The Waffle House and Friends

Yesterday I did one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world.  I had breakfast with a friend.  I do this often.  I'm sure that some would think that this could get to be quite expensive.  But my ready reply is that it is much cheaper than a therapist or prozac.  Having these heart-to-heart sessions a few times a month with a sane female friend is good for the soul. 

We were trying to decide where to go for breakfast.  Usually, I like to try someplace new, unique or special.  If not, I will settle for one of my tried and true breakfast spots.  My friend Karen often allows me to pick the restaurant.  After tossing  a few ideas back and forth over email, Karen said we can always go to Waffle House.  When I saw the name Waffle House on my laptop screen, I must say that I was a little surprised.  You can find a Waffle House on just about every other street in metro Atlanta.   In a knee-jerk reaction, I started to rapidly reply with another suggestion.  However, I paused for a moment.  Let me think about this.

There was a time when I was very familiar with Waffle House back in the 90's when I was still twenty-something.  Waffle House was what I, and my friends, could afford at that time.  I'm not sure if I even had an awareness of any other breakfast joint.  Way back then, I remember being in Waffle House with another friend Joyce.  It was either at the end of the year or the start of a new year.  I recall Joyce saying to me Hey Kurrrrn... And she said Kurrrn instead of Karen because that is how many a black folk born and raised in the D.C. and Baltimore area or urrrea say Karen.  So Joyce said, Hey Kurrrn, let's make a New Year's resolution.  We ain't eating at no more places where our feet stick to the floor and the servers are missing teeth!  She said this while looking around Waffle House with contempt and suspicion - as if the two naturally went together.  At that point I stopped eating at the Waffle House for many years and have been back less than 5 times.

But after I got over that memory and myself and then climbed down from my high, high horse; I decided there wasn't anything wrong with going to the Waffle House for breakfast.

I initially tried to order a waffle, eggs and meat and coffee.  However, the waitress said that it was cheaper to get the All Star Breakfast which included much more and coffee for about $6.49 (not including tax).  There are various combinations of All Star specials but here's what I had:

As it is my duty, I must point out the real stars of this All Star Breakfast -the grits and the pecan waffles.  These are not gourmet grits nor are they the best grits I've had in my life.  However, I consider these to be pretty good grits.  The pecan waffle was cooked well and arrived warm and full of pecans.  At times, there were almost too many pecans for my liking.  I guess Waffle House is not affected by the soaring price of pecans.  Nevertheless, this was a tasty waffle.  Everything else was decent.  I didn't try the wheat toast as this was already a lot of food to consume. 

The service was good in terms of friendliness and getting our orders correct the first time around.  The coffee was hot and flowing which I attribute to good customer service.   One important area of customer service that was neglected was that the syrup bottle was brought to our table with syrup running down the sides.  It was dripping so much that we placed a napkin underneath it.  Karen and I looked at each other like....eeeuuuuuuwwwwww!  Karen said something like Well, we are at the Waffle House!  We shrugged and kept on eating.

Dante's Down the Hatch

I was interested in going out for dinner and live music. I called my friend Kim who I knew would be down. As we were thinking about where to go I casually mentioned Dante’s. She was excited about it and said it was a place that she always wanted to try. Dante’s it is!

I had been there once before more than 10 years ago although it might have even been as far back as the 90’s. At that time I thought it was just ok. I don’t remember anything about live music. I remembered the fondue and I wasn’t a big fan of that just because I just don’t find that style of eating interesting or satisfying.  However, I am one to give things a second try. I didn’t mention any of this to Kim because I didn’t want to taint her experience.

The food. Well, this second visit to Dante confirmed that I’m just not into fondue-ing. Kim does not eat meat outside of fish. There were few options for those in her condition. Chuckle. The theme of Dante’s is that of an 18th century ship tied to the wharf of a Mediterranean village. If that were really true, then shouldn’t there be some fish around somewhere? Kim ordered the Imported Cheese Fondue. Per Kim, the cheese fondue was amazing but other than that the vegetables for dipping and the bread were just ok. I ordered the Chinese dumplings which were decent in taste and in texture. I did not fondue them as they came with a sauce for dipping. I dipped a few pieces of bread in Kim’s cheese fondue and I agree that the cheese was very good. I will say that if bread croutons are provided as part of the fondue experience that the bread should be high quality and unique. This bread was neither. It was rather generic and didn’t seem very fresh. In terms of eating, Dante’s is mostly geared for fondue- eating carnivores.

The Jazz. I made reservations ahead of time to make sure that we would be seated by the jazz trio. This also means a $9 cover charge. I have no problems with that at all because musicians gotta get paid… right? Live music is available every night of the week. Monday’s there is an acoustic guitar and vocalist. The remaining 6 days are reserved for jazz which Dante’s has been doing for 33 years. On Fridays and Saturdays, the jazz trio plays until midnight. The John Robertson Trio was there when I visited last Saturday night. The trio included John Robertson on piano who is also a vocalist, a string bass, drums and a female vocalist. There was also a 13 year old guest artist playing alto saxophone and he did not sound like a 13 year old playing alto sax. His last name was also Robertson so I’m assuming it could be the son or a relative. It was so nice watching this young man, dressed up and fitting right in with these professional musicians. In fact, if I was just listening to the music and not seeing the kid, I probably would have thought it was another adult playing. He seemed so talented, earnest and unaffected. That was very refreshing to see. We had a blast! It was more of a casual and cool kind of blast. I really enjoyed the music. The style of jazz is kind of like a modern take on Ella Fitzgerald or Joe Williams. I’m not a jazz aficionado but that was my impression.

Other observations. The restaurant is huge and has many levels to it. You can hear the music from anywhere in the club. We were sitting one floor above the jazz trio and were able to look down and watch them play. We were initially seated at a tiny little awkward table. After I realized that this just wasn’t going to do I asked that we be moved. Our server happily and graciously moved us to a much better spot. The service was good.

The club is located off of Peachtree Street in the affluent Buckhead area amidst high rises. The restaurant and parking lot were full when we arrived around 8 pm. The entrance to the club is entered through the back of the club.  There are these antique cars along the back and the side entrance to restaurant as if we were entering into an antique car museum.  I wondered what in the world that had to do with an 18th century ship or the Mediterranean.

We were dressed nicely as if we were going out to a classy jazz club. Although I saw signage about appropriate dress required, I saw a few jeans and a flannel shirt or two. However, we supposedly are on a ship tied to a wharf bereft of fish so that would not signal to most people that they should look nice.

I would definitely go back to Dante’s. I would pay the cover charge to be near the musicians. I would look nice and go with a friend who would do likewise. I would have dinner at home or elsewhere first. I would order dessert and coffee. Then, I would sit back and enjoy myself.

Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop

I was in Serenbe with my friend Teresa for a 5K trail race.  After the race, the sponsors offered up burritos and beer.  Neither of these were appealing, so we walked to the Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop for breakfast.  We both ordered a traditional breakfast of eggs, sausage, scrambled eggs and biscuits.

I really liked the stone ground grits supplied to the restaurant from Jenny Jack Sun Farm.  I wasn't sure that I would like these grits as they looked too granular or lumpy.  However, I found them to be delicious.  They had texture but were also creamy.   I would like to try to make these grits.  I'm not sure how widely available these grits are so I'll probably get some on my next visit to Serenbe.   I found a recipe online for these grits on a wonderful blog post with an even more wonderful photo of the grits.  The recipe looks promising as it includes milk and the grits cook for at least 45 minutes.

The orange juice was fresh-squeezed and delicious.  I hadn't had fresh-squeezed OJ in a long time.  The sausage was very tasty and I wondered if it was supplied from one of the local farms.  This was something I forgot to confirm.  The other elements of the meal, the biscuit and eggs, were fair to midland.   We also had coffee which was good.

At the counter Teresa noticed a jar of blueberry preserves.  Teresa held up the jar and we marveled at the beauty of the preserves.  Then, she turned it over and we both saw the price tag of $12.  In a knee-jerk reaction, and with great indignance, I proclaimed "Teresa, we can make our own blueberry preserves!"  She, being more polite than me, pleasantly smiled and gently placed the preserves back on the counter. 

Overall, the service was pretty good considering that 1200 runners had decended upon the community that morning.  The restaurant was packed with people who probably weren't interested in beer or burritos before noon.  Our food was brought out pretty quickly.  The few staff that were working were pleasant and responsive. 

The Serenbe community is located 32 miles south of Atlanta.   If you happen to be visiting and want a decent breakfast, I would suggest The Blue Eyed Daisy.  The Blue Eyed Daisy's website doesn't offer much information and it appears that a new website is on the way.   I like their facebook page much better.    There are a lot of photos of cakes, pies and cookies that look scrumptious. 

Pastries A Go Go

I've been going to Pastries a Go Go for years.  It is located in the City of Decatur, AKA Downtown Decatur and the seat of DeKalb County Government.   I worked for DeKalb County for many years and I would walk a few blocks over to the restaurant which is located in Commerce Square at the corner of Commerce Drive and West Ponce de Leon Avenue.   

Every meal I've had at Pastries has been very good.  Recently, I was there with my friend Thayra (sounds like Tyra) and we were talking about how long we've been coming to this restaurant.  We've watched Bob, the owner, physically change over the years - not in a bad way but just in the same way that we all do.  When we first started going there we would see his wife and baby from time to time.  She was just a toddler then but now has to be in the second or third grade. 

Over the years, I've had breakfast and lunch at Pastries with friends, co-workers and book club buddies.  There was even a time when I was a part of a small group of four women who were meeting monthly to encourage each other to live intentionally.  That didn't last long.  How many groups and clubs can one intentionally be a part of anyway? 

When I was at the County, I would meet colleagues at Pastries for lunch and we would talk about work.  Some topics would require that we first look all around the restaurant for familiar faces.  No matter what we saw, we would still hunch over our food, and talk in code or in  hushed voices.  When another person from the County would enter the restaurant we would either wave exhuberantly or try to hide behind our menus.  Oh...hey!  I didn't see you!  How are things going?  Ok...ok...oh wow...interesting.  Well...see you around!   These were good times. 

Thayra had the Eggs Benedict with the hollandaise on the side.  She said that the hollandaise was amazing.  She had a cup of fruit as her side.  This cup of fruit is worth mentioning.  In the 7 years that I've gone to this restaurant, every piece of fruit in the cup has been ripe.  I don't know how Pastries accomplishes this feat year round.  They make a low fat Honey Yogurt Poppy Seed dressing in-house that I order with the fruit.  I became aware of this salad dressing from ordering the Chicken Salad for lunch which comes with fresh fruit, fresh baked lavosh and poppy seed dressing.  The Chicken Salad is another winner.

I almost always get the same thing for breakfast.  In the past, I've ordered the Traditional Southern Breakfast and I've had the pancakes.  The traditional breakfast is like something you would get from a diner but tastes much better.  In fact, the Decatur Diner is just down the street and it doesn't compare to Pastries.   I only had the pancakes once and they were just ok to me.  It was so long ago that it wouldn't be fair for me to judge them.  On this day, and for the last few years, I ordered a turkey sausage biscuit and a side of fruit.  Pastries makes their own pork and turkey sausage.  The biscuits are also made in-house.  I have the utmost respect for a small restaurant owner who makes their own sausage and biscuits.

This time, I inquired about the delicious strawberry preserves.  For years, me and mi amigas would rave about the strawberry preserves.  The preserves weren't consistently on the table so we thought they had run out and needed to make more.  We had created a pretty lavish story about these preserves.  We always assumed they were made in-house but the waitress clarified upon questioning, Nope, it's Smuckers.

This is how we leave our plates.

Pastries has free parking.  It is located in Commerce Square with a few other businesses, restaurants and a CVS/Pharmacy.  I always joke with Thayra about her CVS addiction.   During the weekday, there used to be a security guard hovering over the parking.  In other words, don't park your car in this plaza and then walk across the street to Ted's or Taco Mac.  Security will appear.  I'm not sure if they will actually tow your car but I wouldn't chance it. 

Pastries has an outdoor seating area which seems nice enough.  I like eating outdoors but I've never felt compelled to sit outside.  On nice days, I see quite a few people eating outside.

This place isn't called Pastries A Go Go for nothing.  When you walk into the restaurant, the first thing on display is an assortment of pastries.  Bob is an Executive Pastry Chef. Although not on the menu, Thayra has ordered birthday cakes from Pastries.  I'm sure that all of the minicakes on the menu could be made into a large cake upon request.  For her son's, AKA my godchild, last birthday party, Thayra ordered red velvet cupcakes.  Those were the best red velvet cupcakes I've tasted.    She said that they were more reasonably priced than the other bakery shops in the area. 

After our delicious meal, we walked across the street to where Pastries used to be located about 7 years ago.  We couldn't remember if it was the 2cnd or the 3rd store from the intersection of  West Ponce de Leon and Ponce de Leon Place.  We noticed that the current business owner had not been successful in  covering up the Pastries sign as it was still visible on the black awning. 

Pastries a Go Go is a must must.  The service is very good although the wait staff gets a little busy at times.  We arrived at 9:30 am on a Saturday morning and there was a 15 minute wait.  The City of Decatur is very walkable so after a good meal you can enjoy a nice walk around the city. 

Murphy's Review

Murphy's is located in the Virginia Highland community in Atlanta.  I've been a patron for at least ten years or longer.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner - the food is consistently good.  The neighborhood is very quaint and comprised of old bungalow homes and a lot of boutique shops.  One of the bungalows used to be an independent bookstore.   I would stay in there for hours with its creaky door which summoned the owner - a very sweet, creaky-lookin' man.  Of course, it's closed now and I always think about it when I visit this part of town. 

I met my friend Karen on a Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and we both were able to park right in front of the restaurant.  It is in an intown location that is very popular, so coming later in the day means parallel parking and some walking. 

Just outside of Murphy's is a marquee with a map of the community. 

Murphy's is  rustic, cozy and warm.   I love the amber hues and exposed brick throughout the restaurant.  The rustic feel from the inside extends to the outside seating area where we sat.  Not all restaurants do this successfully as their outside seating is more of an afterthought. 

  

We both selected the Portobello Frittata.  For the first time, in a long time, I actually made my decision quickly.  I've had very few frittatas in my life.  It was wonderful.  The portobello mushrooms, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and  basil pesto were a great combination.  The frittata was served alone.  I ordered a side of cheddar grits.  This was before I knew that they bring out a basket with warmed delectables from the bakery.  In the spirit of a little restraint, I tried a piece of a scone that was in the basket and it was divine.  I glanced at the other items in the basket.  I quickly covered it up, pushed it aside and looked away. 

The cheddar grits were delicious. They were very cheesy and creamy. I think I've ordered cheddar grits  a lot lately. I'll keep that in mind next time around.

Karen ordered the same frittata but with egg whites.  She enjoyed her meal.  She showed a lot of restraint and did not order a side item or rummage through the bakery basket. 

Murphy's brunch is very good and I would recommend it.  The coffee was also good and hot.  However, I really like their dinner menu.  I remember ordering pan seared trout when I was there years ago and it was amazing. 

In this day and time, websites are very important.   Murphy's website is classy, user-friendly and a good representation of their business.  I've been to good restaurants with bad websites.  It makes me wonder about the owner and their business acumen.

Murphy's  is located in a historic community that offers good food and  shopping.  It would be a cool place to hang out for a couple of hours.  The first hour you would spend eating and the next hour you can check out the shops in the neighborhood.  After that, I'm not sure if there is much more to do. 

Another Broken Egg Review

My fellow foodie Carla recommended that we check out Another Broken Egg.  It is located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.  Carla and I used to work for the same employer so from time to time we like to get together and talk about career, food and how the world has pretty much gone friggin crazy.  Carla has introduced me to a number of new places.  We tend to have the same sort of palate.  I've always been pleased with her choices. 

Carla knew that she wanted to try the biscuit beignets which is one of the Delectable Starters.  I've only had beignets less than three times in my life which means that I'm unable to make a comparison to any other beignets.  What I can say is that these beignets were Dyn-o-mite!   They were oh - so - scrumptious, especially with a cup of hot coffee.  It came with a honey marmalade dipping sauce.  I didn't particularly care for that and does a warm, powdery, dense donut need marmalade?  They were so good by themselves.  Much later, after finishing my entree,  I had the nerve to eat one or two more.   They were cold but still delicious with another cup of hot coffee. 

Carla selected the Crabcakes Cavallo with homefries as her side.  The Crabcakes Cavallo is made of two jumbo lump crab cakes with two poached eggs.  It is also smothered with a Hollandaise sauce seasoned with andouille sausage and scallion.  Carla substituted the scrambled eggs for the poached eggs.  Neither one of us do runny eggs.  I've watched a many cooking shows where they extole the velvety smoothness of the yolk of a poached egg.  I've tried eggs this way a few times and I'm just unable to do it.  I guess it's like people who can't get over the texture of jello, grits or okra.  I tried the crab cakes and they were very good.  I'm from Maryland so I think I know all about crabcakes.  These were seasoned well with mostly crabmeat with little filler.  Carla really enjoyed her meal.  I didn't try her homefries because they looked like regular ole homefries to me.

I had the Eggs Blackstone which had an English muffin topped with grilled tomatoes, two medium poached eggs, creamy Hollandaise with chives and a baked bacon crunch on top.  I asked for scrambled eggs instead of the poached eggs.  The first time they brought out my entree it had two poached eggs...so back it went.  It didn't take them too long to do right by me.  My assessment...Lawd Have Mercy!  My mother used to say that a lot but she didn't necessarily mean it in a good way.  I mean it in a Dyn-o-mite kind a way.  I love grilled tomatoes.  I think this entree offered a lot of taste and a variety of textures.  Adding chunks of well-done, baked bacon on top was genius even if the idea is far from novel.

For my side, I selected the blackberry grits.  My waitress was so gung ho about it that I thought I would give it a try.  I was very clear that if I didn't like them that I would be sending them back and getting something else.  I've had grits all my life.  I've never had any type of fruit in my grits nor have I heard of it.  I recently mentioned blackberry grits to this fellow at work and he said his mother used to make it.  He is from Memphis, however, he also implied that his mother would always put together weird combinations of food.  I really enjoyed the blackberry grits although it was kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around the concept.  The blackberries were sweetened a little and served warm on top of the grits.  This dish had a very comforting feel to them.  I could imagine eating a bowl of them in my bed.  It is a Saturday morning and I am in my PJs.  

Here are a few other mentionables about Another Broken Egg.  Once we were seated, it seemed to take the food awhile to come out.  The restaurant was full so maybe they were a little understaffed.  Our waitress was nice but definitely seemed a little frazzled.  

Carla and I both noted that when the food came out it wasn't very hot.  When they brought my food out a second time, after serving me poached eggs instead of scrambled eggs, this entree was hot.  Everything else seemed a little past lukewarm.  Even the blackberry grits weren't that hot.  I don't know how any restaurant could have a problem serving piping hot grits since these were not instant grits from a microwave.   So as Carla said, the food was good but they need to work on serving it hot because they got a problem with their temperatures.   The restaurant hasn't been open all that long so I assume that they are still working out some kinks. 

We arrived at the restaurant around 9:30 am and there were people milling around outside.  There might have been a 15 minute wait.  The location is great because it is in a shopping plaza where there is a ton of parking.  If you bring kids, be careful in the parking lot because I noticed some aggressive driving which is strange on a Saturday morning. 

You can check out Carla's (Carla C.) review of Another Broken Egg on Yelp.  The decor is  bright and the style is a little french country.  The tables are a little too close together but so are many restaurants.  They also have cute coffee cups. 

Sweet Melissa's Review

Sweet Melissa's is located on the Square in the City of Decatur which many locals call Downtown Decatur.  I've gone to Sweet Melissa's a few times over the years.  The food is consistently good.  It usually isn't on my radar during the weekends because the place can be so doggone crowded.  That is great for them but not for me. Then there is the challenge of parking. If you are a local, you know where to find parking but for those not familiar with the area, you may find it a little challenging. 

On this particular day, I had no concerns about parking.  It was late Monday morning and I had taken the day off from work so I wasn't in any particular rush.  I was hanging out with a new friend whom I'll refer to as Mr. C.  Mr. C is from Dallas and has been in the ATL less than a year.   He knows nothing about the ATL. Mr. C. knows how to get from Kennesaw to downtown Atlanta which is his route from home to work.  And I, being so gracious and kind, will gladly introduce Mr. C to Atlanta.    I told him that he needed to know the City of Decatur (Downtown Decatur) because it may come up in conversation and you don't want to be like....uhhhhhh....duhhhhhhh....hmmmnnnnn....where's dat?  There are many great restaurants in the City of Decatur but I just selected Sweet Melissa's because I hadn't been there in awhile.   

 

I selected the New Orleans Omelet with wheat toast and cheese grits.  All of it was very good and tasty.  The cheese grits were very tasty and creamy.  The omelet had Andouille sausage, shrimp, onion, green peppers and smoked gouda cheese with cajun remoulade.  You can't go wrong with this combination and they didn't.  What I really liked about this omelet was that it was nice and firm and the ingredients were more prominent than the eggs.  I think restaurants go wrong when there is too much egg in the omelet.  If I had made this at home, I probably would have added more cajun seasoning or Old Bay seasoning to the shrimp. 

Mr. C had a create your own omelet.  I forgot what he had added to it.  I think a lot of meat and no veggies...you know how a lot of guys do.  Chefs say that we eat with our eyes first.   If this is true, Sweet Melissa's should rethink how this lonely omelet was presented to Mr. C who already believes that there is no good food in Atlanta.  Since he elected not to have the traditional sides, it left his plate looking rather forlorn.   

Mr. C ordered one of the additional breakfast sides - Shrimp and Grits with Roasted Red Peppers.  Now, this was the real star of the morning!  I hate that this picture wasn't very clear.  The seasoning of the shrimp was perfect.  In fact, next time I go back to Sweet Melissa's I will order this. 

Mr. C raved and raved some more about the food at Sweet Melissa's.  He asked the waitress where the cook was from because they can't be from Atlanta.  I told him that he just might be offending some people.  The waitress said that the chef did go to chef school.  Mr. C...yeah...but where he from?   The waitress was very pleased that Mr. C was so very pleased with the food.  I think it made her day.  I thought the food was really good but my head wasn't spinning and about to pop off.  The coffee was good and hot and the waitress kept it flowing.  I will look at a restaurant sideways if they have good food but can't serve good and hot coffee. 

 

The service was really good and it should have been since there may have only been 4 other people in the restaurant.  But still, the waitress was very friendly and talked to us about the history of the restaurant and the menu in general.  She also encouraged us to try the pancakes next time which she said were outstanding.  She also said we should come back for the live music on Sundays.  You can call ahead of time to find out who is playing and the type of music.   A few years ago, I was there when there was live music and it was very crowded.  Because of the acoustics of the place and all of the people, it just seemed really noisy to me.  This took away from my dining experience. For me, it was too much stimulation for a Sunday brunch.     

About the parking:  If you have good parking karma, you just might find a spot right on the city square which will put you just outside the doors of Sweet Melissa's.  If not, you can park along Ponce de Leon and get a little exercise.  Sometimes there is parking along Clairemont Avenue.  There is a parking deck that can be accessed from either Church Street or Clairemont Avenue.  It isn't obvious but it is directly behind Parker's on Ponce Steakhouse.

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Stone Soup Kitchen Review

Stone Soup Kitchen is a nice neighborhood restaurant located in East Atlanta.  We arrived at 9 a.m. which is always a good time to get breakfast on a Saturday.  Usually most good places are full around 10 a.m.  

I had the  farm scramble which had eggs, chicken sausage, roasted potatoes, arugula, cheese and a spicy red sauce on top.  I had it with cheese grits and a wheat biscuit.  The egg scramble was delicious and the spicy red sauce added a nice kick.  The biscuits were homeade and fluffy.   Thumbs down on the cheese grits. 

I kept eating the cheese grits in an effort to understand them and how they were made. Halfway in I gave up.  I asked my breakfast companions to try them. Karen (not me) asked, Where's the cheese?  Her husband Michael didn't like them either. He ordered the plain grits and his had less flavoring and was grainier than mine.  We concluded...nawww...these grits ain't right.  Mama says grits should be creamy.

My breakfast compadres, Karen and Michael.  Ain't they cute? 

 
Anyway, Karen ordered the huevos rancheros with egg whites.  She enjoyed her meal.  Above her meal, to the right is a side of smoked salmon that Michael ordered and enjoyed.

Michael had a scramble that was similar to mine except that instead of chicken sausage and arugula, his had chicken and avocado.  He really enjoyed his meal.  He liked his biscuit although he had not expected to maybe because they seemed a little dense.   

Here's the biscuit close up with blueberry preserves.  Oh yeah!

I would like to give a standing ovation to the blueberry preserves.

The inside of the restaurant was relatively contemporary.  There is an outdoor area in the back which I did not check out.

Obviously, the outside is not contemporary but a good reflection of older Atlanta.  The staff was friendly and we didn't have to wait long for the food.  The coffee was good and hot.  There was street parking available on both sides of the street.  There is additional parking behind the restaurant although I parked on the street.  I would highly recommend this neighborhood restaurant. 

The Food in Memphis

I'm sure there is phenomenal food in Memphis but I didn't have any.  I stayed in the downtown Memphis area which is a tourist area.  Generally, tourism and great food do not go together.  Part of exhaling for me is to not be encumbered by a car.   I prefer to be on the metro or on foot when visiting another city.  If I had gone to Memphis strictly in search of really good food, I would have rented a car and found it. 

In a previous post I mentioned the Blue Plate Cafe which I described as good diner food.  I looked at the Trip Advisor reviews and Urbanspoon reviews.  Some people raved about the place and others hated it.  I found the food to be satisfying with the exception of some crap I sent back.



The Blue Plate Cafe



I went to the Blues City Cafe on Beale Street.  Leslie, my hotel frontdeskman, told me I had to go there.  When he talked about the catfish, he closed his eyes, leaned his head way back and went to a sacred place.   Leslie is a young black man, probably in his early thirties. 

I decided to try it out.  I was seated by an older black couple from Memphis.  The wife proudly told me that she was sixty-three.  I looked around the restaurant rather suspiciously.  I leaned towards them lowering my voice,  This food any good?  They said, Oh yeah!!!  Three black southerners living in Memphis and representing different generations.   I was getting excited. 

Well...it was just ok to me.  I will say that the catfish was very fresh and hot.   It was fried crispy on the outside and was tender and moist on the inside.  What more could I want?  Seasoning.  The prevalent flavor outside of the catfish was that of cornmeal.  Like the couple beside me, many folks put hot sauce on their fried fish.  Not me.  And my Maryland mouth was expecting some Old Bay - like seasoning.   Why was there toast on the plate?  

Note to self: Stop assuming what black people, or any groups for that matter, should be in agreement about (food, music, Obama, whateva).  Clearly, Khloe & Lamar have more in common than Karen & Lamar.

What I liked most about the restaurant was the aesthetics. The interior was more bar than restaurant and the colors more bordello than bar.

Blues City Cafe



Restaurant, bar or...bordello?

On Saturday morning I went searching for food on Beale Street.
 

I went to Miss Polly's Soul City Cafe.  In the photo above, it was midway down the street on the left.  I didn't enjoy this dining experience at all.  This was the worst for me.  Believe it or not, they were playing loud Memphis music at 9 a.m.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to tolerate it.  So I just ordered something quick so I could get the heck out of there.  I had a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit.  It tasted greasy and artificial.   I know a delicious sausage biscuit like the one I get from Pastries a GoGo where the biscuit and turkey sausage is homemade. 

Greasy, greasy, greasy

Believe it or not, my best dining experiences happened by chance at Bahama Breeze outside the Wolfchase Galleria.  I ended up there rather impulsively in search of jeans.  Do you know how much it costs to take a cab from downtown Memphis to the Wolfchase Galleria?  Let's just say that the ride is about 30 minutes and I have yet to wear those jeans.

There was a really nice patio with live music. It was full so I sat inside where I could watch the live music.

I ordered a bunch of appetizers which were half off due to happy hour.  I ordered West Indies Beef Patties, Jamaican Grilled Chicken Wings and a side Breeze salad.  It was fresh and delicious - an unexpected treat.

Hands down, my best meal came from a chain restaurant in suburban Tennessee.