Savannah, GA Food (Franklin's, Flying Monk Noodle Bar, and Leopold's Ice Cream)

I went on a trip to Savannah, GA. Here's where I ate:

Franklin's:

When I found out my hotel didn't serve complementary breakfast like their website promised when booking, that meant I had to go out on an adventure. That brought me to a coffee shop called Franklin's. I had the Breakfast Bowl, filled with bacon, grits, egg, potatoes, salsa, and toast. Had a latte to drink. It was good, but the food, coffee, and tip ended up being the most expensive meal on my trip.
 

Flying Monk Noodle Bar:

Dinner was at Flying Monk Noodle Bar. I had the Drunken Noodles. It was insane how quickly these were prepared and served. Pretty tasty.

Leopold's Ice Cream:

I saw the line for Leopold's Ice Cream and decided there was no way that it was worth the hype. I walked by again after dinner and the line was much more reasonable right before they closed. I had a scoop of Lemon Custard (hidden in the bottom of the cup) and a scoop of Peach, which was one of their specials. It was perfectly fine ice cream, but I'm glad I didn't wait an hour for the dessert.

Cool Beans Espresso Bar in Statesboro, GA

Had a latte from Cool Beans Espresso Bar in downtown Statesboro, GA. Good coffee, fun latte art, and nice coffee shop.

I-95 Travel Food (Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q, Southern Image Buffet & Eatery, Smokin' Pig, and Huddle House)

Over the past several months, I've done some traveling. Much of that travel consisted of driving along I-95 up the east coast. I figured I'd write a post about some of the restaurant highlights.

Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q in Kingsland, GA:

I ended up here when I decided I wanted to sample Brunswick Stew in Brunswick, GA. After getting off the interstate and driving through Brunswick along with consulting the internet, I came to the conclusion that you can't actually get Brunswick Stew in Brunswick. Willie Jewell's in Kingsland, GA was a barbecue restaurant serving Brunswick Stew that I didn't find too long afterwards. This restaurant was located a little ways off I-95. Willie Jewell's is a small chain with a few locations what looks like Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina according to their website.

I ordered the Bo-Hawg sandwich. This was BBQ pork, topped with cheddar cheese and a smoked sausage link. It was served on a hamburger bun. Cheese is unusual on a pulled pork sandwich and I've never had sausage on a barbecue sandwich like this. Willie Jewell's did served mustard based barbecue sauce, which I am a big fan of. Since Brunswick stew was the food item that caused me to seek out a barbecue restaurant, that's what I had for my side.

I liked Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q. The pork/sausage/cheese combination on a sandwich along with mustard sauce made them a bit unique when so many restaurants serving barbecue have an almost identical menu...




Southern Image Buffet & Eatery in Richmond Hill, GA:

Southern Image was a buffet just of I-95. As implied by the name, they specialized in southern foods. Imagine Golden Corral, only with foods on the buffet that the typical Golden Corral diner wouldn't dare eat.

I sampled some of the meats served on the buffet along with a couple sides on my first plate. Fried chicken, fried fish, and baked chicken were all tasty. I didn't leave enough room in my stomach for the fun stuff like the liver. Should have gone for that first...

Plate two consisted of lots of side items. Beans, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and onion straws were all tasty.

Dessert:

Smokin' Pig in Richmond Hill, GA:

I ended up at Smokin' Pig on a return trip to Florida along I-95. This restaurant is located almost across the street from Southern Image Buffet in a building connected to a gas station. I tried a pulled pork sandwich with a side of Brunswick stew. The sandwich wasn't nearly as exciting as the one at Willie Jewell's, with only pork and sauce on a bun. Still, it fulfilled the purpose of being a pulled pork sandwich!




Huddle House in Santee, SC:

I had never eaten at a Huddle House. I've past by these restaurants in my travels and always assumed these were Waffle House knock-offs. This was pretty much confirmed after trying a Huddle House in Santee, SC. I had a Western Omelet with toast and hash browns. The omelet was filled with ham, green peppers, and tomatoes. Even with the fillings, it was pretty bland. I added some hot sauce for extra flavor. The hash browns were nice and crispy and the toast was toast. Being that this was South Carolina, smoking was allowed in the restaurant. It wasn't exactly pleasant having a woman who looked like she was about to die of lung cancer come in right after us, sit a few tables away, and chain smoke the entire duration of the meal...

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...

Eats in Atlanta, GA

While in Atlanta, I had lunch at a restaurant called Eats. Eats had an interesting setup which was also a bit confusing. They had a few counters, each serving a different type of food. Above the counters, they had menus that weren't exactly clear what was available on the day I was there.

Once I figured out what was being served, I went with the Jerk Chicken with two sides. The chicken was very flavorful, covered in a slightly spicy jerk seasoning. I chose collards and broccoli casserole as my sides. The collards were good, although nothing exceptional. The broccoli casserole was mostly rice and cheese, with little bits of broccoli mixed in. I was expecting much more broccoli in a broccoli casserole. The meal also was served with a very moist piece of cornbread.

Overall, Eats served some pretty tasty eats. The portions were huge and the prices were good.

Bubba's Southern Cafeteria in Darien, GA

I was in the middle of a road trip heading north along I-95 when lunch time rolled around. We stopped to get gas in the town of Darien, GA and hoped there would be some food at the exit as well. The normal selection of fast food places were abundant here, but then a restaurant called Bubba's Southern Cafeteria advertising bar-b-que and award winning Brunswick stew caught my eye.

We entered the restaurant, and it really was set up cafeteria style. There was no menu. There was just a cafeteria line where you choose a meat and your sides. The three meat selections that were available were fried chicken, fried fish, or fried shrimp. There really wasn't any of the mentioned barbecue being served, but we ate there anyway. The Brunswick stew wasn't being served on the day I visited either.

I decided to try the fried fish. I was given three pieces of fish that was lightly fried. The fish still had skin, bones, and fins which would probably be a turnoff to some people. I was fine with picking around the inedible parts. I'm not sure what type of fish it was, nor did I ask, but it was pretty tasty. For my sides, I choose the collards, macaroni & cheese, and mashed potatoes. The collards were the best of the three sides that I tried. A roll and sweet tea were also included with my meal.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Bubba's Southern Cafeteria. It wasn't exactly the barbecue that I was expecting when I went into the restaurant, but I still liked it. There ended up being a whole lot of food served for the price and the people working here were super friendly.

World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, GA

Coke Rewards. They are the codes hidden somewhere on the packaging of Coke products that you accumulate and can trade in for stuff. I don't drink much soda, but I've amassed lots of these points over the time period that Coke Rewards have been offered. My problem is that I don't want the majority of the stuff that I can get by redeeming my points. When I knew I was going to Atlanta and saw that tickets to the World of Coca-Cola were available, I decided to trade in some of my points for a free visit to the soda museum.

I really didn't know what to expect with the World of Coca-Cola. I figured the museum would be a big advertisement for Coke, but advertisements disguised as museums are fun sometimes. The World of Coca-Cola started with a weird animated movie that seemed to have very little to do with soda, besides giant Coke bottles in the background. There was a 4-D movie that was so unpleasant that is seemed like whoever made it went to the Orlando theme parks and took the worst parts of all of our 3d movies and combined them into a horrible eight minute show. There were disappointing exhibits like an example bottling plant that wasn't working and an exhibit about the top-secret Coke recipe that showed you absolutely nothing. The only exhibit that I actually found interesting contained lots of Coke memorabilia. This contained stuff like the actual Coke dispenser that once rode on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

On the way out, they had one final exhibit. It featured kiosks supplying Coke products to sample from each continent. It was very similar to Club Cool at Epcot, only with more flavors. This was by far the best part of the whole museum! Sampling foreign sodas is always fun. Here's the Asian sodas:

 I enjoyed the bright green Melon Frosty flavored Fanta from Thailand.

Europe has some interesting Coke products including the very tasty Kinley (England) and not so tasty Beverly (Italy)...

South America/Mexico:

African soda:

This pine nut flavored soda called Bibo from South Africa was interesting. I wouldn't think that pine nuts would make a popular soda flavor, but it was tasty. I was trying to think of something similar that I could relate it to but it had a pretty unique taste.

Right before you got to the exit, they gave everyone a glass bottle of Coke with special labels from the World of Coca Cola.

After seeing the museum, I realized that I'd be very disappointed if I spent the full $16 admission for the place. Trying all of the foreign Coke products was fun, but the rest of the museum didn't do much for me. It seemed like they spent large amount of money on what potentially could be really nice exhibits, but in the end they came off as sort of anti-climactic advertisements rather than actual informative exhibits. It didn't have to be this way either. Hershey has their chocolate museum in Pennsylvania complete with 4D movies, dark rides, and free chocolate, and I enjoyed that. World of Coca-Cola was free, so it was no loss for me, but I feel bad for the people that actually spent money on this place...

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...