Cornbread & Cole Slaw
As you sit down, you’re immediately presented with a sizzling hot cast iron pan filled to the brim with golden brown cornbread, cole slaw, and pickled onions. You place your drink orders and start to nibble.
Cornbread and pickled onions, we both loved them. The fresh (sweet) onions were still crispy, yet lightly pickled. The spicy tang and crispy, cold bite of the onions were just what this sizzling hot, old school cornbread needed to keep our interest.
Yep, we ordered it.
We’re not exactly sure what we were thinking. We weren’t even hungry after just one wedge of that seriously hearty cornbread.
The largest seafood platter in the world came with fried catfish fillets.
And, the fried catfish platter comes with not one or two whole catfish. Oh no, it’s a giant platter of fries topped with three whole deep fried catfish that were golden brown and crispy on the outside. Inside, it was tender, flake at the fork’s first touch goodness.
Hushpuppies…
…spicy white northern beans, too.
The crab? Well, it was just as we expected it to be. It was crab in the Krab with a K family. The boiled shrimp were a bit over-cooked, a touch on the rubbery side and cold. But, we still sort of loved the charm of this place more than a little bit. It was a journey into another era. And, we really enjoyed our trip. We’d happily return if we’re ever in the area again.
Within minutes of opening their doors, just about every spot in this restaurant’s parking lot was full. We know this for a fact because we initially arrived at 3:50pm. The parking lot was empty and they were closed. We drove around looking for another place to eat. We gave up and returned to Top O’ the River at approximately 4:10pm. (They open at 4pm on Saturdays.) And, we grabbed the last spot in front of the building. So… We guess it’s pretty safe to say that if you’re passing through Anniston, this is the place to go for catfish.
Top O’ The River
3330 McClellan Blvd
Anniston, AL 35901
256 238 0097
Dive Land Park
(Glencoe, Alabama)
It’s a little diving oasis.
Dive Land Park
401 Websters Chapel Road
Glencoe, Alabama
256 492 4455
…And, nothing says Happy 4th! like a great big wiener
Happy 4th of July!
Classic Tortoni
BLVD Tasty Ice Cream
We must start by saying there weren’t all that many cherries, cookie crumbs or almonds in our pint of ice cream. As a matter of fact, the pieces of cherry that we could find were quite small. And, the almond pieces were the tiniest of specks.
But…
And, this is a GIGANTICALLY HUGE but…
We couldn’t stop eating this ice cream!
We just kept passing the pint back and forth between the two of us. We couldn’t be bothered to get bowls and a spoon for each of us. Oh no! That would be one less spoonful for the bowl fetcher. We devoured over half of the pint with one spoon before reason took over.
Love… love… LOVE it!!
Calories don’t count when you eat standing in the kitchen, right?
And, hey, look! There are 4 WHOLE grams of protein per serving, too. That’s a good thing. We almost made a meal out of this glorious pint of ice cream. We did feel guilty enough to have salad for dinner to make up for our wicked ways. (Totally worth it, too. We don’t regret ice cream filling in for most of our dinner that night one little bit.)
Pasture-Grazed Hormone Free Milk & Cream
BLVD Tasty Ice Cream
Whole Foods
Rabbit On The Run
(Rabbit Coffee Roasting Co. Cold Brew Concentrated Coffee)
We wouldn’t say this coffee will be a favorite of ours. But, we do love the bottle. If you’re in a pinch (maybe you’re at the office with no time to brew a fresh pot of coffee), this will give you an instant coffee fix that requires zero prep. Is it better than a pot brewed for the office? It’s possible. Then again, maybe not, it really depends on your office. For a powerful iced coffee, add ice and the milk of your choice. For those that like a weaker coffee, add a big splash of water or two first.
Still, this coffee concentrate could make a versatile fridge staple. Conveniently chilled, bottled and ready to use, just add a splash to your favorite coffee cocktail. Or, even better, you could use this as a cooking or baking additive. But, then again, it’s summer. Why bake when you can make ice cream!
Rabbit Coffee Roasting Co.
Crab Fritters
For a to-go order, the chili sauce should really be used much more sparingly. Or, better yet, package it separately. This sauce made a horrible mess. The inside of the bag and the to-go box was covered in sauce. Luckily, we opened the bag on a kitchen counter and minimized the mess. And, the fritters were quite soggy from all that sauce by the time our meal made it home. If not for that chili sauce, we think these would have been quite tasty. They were just absolutely drenched in sweet sauce.
The Lamburguesa
It’s a lamb burger topped generously with goat cheese, roasted pepper relish, chile de arbor aioli, and lettuce. Served with a small-ish side of pepper spiced fries, the burger made the journey home nicely. The fries weren’t as lucky. They were tasty, but, soft and soggy.
The lamb was closer to medium than medium rare. But, it was tender and full of flavor. Every ingredient on this burger added another noteworthy layer of flavor.
We tried to choose food that would travel well. And, it should go without saying, we’d much rather eat at the restaurant. Sometimes, life gets in the way of a good meal. The moral of this story? Just stick to the burger and torta options when you have to take food to-go. Considering our alternatives for the night, this beat fast food by a mile… a very long and generous mile.
We’d easily choose to eat this meal over fast food… any day.
Pure Taqueria
3589 Durden Drive
Atlanta, GA 30319
770 452 7873
The Brickery Chips
Since we like to be brief. Let’s be. It’s all about these chips. We’ll be back for these super brittle, dark golden brown chips. And, that return visit will be soon.
Period.
The Caesar Burger
We would have liked a bit less sauce and much more lettuce. And, if we’re being picky, we’d prefer romaine. Since they’re calling this a Caesar (Salad) burger, romaine makes sense… right? This was a saucy hot mess. Admittedly, it was a tasty mess.
With these chips to devour, the burger was playing second fiddle, anyway.
Crabcakes
These might not be the prettiest crab cakes that we’ve ever eaten. But, they’re seriously loaded with fresh, sweet crab.
Broccoli & Sweet Kugel
On the right, that’s incredibly rich, buttery dessert kugel. Yeah, we’ll be back for some more of that home-style comfort kugel. We know this wasn’t our first visit to the Brickery. We have vague memories of a visit from a few years ago. But, make no mistake, we won’t forget about The Brickery this time around.
The Brickery Grill & Bar
6125 Roswell Road
Sandy Springs, GA 30328
404 843 8002
Grainy Mustard Fingerling Potato Salad
Someone made a meal out of it.
Lamb On Rosemary Focaccia
As always, the flavor of rosemary works beautifully with lamb. But, these olive oil rich loaves make for a nap-inducing lunch… not great for a weekday. Unless you’re starving, this’ll be a sandwich for sharing at lunch time. Or, it’ll make a very hearty dinner. Still, it’s a tasty sandwich.
Alon’s Bakery & Market
4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA 30346
678 397 1781
Coctel De Camaron Y Pulpo
Plump, tender shrimp hide beneath the sweet sauce.
Huachinango Frito
Even with such a deep golden brown, it’s still moist and tender inside.
Sometimes, this arrives with the meal.
Fruit Punch-y Sweet Sangria With Oranges Slices & Cherries
After a pitcher of super sweet boozy sangria, these fish are incredibly interesting.
We left happy… again.
Las Costas Nayaritas Mexican Seafood Bar & Grill
1555 Pleasant Hill Road
Duluth, GA 30096
678 788 8888
Primizie Smoked Dutch Gouda & Garlic CrispBread Chips
The flavors were “fine”. But, these crispbreads/chips have a hard, crisp crunch with an unpleasant denseness to that “thick-cut” chip. What do they mean by crisp breads? These are not pita chips as we were expecting. Instead, they’re quite like a thick wheat flour tortilla-like triangle. They’re a bit too greasy for our taste, too.
We don’t see another bag of crispbreads in our future.
Serving Size = 1 Ounce = 9 Chips
Late July Bacon Habaanro Corn Tortilla Chips
These are equally “fine” bordering on “eh”. Smoky “bacon” … Yeah, ok, if you say so. There is a smoky flavor. But, it’s not a flavor that either one of us enjoyed. And, for something with habanero in the name, they’re more than a little bit tame.
Not a fan. Period.
Late July Jalapeño Lime
These were BY FAR the best of the bunch. Next to the other two, it wasn’t much of a challenge to be the best. They do have a nice light, crispy bite with delicate (in a very good way) use of lime. But, they’re a bit forgettable. We might buy these again… eventually.
In the end, these were still too greasy for our taste.
Why comment on two very mediocre chips and one “ok” chip? Sometimes mediocrity needs to be noted. We don’t want to forget that we’ve been there and done that… with these three chips. (These chips were found at Whole Foods & Sprouts.)
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