5 Napkins Burger - Atlanta, GA

5 Napkins is originally from New York and recently opened their 6th location on the corner of 10th and Piedmont in Atlanta, in the former Niki Moto's Sushi spot. When you walk in the atmosphere has potential.  Would be a great place to meet friends for a cocktail. 

To start we ordered the fried pickles and pastrami, with sauerkraut and mustard seed sauce. Not a major bite, the dough was soft batter very simple and soft. Flavors all melted into one.

Then we tried the house burger with Gruyere, caramelized onion, rosemary alioli.  It was nothing major and definitely not worth the $14.  As Atlanta has become the burger capital of the south, 5 Napkins is falling very short.  With competition like Holeman and Fitch, Bocado, Vortex, and Farm Burger; they cannot afford to come up short. AP mentioned the Farm Burger's house burger is actually made up of the same combination but they have a formula that balances the burger, cheese, toppings, and bun type to perfection.

In order to  make the burger edible, I had to scrape off the Rosemary alioli which was way to sweet.  Yes I said sweet.  Get fresh caramelized onions, mayo and mustard in order to bring it down to earth and make it palatable.

 Then in addition to the burger fiasco they have these "Tuscan" fries on the menu... Really!?!  What you have are some frozen fries with some bland herb salt stuff on top.  When I hear 'Tuscan" I'm expecting, fresh cut fries with an olive oil drizzle tossed in fresh herbs at the least. This is was most disappointing thing, both AP and I were visibly disturbed by this.

I'm not sure what's happening in NY if this place is considered good...

Overpriced is not always Right... Eat Bright!

Kitsch'n 155 - Decatur, GA

The grilled cheese sandwich is one of my favorite childhood dishes. It may even be a favorite of my adult years as well. When you couldn't stomach any more Ramen, you made a grilled cheese. When your sick and making soup, a grilled cheese is the perfect pairing.

A few weeks ago AP was raving about this adult grilled cheese she found. So she takes me to
Kitsch'n 155.

I had to try the sandwich; Grownup grilled cheese." Thick cut Texas toast with havarti, colby, jack and blue cheeses with pepper maple bacon, sliced tomatoes and green onions. The cheeses were all perfectly melted and balanced by the bacon. The green onions provided the most distinct flavor, providing a nice finishing bite. Then there was the sweet potatoes fries. Unstructured in design, it looked as if they just used a knife to cut the potato length wise and whatever they looked like, that's what you got.

They also serve some unique bottled soda's and make a magnificent shake using Ben and Jerry's ice cream. AP tried the Red Rock golden ginger ale that is more than a century old recipe. The amount of bite on this soda was WOW... It had a peppery finish that left just the right amount of burn in the throat as it went down.

Now as we looked around the small diner we noticed how many people were ordering the burger. One family of three all had a burger, and about 10 minutes later, we notice the mom come back in to order another. Her son could not have been more than 13 but he completely murdered two kinds burgers and fries. His apparent love of this burger inspired AP and I to try it. Yes, I know what your thinking... 'She did just say that they each finished off a grown up grilled cheese sandwich and now about to eat a burger'...
 

But give us some credit we only ordered a kids cheese burger and we shared it. Actually we kind of picked over it choosing to focus on the patty. It was seasoned perfectly with a house mixture they affectionately call 'Kitsch'n.' And let me not forget the fries which were fresh cut and served piping hot. No ketchup needed, they are probably in my top ten of best fries list.

This place is a total gem in Atlanta. Something I would have chosen to just drive by had I seen it on the road. But fresh food made with care is awaiting you at Kitsch'n 155 on Clairmont in Decatur 'Where its Greater' GA.

Eat Bright!

Montgomery Inn BBQ- Columbus, OH

So as my time in Ohio is coming to an end, I decided to come try a place that I've meaning to visit for more than a year now. The Montgomery Inn is supposed to be known for their ribs. They were started in some small town in OH and eventually expanded to multiple locations. The building very cute sticking to the Inn theme.

As I study the menu, I see a sweet plum and spicy mustard sauce listed. Thank goodness I decided to taste it first, I totally did not like it. The mustard sauce is too spicy and the plum sauce just ok. To think this was going to be served on shrimp is scary, totally would have killed the shrimp if they weren't already dead.



So I ordered the Rib and shrimp entree with NO sauce. The ribs were tender and the meat fell off the bone, their house sauce was slightly sweet and just OK. Shrimp were typical frozen fried shrimp, nothing unexpected. But maybe its me, and my taste buds are off, but the best thing on the plate was the baked sweet potato.

Sometimes your food intuition keep you away from a place for a reason...listen to it... Eat Bright!!