Majestic Diner in Atlanta, GA

I had breakfast one morning at the Majestic Diner in Atlanta. The neon signs of this classic diner, open since 1929, caught my attention as I was driving by the night before and I decided it would be a good place to get breakfast. Apparently they serve Food that pleases and also Food to take home, so I figured it must be good...

Inside, the Majestic had the typical classic diner look. They had an open kitchen lined with a counter with stools. There was lots of chrome and nice fonts on their signs...

I had the Spinach Feta Omelet, served with grits and rye toast. At $8.25, this definitely wasn't the cheapest diner omelet I've had, but I've seen pricier omelets too...

I was very happy with my omelet. The eggs were cooked to perfection. There was lots of salty feta. The freshly cooked spinach was also plentiful, and it all had great flavor. The grits needed some salt, but that was easily remedied.

When in Atlanta on a more recent trip, I tried their Gyro Omelet with grits and toast. Served with a large bowl of tzatziki and filled with lamb, I didn't enjoy this omelet as much as my first spinach and feta omelet, but it was still alright.

I've been to the Majestic twice now on visits to Atlanta and have enjoyed both meals. I don't think some of my dining companions were as happy with their lunch sandwiches on these visits, so perhaps breakfast is the way to go at this diner. Really though, why can't a good 24-hour diner like this survive in Orlando? For the most part, all we have back home is IHOP and Dennys for food at 3am...

Cody Jack's Seafood in Clermont, FL

I ate at Cody Jack's Seafood in Clermont, FL, not far from the Citrus Tower. Before entering the restaurant, I snapped a picture of the S.S. Oyster Bar in Cody Jack's parking lot.

Inside, Cody Jack's was a bit more of a bar than I was expecting. They had a very loud football games playing on their projection screens. Lots of alcohol was flowing, and eventually a band began to set up. For some reason, I wasn't getting the bar vibe from the outside of the restaurant. It wasn't a big deal though.

I ordered a crab cake dinner. It came with two really good crab cakes, really flavorful and plenty of crab meat in them. For the two sides, I choose the collard greens and cheese grits. I realized after ordering that my sides seemed really southern, not that it matters. The collards were bitter and could have used some more flavoring, but I liked the grits. You can't go wrong with cornmeal mixed with cheese!

I enjoyed my meal at Cody Jack's!

While writing this post, I found out this restaurant has a miniature golf course out back. If I knew that, I would have played a round of golf!

Shrimp and Grits from T.G.I. Friday's

I had this buy one, get one free coupon for T.G.I. Friday's, and used it at the Friday's off of Kirkman Road in Orlando, located across the street from the main entrance to Universal.

I ordered the Spicy Southern Shrimp, which was basically shrimp and grits. It consisted of shrimp, andouille sausage, and scallions, all served over cheese grits. The food took a very long time to be served, and I was a bit disappointed when my shrimp and grits finally came. There were hardly any grits. There was probably a teaspoon sized scoop of grits in the middle of the plate, hidden under the shrimp and sausage. There was actually an exponentially larger amount of sauce on the plate than there was grits. Grits are cheap, so I don't see why putting enough on a plate so they can actually be eaten with shrimp would be that hard for Fridays. The picture on the menu looked very different that what I received. You could actually see the grits on the menu.

Also disappointing, the Gourmet Mac and Five Cheese that some someone else ordered on the healthy menu, which cost less than $6.00, was served on the same plate and had a much larger portion than my $14.00 Shrimp and Grits. I don't quite understand how a large portion of macaroni and cheese with chicken and bacon made it on to the healthy menu in the first place.

It seems like there is some sort of issue every time I eat at this Friday's location. It's always extremely slow, and there is always some sort of food issue.