Dining
From ARGFest-o-Wiki
Vortech’s guide to ARGFest 2010 Dining (with appended thoughts by Imbri and Urthstripe)
Volume 1 — Atlanta BBQ:
My favorite place is The Swallow at the Hollow . It's a BBQ place with the quality turned up in all areas — not just the meat. If you are after wonderbread, though, it may feel too fancified. Also, it has a stage and they do live New Country acts on weekends. I'm told that they get great acts in the small and unsigned new country scene, but it is a genre I can’t get into so for me it's just a schedule hassle.
Standout items: The Smoked Turkey is amazing. They also probably have the best Baby back ribs. The Brunswick stew, mac and cheese and biscuits are the top sides. Greenwood's On Green street — which is across the street — makes a mind-blowing Lemon Meringue Pie. If you ask sweetly, your server will walk over and get you some (each slice is 1/4 of a pie)
Distance 30 min or so — mostly highway. No public transport.
Urthstripe's thoughts Yes sir, Swallow at the Hollow is the best BBQ joint in Atlanta, and the pulled pork is the best (and the only thing you'll be getting if you want to feel like a Georgian. Also, hello, person reading this, I'm an Atlanta native born and raised, so I will be adding some comments to Vortech's thoughts. As thorough as he is, he is an IMPLANT.)
Fat Matt's Rib Shack (yelp)is the belle of the ball. it's where they send countless Food Network shows, it gets mentioned in Up in the Air, etc. I think it's overrated. By a lot. They have live blues, but they don’t have the room for it. On weekends the wait is absurd.
Standout Items The Lemonaid is great. At least, for me and my desire to have it be practically syrup. The spare ribs are probably your best meat choice. The Beans, the best side. I'm not really excited to recommend ether.
Distance 10 min. You could take a cab.
Urthstripe's thoughts Go to say you've been there. It used to be REALLY good, but I don't know what happened. I remember my family making pilgrimages to this place when I was little and then we just stopped because it wasn't worth it anymore. Hmph.
Daddy D'z (yelp) The Overshadowed but superior spare ribs. It's ramshackle and cramped and in a "transitional" part of town but it's worth it. The sides are pretty expected. I forget the specifics, though.
Distance 15 min. You could take a cab.
Urthstripe's thoughts These are my favorite ribs in town. I usually stop by here for lunch before a day game as it is close to Turner Field. Get the rib tips, but prepared for them to make sure you know what you're doing as it is a heaping helping of the best part of the ribs, in my opinion.
Fox Brothers BBQ (yelp) They are more of the texas end of BBQ. Lots of hickory smoke flavor. They also have the rare (arguably for a reason) white BBQ sauce. It's really quite good and they are getting a lot of national cred, and it’s certainly more deserved than Fat Matt’s. My #2 choice.
Standouts: Get the chopped pork or the brisket and fried stuff.
Distance 10 minutes by car, 30 min by MARTA train (with a line change in there).
Urthstripe's thoughts I haven't been to their new place, but when they were cooking for another restaurant, they were the talk of the town. Really good sauce here.
For the full on Texas, there is One Star (not a typo). They have beef Ribs, and decent prices on booze. Yeah, not a huge recommendation.
Distance 15 Min. Cabable.
Dreamland BBQ (yelp) It is a transplant from the west (I think Mississippi?) so you may be better off going to the original. If you want to hit it here in Atlanta because it is famous, get the chicken.
Distance 40 minutes, no public option.
Urthstripe's thoughts Skip it. Not worth the trip. Although I live close by. So definitely not worth the trip for you.
Community BBQ (yelp) It's a new spot and it's still a wee bit shaky. But they are pushing hard for local grown and other such. Standout Item is the Brisket.
Distance 20 Min, cab would be prohibitively expensive, especially for the result.
Volume 2 — In and Around the Conference area
Tamerind Seed — Probably the closest, this is in the Colony Square shopping area attached to the W. But you’ll probably have to go outside to get to it anyway. Good, slightly uppity south asian food (thai and malaysia)
Willy’s — A burrito place. If you know Moe’s, Moe’s totally ripped off Willys despite being worse in every way. It’s about 0.2 miles along the park from the Hotel if you need a quick bite.
Urthstripe's thoughts While I do not agree with Vortech's hate for Moe's, I do prefer Willy's. Moe's is just more convenient. Anyway, Willy's is close to where you guys are staying and it is infinitely better than Chipotle.
MetroFresh — it’s on the other side of the park, in the Trader Joe’s Shopping center. A fast and fresh food concept with a lot of soup and salad.
Ecco - Mediteranian food. Good for sharing and smaller plates. Cheese and charcuterie, pasta and pizza, and a small handful of more substantial items. Long, but straightforward walk, free valet parking.
South City Kitchen — Gussied up southern food. It’s good, if maybe a bit stereotyped? It’s quite close to the hotel, but try to have reservations as my sense is that people make it an after work meeting spot.
Tierra — it serves a wide swath of South American Cuisine, and does it very well. I feel like it gets left off the list of places to go in Atlanta, and that's a shame because it is very good. It is also walkable and not nearly as expensive as many of the others in the fancypants dining list.
FLIP Burger Boutique is Richard Blais' new place, and by far the best one he's made. It's all smaller stuff $10-20 a plate, but that's probably a better format for him since his fancy can end up wrecking a dish and when it was double that cost you tended to take it personally. It has the atmosphere of a sci-fi krystal that got in a rear-end with a Miami hotel's lounge, but the people are pleasant and the food is good. Lots of fun stuff like unusual milkshakes and toppings. It’s a cab ride, but not far.
Urthstripe's thoughts Don't go for the conversation, though, as the music is quite loud. The waiter even tells you to "enjoy the music" after s/he takes your order. Really good burger inventions though, and the milkshakes are always interesting.
Sublime Doughnuts - People who have been to both tell me this is better than Voodoo doughnuts. If you went to the last ARGfest, why not make up your own mind? I recommend the orange dream stars. It’s close to GA Tech if you are on a walking tour of Midtown, but really more of a drive than a walk.
Urthstripe's thoughts I always stop by here when visiting friends at GT. Mmm mmm mmm. Try everything that looks good. Which is everything.
Antico Pizza - Authentic Neapolitan pizza. Only sold by the whole pizza right now, though they claim that will change. Cab ride of distance.
Las Palmeras - Cuban food. It’s good — great if you didn’t grow up with Cuban food — and in the middle of an oddly residential area across the park from the W. Long walk or some kind of driving.
Carver's Grocery — OK, i’m fudging a bit to call it in the area, and the hours are going to be really really difficult, but the food is amazing and cheap and the place is routinely filled with city leaders and tech kids and atlanta natives. The owner operator is a character and I think it’s the only meat and 3 on the list, which is really something you should experience if you are going to understand southern dining. I recommend it super highly.
Breadgarden — The best bread and foccocia in town, and also the best croissants possibly ever. They use them to make sandwiches during the lunchtime hours. It’s on the other side of the park in an area called Amsterdam walk.
Ra Sushi - It’s a sushi place. it’s popular and pretentious. But it’s good enough and the best choice for under-cooked fish in walking distance. (do please consider Miso Izakaya instead, though. It’s less of a sushi house, but much like Steakhouses I feel like they are pretty homogeneous and Miso will be memorable.)
Volume 3 — Fancy Pants dining
(I assume this was an instant tradition continued in my absence.)
Livingston (yelp) This is the latest from a long-time Atlanta Restauranteur/chef, and my favorite so far. It is a pretty serious walk, but it is right on the same MARTA line. They also have packages with the FOX theater. The space is a fascinating repurposing of old and new buildings merged together. It's almost like a metaphor for modern Atlanta </term paper>. The food is a mix of modern american and southern dressed up fancy. It's also pretty reasonably priced for fancy food.
Bacchanalia (yelp) My favorite place in Atlanta. Fancy and around 80 bucks a person. Ever-changing prix-fixe menus and impeccable service. The restaurant is behind a fun a quirky store/prepared food café/cheesemonger. You need to have a sense of fun in your fine dining. If you want staid colorless service and setting, you will probably be annoyed by the one train that always passes by mid-meal and other eccentricities. If you go, you can ask for Kevin as a waiter (or failing that, Rafael (assuming you are ok with someone who is a little odd, but very sweet) if he’s not at their set menu place downstairs full time now.)
Imbri's Thoughts: - concurred. If you want fancy pants dining, this should be at or near the top of your list. (my other choice would be Woodfire).
Floataway Café (yelp) Also owned by the Bacchanalia couple, this is an italian food focused restaurant at a more reasonable price point and a more casual setting. It lives in the repurposed Floataway mattress factory. If you have the time, you should come here, even if it's just for interesting and impeccable drinks and pizza.
Canoe (yelp) Set on the side of the Chattahoochee river it’s fully scenic. And occasionally flooded. Check to make sure that they are re-opened, but if so, you can get a very good mean that specializes in seafood and is always good, though rarely surprising. There is a large patio space and also a green walking space along the river. A cab would be at the outer range of reasonably affordable. Really, having a car would be best.
Imbri's Thoughts: - This is a favorite among my friends. But it just never jumped out for me. I don't know why. I never had a bad meal there, service has always been excellent, it's a pretty location. But there are better, imo, options that are closer. Of course, this comes with the old Last Call Poker (2005) joke of "hey! that's funny place for a canoe!". The others do not.
Woodfire Grill (yelp) When this was owned by Michael Tuohy, it was neck and neck with Bacchanalia for me. I loved it, and was in there as much as possible. I knew the people and it was awesome. But, Tuohy loved California more than us, and so he left us. Kevin Gillespie, of Top Chef fame took it over. Unfairly, I have not been back since. Kevin is a nice guy who was actually making a good percentage of the stuff I loved toward the end there, so I feel I can recommend it without really experiencing it much. Note how much it is closed, though.
Imbri's Thoughts: - This is one of my favorite restaurants in the area and definitely the favorite of the various Top Chef places.
ONE.midtown.kitchen (yelp) Once the vanguard of crazy molecular cooking, it’s settled down a bit to modern american food. It’s medium priced and open late. Very cabable.
Tierra (yelp) It serves a wide swath of South American Cuisine, and does it very well. I feel like it gets left off the list of places to go in Atlanta, and that's a shame because it is very very good. It is also walkable ( 5-10 minutes depending on gait) and not nearly as expensive as many of the others in this list. The menu does not change very often, but it changes deliberately and as a result of the chef/owners Research trips to South America. The Mussels and Tres Leches Cake are reliable constants, but adventuresome ordering is usually rewarded. The patio overlooks a parking lot, but at least it's wooded and very well decorated. The dining room is crowded, but not cramped. It can add to the community aspect of this neighborhood place, if the right people are there.
Volume 4 — Un-approved Dining that you, as a tourist, should be told about by me, as a host
Bones The Old guard come to flaunt wealth with over-chared steaks. (Instead, go to Rathbun Steak or Chops. But why would you want to go to a new city and spend your time, money and calories at a steakhouse where even the best ones are mostly all the same as they are nation-wide.)
Urthstripe's thoughts I went to Bones once for my birthday. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO is all I have to say. Chops is so much better.
Restaurant Eugene I’m not saying it is bad. I am saying I don't recommend it. I have had a great meal here. I also have had a disappointing meal here. It wins a lot of awards and critical acclaim, but the people who I trust to report to me were underwhelmed. It’s run by a nice guy who has done good things for food in the area. Ultimately, though, I don’t want to have it be on me if I send you here and you don’t like it. (instead, go to any of the fancy food list.)
Mary Mac’s Tea Room There is nothing especially wrong with it, but over time the quality has dipped and the prices have increased. If you want a charming tourist-friendly southern place just outside walking distance from the hotel, go here. (Instead go to The Colonnade for good southern food that is more of a dining room than a tea room, or South City Kitchen for fancy southern food)
Urthstripe's thoughts It's good, and should be approved by Mr. Vortech. No, it's not the best southern food place in Atlanta (even though some dishes are quite good, I like the fried chicken, but fried chicken is a very personal thing down here), but it's got history, and that's worth a lot in this town. And they make the tea as it should be made, sweet sweet sweet.
The Flying Biscuit Co-Owned by Atlanta Celebrities, and then franchised out. People love this place. For some reason. It’s OK. The titular biscuits are not all that great — mealy and overweighted to collapse. The non-brunch items are mediocre food at best, and the brunch is good, but non-unique, brunch food. It is, though walkable. (Instead, go to The Original Pancake house — a dive with great breakfast eats until 2pm— or Sun in my Belly, for refined Brunch food. Any number of places for casual food. Watershed for restaurants owned by Indigo Girls
The Varsity It’s a landmark. It’s a throwback to days gone by. It’s in Midtown. It’s crummy food. It's often busy as hell after a fire in a whorehouse. If you want to go, go, get the character of the place, but just order an orange freeze and preserve the integrity of your intestines. And try to do it on a weekday.
Urthstripe's thoughts Well, some of the culinary inclined might disagree, but you would be remiss to come all the way down to Atlanta and not go to The Varsity. Skip the burgers and fries, and go for the chili (or slaw) dogs with rings and a frosted orange. Extra diced onion on the dogs, please. As Atlantan as thick coats of pollen. It's great dirty food. And PROOF of Vortech's out-of-town attitude: "orange freeze"????? What is that? FROSTED ORANGE, thank you very much. If you want the non-frosted version, get a Varsity Orange. So good.
Fat Matt’s It was in the BBQ list for completeness, but my thoughts are clear.
Two.Urban.Licks (or whatever ridiculous name construction they worked out) is a short cab ride from downtown, and it's a real showpiece. It's also kinda deafening and the food is just OK. Go if you want an experience, more than a meal.
Volume 5 — Our Fabulous Airport, a place where you can buy nuts
Atlanta's Hartsfield (we don't know what the word) Memorial (means) Airport is the busiest in the nation*. Acordingly we have a lot of options for you to eat while you are doing a lot of cursing and comiserating about a lot of gate changes with a lot of other frustrated cattle passengers. We don't have free Wi-Fi, but we do have food, and a single security checkpoint structure that means you can visit almost all of these places without having the government's lowest bidders poking around your privates…again. Here is a free printable list of everything. Anything called "center point" is at the middle of the concourse — where you get on and off the people mover.
Please remember to judge on an airport scale — I didn’t.
Concourse A food court Can not find choice or consensus in the following list? Well, come here to the largest food court in the Airport. it has a lot of choices, it is on the relaxed side of the TSA screening, and it is on the way to almost all of the gates. Choices include Great Wraps, hot dog Zone, asian chao, heineken bar and Grill, Wall street deli, domino’s pizza, dunkin' donuts, and paschal’s southern cuisine (discussed below)
Popeyes Fried Chicken It's a much better and "other side of the mason-dixon" version of KFC. Yes, it's fast food, but it's as good as fast food gets without becoming something else like chipotle is. Besides, you'e in transit. Fast is important. Also, it is close to the people-mover, so you can come over to concourse C for a visit without it taking forever.
Au Bon Pain Concourse B Remember Fast food that gussies itself up into something else? Yeah. French bakery items and sandwiches. It's near the people mover.
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Concourse C by the people mover; A and B deeper into the concourse. Ice cream and milkshakes
Chick-fil-A A 18 An Atlanta-native southern fast food choice. As you could guess, the focus on chicken — mostly chicken sandwiches. If you don't have 'em where you live, chances are someone will ask if you went to a Chick-Fil-A while you were here once you get back home. Now you can decide if your health is more important to you than your envy.
Chili's There are many of these all over the Airport, but the biggest is in the centerpoint of A. smaller locations in D, B and T. I don;t really like Chili's. If you do, I'm so happy for you! If you don't know, assume everything will have more grease than you expect.
Paschal's Southern Cuisine Concourse A in the food court, or the Atrium foodcourt Paschal's was a classic souther food place in atlanta. the building was historic as it served as a favorite meeting point for civil rights struggle luminaries. This is a counter-service version franchised out.
Sbarro B center point. The best of the bad pizza options.
Villa Pizza Fresh Italian Kitchen E Centerpoint Maybe the best of the bad Pizza options.
Qdoba Mexican Grill E centerpoint Take-away tex mex
Wolfgang puck A4 Prepacked Take away food that's half-decent, but hard to access way down A.
On the Border T4 A Tex-Mex chain that's OK for tex mex chains. Not conveniently located at all, though.
Phillip's Seafood D5 A Maryland that is branching out with chains and frozen foods. It's as good as a seafood resturnat in a land-locked city's airport could imagine being. Way down D.
One Flew South E Center If you have a long wait (especially for international) and some coin to spend, then this is the upscale option. i've never been, but the web site looks OK (though terrifyingly without prices).
Volume 6 — BOOZE! (mostly cocktails unless a Beer person comes to help me)
Leons / Brickstore These are a bit of a distance from Midtown (15 by car, 40 by MARTA rail) but they represent the best in places to drink mixed drinks and beer, respectively. In addition to the online menu drinks, Leons has a very good static menu of classic drinks. Brickstore is a more central-european vibe with the décor and food. Plus, you know, close to 100 choices for beer. They are mere feet apart and owned by the same people. Plus they are in Downtown Decatur, which is a lovely place to walk around for a few hours, making the trip seem more reasonable. (All city parking is free after 6 and on weekends, including the large city deck on the corner of Commerce and w. trinity)
Urthstripe's thoughts I frequent these places quite often as I have a few friends in Decatur. They are very nice and worth the train ride, I think.
Holman & Finch Public House The second best choice for quality mixology, this place is more adventuresome with their drinks — resulting in more then a few misses that I've tried over the years. Still, they take their craft seriously and are much much closer to the ARGfestival grounds. Note the silliness they do with their much beloved burgers. It's too far to walk. A bus goes straight there from Arts Center station and takes about 15 minutes, but you, of course, may have to wait for the bus to leave the station. 6 minutes by car or cab (there is a valet, but drive past him and turn right to get to the free deck.)
Urthstripe's thoughts My friend tells me they have the best burgers in town, but again, note the silliness. I have not been able to hit the exact right time to get myself one. What a load of BS.
Ecco This is primarily here because it is closer than all other options in the list and the food is good. Taken in a vacuum, the bar is only a little better than OK and over-full of annoying midtown professionals as patrons. But they do a good job with menu drinks, even if they seem to have heavy feet with requests off-menu. Walkable, (free IIRC) valet parking.
Top FLR I have never been, but friends have good things to say and the menu is good. Expect it to be crowded on weekends, though. This is MARTA-and walking or cab distance. It is very close to Mary Mac's if you want to make it an un-approved combo meal.
JCT Kitchen Decent food spread across a full restaurant and bar servings. The bar is way too full of itself and popular with the graduate crowd. But they do a good job, even if they make you pay for it. The wine list is glass-friendly, though not really something the bowls me over. Cab or car to a free lot/valet.
Floataway Café (yelp) Your number 2 cocktail choice. I know, I said that H&F was #2 but that was just so that people who don;t have a car at argfest would not feel bad. Floataway produces a seasonal set of cocktails that are often built on floral and fruit. Their gimlet is particularly great. So is the bee's knees. Really, you can experiment with confidence - they are always good. In case you missed it, I really like the food, too. Free lot parking, and you will need it because public transit is simply not an option.
Abattoir Restaurant - it has a short list of hard and fruit flavors, and a small but respectable beer list. There is a good wine list, but it's light on glass options. The place is a pretty unique idea that you can get an idea of by looking up the definition of the name. It's got little to offer to large groups given the small booze list and the vegetarian unfriendliness, but it is the most casual and cheap of the Bacchanalia family, so I recommend it if you can't do Bac or Floataway.
Bacchanalia (yelp) They do a great job with drinks and wine (especially with sparkling), but you are going to probably feel awkward just sitting at the bar. If you are not the type, though, go for it.
Trader Vic's Lots of Fruity/Island/Pacific flavors. The resurgence of Trader Vic's has symbiotically run with the resurgence of bringing artistry back to mixed drinks. It's currently battling its artist and chain natures, but it's still a fun and Tikitastic time for all. It's in the basement of the Hilton downtown. You can Take MARTA and then use the Habittrails, if it is raining, but otherwise, just walk on the street for speed's sake.
Miso Izakaya (Yelp) a recent and most welcome addition to Atlanta. Miso is a Japanese gastropub concept that has a drink menu unlike anything I have seen. it combines japanese flavors and booze with western versions of the same and to great effect. It's casual and mid-priced. Cab or car to a small but free lot.
Park Tavern Urthstripe here to try to help with your non namby-bamby booze needs, aka beer. It's on the other side of the Park, but walkable. Great view. If it's raining, they have $1 pints. Don't drive, as parking sucks over there. Definitely a beer place. ALSO, while you are town, please try Sweetwater. They are our local microbrewery and I love them so. I recommend the 420, but it's an IPA so your mileage may vary. The Georgia Brown is quite good too.
The Vortex Urthstripe's thoughts Bar that portends to serve the alt crowd. The original is in Little 5 Points, but this one is near you. Juicy burgers, and plenty of beer options. They do allow smoking, so Vortech will not be there. There's a comedy club in the back. I saw Paul F. Tompkins there once. He was funny.
Peanut Gallery
As a verified "Other People," I have a question. Is there anything to eat in this town other than frickin' barbecue? ~pita
Can't you eat your impatient whining? ~vortech
Apparently, it took my impatient whining, which is low in calories (if not exactly appetizing), to get you to fill in some more restaurants. ~pita
