2011 Restaurant Hot Spots and Not Spots-Pt 2

I had the opportunity to vacation throughout Atlanta and its surrounding areas last year and in true foodie fashion, I had to checkout what foods ATL had to offer. On my quest for Georgia peach cobbler, I stumbled upon some hot spots and some not spots. Here is a review of  one of those places.

Shane’s Rib Shack

Apparently, this is a bit of a chain restaurant with several locations in the area. I read a few reviews and they all raved about the peach cobbler, so I had to get there and figured I might as well try the food. I got the sampler plate so I could try a little bit of everything. The sampler included 3 ribs, 2 chicken tenders, pulled chicken and 2 sides. I  chose okra and coleslaw.

Overall, nothing special. It was food, but nothing stood out as truly delicious. The sauce was decent and everything else was edible. The meat had a boiled with liquid smoke flavor, not really what I was expecting from a rib shack.

 

The peach cobbler that was hailed “the best ever”  was more of a peach cake like substance. It was slightly dry and not very flavorful. The food at Shane’s was definitely substandard but the staff was so incredibly nice that I really wanted to like the place…. not so much…. 😦

Find me chewing on Twitter @RhoyalSocialite

Restaurant Hits and Misses of 2011

I have had the wonderful pleasure of having some of the most delightful culinary experiences in 2011! Some of them I have shared with you and some time didn’t permit me to share, but I would like to take the next few posts to recap a few of my favorite hits and a few that unfortunately missed the mark… Enjoy!

Hit (An affordable hit at that)

Conte Di Savoia

2227 W. Taylor St.

Chicago, IL

Very cute little neighborhood deli. Everything from the bread, to the cold cuts to the salads was extremely fresh. I had a turkey sandwich on a wheat sub roll and the macaroni salad. It was delish! The lunch time specials come with chips or a small salad and a drink for about $5.5!0!. Fantastic food at great prices! Definitely a hit!

Front of Conte

The cold cut and salads counter

The delectable sandwich

And the macaroni salad!  Magnifico!

Find me on Twitter @RhoyalSocialite

Life’s a Burrito Beach

Shout out to all those who were on #Foodiechat last Monday on Twitter! It was awesome! Not only did I have a fun chat and meet new and interesting people, I also won a tweet contest from Burrito Beach. Because of my love of all things Mexican, I headed straight down to the beach the next day.

This is usually the part of the post where I give you descriptions of the ambiance, décor, service, blah, blah, blah.  I had to park in a loading zone and run in so I didn’t get the pleasure of dining in.  Also, I really just wanna cut to the chase, meaning the food, so I’ll make this part short and sweet. Décor=fine, service=fine, other=fine. Now on to the good stuff…

After combing the extensive menu online filled with burritos, tacos, salads and even quesadillas, the baja chicken burrito (one of their signature burritos) called me by name.  After reading the description of grilled chipotle chicken with fat-free black beans, white citrus rice, corn relish, onion-cilantro mix, Jack cheese, romaine lettuce + sour cream, I didn’t hesitate to answer: YES! I’M COMING!

There were so many things to choose from and everything looked fresh and appetizing. They even had a tortilla choice of flour, wheat or spinach. As much as I wanted everything, I settled on the following burrito fillings;

• Red rice-which I was told was rice with tomato juice
•   Baja Chicken
•  Romaine lettuce
• Mild salsa-not too thin, not too chunky
• Corn medium salsa
• Sour cream-which was thin like Crema 
•  Monterey jack cheese
•  Little bit of nacho cheese
•  Red onion and cilantro mixture 
•  Black beans

All that rolled into my spinach tortilla with a side of guacamole and chips and I was ready to dig in. With the very first bite, I tasted a combination of flavors that just danced on my tongue. It was a fresh, extra savory waltz with the right amount of heat and spice. Unbelievable!  The chicken was seasoned to perfection and extremely tender. The crunch of the romaine and red onions and even the slightly underdone black beans made this burrito phenomenal! The sauces and cheeses was the finale that tied it all together. This is by far the best burrito I ever put in my mouth! Beyond scrumptious!

The guacamole was chunky and delightful and the chips had no salt and a hint of lime. Perfection!

I give Burrito Beach a coveted 5 crowns!

If life is a Burrito Beach, then life is truly good…

Feel free to comment or recommend where I should visit next.

Find me on Twitter @rhoyalsocialite

This “May” Just be the Worst I’ve Ever Eaten

I’m a sucker for Latin cuisine. I think I’m actually part Mexican (well, part of my “love lumps” are due to my many guacamole raids). But I absolutely love Latin food. I cherish the flavors, bathe in the aromas, and lust after the array of spices and colors. It is truly a love affair. So when I heard of the eclectic mix of Puerto Rican, Mexican and Cuban influences May St. Café had to offer, my heart skipped a beat and I skipped right on over.

I first did my homework and read reviews: they were a generous mix of good and not so good but mostly great. People raved about the chicken mole (which I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE! Did I mention Love?) and typically complained about the price of drinks and the price of the entrees. I didn’t plan to consume alcohol, so no worries there but I was prepared to risk eviction by spending my rent money on the meal. I can safely say after looking at the menu, that wasn’t at all necessary. It was modestly priced. Most reviews said make a reservation and that I did, but when I pulled into the lot, there was only one other car and that was my lunch companion. Hummmm….12:30pm on a Friday and no cars? Ahhhh, maybe they get mostly foot traffic…

I entered to see only one other table of people which blows my foot traffic theory but so what, I actually despise crowded restaurants. Moving right along…

The inside was extremely warm and cozy. Smaller than it looked on the outside (and the outside looks very small) but very cute. It reminded me of a cute living room in Costa Rica (although I’ve never been, allow me to imagine). There were couch like benches covered with a rich chocolate brown fabric that lines the wall with throw pillows and wooden chairs on the other side. The room was kinda dark but it was comfortable. Definitely got a few points for ambiance!

We were given a lunch menu, which I did not see online which wasn’t terribly extensive but for those of us who have a hard time choosing a dish, a small menu is sometimes appreciated. It consisted of simple and traditional sounding fare: tacos, burritos, one burger and some other stuff, however I CAME FOR THE MOLE! So, I asked the waitress if I could order that from the dinner menu and she said she could make it for me. Two more points for being accommodating. LOVE IT!

So my friend and I ordered the guac which also came with the house made salsa. Here began the downward spiral of the relationship status changing to “ it’s complicated”  (thank you facebook).The guac and salsa came presented very pretty, as you can see. 

There was even a huge plantain chip sticking out. How cute. However, the poor guac was terribly salty and didn’t have much flavor. I wonder if any cilantro had even been in the same room with the guac? I didn’t see any, but if anything was in there, the salt washed the flavor away. The salsa was no more than a chipotle or adobo sauce. No chunks, no onions, just a dark, brownish-red ketchup. It had a slight bite (heat wise) but definitely not something I want to eat a lot of on what appeared to NOT be homemade chips (who does that?). Moving on, I ordered the allegedly scrumptious chicken mole which was described as “delectable” in more than a few reviews.�

Mole is usually delish, even out of the can sold in the store, but maybe I should have seen them make it because I tasted NOTHING, NADA, NiENTE! The sauce was terribly bland and so was the chicken breast. No seasoning, no salt, no herbs, nothing. I understand that mole usually goes over boiled chicken, but couldn’t they at least flavor the water if they couldn’t flavor the sauce? HIGHLY DISSAPOINTING! It came with an even more flavorless ball of rice, some grilled squash, zucchini, and a grilled red pepper. Hard to mess that up, it was edible at best. Even the coke was weak, yet more disappointment set in.

My motto is a restaurant is usually only as good as its dessert, so I held out hope for the little place. Food Network has a show called the “Best Thing I Ever Ate Chocolate” and a chef talked about the delectable white chocolate flan. 

 

It did look good, so I ordered it and my friend ordered the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream….. BIG BIG BIG SIGH….and not of relief. The romance had officially ended, we broke up and I am so scorned that I slashed all his tires. The chocolate cake tasted like it had a cake mix based and was cooked 10 minutes too long.� 

 The flan was so small I needed bifocals to see it.  It was the best thing I ate at that meal (which isn’t saying anything) and it was creamy, but that was it….

The waitress was moderately friendly and the chef came to ask how was everything. I said fine and left it at that, after all, he wasn’t gonna change his recipe on my behalf, but the cuisine definitely didn’t live up to my hot blooded Latina taste buds.

So, as I prepare to nurse my broken heart back to life, I give May St. Café one crown for being cozy and I drop a few tears in agony for being a scorned lover. I need a bag of cookies and a pint of ice cream to heal… or another Latin romance….stay tuned…..