In honor of the record cold temperatures in Atlanta, let’s talk about comfort food. By comfort food, I mean the screw-the-diet, calories-don’t-count, good-tasting, stick-to-your-ribs food. Hot food. Food that makes you forget about the cold weather outside. Food that makes you want to take a nap.
Atlanta has a great food scene, and I promise that we take full advantage. What we don’t have a lot of is miserably cold weather. To help get me through, these are the five comfort food dishes that get me through:
PB&J Burger from West Egg Cafe (Westside) – West Egg is well known for it’s brunch, which is great (if you can stand the wait). The rest of their menu doesn’t get as much coverage, including their PB&J burger. The P stands for pimento cheese, the B stands for bacon, and the J stand for tomato jam (I always skip that). So basically we’re working with a double burger with bacon and pimento cheese. Tell me how that can be bad.
Open-faced Brisket Sandwich from Leon’s Full Service (Decatur) – This hunk of goodness is a solid meal that features pulled short rib on top of two pieces of Texas toast. Smothered with black peppercorn gravy and fried onions, this one will keep me driving over to Decatur. Extra credit: Leon’s has such a cool bar, I rarely bring this one back to the house.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Rocky Mountain Pizza (Georgia Tech) – The first time we ordered this, it was served ‘hot’. By ‘hot’, it was a tongue-burning sweat-fest because of the extremely spicy buffalo sauce. While that’s not my speed, I now order it mild, which is more bearable. This isn’t your normal pizza; it’s very hearty with tons of chicken, onions, and cheese. After about three pieces I’m ready to plant on the couch.
Smoked Wings from Moe’s Original BBQ (Home Park) – Hands down, the best wings in Atlanta. They are smoked, not fried, and will knock your socks off. A platter is perfect: ten wings, cornbread, and two sides. I like the skillet corn and the brunswick stew. They serve the wings with white BBQ sauce for dipping…just what the doctor ordered.
Katsu Don from Sushi Yoko (Chamblee) – A little off the beaten path, but well worth the effort. Sushi Yoko is a little jewel off Peachtree Indstrial just north of the perimeter that serves outstanding and affordable sushi. They also feature a full menu, including Katsu Don, which is a bowl of rice topped with deep fried pork cutlets, an egg, and sauce. The combination is outstanding. And ‘katsu’ means ‘to be victorious’. Perfect.
Images: Google Image Search
If you like pimento cheese burgers, you should try Canvas in Marietta. The rest of their menu is fantastic as well. It’s a breakfast/lunch/brunch spot. And they also bake their own cakes, cookies, scones, etc.
And for sushi, my go-to place is Ege in Marietta on the 120 loop. I highly recommend it. It’s a little family-owned joint that has been in business for years. I can be found there quite often. And who knows, you may run into a certain Food Network host whom I’ve seen dine there. 🙂
Always been a die-hard Mets fan and loved it when the Braves would come to town. You knew it was going to be a battle. While the Mets/Braves rivalry is still strong, I loved it way more when we were going against Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux. Great post.