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mindphlux posted:so what do you think of the responses? any dates you're leaning towards? kind of excited about a dinner with y'all, and checking out the muir. Based on the responses, it is looking like November 2nd. I'll probably leave the form up for a few more days, then set a final date and get in touch with the people at The General Muir and go from there. edit: For the new page: venutolo posted:
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Oct 5, 2013 19:23
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I'd certainly be interested in going to TGM. I'll bring 2-4 people.
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Oct 5, 2013 20:08
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From looking at their menu, I should be expecting like $80-100 for two people if we do just the regular full menu, yeah? We wouldn't be drinking very much since we'd have to drive back up to the bustling metropolis of Winder afterwards.
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Oct 5, 2013 20:30
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venutolo posted:Based on the responses, it is looking like November 2nd. I'll probably leave the form up for a few more days, then set a final date and get in touch with the people at The General Muir and go from there. I live close to the Muir, so I'm in for Nov. 2nd or later. It'll be a crab reuben extravaganza + booze!
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Oct 5, 2013 23:37
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Skinny King Pimp posted:From looking at their menu, I should be expecting like $80-100 for two people if we do just the regular full menu, yeah? We wouldn't be drinking very much since we'd have to drive back up to the bustling metropolis of Winder afterwards. Probably something like that. I had dinner there last night and my bill was something like $36 before tip, though I got the matzah ball soup and lentils (plus dessert and a drink), which are some of the cheapest items on the menu (both still excellent). On a related note, here's a nice video about the origin of The General Muir: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/bestnewrestaurants/2013/08/15/the-story-of-the-general-muir I went to Sobban tonight and was kind of disappointed. I really love the food at Heirloom Market, and especially the Korean or Korean-influenced stuff, so I was expecting to love Sobban. The restaurant is billed as Korean/Southern food, and I expected a bit more Southern influence than I found. I'd probably categorize what I had as something like 90% Korean, so I was disappointed by the comparative lack of Southern influence. Based on this small sample, I think Heirloom actually does a better job of fusing Korean with another cuisine. For an appetizer, I had the pork belly bossam (lettuce wraps). While the pork and condiments were good, the lettuce served with it wasn't really wide enough to actually use as a wrap. There were a few pieces that were wider than the pork (but not really wide enough to wrap around), but the majority were much narrower, so I just sort of stacked the items rather than being able to wrap stuff in the lettuce. It seems like such an obvious and easy thing to get right, so I was a bit miffed by how it wasn't. For the main, I had their surf and turf (short rib and shrimp). I ordered this because I was expecting it to be a mix of Korean (short rib) and Southern (shrimp) cuisine, but I didn't really get that impression. I assumed the shrimp would represent the Southern part of the dish, but there only three pieces of shrimp, so it felt like an incidental part of the dish. The sauce on the short rib was also a bit sweet for my tastes (and my tastes skew sweeter than most). I think the dish was something like $18, which felt a few dollars more than what I got was worth. I also found a few nuisances with the service and setup. Since I was eating by myself, I was seated at the counter at the front of the interior of the restaurant. This counter has a number of stools, and was rather cramped. I think one less stool at the counter would have afforded everyone a bit more elbow room. Due to layout of the tables, where I was sitting was sort of hard to reach for the server, so the couple seated after and next to me got their appetizers before anyone even took my order. The interior was also rather warm. I wasn't sweating, but I was at that stage where my forehead wasn't completely dry. The space is so small and the dining area is so close to the kitchen, so I imagine that they need to crank up the A/C a touch. All told, the restaurant doesn't have much seating, and about half of it is outside. There is also basically nowhere inside to wait for a table aside from just standing in front of the door. Come a rainy or cold day, their seating is going to be ludicrously insufficient unless they do something to cover their patio. I'd think after all the issues with space at Heirloom Market, they'd have a location with more seating. It is the first week or two it has been open and I only tried a small sample of menu, so that obviously plays into my experience. I have an acquaintance, whose opinion I put much faith in, who went to their friends and family opening and he thought it was excellent (and obviously tried a myriad of items), so I'm definitely willing to give it another go, but I'll probably wait a few weeks when they might be less busy. venutolo fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Oct 6, 2013 |
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Oct 6, 2013 02:05
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venutolo posted:Probably something like that. I had dinner there last night and my bill was something like $36 before tip, though I got the matzah ball soup and lentils (plus dessert and a drink), which are some of the cheapest items on the menu (both still excellent). finally someone else posts a long nitpicky review, making me feel a little better about my pretentious poo poo  good review though, this is all the sort of stuff I'd probably care about too on a first visit, and good to set expectations.
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Oct 7, 2013 09:29
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18 potential guests in our party at GM seems seam-busting. You gonna confirm then freeze the form soon? That whole block at Emory Point now smells like soap suds on the reg. As an aside, their flavored sodas are great. I had one with lunch the other day and a coworker had another. Similar to a lime ricky and not sickly sweet.
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Oct 7, 2013 09:39
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For some reason my form submission wasn't recorded. Maybe because I was using Chrome? Anyways, I sent it in again via Firefox.
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Oct 7, 2013 14:37
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mindphlux posted:finally someone else posts a long nitpicky review, making me feel a little better about my pretentious poo poo I think if I ordered something else for a main, I may have had a better experience. I considered ordering the bibimbap, since that is a Korean dish I love, but decided against it because it seemed entirely Korean, and I wanted something that mixed Korean with Southern cuisine. So I ordered the Korean short rib and GA shrimp dish to attempt to hit that mixture of cuisines, but it didn't do it for me. I think if I had gone with the mindset that the place is mostly Korean food with maybe a touch of Southern in their dishes, I would have had a different experience. Looking at other people's dishes, much of it looked appealing, which made my own dish less enjoyable. I love what they do at Heirloom Market, so I suspect I'll generally like their stuff, but the stuff the other day didn't do it for me. kuskus posted:18 potential guests in our party at GM seems seam-busting. You gonna confirm then freeze the form soon? When I spoke to them on Friday, I mentioned 16 people, and they didn't bat an eye. They said depending on the weather, they could give us the patio. I think as long as we do it at the start of dinner so they don't have to hold a large number of seats, we're probably okay. Maybe we'll bump it earlier to 6pm to make it slightly less burdensome. I'll work this out with them. I'll close the form and set a final date probably today or tomorrow when I get a chunk of free time at work.
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Oct 7, 2013 15:44
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I will need to add a plus one to mine.
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kuskus posted:18 potential guests in our party at GM seems seam-busting. You gonna confirm then freeze the form soon? 
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Oct 7, 2013 20:42
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Talking about Heirloom reminds me, did you guys see they stopped dine in service? http://atlanta.eater.com/archives/2013/06/28/heirloom-market-to-stop-dinein-service-become-togo-and-catering-only.php Kind of sucks, but understandable because parking there was a bitch. I hadn't been in while, but I remember at least 6 months ago, people were parking in the grass and everywhere they could. We made the mistake of meeting someone there and it took forever to just get in and seated. The food was great though.
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Oct 7, 2013 21:57
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I believe they do some dine-in (or some sort of non-takeout) now. It was announced on their Facebook page recently. e: http://atlanta.eater.com/archives/2013/09/14/now-you-can-dine-in-on-the-patio-at-heirloom-market-bbq-again.php venutolo fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Oct 8, 2013 |
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Oct 7, 2013 22:03
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Josh Lyman posted:Why would it smell like soap? Two doors down from the GM there's a cleaning place, and I don't think there's anywhere for their waste water to go except like, in front of the entrance (in back of the street). Most dumpsters also face the "entry" doors since there aren't really front doors on the side that faces Clifton. But basically, that block has an overwhelming soap aroma now.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:40
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I went to Sobban on Saturday night and had their late night menu, which is just a limited version of their regular menu (no bibimbap or bulgogi, etc). I thought it was pretty good. I sat outside with my girlfriend, and didn't even step inside to be honest, so I can't really comment on the space. The food was good, though; I'd agree with venutolo that it didn't strike me as very Southern, though. We had the tofu dish, rice cakes, and the fried bologna and kimchi sandwich. The tofu was pretty bland an there wasn't enough accoutrements to make it interesting, definitely the least successful dish on its own, but it served nice to cool the heat of the other dishes. The rice cakes are small, chewy rice patties served with a spicy sauce, vegetables, and smoked pork (presumably from Heirloom Market?), and it was really good. Lots of flavor and a good spice level for me. The fried bologna and kimchi sandwich was definitely the most fusion dish we had, and while it was tasty, it had some detractors. The sandwich came on well toasted bread with decent portions of bologna and kimchi, as well as a nose-cleansing spicy Korean mustard. Unfortunately the mustard overwhelmed most of this dish, which was a shame because it was really quite good otherwise. Overall I thought it was really tasty, and definitely want to go back to try more dishes, especially the bulgogi and bibimbap. I think it's a good place to go and get a few dishes and just share, but it's basically just well done Korean food with a slight Southern twist. edit: the rice cake dish also had fried shrimp on it, totally forgot about it until just now. Only a few pieces, though, like 3-4. jooky fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Oct 8, 2013 |
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Oct 7, 2013 23:56
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I had bibimbap at Umma's House in Tech Square for lunch. It wasn't bad really, but I specifically asked the egg to be runny, and it came out cooked all the way thru. I like to break the egg and mix it all up with that spicy miso sauce. I would have complained but it took a good while to come out and they had a lunch crowd waiting. I think the second closest bibimbap from Tech is Takorea, but sometimes I don't like to leave campus for lunch. The only plus is I think I have crush on the Indian girl with bright blue eyes who works there.
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Oct 8, 2013 01:46
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I usually head to Takorea, but I am closer to that than I am Umma's. I may check it out since there is no other sushi place I know of near there.
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Oct 8, 2013 03:06
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Just spent a week in Atlanta, my second visit this year and longer than last time (first visit was KR Steakbar and The Spence). We did a lot of BBQ this time. Jim N Nicks, Swallow at the Hollow, Heirloom, and a few other less memorable locations (including the one who sells their sauce in supermarkets all over the place and I just cannot remember their name). Runner up was Swallow at the Hollow: had great sausage and out of this world collards. Rest was solid, and I mean that as a big compliment. By far and away the favorite was Heirloom. The brisket was incredible, probably the only brisket I had on this trip that was better than what I smoke at home. The sauces were great, and I could really appreciate the Korean influence. Ribs were great, better texture than most places where they were tender but not falling apart. Put some spicy Korean sauce on that and it was a winner. They also had a special of spicy Korean pork that was also fantastic. Best Mac n cheese of the week as well. They had a thin and vinegary sauce with some Asian flavor I couldn't place that was great on the regular pulled pork. For other dining I was able to get a night out with Mrs Mango and we hit KR Steakbar as I was unable to convince her to go to the taste of Atlanta thing. Having been to KR before I knew what to expect and was pleasantly surprised with the changes since I was there a few months ago. We did the 'chefs choice' tasting and for $55 a head it was a really good deal. Mixed salumi and cheese platter to start. Artichokes and Octopus small plates. One of the best octopus dishes I've ever had,a nod the artichokes are something they are known for (last time I was there I stole their Aleppo corn recipe, this time I will steal the artichokes). Pasta was the squid ink ravioli stuffed with roasted red pepper and cheese served with shrimp and basically garlic butter. Amazing. Somewhere around the pasta was a limoncello sorbet palate cleanser, brilliant. Mains were the ribeye (great and disappeared) and a pork Milanese that was good but we couldn't finish. There were sides and they were good, squash and potatoes, just too much food. Dessert was a surprise and we were stuffed but we still managed to kill the ricotta fried dough ball things with apple butter and poached apples, AND a chocolate tartuffo, which Mrs Mango figured out was basically what Rocky Road ice cream should have been from the beginning. Chocolate ice cream covered in chocolate with nutty biscotti crumbles, balsamic marshmallow (they make their own marshmallow with some balsamic in it, really works), and some aged balsamic drizzled over it all. KR did get loud toward the end of the meal but that was the only possible complaint we could have. I get that some people would not like it, but for me, the food I like and the way I like to eat, it was just perfect. Definitely a top ten meal, and I have been some great places.
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Oct 9, 2013 02:41
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Ultimate Mango posted:By far and away the favorite was Heirloom. You have good taste! In my (not so humble) opinion, the only acceptable answers for best barbecue in Atlanta are Heirloom or Community Q. There are some other good ones, but I don't see how anyone could consider them on the same tier or above those two. Heirloom is the only place in Atlanta I will order brisket. Anywhere else when I get brisket I just think about how much I miss the brisket I get when I head home to Texas. The main BBQ guy at Heirloom is from Texas, so I imagine he takes a particular interest in doing brisket well. The spicy Korean pork sandwich, mac & cheese, and a side of tempura vegetables is among my favorite meals in Atlanta.
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Oct 9, 2013 03:05
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venutolo posted:Brisket When I learned to smoke meat I figured out that for my taste Texas style brisket is the only way to go. Heirloom has that totally nailed. I figure if I inject my brisket with miso soup (as they apparently do) and otherwise keep my recipe the same it should be a good facsimile. SoCal has plenty of Korean fusion so I figure I can get learned fast enough on Korean spices and do some interesting sauce modification if I want to get really fancy. Did anyone here go to that live taste of Atlanta even and can tell us about it?
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Oct 9, 2013 03:36
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venutolo posted:the only acceptable answers for best barbecue in Atlanta are Heirloom or Community Q. This may not be a popular opinion, but I've always liked Fox Bros better than Community Q. What am I missing?
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Oct 9, 2013 09:26
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Safety Dance posted:This may not be a popular opinion, but I've always liked Fox Bros better than Community Q. What am I missing?
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Oct 9, 2013 09:34
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Beef in all forms is inferior to pulled pork in every conceivable way  EDIT: VVV in the context of BBQ you philistine FLEXBONER fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Oct 9, 2013 |
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Oct 9, 2013 15:07
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FLEXBONER posted:Beef in all forms is inferior to pulled pork in every conceivable way
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Oct 9, 2013 18:33
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Safety Dance posted:This may not be a popular opinion, but I've always liked Fox Bros better than Community Q. What am I missing? A palate. *rim shot* *late night talk show crowd laughs* Judged almost entirely by their meats, I think Fox Bros' meat on its own is just not as good in terms of consistency, moistness, tenderness, smoke flavor, etc. I find that their brisket typically doesn't have enough of a smoke ring. I also find their meat rather inconsistent. For example, I once had the best ribs I've had in Atlanta at Fox Bros that in particular had a fantastic bark, however each time I've ordered the ribs since, they've been of inconsistent quality and never approaching those spectacular ribs. That's not to say I don't enjoy Fox Bros, but what I more enjoy is their gut-bomb sort of stuff like the tots with cheese and chili or their "burger" made of brisket and pimiento cheese, rather than the quality of their meats. Overall I think Heirloom and Community Q both provide the best and most consistent meats, and as a bonus also have the best sides. It probably isn't a coincidence that the main BBQ guys (Cody at Heirloom, and Dave at Community Q) have backgrounds in fine dining. BBQ taste, like all food, is subjective, so eat what makes you happy.
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Oct 10, 2013 20:55
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 Goon Dinner @ The General Muir Thanks for all the responses to the form. Barring the restaurant not being able to do it, the date will be Saturday November 2. I will coordinate a time with the restaurant that would be good for them and will shoot for 6:30pm as I imagine that is about the start of the dinner crowd and I don't want them to not be able seat other diners because they're holding seats for us. As for the fixed price menu, we won't do that, unless the restaurant would prefer to do that to make it easier for them. I will post some more information when I make arrangements with the restaurant. Responses: Yes (11-12) venutolo (1) kuskus (1) York_m_chan (2) anthropogentric (2) Souli (2) Antisodachrist (2) Landrobot (1-2) Probably Yes (9-11) Flexboner (1) Skinny King Pimp (2) mindphlux (2) Cendien (2) Actionate (2-4) Once I finalize things with the restaurant, I'll probably post another form or something for RSVPs and party size. venutolo fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Oct 11, 2013 |
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Oct 11, 2013 00:35
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Man, I was thinking that the 2nd would be great, plenty of time to be sure we have the money laying around and to make plans to go out there. I'm the worst UGA alumna for not remembering when Georgia-Florida is, so we'll see if I can get my husband in on it. Really hope I can; it's been forever since we went out to a new restaurant.
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Oct 11, 2013 01:28
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 I set up an evite thing for the General Muir dinner. If you are going, please RSVP to it so I can give the restaurant an accurate headcount. venutolo fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Oct 13, 2013 |
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Oct 13, 2013 01:56
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I was driving down Buford Saturday and in a strip mall there was the "Chicago Market" - I got so excited thinking they were going to sell products from my home. Turns out it was a Mexican supermarket, just like where I used to live in Chicago, complete with a taqueria in the back. $1.50 for a pork taco, fixin's bar, and super hot salsa. They also had Menudo, for those into tripe, and Posole that smelled terrific. I'd love to do a taco crawl down Buford one day.
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Oct 16, 2013 16:04
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Has anyone been to La Pastorcita on Buford Hwy? http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-pastorcita-atlanta I discovered it on Yelp tonight, as I was trying to find late night places, and I live almost walking distance from it. poo poo looks legit! If no one has been there, I'll try to go this weekend and scout it out, take menu photos, etc.. I mean, just look at it! 
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Oct 17, 2013 02:01
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Landrobot posted:Has anyone been to La Pastorcita on Buford Hwy? That will either be the greatest or the worst thing ever.
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Oct 17, 2013 05:25
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Landrobot posted:Has anyone been to La Pastorcita on Buford Hwy? Haven't been in over 5 years, but it used to be good. Basic competence with Spanish will help it go more smoothly. It's legit enough that a group of uptight suburbanites I took there once after bowling across the street got uncomfortable and left before ordering.
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Oct 17, 2013 07:21
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Landrobot posted:Has anyone been to La Pastorcita on Buford Hwy? I went there once with my gal, 0 english. She speaks a bit better spanish than me, so we got by. Had some surprisingly expensive food which wasn't much better than any other hispanic joint on buford, like a 20 minute wait for food when noone else was in the restaurant, and so we wrote it off completely. Dunno what the deal is - but unless what we ordered was just horrible, I don't know why they're still around. Also there's a 7.5% chance I could be mistaking this place for another, but it is across from the funtime lanes bowling alley right?
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Oct 18, 2013 11:01
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went to sobban this week, enjoyed it. I had a lot of the same complaints as venutolo, though maybe not as acute. I overall really enjoyed it. some lovely service from a girl who was wayyyy too snarky for her own good. like she was trolling some (admittedly trollworthy) members of our party - but you can only get away with directly insulting the people you're serving if your service is loving amazing. and even then I'm probably being generous, you just shouldn't ever talk down on your patrons. but anyways she'd forget drinks for 20 minutes and bring food out that had been obviously just sitting there (since it's a sort of open pass and all) that was cold, etc. the food itself was above average. I was frustrated by the lack of korean-ness a bit. I get that it's a korean/southern fusion thing, and I'm not knocking on the southern influence, but I just felt like the korean flavors could pop a bit more. like the kimchi was a little bland, the fried chicken wasn't spicy at all, etc etc. but I'm being nitpicky. but for the price, I'd definitely go back soon. worth a try! edit : I went back and re-read venutolo's and other's reviews - I guess it's funny that I'm knocking them for not having enough intensity in their korean flavors when ya'll are like 'need more southern'. I don't disagree that more southern elements would be a plus, I just wish they'd condense their korean bits into relatively small, but intensely awesome elements. like have a biscuits and jam where the jam is kimchi and intensely salty/sweet/spicy. mindphlux fucked around with this message at 11:12 on Oct 18, 2013 |
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Oct 18, 2013 11:07
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Las Tortas Locas off of Buford is like that if you want an authentic Mexican place. They gave me a bit of attitude for not speaking Spanish, but the food was good. It got recommended by a Mexican friend and we probably should have gone with them instead of going there by ourselves.
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Oct 18, 2013 13:30
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mindphlux posted:went to sobban this week, enjoyed it. I had a lot of the same complaints as venutolo, though maybe not as acute. what did she look like? My girlfriend is actually good friends with one of the servers there and she strikes me as the type of person that could be really snarky. Just wondering if it was her, haha
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Oct 20, 2013 02:59
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Wow, what a great little read on a Sunday morning "6 new Atlanta bars and restaurants you need to try, right now": http://www.thrillist.com/eat/atlanta/6-new-atlanta-bars-and-restaurants-you-need-to-try-right-now Sobban is on the list The Ink & Elm looks really good too, in the Emory Village. Three Taverns Tasting Room... never heard of it, but it just opened. A freakin Belgian style brewery in Atlanta? hell yes! They do tours w/tastings as well, which would be a lot of fun. Does anyone want to do a mini goon meet there and get slightly drunk? https://www.facebook.com/threetavernsbeer
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Oct 20, 2013 16:06
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Brunch notes: I saw Steak Shapiro at brunch today at The General Muir. Brunch at One Eared Stag is really good. I didn't much care for one of their signature brunch items, chip butty, but everything else I've had there has been rather good. Their black pepper biscuits in sausage gravy are fantastic and something I will probably order almost every time going forward. In my experience, brunch there is not busy at all, so there's not a wait for one of the best brunches in town. Folk Art is okay. Their fried chicken with fried eggs and biscuits in sausage gravy is really good, but the best thing on the menu by far in my experience. It will also probably lower your life expectancy by a day or two. The rest of what I've had there has been okay. Nothing else great, but nothing awful either.
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Oct 20, 2013 16:28
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Landrobot posted:Three Taverns Tasting Room... never heard of it, but it just opened. A freakin Belgian style brewery in Atlanta?
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Oct 20, 2013 17:41
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   If you are planning to attend the dinner at The General Muir, please, please, please RSVP to the Evite. From the Google docs form I put up to find a date for this, we had 11 or 12 yes and another 10 or so maybes. So far I've got 5 RSVP'd. I'd really like to get 10+. If I only get a handful of yes RSVPs, then I'll probably cancel and attempt to reschedule for some later date for a larger group. http://www.evite.com/l/4EnXW4jReN
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Oct 21, 2013 14:58
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