Posted by foodiebuddha
on August 03, 2010
With yesterday’s little tweet, Atlanta’s lust for true street food culture just got one step closer to reality. Yes that’s right, the people behind the Yumbii Taco Truck are now licensed to start rolling around the streets of the Dirty South and sling Korean tacos in every direction. Powered by Hankook Taqueria, I think they’ll have a good bit of success. However, that’s not because I think it’s particularly good. I’ll have a recap of my latest taste of their product as soon as I have a second. But as it stands now … this stuff is just not that great. If you’ve ever tried the Kogi BBQ trucks in Los Angeles, you’ll know what I say is true. Still, we’ve all got to start somewhere.
Meanwhile, they scored a major fail this past weekend. At the July Urban Picnic, Yumbii managed to run out of EVERYTHING well before the event ended. Witness:
Posted by foodiebuddha
on May 01, 2010
While executive chef Eddie Hernandez may not be a household name, his restaurant chain sure is. Ask someone to get tacos in this town, and there is a good chance that they’ll suggest one of the three Taqueria Del Sol locations as their destination du jour. Started a few years back with a single location over on the Westside, the restaurant now stretches across Atlanta’s waistline like Orion’s Belt. With locations on Cheshire Bridge and in Decatur, this taco bar empire has even showed up in Athens.
At the epicenter of this tortilla fest is founding chef Eddie Hernandez. Along with Mike Klank, the duo opened the Westside location way back in 2000 [Holy Crap! That’s 10 years ago]. You may have caught wind of that; this past month TDS celebrated their anniversary with a handful of events. They also made an appearance at the Souper Jenny Food Truck Extravaganza. If anyone is capable of handling all the running around, it’s Hernandez. The politically inclined gent once served as the mayor of Rosebud, TX. How’s that for a career change?
In any event, Hernandez has turned in his pen and paper and taken up a knife and tortilla maker. Thankfully, he found some time to join us for a little Q&A on this week’s edition of Inside The Chef’s Kitchen. Taqueria Del Sol is as popular as ever, and Hernandez is the reason. So get your Mint Julep (it’s Derby Day after all), kick back … and welcome to ITCK!
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on January 15, 2010
Works for me … i suppose … no check that, why make a run for the border if you’re going on a diet. But free is free. To print it, you actually have to click. Apparently, you get 7-days to cash in on your new found wealth. Unless of course, 1 million are handed out.
[via]
Posted by foodiebuddha
on November 04, 2009
Bone Garden Cantina, the Mexican hermana to The Vortex, has been chugging right along for the better part of the past 18-months. A trip to this cantina will take you through a twisting set of roads, rows of single-story retail malls, and some newly sprouted rental complexes. With a solid fan base, though no noticeable nearby office park, this restaurant is particularly popular with the lunch’n munch crowd.
Last week, four of us decided on an impromptu lunch excursion. In need of something different, but not wanting to go too far from home base, we set off down Huff Road to see what had become of Bone Garden.
A self-proclaimed authentic Mexican destination, my first trip to BGC actually came sometime around July/August 2008. That seems like eons ago to me, but the point is that it’s been awhile. For the life of me, I cannot recall any single detail about my inaugural meal there save for the fact that it wasn’t enjoyable. In fact, the experience was so underwhelming that I had a hard time remembering where it was when I went back recently. Continue reading…
Posted by foodiebuddha
on October 22, 2009
Ah Riccardo and my dear sweet Lupe Taqueria. Situated right on Juniper Street in Midtown, I wanted so badly to enjoy your company, to appreciate your culinary statement, and your bubbling atmosphere. Alas, it was not to be. What you gave me was a failure of Titanic proportions. In the blink of an eye you went from a place with so much promise to a dark sea struggling to provide me with the life jacket I so desperately needed. The waters were murky, and that’s being more than generous.
Before I head on down this path of destruction, let us take a quick detour to clarify something for those of you who are not familiar with this blog. First impressions should be considered for what they are. It is absolutely impossible to consider a single meal, and particularly one that takes place inside of a restaurant’s IPO week, and proclaim the establishment a failure with any degree of certainty. However, certain elements of the meal can hint at what is to come.
I am often called to task for my propensity to hold an establishment’s feet to the fire no matter how long they are open. I’m particularly less forgiving in instances where the owner is an established restaurateur.
In that spirit, if people are willing to proclaim Antico as God’s gift to Atlanta’s pizza scene inside of one slice, then we have to be willing to consider all establishments against some reasonably similar criteria. Put it this way, for every Matt Ryan, there are many more Ryan Leafs. Unless some serious soul searching takes place, Lupe Taqueria will be headed to the dead pool faster than you can say “guacamole.”
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Posted by foodiebuddha
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 foodiebuddha
on October 15, 2009
In my evening web perusal, I stumbled on a new blog by the name of Live To Feast (website). It looks like the person behind L2F, whomever they are, is setting up shop as a restaurant notation maker, a twitterati, and a pretty solid writer (unlike my own rantings, I haven’t found an grammatical error in the two posts I’ve read). Thanks to a little help from Eat It Atlanta over on twitter, L2F took note of Hankook Taqueria in one of his/her earliest posts. Apparently, owner Tomas Lee has made Hankook an odd mixture of Korean food and Taqueria style tacos. Even with just a few posts to date, I’ve already deemed L2Fs barren feed worthy of a follow. Check it out!
Posted by foodiebuddha
on September 18, 2009
I think it would be presumptuous of me to assume that the majority of the people who happen upon this little love of mine have no idea about Taquería Del Sol. In that spirit, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this little chain of taco bars (aka taquerías) is the darling of Atlanta’s Mexican restaurant scene. For better or worse, TdS seems to roll off a number of tongues when the conversation turns to “What Mexican restaurant do we want to eat at?”
With four locations locations, a strong following, and more visits under my belt than I could possibly remember, it was only a matter of time before I felt the need to drop some lyrics on my fellow foodie groupies. However, given the circumstances, most notably my lack of free time right now, I thought it might be nice to just hit ya’ll with some pretty little pictures and a few notes.
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Posted by foodiebuddha
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 foodiebuddha
on August 06, 2009
Originally Posted 11.16.2008
I returned to Mi Barrio last night for what was probably my fifth meal there. While I will say that it was the best meal I’ve ever had there, that was not a consequence of the cuisine. Ultimately, Mi Barrio is a decent restaurant, but drastically overrated in the food community. At the end of the day, I would only recommend Mi Barrio if you have a hankering for some Mexican food and live in nearby Grant Park. The food last night was par for the course for Barrio. However, my good buddy Chris (from Café Agora fame) and Leslie, his wonderful wife, were kind enough to join me. That’s what made this fun.
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