mgofood: April 2013

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Vortex Bar & Grill - @@@

Had a hamburger here at what was billed as one of Atlanta's best burgers. It was topped with pulled pork, cheese and bacon along with a spicy BBQ-ish sauce. Was quite good but they allowed smoking inside. For that I doubt I will be back as there are other spots to go to as they even mention on their menu. If you smoke then it is a good choice for bar food/ burgers and even of you are not a smoker it is still good.

878 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30309

Mary Mac's Tea Room - @@@@

After reading a bunch of restaurant websites and blogs, I ultimately decided to come back here for dinner. Amazingly out of all the Atlanta restaurants, this was one I went to the last time I was here. However I was looking for southern food and it was the most brought up place. It also helped that it was walkable from the hotel.

Plate was full of solid food. On the right is pan fried cube steak with a brown onion gravy with whipped potatoes, broccoli souffle, and a piece of fried chicken. All tasted great. What was also good yet not pictured were the cinnamon rolls since I ate them already and had asked for more to be delivered. The cube steak was really flavorful, with the gravy standing out. I actually looked up the recipe while I was eating because it was that good. I went with the broccoli souffle on the recommendation of the waitress and she was right. Nice chunks of broccoli in a cheesy, creamy base topped with crispy bread crumbs. Fried chicken was in my mind typical southern style - rather light fry, not as much seasoning, and crispy. It was good, not great.

Overall torn between a 4 and 5 I liked it that much. Maybe I am subconciously taking a touch away due to the food coming out in basically 2 minutes. I get that the stuff is already prepped but that was just amazing. It obviously is worth a return trip and highly recommended for some, in my mind, authentic southern food.

224 Ponce de Leon Ave
Atlanta, GA 30308

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Varsity - @@@

Mmmmmm hot dogs with chili, fries, and an orange shake as a Sunday afternoon "breakfast".

I was really interested in checking out this Atlanta landmark institution that I have heard mentioned plenty of times on food tv shows. To be honest before even checking it out, I thought it was a sit-down restaurant. Um no, it is rather a large cafeteria-like setting where you order your food at the counter and then pick a seat. It is billed as the worlds largest drive-in.. Pretty cool different rooms to choose a seat; it was rather dining-hall ish. I selected the room that had the espn feed on it.

The food was actually rather good. Chili dog was in a soft bun, probably steamed. I like it kinda squishy like this so no problems there. The hot dog itself was tasty, however lacked the Detroit coney dog snap like I am used to and enjoy. Chili was well spiced and I felt like I could eat about 6 more. The fries were well salted, but as you can see from the picture pretty soggy. I think thats what they were supposed to be like. The drink is called a Frozen Orange, which is similar to the Olga's orange drinks where it is pretty creamy and slurpee like consistency. All in all, a good meal to kick start a Masters-watching Sunday.

61 North Ave NW
Atlanta, GA 30308