Wahoo Grill

It's been awhile since I made a revisit but all my past visits were pretty decent. It's a reliable neighborhood resto that proved they could stand the test of time and stay in business after all these years. Let's see if they can prove to the pouch if that still holds water... Well, in the pouch's case, it's more like whiskey.
The joint still looks exactly the same as it did and they still get a pretty good crowd. The bar in the back was dark, sad and lonely... I don't know why they haven't moved the bar to the front, it's all about window dressing, make the joint look happening even if it isn't. People like to see a bar from the street while they're driving by... It makes the statement that they have booze. I like booze... And fwied cheekan. They still have both, so, let's go see what the fuck is up with them nowadays...

Fried Calamari.spicy hoisin and mayhaw-citrus sauces, crisp banana peppers. This dish is as old as PEI mussels in some type of wacky exotic broth. It's still crispy, crunchy and a bit chewy. Same as it ever was. It's one of the great gimmick dishes that never fails to sell... In any resto.

Crab Bisque, crab meat blended with cream and a touch of sherry. It's a pretty basic recipe but it works for this hood. The consistency was fine, not too thick and not too thin. It was fine in a generic kinda way but nothing that memorable.

P.E.I. Mussels, chorizo, saffron broth, grilled bread. Speaking of the fucking devil... Here's the motherfucking mussels. In a chorizo and saffron broth no less. A bit small on the size of the mussels but who's expecting plump medium+ sized mussels here. They were average and acceptable, as expected.

Southern Fried Chicken. Does anybody really care if it's from Springer Mountain after it's been fried to hell? It's like a broken record with every place that uses Springer Mountain chicken... The whole organic free range bullshit is out the window once you deep fry that yardbird. Having said that, this fwied cheekan is still decent but not crave worthy enough to make it a destination because it is all white meat, zero dark meat here. The crust/batter was a medium thickness coating which wasn't bad, it was pretty crispy. The white meat, of course, was kinda dry inside. The mound of mash and greens were all filler whether it be on the plate or in your pouch. I rather just get a 8 piece box from Publix and sit on a curb and chow down on that, instead.

Beet Salad, braised beets, goat cheese, walnuts, bacon, sweet onion, spinach, arugula herb-cider vinaigrette. Not a bad looking salad... Pretty decent looking actually. It tasted like how it looked, pretty tasty. At least it's colorful unlike the previous dishes.

Duck. I think this was a special for the night. A decent amount of duck breast fanned out but that arugula salad looked like they just poured it out of the bag, undressed. The duck was cooked pretty much spot on, maybe a tad over but it was still pink so it's ok... But the overall dish looked so damn dry. Undressed salad, not much of a sauce for the duck except that berry compote thingy. It's a very home cook version.

Charleston Shrimp & Grits, sauteed and simmered in a spicy tomato cream sauce over creamy stone ground cheddar grits. Nice plump skrimpz, kinda looks like it's from the shrimp cocktail but the star of the show was just too soupy. I hate soupy grits but people like to call it creamy sometimes when it's been sitting around for too long. This would be a great version if it was at a QT gas station. Ok, it wasn't that bad but it was just so average at best... And how do we know it's really from Charleston? I had some fucking kickass S&G's there, these didn't taste like them...

Brasstown Beef N.Y. Strip, 10-ounce grilled, Wahoo! steak sauce, cajun fries, grilled onion. Why do I wish that the onions on top was a onion volcano instead? Those onions were barely grilled, maybe they wanted it "flame kissed". Nothing like raw crunchy onions to put a film on your taste buds before you bite into a piece of manmeat. The strip was fine, cooked pretty much spot on mid-rare... But overall, it was just so generic looking. Piece of meat, onions on top, fries and sauce on the side... Longhorn's and Outback's does the same thing... Wait, Outback's gives you side options for no additional charge.

Cod. Not a bad looking piece of fish, pretty chunky... Too bad it was undercooked, raw in the middle. Sent it back and it still came out a bit undercooked. Well, it ain't gonna kill you but it may if you send it back for a 3rd time... All I heard playing in my head was "Boogers and cum, how about some feces with your flounder?"

Bliss Cake, a wahoo! favorite! warm, semi-sweet chocolate cake with hints of ginger, cinnamon, red wine, hazelnut whipped cream, chocolate ganache. It looked like it made a Hershey's squirts trail from one end of the plate to the other end. It did a zig zag formation to disorient you, kinda like how you would run away from a alligator. I wouldn't call it a Bliss cake because it wasn't all that joyful in my mouth. It wasn't bad, like everything else it was just average, almost store bought quality if you will.

Even with this lackluster visit, I think this is still a perfectly decent neighborhood resto for this area. I would prefer to go to Dish Dive before coming here but if you have a larger party this would fit the bill fine. The food isn't gonna blow you away, it's standard American fare and it's average. The menu seemed like it hasn't had a make over in years and there is nothing here that anyone would consider adventurous eating, so it's safe. The only thing I wouldn't do again is sit near the open kitchen, I don't know if the vents were working properly that night but you come out smelling like a grease trap afterwards and it took days to get rid of the grease smell from my jacket.


1042 W College Ave
Decatur, GA 30030
404-373-3331
http://www.wahoogrilldecatur.com/