Posted by Foodie Buddha
on April 22, 2010
As mentioned yesterday, in a frenzy of magnanimous delight, burger fiends have descended on Farm Burger in Decatur with fervor and excitement. Like cows set out to pasture at Augusta National, people just can’t seem to get over this organically inclined burger joint. Case in point: by noon on day one, tables were filled and the ordering line was 15 deep for the better part of the lunching hour. Despite this welcomed intrusion, Farm Burger dusted off a few opening day jitters and managed to set the stage for potential success as one of Atlanta’s better options when your waste line isn’t given a second thought.
Though hitting restaurants early and often is just part of my MO, I too must admit an adrenaline rush during the drive over. Thankfully stationed just a few miles away, had I been forced to commute any farther, there’s a good chance I’d have gone telephone pole all up on Ponce. Yeah, I was kind of giddy.
Upon arrival, this excitement quickly turned to a case of “The burger loves me, the burger loves me not.” For lack of a better term, parking at Farm Burger was a bitch, and it will probably stay that way. You see, Farm Burger shares the same lot with Watershed and some dry cleaner whose name I’ve never taken the time to notice. Excited that the place was a buzz, but pissed that people didn’t have the decency to save me a spot, I shoved my car in illegally and strolled on in (don’t worry – I didn’t block anyone). I was dead on shocked by the size of the crowd; fortunately, the thought of running past my 45-minute time limit for lunch quickly dissipated … you just can’t help but feel good when a newborn baby grows up in a matter of moments.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on March 23, 2010
Undoubtedly, Bento Café is a culinarian’s delight. At least, that’s what you’ll think if you visit any crowd-sourced review site (Yelp!, UrbanSpoon, CitySearch, etc…) in order to read-up on the ultra-modern Norcross eatery. Add in the multitude of warm and fuzzy thoughts shared by most every blogger/critic to set foot inside, and this Taiwanese street food establishment seems dressed to impress. Unfortunately, a recent trip to Bento left me and my dinning buddy elbowing each other out of the way as we attempted to exit the premises post haste. Given the discrepancy between those that came before me and the bowel moving excuse of a meal we had, this easily scores as the most disappointing meal since I showed up on the blogosphere.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on March 16, 2010
It’s amazing how often one can drive by a restaurant and never even think to enter. It’s even more astounding when one breaks from tradition (Peking Duck), samples the grub, and finds that the restaurant is a real gem. Such is the case for Wong Kee BBQ & Peking Duck, a stealth bomber Chinese restaurant in Norcross, GA. Even if the meal wasn’t flat out perfect, there isn’t a single reason to think that our abbreviated lunch experience at Wong Kee won’t go down as one of the more scrumptious samplings of this calendar year.
Tucked in the corner of Ben Thanh Plaza (know to us Gaijin as Oakbrook Square Shopping Center), foot traffic for this strip mall usually goes the way of Hong Kong Supermarket. To (Peking duck) complicate matters, Wong Kee’s immediate neighbor is the widely overrated Bento Café (which I’ll recap in the next few days if not hours). As a consequence of those two hot topics, this “little Chinese restaurant that could” seems to get a little lost in the mix. After a single glance, that appears to be a real shame.
Having just spent a good 30-minutes stuffing my face full of Celia’s, Spark Plug and I left Brother Chris behind and went to top off over at Bento Café (Peking Duck). On our way through the Ben Thanh parking lot, two words of mystical harmony caught my eye: “Peking Duck.” One look in the window and we were hooked. Adventures were in order and Wong Kee gladly obliged.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on October 19, 2009
A lot of people have postulated as to why Hankook Taqueria, the one part Korean cafeteria and one part taqueria, has opened on the Westside. Whatever the reason, the addition of a Korean inspired restaurant over yonder helps to expand the culinary landscape. While there are a handful of establishments that serve Korean cuisine, not a single one of them is in ears shot of Hankook. Further to the point, I’m pretty sure this is the first foray into Korean tacos in the ATL. These facts alone make HT a valuable addition to the neighborhood, even if the food isn’t anything wonderful.
The man behind Hankook is Tomas Lee. Lee, an accomplished chef, has already tried his hand as a restaurateur. Unfortunately, his eponymous Tomas in Norcross and Wok-In Wok-Out in Lawrenceville are both a thing of the past. Now this former Buckhead Diner executive chef finds himself much closer to the heart of the city in a very unassuming location.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on September 24, 2009
Stashed away in Downtown Norcross is a little Mexican restaurant touting the name Zapata. Though the word translates as shoes to us gringos, the restaurant actually takes its name from Emiliano Zapata, a Mexican revolutionary. Thus, it was predictably cool that the words “Revolutionary Mexican Cuisine” were scribed just under the name on our menus.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on September 11, 2009
People often say that bloggers, critics, and the like get the most pleasure from writing a scathing note. While I can’t speak for the rest of them, I’ll tell you that this guy gets the most joy out of recapping an impromptu meal that was anything but expected. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does … you’ll find me smiling wider than the Cheshire Cat.
That smile hit me during a little excursion to Norcross. Thanks to the predictably unpredictable Atlanta traffic, I found myself twiddling my thumbs while my dinner buddy battled the bumper to bumper. Idle hands, being what they are, led me to go for a stroll in the Merchants Square Shopping Center that housed our destination.
Seeing as the strip was peppered with a mix of eateries, and I was armed with a Titanic sized appetite, it was time to be productive. I decided a snack was in order. The stroll actually took me the length of the walkway; it seemed nearly every place that peaked piqued [THANKS DG!] my interest was either closed for dinner or closed for good. Still, I kept walking, and whether it was a consequence of fate or the dumb luck of free will, I ended up circling around the back of the center only to find a Mexican supermarket. Celia’s, with a demonstrative sign and quirky sombrero incorporated into the logo, was it.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on March 20, 2009
I’ve prepared the April Dirty List for everyone. I’m still playing with the format for each of these posts; I think this one may be the answer! As always, this is based entirely on publicly available information. I would assume that all of these dates are subject to change. If you are aware of an addition or correction, please let me know! Details after the jump!
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