il Giallo Osteria & Bar

Did I just walk into a senior group home? It was like a 80 year reunion or some geriatric prom. I have never seen this many old people dressed up in one place... Besides Johnny's Hideaway. It's like that Geico commercial where Peter Pan goes back to his 70th high school reunion... And I was Peter Pan here. So, the chef and GM from old school Eyetalian Veni Vidi Vici opened up this joint after VVV finally shuttered. I don't know anyone who has gone there in the last 5 years and that location sucked ass. They were smart to open up in Sandy Springs because their demographics were old people that didn't want to drive to midtown anymore. I don't know if it was a refreshing change or not but there was not one hipster in the entire joint. Smelly old people or smelly hipsters... Fuck, that is one helluva dilemma to have. But the place smelled good, the aroma from the open kitchen was classic Italian. The bar was small but suitable to the size of this space... Too bad the poor bartender didn't know how to make a decent cocktail. Easily, the worst old fashioned I have ever had... Even dive bars at a biker rally made a better one. But if you asked him for a gin and tonic, no problem. The main problem is the ice machine, pumping out really shitty small flat pieces of ice that melted if you sneezed on it. 
No one is coming here for the cocktails or the bar scene, except for a select few of middle-aged chubby cougars and older saberteeth drowning themselves in cheap red wine and encasing themselves in a cloud of smoke. If you're looking to slay a run down and battered beast on the hunt for it's 3rd marriage that smokes 4 packs of cigs a day wearing giant gaudy costume jewelry and oversized cubic zirconia rings on their right paw, you came to the right place. I'll tell you what though, they know how to fucking party like Keith Richards... And like I always say, beauty is only a light switch away... Pump pump squirt.
Ok, enough of that nonsense, back to the food... I like the menu. It's simple, traditional but with modern touches. But let's see if it tastes as good as the server was preaching... I have had so many Eyetalian meals of disappointment in the last couple of weeks that I don't even get that excited anymore over a black risotto or pasta anymore... Let's go, bitches!

Duck and rabbit meatballs, mushrooms, vidalias. Tender and not gamey at all. The shrooms may have balanced that out. A very nice and savory little dish.

Grilled octopus, olive oil smashed potato, pickled onions. If there's octo, the pouch is gonna order it. These little coins of octopussy were tender and had a nice toothy texture as well. I would have drizzled a lil balsamic around the dish for a little added sweet acidity because the pickled onions were a bit muted. Still a tasty dish overall.

Shrimp “scampi”, georgia shrimp, garlic, blood orange. Let's face it, it's basically Eyetalian shrimp and grits... And it was good.

“giallo asse” salumi and cheese board. Meat and cheese boards are usually overpriced and boring.. This was better than average. The prosciutto was the best part, naturally...

Caesar salad, romaine hearts, white anchovies. This was a classic caesar, it would have been average but the white anchovies made the salad. You have a choice between salted or white anchovies.. Always go with the white.

Pickled beets, ricotta salata, dandelion greens. The presentation is not a favorite of mine because the main ingredient should always take the spot light. The cheese sheets and greens just covered up the delicious tender beets. But if you mix it around it's fine...

Risotto “nero” braised calamari in ink. Every Eytalian joint should be required to do half portions like this place... That way you can sample more dishes and increase the check size. This risotto was spot on, really good. Each arborio rice grain was visible and not overcooked to mush like at Brezza and they didn't skimp on the squirt ink. This should be the poster boy for a proper squid ink risotto.

Agnolotti, ravioli filled with roasted duck, fontina, in brown butter, sage, pecans. Another half portion of the now very common place ravioli that was relatively unknown like 4 years ago. It's like the fucking banh mi's nowadays all bastardized to hell... But this agnolotti was pretty much traditional and the filling of duck and fontina was very decent except it needed a lot more brown butter sauce. A bit dry on the bite but shit, I can work with this since it was good.

Lamb Shank, georgia apples. This beast leg was pretty much spot on in the outter char bits, the tender braised meat which was not gamey at all, the perfect seasoning and the jus drippings. It's a good portion of meat. You will definitely need to order a rice or pasta dish and few veggie sides to go with it... Like what this fat fuck did on this visit. Why am I so fucking fat again?

Eggplant, tomato, cheese. This was basically an eggplant lasagna. Just a great side all around. I could see this as full size entree as well.

Roasted beets and oven charred cauliflower. Who doesn't like golden beets? It's real hard to fuck up a golden beet, it's like the perfect root vegetable. It woulda been nice to see the beet leaves as a garnish on top but it was still good. The charred cauliflower needed something since they are so plain and boring by themselves... A little pig fat and pig face aka guanciale woulda been real nice in it for this fat pig eating it.

Strawberry Pizza. I couldn't believe that they didn't do pizzas here... But they did do one for dessert. I don't know if that even friggin counts. It's cute and gimmicky. Took one bite and I was done for the count on this dish... The broads at the table destroyed it while giggling the whole time like the little piglets they are... Wait til later, I'll teach them the meaning of the word pig. Add "in bed" to that like a fortune cookie.

Bread pudding. I don't like wet bready mushy things but this was actually quite nice. Just sweet enough, just syrupy enough, just mushy and spongy enough... Just a pretty decent dessert.

Bomboloni, a sweet ricotta doughnut hole drizzled with honey and topped with fresh whipped cream. These were like fancy pants zeppoles but mixed with ricotta to give it that extra creaminess to it. These were real nice, I would order these again... Shit, fried that bread pudding and I would order it again, too.

Panna Cotta. I had a bite of this. It was a pretty standard issue by the book panna cotta. Not too soft and not too firm just the right amount of gelatin, good balance of cream and sugar. Pretty good overall.

I must say after eating at a bunch of new Eyetalian joints around town lately, this place surprised me with it's flavors, techniques and consistency. They are not trying to break new culinary ground in Italian cookery... Just putting out really good and classic dishes we are know and can pronounce with a modern twist. If you want old school ginzo grub, go to Alfredo's which is a classic Atlanta mainstay... If you want shitty hipster celeb chef Eyetalian go to PCM. I rather eat good grub than to see and be seen... Wait, I don't want to be seen, I'm too bashful of my obeast and salacious figure which may emanate bodily fluids and sounds that may be more repulsive than the spittle from the mouths of the cackling hyenaous hipsters that adore those places. But if you want classic Italian fare and don't mine dining in the company of gramps and gam-gams trying to hook with one another, this is the place for you. I want to go back and just watch the old people working it... All with a mouthful of black risotto like the world's most amazing shit eating grin.

Burp.

5920 Roswell Rd #118
Sandy Springs, GA 30328 
404-709-2148 
http://ilgialloatl.com/ 

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen

I was on my way to Savannah to do the rounds in the resto scene down there yonder... Then I spotted this creasture in the middle of nowhere with the likes of Mos Eisley... Otherwise known as Warner Robins in downstate Georgia. This middle earth spaceport district must be the hotbed for every single smut chain restaurant in existence. I have never heard of this place before but... You will never find a more wretched hive of slop and gluttony. We must be cautious.

"Scratch Kitchen. Handmade Food. Exceptional Value." ...Sounds like my kinda dump. That chef is serious as cancer about producing good food and laser focused on garnishing that handmade dish. I hope he washed his hands before returning to work... Flush.

Triple Treat Sampler. Nachos, loaded potato skins, chicken tender. This was more like a triple threat dog dare to eat it... What is what on this platter? I think I see the chicken tenders in the corner, even they're scared to be on this dish... The waitress looked at me and said, "C'mon, don't be a chickenshit and just eat it." This is the most poorly prepared appetizers I think I have ever had. I had better appetizers from the microwave. That is not even nachos, they look like snotchos... As if the kitchen did a giant farmers blow on this plate. I'm still trying to figure out why this nation has an obesity problem...

Chicken Tenders. I didn't want that tainted cheekan tenders from that previous mess, so I ordered some by itself. Ok, this doesn't look that smutty. They should just call this dish, "Brown bagging it" because everything came from a brown bag... Frozen fries, frozen tenders straight from the factory. Scratch made my ass... Wait, maybe they meant they were scratching their ass while they were waiting for the ding from the fryer timer. This tasted as one would have expected, carnival style grub with the smell of overworked fryer oil.

Baby Back Ribs & Chicken Tenders, mash taters and green beans. The combinations here are endless, you can customize anything here... If you wanted those tenders swimming in the baked potato soup those mofos in the back will do it. They don't give a shit. It's kinda fun having it your way. Too bad your way is not their way... The ribs are totally premade and reheated (barely). While it was somewhat tender they were pretty much all drenched in HFCS BBQ sauce. It's like the premade ribs you get at Kroger and just reheat by boiling the entire bag. The mash taters were average.

Grilled Salmon, corn and mac. Ok, this didn't looked half bad. The salmon was in one piece, unmolested and seasoned somewhat well. It tasted like salmon, too. How can this be? Don't get your hopes up too much because the mac was absolute garbage, as if they just cooked the pasta and sprinkled the cheese packet over the macaroni straight from the box. The corn was straight from the giant commercial family size can... I saw the giant Edlund Old Reliable can opener on the end of the table in the kitchen.

Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs. Another person at the table wanted the full rack but sadly the broccoli was the best part. I have no clue what was in that bowl... I can only imagine the worst.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie. This actually looked handmade... The pastry on top looked like a blind man putting on his toupee in front of the mirror in the dark.There were holes on one side and too much hanging off on the other side... But it was not too shabby. The cream of chicken soup mixture inside was pretty good although you guessed it, it was ultra salty.

Top Sirloin Steak & Shrimp. This may be the fanciest dish of the night... Luckily, this was my main course. The shrimp was actually grilled and I loved how they stacked them next to each other... From the skewer to the plate. That is some fancy presentation. The sirloin was cooked spot on mid rare... Fucking unbelievable! I'm so stoked right about now. Even the meat was somewhat tender, of course, there were a few hard spots. But in the end this piece of meat was totally unseasoned and the loaded baked tater was only half loaded unlike the kitchen staff, they forgot the bacon bits and butter. I guess I was just expecting way too much from this kitchen. They are totally drinking on the job.

Sweet Baby Carrots, Red Beans and Rice. The carrots were supermarket grade and not really sweet. The red beans and rice tasted like it was days old and off putting... There was a funk in there that I haven't tasted in a long long time. It reminded me of jail.

This place was almost like the Cantina on Mos Eisley, it was filled with a wretched hive of scum and villany... Not talking about the customers (ok maybe 43% of them were) but the food and servers were just filthy. One person at the table stepped on a roach before we even ordered. All I cared about was not finding one of them in my Makers Mark... Always get it neat, so you can see through it. Our server watched us eat the whole time, as if waiting for us to almost finish so she can give us the check and go home without even asking if we wanted dessert, coffee, or whatever... Not that we were going to but shit, mofo, at least offer it. Another server was sweeping the carpet with a broom right next to us and a couple other tables... Dust and roach legs were all flying up in the air all around us and the other tables acted like this was normal. I truly don't understand the hillbilly mentality... They really love dirt. As for this dump, never again. I don't think I have ever wanted to leave a resto this fast... Ok, maybe except for Red Lobster.

2915 Watson Blvd
Warner Robins, GA 31093 
478-971-1527
http://cheddars.com/

Ticonderoga Club

The best time to come to KSM is on a weekday or night... You get to avoid all the mooks and the Buckhead army douchery found on the weekends. I wonder if these creastures even realize that they are the douches that everyone makes fun of... Not that I don't have a ton of shit to make fun of myself about and do as well. First and foremost, I'm a fat fuck that can't stop eating and when I start eating I usually don't stop. And a food hall is the last place you want a fat slob to be at. So, in order not to offend anyone with my grotesque jiggling body like a pair of giant flapjacked fried egg tits, I prefer to come here on an early week day or night and it's quiet as can be. There's no lines to wait on, the food is prepared with care (at most places) and you get to enjoy it without all the screaming, yelling and dudebro-ing from the kids and millennials.
So, Ticonderoga Club has been on my radar since they opened, stopped in a couple times to check it out... Now, my one reader will get the official low down on this joint from the old school H&F guys. Will TC suck a giant schlong or will it slam ass like H&F once did when they made that joint in the beginning. The pouch will once again sacrifice the delicate lining of it's bowels to bring my one fan the yay or nay eats around town...

Lunch.

Spiedie Kit. Chicken spiedie, Moxie and Cape Cod kettle chips. The sesame seed bread is just awesome (made be Gen. Muir). Toasted perfectly. It has that perfect crunch and it doesn't bite into your gums. The grilled chicken cubes are marinaded very well and juicy. It's a good sando but in order for it to be a true upstate New York spiedie, go super light on the lettuce or none at all. A classic NY spiedie is just bread and meat, maybe a little grilled onions. But I do like that this is the only place in town to even find an upstate NY spiedie.


Dinner.

Buckskin Playmate and Ticonderoga Cup... And a Long Henry in the back somewhere. Mmm, bourbon and rum do mix in the pouch. These cocktails remind me of the old H&F and PDT in NYC, just tasty as shit. That copper cup is awesome, I need one but Greg might ask for it back... Again.

Cured Salmon Spring Rolls, cucumber, mango, cilantro, Thai chili sauce. A nice play on the Thai basil roll. The lox was a tad salty, plump and toothy which was perfect in this spring roll but they drenched this with Mae Ploy... Which worked amazingly. This was quite perplexing. Shit, Mae Ploy will make almost anything taste good, even a freshly laid dog shit. This was a fun dish. Whities will love this shit... Just don't ask if there's fucking cream cheese in this cured fish rolls. I will cut you.

Grilled Foie Gras, cherry marble anadama toast. Goddamn y'all, why is a terrine made with whole foie gras so damn good inside your mouth? And layering it with a cherry spread on multiple levels makes this even more fucking special on the flavor scale. I don't know if this was real New England style Anadama bread but it sure was buttery and toasty... Top it off with some fatty organ meats and you have yourself a very healthy snack. This was an instant hit.

Spiced Pork Confit, masa porridge, coriander relish. The pork confit sounded great but the masa porridge interested me more... When a whitie says they have porridge, I'm like a deer in headlights. Ding! So, what's in this masa porridge... Well, it's like eating a tamale porridge. The pork was charred nicely and had really good bits of crispies on the corners and the inside was fork tender. Take a spoonful with a bit of everything and your mouth will be jizzing with ecstasy. Facegasm. Wonderful lil dish.

Sweetbreads, arugula, citrus brown butter, bottarga. This sounds fancy, perhaps a small throw back to the H&F days. Sweetbreads is one of my favorite things to shove inside my facehole... Who doesn't like offal organ gland thingies breaded and pan fried? Top this lumpy organ with some salty bottarga shavings and you got yourself a pretty fancy feast. I liked this a lot. 

Fisherman's Friend, snapper, shrimp, clams, mussels, bacon, broth, bread. This was a real nice dish. It had it all, the presentation, the great colors, the assortment of shellfish and fish, the bread logs, the flavors...  A win win at $14.

Cangrejo El Diablo, hot bibb sauce. Yes, you are not seeing things.. This presentation was a mess. We all agreed that this presentation should be flipped over... Sauce on the bottom with the two tempura-esque fried soft shell crabs on top. The thickish sauce had a subtle but noticable heat which I enjoyed very much. The soft shell crab was mostly soggy by the time it got to the table sitting under all that sauce. The crabs were pretty large and tasted as fresh as can be defrosted but if it was still crispy, it would have been twice as good for the $28 price tag. Change out the presentation and this would be a hit.

Dry Aged Roasted Half Duck, game jus. The second priciest dish on the menu... What did you expect? It's a half duck at an intown hipster joint. But after seeing the dish in real life and in real time, it looked almost worth it for $34. The duck was pretty tender overall but the legs (why are there two with a half duck?) were a bit dried out perhaps from the dry aging process and no fat near it. The fatty layer beneath the skin coulda been rendered a bit more since parts of it were pretty thick. But I think this was a success overall... But nothing will ever beat a whole roast duck from Ming's or BBQ Corner for under $20, damn that shit is so good.  They asked us if we wanted some bread to sop up the savory jus, ah, hell yeah... But it will cost ya a dollar for some day old toasted spiedie bread from yesterday's lunch shift. I just think at this price point, they shoulda sent out some bread gratis.

Wok Vegetables. Shanghai bok choy is a great side dish but for the price this was a skimpy portion at best. It was prepared well with good seasonings but that $8 price tag for four halves of small bok choy still haunts me with a bit of insult. A 5 lb. bag of bok choy is like $3 at the Asian market.

Poh's Eggplant. Nice little eggplant side dish, really savory and full of flavor but it was a bit salty. If the salt factor was dialed down just a bit, this would be an outstanding side dish... I would get it again.

Ipswich Clam Roll, tartare royale, chips (Cape Cod). I was real hesitant to order this because 1) it was pricey for a clam roll, 2) it's made with tiny Ipswich clams with tiny bellies, 3) it could be all breading inside a small roll. Well, it sure was pricey but it was kinda worth it. The clams were small as expected but the breading was proportioned well with the size of the clams. The flavor and seasoning was spot on but there was a bit too much tartare sauce that muted the overall flavor a bit. It's a good clam roll but for the price of admission, I would order something else instead. But y'all gotta do it once in your measly lifetime as I always do with any seafood roll I see on the menu.

Rum Chocolate Mousse. Made by Little Tart Bakery on the other side of the market. I'm not a big dessert person but it was more like a fudge than a mousse because of the thick but smooth molasses like texture. It was pretty tasty I guess. After one bite I was done, the rest of the table loved it.

This treehouse/clubhouse style resto is a hidden gem in the corner of the KSM. It ain't kiddie prices but the big bold flavors and techniques found here will reflect in the big boy prices that you will gladly shell out. Some prices baffled me because of product used but so far, this joint is killing it. The complaints are minor compared to the overall success of the menu and I will get that Chuck Wagon plus CW fixins ("enough to feed an army" ..it better for $72!) next time. Keep cooking the shit outta that menu and the pouch will keep eating the shit outta that menu... All these dishes were had in one disgusting gluttonous sitting. Squirt.

If someone is reading this dumpy blog... Please Don't Tell, keep this joint hush hush, under wraps, on da D.L. Thanks, pal...

PS- Beware of this singing creasture... It will haunt your dreams and my bowels for weeks.

99 Krog St.
Atlanta, GA 30307
404-458-4534 (listen for the duck quacking ring tone)
http://www.ticonderogaclub.com/

Brezza Cucina

This town has a problem with celebrity chefs... There's too many of them and too many that wants to become a celebrity chef. They all want to be television and film stars and not real cooks. This profession has been so dumb down by the Food Network and Bravo and the lure of money, celebrity status, fame, drugs and hookers that everyone is jumping into this vocation just to be famous. This Jonathan Waxman was a good chef that cooked well for a living at one time, now he's just a restaurateur opening a handful of restos in the past few years. I was never that impressed with the restos that he opened, they appealed more to the masses... Kinda like Guy Fieri's dumps. But let's take a look at his shiny new eyetalian joint inside the PCM... The space is pretty open, a nice bar area and open kitchen with a wood burning oven. The menu is quite short and simple which is a good sign. Stick to simple and traditional, you can't fuck that up... That badly. I hope. They do draw in the big crowds during the weekends but it's pretty easy to get in during the week. I have had so many disappointments in PCM so far that I'm not even gonna get that excited about anything here anymore... I'm just gonna eat and report my findings... For the children.

Wood Roasted Oysters. Yeah, this pic sucks ass but there's no mistaking that there are 4 oven roasted oysters sitting on a thick bed of rock salt (what a waste of money, wait, no wonder it's this expensive, I'm paying for this inedible part). These oysters were awful. Over cooked and shrunk to size of a baby turtle barely peeping it's head out of the shell. It tasted like nothing except a rubber mass bathing in some liquid which wasn't briny. I have seen pics where this had 5 oysters on the cast iron, but the pouch got fucked again... $15 for 4 oysters, that's $3.75 per shitty oyster, it's just absurd.

Pizza. Salame, pancetta, olive, fontina, caramelized onions. Dude, $16 for a personal size 'ZA. This thing was prolly 8 inches at most, while most ladies wouldn't complain, the pouch was disappointed with it's girth... That's like $2 per inch. Not only was this a joke, it was near burnt. I asked them to make sure it's cooked through and not watery and this creasture from the abyss came out. Have they no shame?

Slice of 'ZA and oyster side by side for size comparison. At these prices, you should eat the fucking shell too because you ain't gonna be satisfied with the amount of grub found here or in your belly. Look at all that grease shimmering on top of the slice. The pizza was ultra salty unlike the oyster and it was just a bready, gooey, greasy mess... If I didn't know any better I would have thought this was from Pizza Hut. Wait, that would be insult to Pizza Hut, they don't burn pies because it's on a timer.

Up skirt... Looks like this hair pie needs to do a better job at wiping after itself... Flush.

Gnocchi. Hen of the woods, parmesan. No one fucks up gnocchi, no one... But what's this? Is that friggin Combos? Bay scallops? Marshmallows? I tasted one and it was all dough and raw in the middle. How is this gnocchi? Where's the fucking potato? I have even made ricotta gnocchi that used less flour. I think these were breadsticks cut up and pan fried. Was this Eyetalian Naan bread? They were so dry, dense and heavy vs. the pillowy gnocchi we all know and love. I rather they try to trick me with a bag of Combos on a plate (pizzeria flavor, pweez) than with these flour rocks. The hen shrooms were the best part but $18 for pure flour is even more of a slap in the face than the personal size 'ZA.

Bucatiniall'amatriciana. One of my favorite pastas... I recently stocked up on bucatini from Dekalb Farmers Market. They're the only place that have gemelli and bucatini... Add a can of the DOP San Marzano tomatoes and basil as a hand crushed sauce to either pastas and it's pure heaven. While this specimen looked decent enough, the amount of pasta to sauce to price ratio is baffling. $16 for a bowl that looks like a half portion... Even a 8 year old would be left crying for more after this measly amount. The bucatini was way undercooked, where it's gummy and sticks to your teeth when you bite into it. The sauce was too light and watery and it lacked the bold sweet flavor from the tomato and the salty kick from the protein... There were a few bits of what may be guanciale but the spiciness from the black pepper and red chili flakes were non-existent. The server asked if I wanted them to make another one, I said, no, don't even bother, it's not that good even if the pasta was cooked properly.

Risotto. Gulf shrimp, butternut squash. Is this oatmeal? Congee? Condensed mushroom soup without the can of water or milk? Risotto was the reply by the server. This $23 bowl of over cooked rice porridge was gummy and slimy in a natto kinda way. Where's the 1000 year old egg? Oh, I forgot this was risotto... Which had almost no flavor and just a bowl of mush. The arborio rice broke down to basically nothing except starch in it's purist form. They might as well just call this dish roux blanc. The visual was enough for me to give up on this dish. This meal was a steady progression of bad going to worse.

I refuse to believe that a meal could be worse than Jia inside PCM... But another celebrity chef has done the impossible. Am I missing something here where other people were raving about the same exact dishes I had here on the same night? Either, I have no taste and palate at all or I am taking crazy pills for not having the same amazing food nirvana as everyone else. I wanted to order more dishes but every single dish that came out so far was a total disappointment, so I gave up. How the fuck does the kitchen and expeditor not see what's going on and putting out sub-par dish after dish. It's just too baffling to even try to comprehend this overpriced goat rodeo. Another all show and no substance stall in the PCM... 

675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30308

404) 724-9700 

http://brezzacucina.com/  

Eight Sushi Lounge

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The Red Snapper

I have not been back to this classic dump in decades... I have forgotten that Thai peeps own this joint. When I opened the door I thought I walked into Little Bangkok... The slant to cracker ratio was like 3 to 1. No wonder the owners hid themselves from the front of the house for so many years to build that local following for Southern seafood fine dining. It felt like going to my Gam-Gam's house again... Almost. The joint is still dark and dingy, staying true to it's original gaudy decor from the 80's with a faint smell of Poligrip and Bengay in the air. The table cloths, the warm bread wrapped in a napkin, the terrible cocktail menu, the candle light, the outdated plating presentations... Who said fine dining was dead? This is the type of old school fine dining that you can only find here. And I fucking love it. Let's see if the old school menu is still edible here...

Warm Loaf. A dude runs into a little shack that looks like a powder room and comes out with a warm loaf. Luckily, it wasn't brown. Pretty much standard belly filler... But the butter was thoughtfully at room temp.

Oyster Rockefeller. The stuffing mixture is quite dark isn't it? I can only imagine a child playing with what's inside his diaper in the kitchen when I saw this... Yes, I'm a very sick person. Sick enough to eat this slop without hesitation. The mixture doesn't even look close to the classic puree of mixed green veggies, herbs and bread crumbs... It tasted like nothing except mush and salt. The hollandaise helped it go down a little bit easier but this is so far off the mark of a good old school Rockefeller. I didn't shit my pants, though... So, that's a good sign to continue.

Soft Shell Crab. The crab was crispy and tasted a little off like it had been defrosted once too many times... But it wasn't awful and it tasted better with each bite. The curry pasta... Ah, yeah, I don't think so. Undercooked fettuccine in a watery mix of taint juice... Not curried at all. Nice try but just stick with the fried soft shell crab, by itself.

Snapper Yvonne. Lightly breaded filet with crabmeat, artichoke hearts & mushrooms in light lemon butter sauce. Their definition and my definition of lightly breaded is quite different. Maybe it's their Asian language barrier but this was not breaded. Lightly dusted with flour and pan fried then finished off in the oven. It's not a bad dish but it seems like all their fish dishes look similar with different toppings. It's totally acceptable but it won't change your thinking on snapper as your go to fish.

Ginger Snapper. Lightly breaded filet topped with shrimp & mushrooms in fresh ginger sauce. This looks exactly the same at the Yvonne except you get skrimpz and shrooms on top. The ginger sauce was almost too light to even notice. For their in house famous dish... It lacked that pow that you would expect from a ginger dish. But it's not bad, just pretty average.

Fried Seafood Platter. Their most popular dish... Shit, anything fried is popular. This had shrimp, oysters, scallops and onion rings... And the standard rice and assorted medley of veggies like all the other entrees. The oysters had a nice breading, the shrimp coulda been a little bit more crisp on the bite, the scallops were plump and juicy but the batter was a bit soft from the steam and moisture of the scallops. The onions were just more padding for my fat ass. It's a tasty fried platter, I would hit it again.

On another visit, the lighting was so dimly lit that it made all my pics look like what you may find in a toilet at a music festival... But it smelled and tasted much better.

Oysters Sara - 3 fried oysters on a bed of creamed spinach & mushrooms with a touch of hollandaise. This was not too shabby. I like the components on this dish, it worked.

Seafood Gumbo. Their gumbo is a lot better than the gumbo I had at Pinewood recently. This was thicker, had more flavor and herbs, and the crabmeat on top gave it a bit more texture after mixing it in. Totally acceptable.

Broiled Seafood Platter. Snapper, scallop, shrimp. The scallops were nice and plump, shrimp a bit over cooked, and the snapper was cooked pretty spot on with the same seasoning sprinkled all over. The boiled taters were like what was had during the Irish blight... Skip them. The seasonal veggies were more like all season veggies which was as expected, middling. I liked the dish, though, the main ingredients were acceptable and cooked well.

Best of the Sea. Scallops, crabmeat in light lemon butter with mushrooms, served over rice pilaf. The scallops were way undercooked compared to temp of sashimi, cold and spongy... Which was fine with me. But the server was a super awesome dude and got the kitchen to send out new ones that were cooked spot on on the second try. The pilaf was ultra salty but overall, it was a decently composed dish.

Veg Medley. Find a hobo outside, he will love it.

After all these years, these recent visits prove that they still have the staying power to be an Atlanta classic... But as for their patrons, I don't know how long they will last. It definitely is an old school classic and the place is full of grays... But they need more gays to compete with the Colonnade down the street. Their cocktail menu sucks, liquor selection sucks, and the beer selection kinda sucks... And don't y'all ever change that. The food ain't gonna change your life, it's pretty much average but all the pedestrians seemed to love it... Including me. But I don't think this will be in my regular rotation for the next 5 years... I'm sure I'll regret it when they shutter suddenly. But if y'all want to experience old school Atlanta, this is one of the places to put on your list... At least once in your measly lifetime. 

2100 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE #3A
Atlanta, GA 30324
404-634-8947
http://www.redsnapperatlanta.com/