Bell Street Burritos Review: Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat At Willy’s 2

Posted by Foodie Buddha on November 30, 2011

burrito time at bell street burritos

The rise of the fast-casual restaurant, including the new Westside Atlanta location of Bell Street Burritos, owes a great deal to the burrito.  This Tex-Mex tradition is perhaps the burger of that fused cuisine.  Like the burger, the burrito is generally a massively hulking inclusion of typical toppings.  But as the trend to produce these wrapped time-bombs of gastrointestinal danger has risen, so too has the diversity of their staple composition.

Raging Burrito CockroachThe Atlanta restaurant space is now ripe with burrito shops.  We’ve got the big boys like Chipotle, Willy’s, and Moe’s.  Then there are single location operations like Decatur’s hot spot of love, Raging Burrito [REVIEW INTERLUDE: Speaking of Raging Burrito: Blow up the receipt at the right and then check out this post, which never got a lot of attention. Now back to our fair city and the series of burrito purveyors found within].  While these restaurants are a dime a dozen, and their food is often indistinguishable from the competition’s, Bell Street owner Matt Hinton has set out to differentiate Bell Street.  With the opening of his second location, it appears he’s well on his way to that goal.

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Bell Street Burritos Westside Shop is Open 3

Posted by Foodie Buddha on November 23, 2011

bell street burritos logo

Bell Street Burritos has officially grown from a food stall into a fully functional business.  While the Sweet Auburn Curb Market location is still fully functional, you can now get your Bell Street fix of burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and nachos during normal business hours at 1663 Howell Mill Atlanta, GA 30318 in Westside.

Now that they don’t have to worry about Sweet Auburn’s limited hours, you can grab some BSB at dinner time.  Though I don’t have the specific hours for the Westside location, they are serving lunch through dinner Monday thru Saturday – I’d guess 11am to 9 or 10pm.  Now to hustle over there and see how it tastes!  With the holidays upon us, BSB won’t be open again until Monday the 28th.  Their hours moving forward are 11a-9p M-Th and 11a-10p on Fridays & Saturdays.

La Botana Restaurant Review – Chamblee, Atlanta, GA [First Impressions]

Posted by Foodie Buddha on August 09, 2011

chorizo quesadilla at la botana

At a cursory glance, it appears that the masses are quite fond of La Botana, a Tex-Mex restaurant with two Atlanta locations.  Though they have a location up in Lawrenceville [which might actually be shuttered], most of the attention and the larger crowds seem to find their way to the Chamblee outpost.  Stationed on the inside of I285 at the corner of N. Shallowford and Savoy Dr, you might think that this little cantina is situated next to a somewhat unassuming intersection.

In appearance alone, you’d be quite right.  However, thanks to easy highway access, a few nearby office parks, and a reasonably well-populated residential community just a stones throw away, it’s not a complete surprise that La Botana draws a fairly heavy lunch crowd as well as its fair share of nighttime visitors.  Aware of its existence for at least a couple of years, I finally decided to pull in for a noon pit stop.

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Tex’s Tacos Food Truck To Stay Put … Sort Of [RoamingATL] 1

Posted by Foodie Buddha on July 19, 2011

tex's tacos

Tex’s Tacos, an Atlanta Tex-Mex food truck, is set to open a restaurant (of sorts).  Anyone driving on Roswell Road during off hours (aka non-meal time) near its intersection with Irby Ave. is likely to see the bright orange/yellow/red Tex’s Taco truck sitting in front of a tiny little building on a tiny plot of land.  That’s 3173 Roswell Rd and it currently serves as the prep kitchen for Mac Helms and Harrison Jones, Tex’s responsible folk.

Helms informed Roaming Hunger via twitter that duo plans to start serving food out of that location in one to two months.  It’s a relatively small location, so we suspect that this will be a walk-up eatery with no more than a few tables; however, we haven’t got any more information than what Helms told us.  In the meantime, be sure to keep up with Tex’s Tacos over on their Roaming Hunger profile page, where you’ll find pictures, tweets, and a location map to help you keep track of Tex’s at all times.  You can also follow the truck directly via @TexsTacos

Big Tex Cantina Restaurant Review – Decatur, GA [First Impressions] 6

Posted by Foodie Buddha on June 06, 2011

big tex cantina texas style poutine

Big Tex Cantina, a Tex-Mex joint from Fox Brothers Barbecue et al, is officially opun fo’ bid’ness.  Located just off the beaten path in downtown Decatur, you’ll find Big Tex’s in the vacant space that once housed Nathalie’s Fish House.

Opened nearly a year to the day after the dearly departed said adios, Big Tex is a straight up So-Tex watering hole that nudges the harshed upon stepchild of Mexican cuisine.  Regardless of the ultimate success or failure of such an endeavor, you can’t say Big Tex, for better or worse, is not trying to do something a little different with the portmantologism of Texan Mexican grub.

A typical plate of Tex-Mex is like a fortress of food.  In such a case, a plate covered by a castle of tortillas, cheese, meat (and sometimes gravy), and buttressed with some rice and frijoles refritos, will taunt you.  “Eat me … break down my caloric induced walls and best me … I dare you.”  That’s not what you get at Big Tex.

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Nuevo Laredo Cantina Restaurant Review – Westside, Atlanta, GA 5

Posted by Foodie Buddha on October 15, 2009

Overall: ★☆☆☆

nuevo laredo cantina - the sign by you.

It seems like nearly every denizen of the metro Atlanta area has made at least a handful of trips to the unusually situated Nuevo Laredo Cantina.  Located in Atlanta’s version of no man’s land [though I’ve lumped it in with the Westside], it’s a wildly popular Tex-Mex spot with a dedicated following.  Often times, it’s publicly lauded; and so far as my experience has gone, privately snickered at.  Still, I’m not 100% sure why I’m penning this piece, as I don’t have any startling revelations to offer up.  I’ve been there as many times as most, and I’ll play it out as I see it.

As mentioned, NLC doesn’t attempt to be authentic Mexican.  Instead, it focuses on the Mexo-American cuisine of towns like Laredo, TX.  As logic would follow, I’m as baffled by those who walk out slamming Nuevo for its lack of authenticity as I am by those who praise it for its traditionalism.

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Prickly Pear Taqueria Restaurant Review: Still A Little Pointy – Midtown, Atlanta, GA [First Impressions] 3

Posted by Foodie Buddha on September 10, 2009

prickly-pear-header Ever opened your fridge late at night? If you’re like me, it usually makes you squint and promptly throw your forearm up in a measly attempt to ease your eyes.  Well, that’s the kind of reaction I had to a recent meal at the Prickly Pear, a loud and proud taqueria located in the base of the Plaza in Midtown.

Given the price point, the predictably kitsch décor, and the mediocre experience, I can’t say I was really disappointed.  Ultimately, we got what we asked for.  Put simply, this is the usual Texicana meets Mexicana, and if you judge it against any other standard, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

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Mi Barrio Restaurant Review – Grant Park, Atlanta, GA [From The Archives] 5

Posted by Foodie Buddha 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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Verde Taqueria Restaurant Review – Brookhaven, Atlanta, GA [First Impressions] 28

Posted by Foodie Buddha on May 15, 2009

So last Tuesday (yes – el Cinco De Mayo), a friend whose culinary prowess dwarfs my own, decided to join me for lunch.  She was in the mood for some margaritas; and, Verde Taqueria, the newly opened Brookhaven taqueria, got the call.

verde taqueria - the entrance wayWhile the delay in getting this up could be attributed to a busy week, that’s not really the case.  From what I have been told, this is the first foray into the restaurant biz for the owners.  Given the fact that these guys are getting their feet wet in every respect, I wanted to make sure I put things in the appropriate perspective.

While all new restaurants deserve some leeway, one such as this (rookie owners, low price point, casual atmosphere) gets a bit more of a pass.  Meanwhile, franchises, chef driven restaurants, and pocket pinching establishments(think BLT Steak or Dogwood) need to be relatively well run right off the bat.

Though I fear this may sound particularly harsh, the meal was pretty unimpressive and left me apprehensive.

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Verde Taqueria To Open Soon In Brookhaven 2

Posted by Foodie Buddha on April 13, 2009

According to their website, Verde Taqueria and Cantina is scheduled to open by the end of April.  No word on a firm date; however, I drove by today and noticed that the restaurant looks like it’s ready to rock.  The installation is over at the Village Place shopping center in Brookhaven.  Their website is fully functional and their menu is up.  Looks like your pretty standard fare; however, there are a couple of twists [see: buffalo tofu taco].  I’ve taken the time to add it to the April Dirty List

Verde Taqueria y Cantina Restaurant Address & Information:
1426 Dresden Dr, Atlanta, GA 30319 // P: 404.254.5319 // Verde Taqueria Website // Verde Taqueria Menu

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