Thirteen Pies - Buckhead - 3rd Stop of Eat the Peachtree 2015 Pub and Restaurant Crawl!

Thirteen Pies is the 3rd of 10 stops as part of "Eat the Peachtree 2015 - Electric Boogaloo!" - this is the return of the world's largest world's largest 10K-themed pub crawl. 10 clicks, 10 stops, 10 dishes, 10 drinks. 1 epic afternoon. Locate all the posts along with an intro if you search my blog with ETP2015. We walked from restaurant to restaurant in search of the best flavors and drinking venues in Atlanta, while enjoying the same sights as you would while running the Peachtree Road Race.

The Original itinerary called for The Southern Gentleman - much to our chagrin and disappointment, The Southern Gentleman was closed when we arrived - it still had customers but we arrived 5 minutes after the hour - oops. While I would have liked to have shown a few apps, drinks and the revel we would have had there, instead we decided to substitute the local Thirteen Pies which is also in the same shopping complex, only on the ground floor.

You can find Thirteen Pies in that new Buckhead shopping complex, located at 250 Buckhead Avenue Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30305 - it's located on the ground floor on the left as you enter this new concept of Buckhead shopping. You'll first see Thirteen Pies from all the parallel line wood finishes - this continues into the interior.

This is a really beautiful restaurant featuring natural wood finishes and parallel on-edge boards, across an open dining room, open bar and open kitchen concept. What you see is what you get at every aspect, with stunning modernist views. Can you tell I approved? Whomever designed this place did a fantastic job! Kudos!

On the left wall as you walk in you'll see an horizontal chalkboard with the daily specials. Today's 13th Pie was Eggplant, oven dried tomatoes, red onions, goat cheese and basil pesto...

The menu includes small plates, salads, pastas and of course the 13 signature pies (get it?). A baker's dozen with the extra as a bonus that changes daily.

We downed a few glasses of local craft brew including the rotating Sweetwater Brewing tap - quite refreshing...

For food, the chop salad is one of the signature dishes, so we went there and ordered the Iberian pie - fennel sallami, smoked provolone, soffritto, castelvetrano olive (my favorite!), yellow tomato and old manchego - it was awesome and cut into 6 pieces, so one each!

I really do love this place and plan to return.

The service was awesome and the food quick to the table - for a substitute, this was a terrific selection - kudos to Verlin for suggesting this one!

Next Stop: La Fonda!

-- John

(shorter version of this review posted to Yelp)

Yeah! Burger - Westside Atlanta on Howell Mill Rd

Yeah! Burger can be found at 1168 Howell Mill Road, Suite E, Atlanta, GA 30318 in what's being collectively called Westside. Other than it being on the West side of Midtown, I'm not quite sure why it's called that but there you go. The restaurant is across the street from Room and Board behind the Saltworks Gallery.

 

Yeah! Burger is another of those boutique burger joints that seem to be popping up everywhere in Atlanta - the concept is simple. You peruse a menu while waiting in line, when you get to the counter you select your meat (grass-fed beef, organic bison, turkey, veggie, gluten-free vegan or grilled/fried chicken breast), your bun (artisan white, whole wheat, gluten-free, vegan or none), your cheese (American, cheddar, pepper jack, provolone, blue, swiss, goat or pimento) and your topping (too many to list). There are also a handful of specialty burgers with names like the "All-American" or "California Love" if you can't make up your mind. In all, this is a bit like being at a Subway or Maddio's Pizza where you can get exactly what you want. Of course there's a price - the burgers themselves range from $6.99 for the turkey to $9.99 for the bison and just about everything (with the exception of the very basics) incrementally increases the price. For your mac-daddy burger expect $10 or more depending on how much you load up. You also select any sides you may want or a Hot Dog or three (I'm very fond of the sweet potato fries and onion rings here or the napa coleslaw). There are also some salads and kids selections if you are so inclined (I'm not, of course). 

For drinks you can go all out and get a handspun milk shake or soda, or go from a larger-than-expected selection of adult beverages. Craft Cocktails, Wine by the Glass or Beer - both draft and bottled with a decent selection of craft ales and Belgians. Anything by Monday Night Brewing is worth ordering, in my opinion but there are many local craft options. The great beer list + burger options + sides produce an awesome trio to entice even the pickiest hipster. Speaking of hipster, this is "in town" so you're sure to fine the bearded lumbersexual or semi-washed hipster stumbling around at Yeah! to provide loads of visual entertainment (granted, many of them are students but I play 'em like I see 'em). 

The burgers here are perfectly executed and I must say I've enjoyed my several visits (don't worry, you wont confuse my shaved head with the Muppet-like coifs around) and I believe you will enjoy the food here too. The dining room is modernist (makes sense being so close to Room and Board and Knoll) with some fun, retro-styled graphics. Whomever did the design did a top notch job - the whole package is just stunning. Give this one a try, even if you've tried others and they just didn't make the cut. You'll be glad you did.

-- John

(shorter review also posted to Yelp)

Cafe Sababa Mediterranean Grill - Dunwoody GA

(A shorter review was also posted to Yelp)
Cafe Sababa Mediterranean Grill is located on 4639-D N Shallowford Rd, Dunwoody, GA 30338- it's about in the middle of a shopping center on the Eastern side of N Shallowford Rd (to the right if you're traveling North) that also contains Bay Leaf and Indian Bazaar grocery. This is a neighborhood eatery that features near-Kosher Mediterranean foods with fresh flavors, good portions and reasonable prices. I call it near-Kosher as the owner, Doni Tamli previously owned Cafe Ofi at the MJCCA in Dunwoody. From what I've seen the food and ingredients would be Kosher but not labeled as such publicly, indicating the use of some but not all Kosher ingredients, but be assured that the quality is quite superb. The menu is also plainly marked vegan (V) and/or gluten free (GF) for those of you who care (obviously not me!).

I've been a bit hesitant writing about Sababa - I've been coming here for many years and it's become one of my favorites for lunch - call me selfish but I did not want to spoil my great experiences there by bringing too much attention to the place, however over the years word has gotten out. The restaurant is family owned and run with a small staff and limited seating (they do quite a bit of take out). The simple dining room has padded benches along the walls and a few tables to either side of the path from the door to the counter. You can sit and and eat inside or at the tables outside under the awning that stretches across the shopping center. Parking is a bit limited, especially during lunch so I try to go early, around 11:30 AM or so to ensure a spot both in the lot and in the restaurant.

The menu is fairly simple, broken into a handful of categories. I usually go for the plates over the wraps but everything I've had has been very good. For lunch each of the plates have more than enough food for one to get very full. For dinner, do try some of the starters - I'm a big fan of the lentil soup and the Appetizer Combo These are my favorites:

Appetizer Combo - with falafel, hummus, babaganoush, tabouleh, chopped salad and pita, there's plenty to go around. You'll find the tabouleh very fresh and the falafel very well prepared, with a fresh-parsley flavor that is quite good.

Appetizer Combo

Falafel platter - this well-organized platter is similar to the Appetizer Combo above - actually if you're hungry I'd recommend the combo over the platter since you git a bit more for a dollar more. My vegan friends like this quite a bit and I'm very fond of it myself.

Shawarma Platter -  seasoned chicken "strips" with babaganoush, shopped salad, hummus and tehina - this is one of my "go to" dishes.

Schnitzel Platter - breaded chicken breast cutlet, pan fried served with rice and grilled veggies. I've only had this once and honestly, there are better things on the menu. I'm sure fans of fried food will like it, but it seemed a bit dry and uninspired to me.

Gyro Platter

Gyro Platter - I have this quite often and if asked they will admit that the gyro meat comes pre-packaged. No rotisserie of succulent meat spinning in the background at this restaurant, so you're not getting that full-Greek effect. However the quality of the meat is quite good and the supporting ingredients - cucumber-tomato salad, and the side romaine salad are both also very good. The Platter comes with quartered pita but you can ask for whole if you want to assemble a wrap. The tzatziki sauce is thicker than what I'm used to but I still like it quite a bit - I believe they make then pre-package to refrigerate to keep it fresh. It's certainly not the heavy-mayo sauce found at other gyro restaurants.

Gyro Wrap with Salad

Gyro Wrap - similar to the above except with one side and served in the wrap.

Lamb Burger - this is my recommendation if you're "iffy" about Mediterranean food in general - I can't remember anyone to whom I've recommended this succulent sandwich to who hasn't raved about it. Served on ciabatta bread with choice of side. I especially like this for take-out.

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Lentil Soup

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Salad

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Tabouleh

Roasted Leg of Lamb sandwich - as good as the lamb burger is, if they have the roasted leg of lamb as a special, go for this instead. It's unusually flavorful and quite inspired.

Service is quite good and usually handled by Doni's son (it's been fun watching him grow up a bit over the years). For drinks there are a few house-wines (and if you check in you'll usually receive a "free glass of wine" offer. Beers include Mythos Greek Lagar, Peroni, Blue Moon and Sweetwater Blue (not that I'm drinking during lunch). Cafe Sababa also does a fantastic job catering - we've had them supply food for several events at work and the food is always fresh, well proportioned and delivered on time.


-- John