King of Pops Bar and Good Grub - Ponce City Market - Atlanta Georgia

You can find this location of King of Pops at 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE STE N145, Atlanta 30308 in the Ponce City Market in a hidden pocket of the "food court"  - as I've already written, parking is a bit of a mess but once you're inside there's much to do including shopping and eating. One such is to enjoy this new King of Pops concept, King of Pops Bar and Good Grub.

King of Pops Bar and Good Grub provides the delicious pops that have become famous in Atlanta, mostly through the mobile pop-stands (recognizable by the umbrella at various events and catering) but also via a couple of stationary locations. This in Ponce City Market adds sandwiches and quick bites to the mix to produce the "Bar and Good Grub" concept. Besides the frozen pops, the menu includes sandwiches, salads and a few non-alcoholic beverages.

Since I was visiting and eating with many friends (take a look at my Hops Chicken review) we were all very full. It was only by happenstance and not through planning that i spotted the KOP stand and decided to check it out. Even full, I went with today's selection, a Coconut Cream Pie pop that was over the top in pops! What makes the cream pop so good is the intense flavor - the coconut fills your whole mouth - its really out-of-this-world.

I'm giving this one 4/5 stars as I wasn't able to try the sandwich or salad items (I know, a bit unfair - when I do try them I'll update my review).

-- John

(also posted to Yelp)

La Madeleine - Dunwoody Atlanta Georgia

You can find this location of La Madeleine at 1165 Perimeter Ctr W, Atlanta, GA 30338 in a small strip shopping center in front of REI in Dunwoody - there are other eating options nearby including a Honey Baked Ham location and Zoe's kitchen. Parking is along the front of the strip mall or in the large lot to one side. This place can turn into a zoo during lunch so you may want to adjust your times to come a bit early ore after 1:00 PM. The building is on the corner and is easy to see from the street (when traveling on Perimeter Center W - the street that turns into Abernathy on the other side of 400).

I've had occasion to eat at La Madeleine several times as it's close to my work - the decor is supposed to be French provencal I think - woody on the interior and a bit dark. This is more of a fast-casual concept although it has existed long before the term has come into common use. You wait in line and order at a counter from several options for lunch - they include soups, salads, quiche, pasta and croissants for the most part with some accompanying sides. They also have a few classic "French" dishes, your basic meat-and-two. Most items are made-to-order. La Madeleine is also a bakery with several bread and dessert options.

I usually end up here for a quick lunch - you queue up in a continually flowing line and end up at a table somewhere - it's a little confusing as you proceed about what you are supposed to do but it's a bit like being in a cafeteria where you tell the people on the other side what you want as you proceed. At the end it's tallied up, you pay and then you grab a cup for your water, soft drink or tea. You can also grab from a container of bread, but it's very often empty so you may have to come back for some. Some items will have to be heated so they will eventually be brought to your table.

I'm not much of a sandwich guy so I don't remember if I've had any of the sandwiches. I usually go for the salads and add a bit of chicken, or I order the soup and half-salad. I like the Cranberry-Pecan Wild Field or the Strawberry and Bacon Spinach - when you add chicken it comes out to be about $10 or so. I've tried a couple of the chicken dishes (with rice and veg - broccoli or asparagus and they were both very passable. The gravies I've tasted have been just a bit heavy-handed but rather that than flaccid.

In all the service is good - the people behind the counters are responsive and friendly. They respond best if you are nice to them so be nice, this type of work is much harder than it looks and they're on their feet all day. Delivery to the table of any food ordered that has to be prepared is fairly slow so allow for that - it's also why I usually order the salad which is given to you before you leave the line. In all the restaurant to me is best for the salad options due to speed and marginally good for anything else.

-- John

(also published to Yelp)

The Mad Italian - Chamblee Georgia on Savoy Rd

You can find the Mad Italian at 2197 Savoy Dr, Chamblee, GA 30341 - this is the access road along the North perimeter between I85 and 400 that provides access to N Peachtree Rd, N Shallowford Rd and Chamblee Dunwoody Rd - Savoy is the road that travels inside the of I285 while Cotillion parallels the outside. The largest landmark is Bowlmore - a massive bowling center (yes, those still exists - this one used to be called Bowl 300).

The Mad Italian inhabits a rather barn-shaped building and has been at its current location for as long as I can remember - it's one of the first restaurants I had the pleasure of visiting when I first came to Atlanta as an adult in the 80's. The restaurant has expanded over the years and now offers pizza - of course I still remember it for it's Philly steak sandwiches and meatball subs. I've also had a variety of past dishes over the years and they are all more than adequate - note that this isn't gourmet Italian food, rather it's your basic fare with hearty red sauces.

I also like the simple salads here quite bit - very reminiscent of the salads we got as kids at old pizza joints like Gatti's or Shakey's Pizza and similar. With the expansion the restaurant can now seat quite a few more than before, both inside and on the patio. The interior is a bit divey but what I would expect for a hometown-type restaurant. You get all the goodness here and feel very welcomed. They also have a much larger beer menu which is a boon, including several craft beers both bottled and on draft.

I was driving home taking a route suggested by Waze and as I neared The Mad Italian I decided to stop in - it has been at least a year since I last visited so it was time to see if the sandwiches were as good as I remember - if anything they're even better! The menu is fairly extensive with many salad, sandwich and pizza offerings.

They also had a decent list of craft beer, so I opted for a Bell's Two Hearted Ale (I've had this before and figured it would go well with anything I ordered).

I opted for two six-inch subs. The meatball sandwich was just as I remembered and one of my favorites - the perfect combination of Italian meatball, sauce and soft but crusty bread. Oh and did I mention the perfect pickle spear?

The Philly Steak I consider one of the best in town - as with the meatball sandwich, a perfect combination of meat-cooked with onions on a soft warm hoagie that's a bit crusty on the outside from toasting. Just heavenly!

I also substituted the onion rings for the chips that typically accompany the six-inch subs - I really didn't think I could finish all of this food (foolishly, I considered taking some home) but I somehow persevered.

The Mad Italian is quite popular amongst locals and it gets crowded during lunch - try going a little earlier or later than the normal 12-1 or it can take some time to get your food. The service here is exceptional - even for a table of one! The Mad Italian reminds me of the Italian places you used to see in the 60's and 70's - good fast service, tasty food and consistency you don't often see these days - it's also very reasonably priced - you can easily get out for less than $10 during lunch (a bit more with two subs, rings and a beer though). It is a bit on the dive-y side so don't expect cloth napkins!

-- John

(slightly shorter review also posted to Yelp)
 

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)

Fresh To Order - F2O - Midtown Atlanta Georgia

This location of Fresh To Order can be found in midtown, at 860 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308, the Southwest quadrant of the Peachtree Rd and 7th St intersection - it's at the base of the Spire building that has Gordon Biersch on the other side. There's also a Five Guys in the same building and Starbucks is across Peachtree St.

I've eaten at this location a handful of times, mostly when meeting friends or occasionally doing business in the area. It's also a handy place to get a quick meal when coming to Dick Blick for art supplies. I've also eaten at the Sandy Springs location and both are very consistent with good service, considering that this is a "fast casual" restaurant. If you're new to that term, it usually means order-at-the-counter, better quality foods, nicer interior and higher prices. It translates into a place where you can gauge how long you'll be there by the line at the counter vs what you order (the latter factors into how long it takes you to eat). Service is generally better because you aren't relying on someone messing up your order at the table - instead the person at the counter can mess it up for you - kidding aside, you pay for the convenience of not having someone wait on you, which speeds things up considerably. When you pay for your order you get a stand for an oval number - make sure you grab it or there could be considerable confusion in the delivery of your order.

The interior of this location is very loft-like and industrial with modernist accents - I didn't think to take photos of the insides or exterior. Lighting is great and you can do some people watching through the windows if your so inclined - not much to see other than a bunch of cars and people coming in-and-out of Starbucks. It has the same chairs, tables and for the most part furnishings of other, more suburban F2O locations. The times I've been here, it's been very clean and reasonably busy. I've had salads and paninis and in general prefer the salads.

Tomato Mozzarella Panini with Tomato Basil Soup - your basic vegetarian soup-and-sandwich meal with balsamic vinaigrette.

Asian Chicken Crunch Panini with Market Salad - solid sandwich with hints of sesame oil, rosemary and an avocado aioli.

Market Salad with Chicken - this is my go-to dish, dispensing with the bread. It's filling and reasonably low calorie (sparing on the dressing).

In the past I've also had the Grilled Chicken BLT and the Asian Salad with Almond Encrusted Tuna - both were very good.

I do like that you can sit outside at this location - the Sandy Springs location lacks outside seating (not sure if you'd want to sit outside there or not - that location is fairly lacking in exterior views).

Bon appetit!

-- John

(Also posted to Yelp)