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)

Red Pepper Taqueria - Buckhead - 2nd Stop of Eat the Peachtree 2015 Pub and Restaurant Crawl!

Red Pepper Taqueria is the 2nd 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.

You'll find Red Pepper Taqueria at 3135 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30305 - the restaurant is on the left as you turn South from Peachtree Rd along the first block onto Piedmont Dr. Alternatively it's on the right as you head North on Piedmont, between Martina Dr NE and Peachtree Rd.

This fun restaurant has plenty of seating both inside and out and a large bar where you can sample several unusual drinks. I tasted several while here - try the Prickly Pear margarita. The seating was pretty much filled up on the patio while inside it was about 25% full. We sat in the air conditioning which was very welcome after walking along this hot afternoon - the weather was nice with about 50% overcast and around 80 degrees.

The menu is fairly extensive with several interesting items along with most of the usual Tex-Mex that you would expect. The food in general that I tried was quite good and satisfying. I do believe this is more of a hangout for drinks than food, however, so keep that in mind when you come here.

The nachos here are noteworthy as on the top 100 Creative Loafing list, so we ordered those plus an order of chips and queso. I liked the side of fresh-chopped jalapenos and did my best to eat them all. The nachos themselves were kitchen-sink loaded and should satisfy even the heartiest eater - loved the corn and guac.

We tried several drinks as well has a nice wies beer. The purple drink is the Prickly Pear margarita which was quite tasty - I'm not sure if I've seen that elsewhere?

We enjoyed this place quite a bit. The service was terrific and the food well above average. The food and drinks came out quickly. This ended up being a great second stop for our Eat the Peachtree 2015 crowd! Good times had by all!

Next stop: The Southern Gentleman...

-- John

 (shorter version of this review also posted to Yelp)
   

Yebo - Buckhead at Phipps - Beginning of Eat the Peachtree 2015 Pub and Restaurant Crawl!

Yebo is the first 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.

You can find Yebo at 3500 Peachtree Rd NE, Suite 1096B, Atlanta, GA 30326, in Phipps Plaza along the front side of the mall across from Twist. This is a beautiful bar/restaurant with exotic South African influenced and modernist finishes. This is a very nice restaurant that's a bit more upscale than I realized. I felt a little out of place with my shorts and T-shirt - a nice pair of slacks and a shirt with a collar would have been more apropos.

As a group, we assembled at Yebo after it opened its doors at 12:00 PM (this all all ETP 2015 events were held on Sunday, 2015.07.05, the day after the 4th of July celebration and 2015 Peachtree Road Race). The "brunch law" prevented us from drinking booze until 12:30 PM. Initially seven people congregated with one dropping out (seems he had a bit too much to celebrate the night before and opted to sleep it off). It took about 20 minutes for everyone to arrive so we who got there early waited at the bar.

The interior is quite beautiful - love the lighting, surfaces and textures. There was a Brunch Menu available that had some interesting items, of course we forewent and decided to order some of Yebo's signature dishes

 
For drinks we ordered a variety, including Bloody Marys, an awesome cucumber Zulu, a Sunday Funday Mule and a few glasses of vino. The bacon in the Bloody Mary really made it for me.

We started things off with a really fantastic bowl of air-popped popcorn covered in parmesian cheese - I'm definitely a convert on this and will attempt to make it at home. The cheese was really delicious and of the perfect grind and consistency for this. I'm not sure what the peri-peri salt tasted like (it's on the menu as being on the corn) it may be the red flakes. If it was supposed to have the typical smokey flavor I didn't pick that up.

And then the signature ostrich sliders - these were fantastic. If you haven't had ostrich meat, it's closer to a red meat and a bit more acerbic, the acid provided a nice break for your typical, fatty burger.

And to round things out, this bowl of Mussels from Brussels (lemon butter, garlic and Benton's bacon bread)

And that's how the day started - this is the original 7 - quite the motley crew, right?

-- John

(also published to Yelp in shorter format)
 

Eat the Peachtree 2015 - Second Annual Peachtree Roadrace Restaurant Crawl

This past weekend (the weekend of July 4 - Happy Birthday 'Murica!) I once again participated in a restaurant and pub crawl, inspired by the Peachtree Road Race. Kevin and Verlin came up with the idea in 2014 while training for the 10K, which starts in Buckhead and ends in Mid-Town. As they ran various parts of the course they kept seeing restaurants or pubs that they either liked or wanted to try - thus the list of 10 for 2014, and now for 2015 was born. This was the planned itinerary:

Eat the Peachtree 2015 - Electric Boogaloo!

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. Wear comfortable shoes and come prepared to have a great time! We'll kick off at 12:00PM (one hour earlier than last year) and go until we reach Piedmont Park.

Here's the Google map of our revised proposed itinerary. The eagle-eyed will notice I've replaced Industry Tavern with Red Pepper Taqueria, because Industry Tavern is on a summer schedule and they are not opening on Sundays. That gives us two Mexican places, so I hope you like Dos Equis and margaritas.

Second Draft of Itinerary:

1. Yebo, 3500 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30326 

2. Red Pepper Taqueria, 3135 Piedmont Road Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30305

3. The Southern Gentleman, 3035 Peachtree Rd NE Suite A208, Atlanta, GA 30305

4. La Fonda Latina, 2813 Peachtree Road Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30305

5. Holeman and Finch Public House, 2277 Peachtree Road Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30309 

6. Varasano's Pizzeria, 2171 Peachtree Road Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30309

7. Saltyard, 1820 Peachtree Road Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30309

8. Uptown Station Exxon, 1521 Peachtree Street Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30309

9. Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro, 1197 Peachtree Street Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30361

10. Henry's Midtown Tavern, 132 10th Street Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30309
 

Link to the Google Map

The entire path ends up being about 5.9 miles.

If you're going to do something like this there are some considerations:

Last year we were working out the logistics of a 10K 10-stop pub crawl pretty much on the fly. This year, we're a little bit wiser for the experience. So here’s a quick post with our Eat The Peachtree "strategery".

CLOTHING: This should go without saying, but please wear comfortable shoes and clothing. This pub crawl traces the route of the Peachtree Road Race, meaning we will cover just over six miles over the course of the day. It’s actually a pretty gentle walk when taken at a slow pace, but it is absolute torture if you are wearing shoes that rub you or clothes that bind. We had a couple drop out last year due to bad shoes, and I’m hoping to avoid a repeat of that this year.

DRINKING: This is a marathon (well, technically, a 10K), not a sprint. The limit is one alcoholic beverage per stop. Trust me, it’s plenty. If you think you’ll want more, save it for when we get to Henry’s. Also, it’s going to be 90 degrees plus. Drink at least a glass of water at every stop. You’ll thank me later.

EATING: We’ll place one food order on arrival at each stop. Most of these restaurants have a dish or two that they are especially known for, and we’ll order enough to split so that everyone gets a decent taste. If you have any dietary restrictions, I need to know about them ASAP.

NO SEPARATE CHECKS: In the interest of time, everything goes on one check. I’m going to pick up the bill at each restaurant, and will settle up with everyone via Paypal by doing a modified “New York split”. (In other words, we aren’t going to do an itemized split, everyone in a group of X people that runs up a $Y tab pays $Z, where $Z = $Y/X. The modification is that we’ll actually run two tallies - one for food and one for alcohol. If you aren’t drinking, you’ll get a bill for just food, and if you are drinking, you’ll get a bill for food and alcohol. I’ll publish a Google spreadsheet with the gory details and a request for money. Please don’t leave me hanging - I only look like a million bucks.

NO HOP ON / HOP OFF: Given that this is a Sunday, I expect we’ll have people who will need to arrive late or leave early. That’s fine, we had the same thing happen last year, and we were able to handle it. That said, this is not a Gray Line bus tour. I do ask two things: One, if you’ve arriving late, when you are en route to Peachtree, please call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX, and I’ll let you know where we are going to land next so you can join us there. Two, if you’re bailing, please make sure I know that you are leaving the group, otherwise, we’ll lose time trying to round you up after you’ve already left.

TRANSPORTATION: Again, this should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway. I don’t want to hear about anyone catching a post-ETP DUI. Take Uber, public transit, or ride with a designated driver. The nearest MARTA stops to YEBO are Buckhead station on the Red Line and Lenox station on the Gold Line. If you are coming from north of town, you can park at North Springs, Sandy Springs, or Dunwoody Station for free for up 24 hours. Phipps Plaza and Lenox Mall both have signs prominently stating that they will tow your car if you park there and leave. How true that is, I have no idea.

PLANS MAY CHANGE: Last year, we had a restaurant unexpectedly close on us despite verifying they would be open beforehand. I’ve called and verified that all the stops on this year’s crawl should be open, but should we find differently, we may end up improvising. Weather may also impact our plans. Again, depending on what happens, we’ll improvise as needed.

Okay, that’s enough fine print for one pub crawl. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone and eating and drinking our way down Peachtree Road / Street!

The Event

So out of about 30 people that were invited, 7 showed up with one immediately bailing (still hungover I guess), 6 made it to the end...

I'm breaking up the individual restaurants into separate posts. They'll all be tagged with ETP2015.

-- John

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)