Buckhead Diner

I haven't been here in many many moons... It's just one of those restos with a never changing menu that is there for the tourists and the old school blue hair crowd which their herd seems to be getting thinner and thinner these days. This resto group is one the most successful in Buckhead and they take a major share of the expense account checks. If you ain't paying why wouldn't you wanna go to Chops or Lobster Bar... Just order it, baybee!
So, I was in god awful Buckhead to take care of some biznaz and I didn't want to deal with the Friday rush hour traffic.. It was too late for lunch and too early for a real dinner. I was basically in blue hair early bird special territory but I said fuck it, I can just have an early pre-dinner snack. I promised the pouch that I will not order more than 3 dishes or else it's a meal then with 4 or more dishes. The nice thing about coming here really early before the big dinner rush is that you get your pick of the table and the food gets prepared just a bit better. And it makes all the difference in taste and presentation... But I really don't know because I would never come here during the major dinner rush, it's a full blown shit show by then. I looked at the menu and nothing, absolutely nothing interested me... It was the same old same old Buckhead Diner menu that hasn't changed in ages. Jesus, this old couple a few tables over had to be at least in their mid 70's was talking about how they loved the same dish they ate when they were teenagers. My question was how the fuck did they live this long eating this stuff for 60 years. The server comes over and rattles off the specials... It was going in one waxy ear and out the other until she said soft shell crab... What? Come again... The fish of the day was a soft shell crab sando. Fucking done and done, son. I hate ordering just one dish because it makes me feel like a such a loser eating alone... Ordering a few dishes make it feel like a party, like I'm with people who like me. Since, nothing on the menu was crying out to be eaten on the meat side, I kinda swayed towards the seafood side since I didn't want to eat anything too heavy before my real dinner later on. Fish is always a light meal. I had to shoo away the server like 3 times because I couldn't decide... But this visit will be an all seafood snack. Shit, it seems like I'm always on a seafood diet... When I see food, I fucking eat it. Let's go to the video tape...

Bread. The mini corn muffins were pretty decent and the bread logs were a bit tough and chewy... Not expecting anything fancy on the free bread but do they really need to continue on with this added expense? Just get rid of it because they throw out so many of these things anyways...

Our Famous Peartini, Grey Goose Pear Vodka, Amaretto, Sweet & Sour, Sugar Rim. It's kinda embarrassing to even tell people I ordered this but I did and I drank it... If you're about to go into a diabetic seizure, drink like 3 of these things and you'll be fine because they are was so fucking sweet. I will not be ordering this thing ever again... I got a beer next.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, grainy lemon mustard butter, vinegar chips. What a piece of art this was... Two chips on top of a crab cake, hiding all it's glory. The chips were cut length wise so that was kinda cool and it tasted average... But the crab cake itself, while on the smaller end, was lumpy, seasoned properly and had a nice crispy sear on it. Not a bad crab cake at all. I would get it again... Maybe even when I'm in my mid 70's and tell the young whipper snappers all about it back in the days.

Beer Battered New England Cod, french fries, tartar sauce, malt vinegar. I never had their fish and chips... But it was a very plump portion. The batter was golden brown and crispy but it wasn't covered all the way around, it had some bare spots. Not a big deal but you would expect it to be fully coated in this joint. It was a pretty good fried fish, overall... The chips, well, they were just plain old brown bag fries.

Soft Shell Crab "lightly fried", shallot-dill mayo, bibb lettuce, tomato, butter toasted egg bun, HM chip. The main event finally arrived... And it looked glorious! This was totally worth the 15 bucks or so... The whole fried soft shell crab was crispy, moist and tasted great. Put it all together in sando formation and it's a hefty snack. This time they gave you more than two home made chips, but it tasted better than the ones used on the crab cake for some reason, so fucking weird. Maybe the other ones were from yesterday's batch that they had to use up. I was just lucky to be at the right place and at the right time with this soft shell crab special. This was good and I would definitely get it again.

Buckhead Diner is an oldie but a goodie for the pedestrians. I don't come here much because the menu never changes and I find most dishes boring as fuck here but sometimes you just have to see what they're up to after such a long hiatus from this resto group. Maybe I was just lucky this time around with getting all seafood dishes at this joint and they all turned out pretty decent... But that soft shell crab sando made this visit a lot better than it really should have. I know everyone has been here a gazillion times and knows that the food is totally acceptable and don't need the pouch to say it so... Nevermind the pouch and move along... Move along... Like the cattle that they are... Wait a minzie, I'm just as fat as all these other fuckers in here... Christ, time to cry myself to sleep again tonight...

Oink oink...

3073 Piedmont Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
https://buckheadrestaurants.com/restaurant/buckhead-diner/