resist dessert, so Dave and I decided to share this:

• Mom’s Chocolate Mousse

  Homemade chocolate mousse, whipped cream & oreo crumbles.

  5.95

This wasn’t anything fancy, but boy did it go down easy and fast.  Yum.  It did kind of remind me of the Jell-O chocolate instant pudding mix but I mean that in the best way because I used to love that stuff as a kid.  I’m getting all nostalgic now.

Restaurant experiment: Taco Mac

Taco Mac

573 Main Street at Lindbergh Center

Atlanta, GA 30324

404-574-5813

http://tacomac.com

Dave and I seem to want wings 90% of the time, so he suggested we go to a Taco Mac since I’d never had their wings before, and they are supposed to have some of Atlanta’s best.  Sounded like a plan to me!

We ended up at this location since we happened to be close by.  It was a Sunday evening, and we were kind of early, so it wasn’t too crowded yet but definitely got busier as the night went on.

The folks working the hostess stand (is there another term for this?) were very welcoming, and one guy ended up being our waiter.  There’s one big main seating area, and there was also another space upstairs that seemed smaller.

Dave wanted some nachos since he was starving, so we went with the Nachos All the Way to start.

Nachos All the Way
Our fresh, homemade tortilla chips topped with award-winning T.MAC chili, black beans, seasoned beef, pickled jalapeños, Cheddar Jack cheese, fresh shredded lettuce, fresh tomatoes and onions. Served with a side of all natural sour cream and our fresh, homemade salsa.

These were pretty good.  I’m not a huge nachos person, but nachos are basically nachos, just with more of less stuff.  The pile, er, mountain, of nachos was generously sized, though some chips were more decked out with toppings than other more naked chips.  I could see noshing on this mountain with some buddies while watching the big game.  As we weren’t able to demolish the Mount Nachmore, the server kindly boxed up the appetizer and even threw in some extra chips.  That was really generous.  I should add that they bring out a small carafe of salsa which I thought was funny but good since it’s nice to have more salsa than you need.

For wings, I selected a single (10 pieces) of signature buffalo wings with lemon pepper rub.  There are eight flavor options, including “Death.”  Taco Mac also has boneless and roasted buffalo wings options.  You can also get extra sauce or even order all drums or all flats, for extra charges, of course.

SIGNATURE Buffalo Wings
Fresh, bone-in wings tossed in your choice of our signature T.MAC wing sauce. Always cooked to order and served with choice of creamy Blue cheese or house ranch dressing and crisp celery or french fries.

Mmm, they were really tasty!  And quite large, I must say.  Strong lemony peppery taste.  Crunch exterior, moist interior.  And hot too.  I got celery as my side; you can either get that rabbit food or French fries.  Wanting to at least pretend to be healthy, I went with the celery.  I slowed down and wasn’t able to finish the whole order of chicken delights, probably since I ate those nachos earlier.  Plus the wings were getting cold, so we just had them boxed up.

I noticed that our server seemed to be hustling with the family of five sitting next to us.  The three kids needed special cups, coloring page and crayons, etc.  Hope they gave him a good tip.  It seems odd to bring children to a sports bar, but I did see a fair amount of offspring.  And there is a kids menu on the menu.

I forgot to take any pictures, maybe I was distracted by all of the televisions blaring various sports events.  But do we need more TVs showing college lacrosse than the Winter Olympics?  C’mon now.  Who the heck wants to watch college lacrosse?

If you’re wondering about parking, you get three hours of parking in the adjacent deck with validation, and they validated our ticket at the hostess stand, before we were seated.

Writing about wings makes me really want some wings!

Restaurant experiment: Slice and Pint

Slice and Pint

1593 North Decatur Road at Oxford Road

Atlanta, GA 30307

404-883-3406

http://sliceandpint.com

Dave and I decided that we wanted pizza one evening, so we headed to Mellow Mushroom but as we pulled up, the telltale packed parking lot revealed that it was Trivia Night.  The would no doubt mean nary a seat to be had and much time until food arrival.  As a result, we decided to nix the idea of Mellow Mushroom and head to Slice and Pint since they didn’t have trivia on this particular night.

Slice and Pint is the new resident after Everybody’s closed down.  There’s plenty of parking in the lot next door.  It was bit drafty inside so I had to put my coat on again.  And the park bench seating made me want some cushions.

Our young server was very affable, despite not supporting our sports team of choice.  Dave ordered a beer.  Slice and Pint has a nice selection of drafts, and they are supposed to begin offering their own brews sometime in the future.  Dave decided to order a Bell’s Two-Hearted to which the server declared the presence of Bell’s Hopslam.  He made it sound like Slice and Pint was the only place to carry this double IPA which we knew to not be true, but that sounded like excellent marketing copy to a consumer not in the know.  Dave ended up declining the Hopslam even though Slice and Pint were kind enough to offer a sample.

Looking over the menu, their specialty pizzas are only served in the 12″ size.  They cost around $15.  You can also build your own pizza/calzone, and for those, well the pizzas, you can select what size you want.  The toppings are grouped into several price points.  It seemed like you needed to be careful since the toppings could quickly add up.  Dave and I decided to share a 16″ pie ($16) with pepperoni ($3).

Our server did successfully upsell the gourmet pepperoni (Heywood’s), which he commented that it came from Shields Meat Market across the street.  As a “2nd mortgage topping,” it was $6 extra when added to a large.  Eep.  he’s lucky that the pepperoni was very tasty!

Aside from the upsells, Slice and Pint was promising, though Mellow Mushroom is still the best southern pizza in my mind, no contest.

So Slice and Pint likes to talk about their four food groups, and this pyramid graphic is on the menu.  But shouldn’t pizza be on the bottom, then beer, then chocolate?  Though I would agree about eating chocolate more than pizza and beer.

Restaurant experiment: Miller Union

Miller Union

999 Brady Avenue NW at 10th Street NW

Atlanta, GA 30318

678-733-8550

http://www.millerunion.com

So when I decided to go to Miller Union for my birthday dinner after much Yelping and checking OpenTable, I didn’t yet know that Miller Union had gained TV fame and James Beard accolades.  I’m totally off my game and need to brush up on my star celeb chefs.  Apparently it’s been on some food TV shows like Unique Eats and The Layover.  Chef Steven Satterfield was a finalist for the James Beard Best Chef: Southeast in 2013 but lost to Joseph Lann of The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN.

Miller Union is located in West Midtown, in kind of a dead area.  There’s valet parking but we just parked on the street right in front.  Ugh, valet.

The layout of the restaurant is so that there are several rooms, and then a bigger room with larger tables, and there’s also a patio for mild weather.  We were seated in sort of an antechamber room.  Our waiter had a hipsterish vibe but was very polite and professional and knowledgeable.

Usually I’m cheap so I don’t get a cocktail, but since it was my birthday, I selected the Angel’s Kiss as my potent liquid.

Angel’s Kiss
sparkling wine, gin, aperol, cranberry shrub, grapefruit….9

I’ve been obsessed with shrub lately, so I was stoked to finally try it.  Aside from being beautiful, this drink was very delightful.  If you love vinegar and fruit, you’ll really dig shrub.  Recently I obtained a bottle of shrub from Shrub & Co, and it was fantastic.  The drink was a gorgeous hue of red as well.  Dave’s Le Tigre (“vodka, cocchi americano, kumquat, ginger, lemon”) is on the left.  He liked it but said there was too much ice.

For our appetizers, we decided to get two of them.

(left) brandade: it’s not on the online menu, so I can’t paste in the info.  Our waiter told us that brandade is a creamy potato salty cod dish that’s served with bread.  Sounds like of strange, but it was quickly gobbled down by us.

(right) chicken liver mousse, apple cider jelly, grilled bread….10

The chicken liver mousse was smooth and rich.  Mmmmmm, was perfect on the toasted bread.  The apple cider jelly gave it a brick-colored glossy topping and added sweetness to the liver.

For the mains, Dave decided on the gumbo while I wanted to try the quail.

(left) roast duck & andouille sausage gumbo, carolina gold rice….26

(right) sauteed quail, pecan-cornbread dressing, poached quince, dandelion greens….26

I sampled the gumbo and while it was fine, the sauteed quail was the real star.  Crispy skin, tender meat, mmm mmm goodness.  The pecan-cornbread dressing had me dreaming of Thanksgiving.  A bit of a mess to eat, with the small bones, but it was worth it.

I probably wouldn’t have gotten dessert if it weren’t a special occasion.  Not because the desserts didn’t sound appealing (they certainly sounded super), but I was getting full.  Dave and I decided to split the  chocolate ganache cake.

chocolate ganache cake, peanuts, fig-balsamic ice cream….8

It wasn’t the best chocolate cake ever, but it was still great, and I loved the crunch of the peanuts.  The ice cream wasn’t too shabby either.  While waiting for our treat to arrive, the waiter asked if it was a special occasion, and I replied that it was my birthday.  Hence, the candle on the plate.  That was very nice of them.

On the way out, a bearded man with a thin face wished us a good night.  Dave speculated that it might have been the chef, so after Google Imaging later, indeed, it was Steven Satterfield.  A lovely meal and a brush with a celebrity chef?  Kickass birthday, I’ll say.

Even though it was nearly an hour after close, there were still diners eating.  I will add that I was super thirsty later that evening.  Stealth salt perhaps?

Restaurant experiment: Pastries a Go Go

Pastries a Go Go

235 Ponce de Leon Place at West Ponce de Leon Avenue

Suite E

Decatur, GA 30030

404-373-3423

http://www.pastriesagogo.com

First of all, the name of this place is so much fun to say.  Or maybe I just like saying “a go go.”  At any rate, a silly name certainly gets my attention.

It was a freezing early Sunday afternoon when Dave and I popped into PaGG for a late brunch.  We still had to wait a little bit but not for long.  The clientele seemed to be more senior citizen if anything.  Vibe = diner-like.  The waitresses were very cheery and gave you the impression that they had been working there for a long time.

I went with my go-to brunch item, the eggs Benedict.  The menu is pretty basic for breakfast, with offerings like omelets and pancakes.

Eggs Benedict $8.50
two poached eggs, ham on biscuit halves with hollandaise and choice of homefries or fruit cup or grits

What I remember most favorably about this meal is the biscuit.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.  Super crumbly, soft, buttery, everything you’d ever wanted in a biscuit.  The hollandaise was great too.  The homefries were nice as well.  But Pastries a Go Go’s “benny” as a waitress called the dish, is elevated by the biscuit.  Okay, I’ll stop harping on the biscuit now.  Oh, also the portions were more than generous.  I couldn’t finish my dish, so that’s saying a lot.

I saw the employees prepared some sticky buns for customers.  Looked like monkey bread.  The sticky buns were messy deliciousness but I resisted.

Hehe, now I should listen to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.”  Of course now that sounds reminds me of Zoolander.

Restaurant experiment: Twain’s Billiards & Tap

Twain’s Billiards & Tap

211 E Trinity Place at Church Street

Decatur, GA 30030

404-373-0063

http://www.twains.net/

Dave and I came to Twain’s Billiards & Tap since a friend of his was celebrating a birthday here.  As the name of the establishment suggests, Twain’s is a bar and also has games you can play (pool and shuffleboard were the big ones).  We started off playing pool since that’s what the birthday girl and her posse were doing when we arrived.  The pool tables are a little close together for my tastes, but what can you do.  There’s one giant room that’s full of several tables.

Eventually Dave and I got hungry, and we ventured into the bar/restaurant area for some pub grub.  Dave thought Twain’s had revamped their menu and gone a bit more upscale.  They brew their own beer if that’s something you’re into.  The eating area was packed, and the bar was the same way.  We were lucky enough to snag a booth, beating a girl from grabbing it.  First come, first serve can be very Hunger Games-like but instead of shooting us to death with arrows, the girl graciously let us have the booth when we offered it to her.  Pages from Mark Twain’s novels are pasted onto the walls, adding a touch of whimsy.  The salt water fish tank in the middle of the space gives Twain’s a “Georgia Aquarium crossed with library” atmosphere.

Our waiter looked very hippie-like.  He was very outgoing and checked in regularly.  Here’s what we went with:

Wings

1 1/4 lb or 2 1/2 lb of jumbo chicken wings. Marinated, fried then tossed in one of our sauces:
Mild, Hot, XXX Habanero, Honey-garlic, BBQ, Jerk-BBQ, Hot Chipotle, Lemon-pepper, or Thai chili. Served with celery and blue cheese dressing (ranch on request)
$8.00 / $15.00

Poutine

 House fries, veal gravy, mozzarella cheese curds, with a sunny side ManyFold Farm egg.

$7.50

Dave is a poutine expert and deemed Twain’s version of high quality.  An egg in poutine doesn’t seem to be a thing but that was just Twain’s spin on the dish from the Great White North.

The wings were most excellent!  The drumettes and wings were crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside.  And I do want to mention that there weren’t microscopic wings, but they were quite fat.  I got lemon pepper which I liked a lot.  I thought I was starving but then I couldn’t eat much of my small order of wings.  Very filling.  I’ve been given a tip that Taco Mac has the best wings, so I can’t wait to try them and see how they stack up to Twain’s and Jagger’s (R.I.P.).

‘Twas a terrific time at Twain’s!

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.