American Deli in McDonough, GA

On a return trip home from Atlanta, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called American Deli off I-75 in the suburbs south of Atlanta. I went into American Deli expecting sandwiches, but sandwiches were only a small part of the menu. Being that the Superbowl was just about to start as we decided to eat, chicken wings were a very big seller here. They had countless takeout orders of people buying huge quantity of wings to bring home to their parties. This made our wait for food a bit longer than it would probably be otherwise (stupid football game), but it wasn't too bad.

I ordered something that I was definitely not expecting to see on American Deli's menu. I had the shrimp fried rice and chicken wing combo. This consisted of a huge mound of fried rice with shrimp, egg, carrots, peas, and onion. Several chicken wings were served alongside with a container of blue cheese for dipping. The rice was tasty, especially since it was from a restaurant that didn't specifically specialize in Chinese food. The shrimp were tiny, but there were enough of them to make up for the small size. I choose medium spiciness on the wings, and it was a good choice. They had a nice kick to them, but didn't leave me begging for water afterwards either.

Overall, I enjoyed my food at American Deli. It was completely different from what I was expecting, but still served tasty food...

Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles in Atlanta, GA

I spent a weekend in Atlanta and found myself looking for a late dinner around midnight on a Saturday night. I could have taken the easy way out and went to a 24 hour chain like Ihop or find diner, but that would be too easy and boring in a big city like Atlanta. There was bound to be something open that was a bit more interesting. After a quick search on my phone, I found a restaurant called Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles. It was open until 4am, was less than a mile from where I was at the time, and had the interesting gimmick of having a musician's name attached to a restaurant. My late night dinner was decided.

Gladys Knight's was a pretty fancy looking place, although the police officer standing guard near the restaurant entrance was a bit unusual. I wonder if the restaurant had issues with waffle robberies or drunken brawls over waffles at 3am? The menu consisted of chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, as well as other southern foods. I was tempted to get the shrimp and grits for a moment, but then I remembered the restaurant's name. Because of this, I ordered the Midnight Train. As described by the menu, this consisted of four southern fried jumbo chicken wings and one original waffle.

The chicken wings were surprisingly large and the crispy fried batter had nice flavor. The waffle was what I expected with nothing exceptional. I'm not an expert in chicken and waffles, but I've had this dish at several different places now and everyone seems to do it differently. On this particular version of the meal, the chicken and the waffle were pretty much two separate items served together on one plate. I don't know if this is a more traditional version of chicken and waffles, but I've preferred it when the chicken and waffles have a little more cohesion between the two components. I was very indifferent with the Midnight Train from Gladys Knight's. Wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd come bad to get chicken and waffles here again.

Smokin Pig in Pooler, GA

Time for some travel blogging! I drove up to Maryland at the beginning of June. One of my favorite ways to keep the drive interesting is seeking out little restaurants hidden away off I-95. All along the interstate south of DC, it seems like there's a whole lot of barbecue to be had.

One of the barbecue stops on this trip was at the Smokin Pig in Pooler, GA. After following a billboard led me to a closed restaurant, I decided instead to put my phone to use. I did a search on Yelp and saw that the Smokin Pig was nearby. I also learned that I should avoid their cole slaw from Chris of Eat Local Orlando who had written the most recent review of the place. Aren't smartphones wonderful?

I had the Pork Plate. The pulled pork came with garlic bread and two sides. I choose macaroni & cheese and Brunswick stew. The pork was served sauceless, but there were several barbecue sauces to choose from on the table. I liked their vinegar sauce, but their mustard based bbq sauce was even better. I've never seen mustard based sauce outside of Georgia and that's too bad since I really like it. The macaroni was average. The Brunswick stew was good, although it did remind me somewhat of vegetable soup.

My co-pilot for the trip had a chicken sandwich. Looked like thick slices of chicken on a hamburger bun. She picked the cole slaw as her side. There was no complaints.

I liked my food from the Smokin Pig. I'd stop here again if I lived in this part of Georgia, but I don't. That means I'll probably never return, but who knows, there are a few other BBQ places that I've made multiple visits to on my drives up I-95 (See Dixie Bones).

Mellow Mushroom in Atlanta, GA

Mellow Mushroom is a pizza chain that I always thought was local to the Central Florida area. I found out this wasn't the case while up in Atlanta after our first food choice didn't work out. From their website, it looks like Mellow Mushroom spans pretty much from coast to coast.

On this visit to Mellow Mushroom, I split the Gourmet White Pizza with someone. This pie was was topped with mozzarella, provolone, feta, sliced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and onions. The pizza was alright, but I'm personally not a big fan of Mellow Mushroom pies in general. Just about every time I've tried their pizzas, it seems like they are overly doughy with the crust reaching way too far towards the center of the pie. On this particular pie, a couple of the slices were about half crust. I'm more about the stuff on a pizza rather than the bread that makes up a pizza, so I'm not exactly a big fan of this style pie.

Everyone seems to love this place though. I've never been to a Mellow Mushroom that wasn't busy, but there are definitely far better pies out there from independent places.

The Varsity in Atlanta, GA

I recently went on a weekend roadtrip up to Atlanta. When I put up a request on Twitter for restaurant recommendations in the city, the consensus seemed to be that I needed to try The Varsity.

The Varsity was opened in 1928 and is currently the world's largest drive-in restaurant. Instead of eating in our car, we went inside to get our Varsity food. Once inside of the huge restaurant, we made our way to the very long counter to place our orders. A constant chorus of "What'll ya have?" echoed over this part of the restaurant as the employees called for their next customer.

 

I saw posters advertising The Varsity's Orange Drink hanging on the wall as I entered the restaurant. I guess the posters worked since I ordered the orange drink. It tasted like orange soda without the carbonation.

I had one of the combos on the menu consisting of a grilled chicken sandwich and onion rings. The sandwich was actually a little surprising. It was pretty simple and tasted okay, with a piece of chicken with lettuce and tomato. What surprised me was the size. It was almost the size of a slider, similar in size to what White Castle or Krystal serves. For some reason I was expecting a larger sandwich.

The onion rings were definitely the star of the food I tried here. Each of the rings were huge with a really good batter around the onions. They were horribly greasy, but they also put the onion rings at most other restaurants to shame.

Now that I've been, I guess I can cross The Varsity off my list of the top places to eat in Atlanta. The food here was alright, but I think the retro atmosphere is the real reason to go to The Varsity. It is the world's largest drive-in after all. The view of downtown Atlanta is pretty nice too...

La Fuente in Brunswick, GA

In order to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I'm pulling an unpublished meal from a Mexican Restaurant out of the Watch Me Eat archives:

During a trip along I-95 a few years ago, I stopped in Brunswick, GA for a late dinner. A Mexican restaurant called La Fuente was very crowded, so it appeared that this was potentially a good choice. The building appeared to be a former Applebees.

The meal started out with tortilla chips and salsa. The salsa was nice and smooth with a nice amount of spice.

For the meal, I ordered an enchilada dinner. It came with four enchiladas, two with green sauce, and two with red sauce. I had two filled with cheese, one with beans, and one with chicken. The cheese was a bit too chewy once it started to coagulate. The refried beans were better, and the chicken stuffed enchilada was the best out of the meal. Lettuce, tomato, and sour cream were included on the side.

I enjoyed my food, but not everyone I ate at La Fuente with was happy. A shrimp dish was ordered and although I didn't try any, it was reported that the shrimp were so rubbery that they were almost inedible.

On my last drive through Georgia on I-95, I stopped for gas in Brunswick and noticed that La Fuente was closed. Were they closed for the day, or are they out of business? I'm not sure...