Bobby G's Chicago Eatery in Atlanta?

I have never been to Chicago, but I always wanted to try out some of the street food Chicago is known for.  I never had authentic Chicago style dogs in Chicago, but I have had them at other places. So I don't know if I'm a good judge on authentic Chicago style dogs. But I thought Bobby G's made them fairly well. 

One thing I don't like about most Chicago style hotdogs is that they're made with regular sized franks. The bun and the condiments overpower the meat. It feels like I'm not eating any meat at all. Even though Bobby G's offered a nice sized frank, I felt I was just eating the bun and pickles. Maybe I'm just not used to eating hot dogs. But I want more meat when eating a hotdog. 

Not bad, but I want more meat.

So I ordered their Polish Sausage Chicago style. Now that was more like it. The Polish Sausage tasted pretty good. Combined with the tomatoes, relish, pickles, sports peppers, and mustard; it makes a nice and tasty meal.

I forget what brand of Polish Sausage they used, but it tasted good. But the guy who worked at Bobby G's seemed proud of the brand of Polish Sausage they used.

That's more like it. Polish hotdog Chicago style. It even looks better. The better photo does help the look of it though.

I also tried their saurkraut dog. I found it so-so. The saurkraut didn't taste very good. I would just stick with the Polish Sasuage Chicago Style.

Pretty not tasty.

I also tried their authentic Italian Beef Sandwich. They give you a ton of toppings to choose from. I couldn't figure out what I wanted. So the guy at Bobby G's suggested grilled onions, sports peppers, sweet peppers, and their secret au jus sauce. He said those toppings were the most traditional.

Because of the au jus sauce, he warned me it would be hot. Whatever. I can eat Peter Chang's dishes without needing water. After taking a few bites, I must admit, the au jus sauce did taste hot. I'm surprised to say it made me sweat. Overall, I liked their Italian Beef Sandwich. Once again, I don't know if it's authentic, but it tasted good.

Italian Beef.

I liked Bobby G's. Most of the food tasted good, and it's also cheap. You and a date can eat for about $10. It's also set up as a small sports bar. So it's a nice, inexpensive place to come and watch a game.

If I wanted to go to a cheap, decent place to hang out and eat in the Buckhead area, I would go to Bobby G's. It sure beats Taco Mac. I give it 3.5 paws up. 

Bobby G's Chicago Eatery

574 Main Street ne

Atlanta, GA 30324

(404) 841-6670

http://www.bobbygs.com/BobbyGs

Yogurberry

Yogurberry is one of my favorite froyo places in Atlanta. It's located in the Terminus Building at Buckhead. There's no sign for it anywhere from the streets though. But just look for the Brides by Demetrios shop, which is the most visible shop at Terminus. Yogurberry is in that same building. 

Their Many Flavors of Frozen Yogurt

They offer eight flavors. Plain, Taro, Mocha Chocolate, and Vanilla are usually the permanent flavors. Yogurberry will likely have those when you go there. 

The other four flavors are switched out bi-weekly. They range from Lemon, Green Tea, Georgia Peach, Pomegranate, Blueberry, Lychee, Strawberry, Banana, Green Apple, Watermelon, Pistachio, and many others. 

Just their frozen Yogurt Machines, waiting to serve nice, creamy froyo.

If you guys been reading my blog lately, you guys should know I'm a fan of green tea yogurt.  And Yogurberry probably has the best green tea frozen yogurt I've tasted.  I thought Pinkberry had great green tea froyo, but I think Yogurberry's non-tart version beats Pinkberry's.

I also like their taro, peach, and strawberry flavors. But whatever flavor you choose, you can't go wrong in Yogurberry. 

Yogurberry has the highest quality yogurt in Atlanta. They use milk from local, grass fed cows–free from antibiotics and hormones. They claim it makes the yogurt taste better. Perhaps it does. I do find their yogurt to be delicious. Also, I don't know how they make it, but they make the yogurt very creamy. 

Pomegranate and Original

Green Tea, Georgia Peach, and Pistachio

Yogurberry Has a Ton of Toppings

Aside from their high quality yogurt, they offer a ton of toppings. I think this is one of the few places that offer Reese's Pieces and Pocky Sticks. 

If you get stuck on what toppings to chose, they have several combos you can choose from. Some of them are The Brian Special, which consists of strawberry, mochi, and coconut; Fruity Juicy Judy, which consists of mango, raspberry, and kiwi; and others. 

Just a few of their many toppings they offer.

Another small sample of their toppings.

Do They Have the Best Value?

Yogurberry isn't cheap with their yogurt or toppings either. Unlike Pinkberry, Yogurberry will try to stuff as much toppings as possible in your cups. If they can find a way to fit it, they will. They also give discounts if you check in with Yelp or Foursquare. Besides the self serve places, I think Yogurberry is one of the better values for froyo.

Not Just a Place for Froyo, They Have Great Smoothies and Other Treats

Even though I love their froyo, I usually get their green tea smoothie. I'm addicted to that stuff. They make their smoothies with their original flavored frozen yogurt, not milk. So it comes out delicious, smooth, and thick. You can even add tapioca balls for a small price. 

Their incredible smoothie.

The Brian Hah Experience

As an added bonus, you get to meet Brian Hah. You'll know instantly when you have the Brian Hah experience. In a way, Yogurberry is like Zappos of frozen yogurt. They make sure their customer service and experience is high quality, just like their products. Mr. Kitty gives this place 5 paws up.

Yogurberry

3281 Piedmont Rd NE

Ste 140B

Atlanta, GA 30305

(404) 869-9788

http://www.yogurberryatl.com/

Joey D's Oak Room–A Huge Place

This is truly an American restaurant. You can tell by its name. Its name is not some fancy sounding French or Italian name. It's Joey D's Oak Room. That sounds pretty American to me. It certainly lives up to the American standard: bigger, badder, and better.

The inside looks huge. It seems like a popular place for parties or any big group of people. They also have a huge collection of alcohol. It's so big, they need a ladder to reach certain bottles. 

That's a lot of alcohol. 

I thought the food tasted good overall. I did not realize how big the portions were. So I kind of overstepped my stomach's boundaries.

We ordered some Honey Butter Croissants. They had a buttery and sweet taste–like what its name implied. It was also very soft and tasted delicious thanks to its overabundance of butter and honey. It had so much honey on it, it was very sticky. It kind of tasted like a glazed doughnut. They were huge too. One could almost be a meal itself.

Ginormormous Honey Butter Croissants. Very good.

I also ordered the She Crab Soup. it came in a huge bowl. I guess at Joey D's, appetizer means it serves 4.

They definitely loaded the soup up with tons of cream, butter, crabs, and other stuff. It felt so heavy, I couldn't finish it. Which surprised me since I usually clean up all my dishes. I did like the taste. But I think they should shrink the size by half.

Giant Bowl of She Crab Soup.

The side salad Mrs. Kitty ordered tasted delicious. It also came with its own Honey Butter Croissant. Like the soup, it also came in a gigantic bowl. The Brooklyn French dressing tasted incredible. It had a strong horseradish taste and gave the salad a very nice flavor. If you get a salad here, try the Brooklyn French dressing.

The biggest and the baddest side salad you'll see. 

Unfortunately, my Low Carb Filet Mignon salad was the low point of my meal. It was pretty boring. The filet Mignon was too dry. The salad didn't have any dressing either. I think it was suppose to come with dressing, but it didn't. Epic Fail.  I should've gotten the house salad instead.

Filet Mignon Salad. Boooorrrrriiiinnnnng

Mrs. Kitty also got the Prime Rib. That tasted juicy, tender and delicious. It also didn't seem too fatty.  They cooked it to a perfect medium rare.

Prime Rib with Sauteed Spininch and Au jus.

Expect a lot of food at Joey D's. Unless you're sharing the appetizers with 4-5 people, don't order them. You won't be able to finish your main entree. But I guess you can take it to go and eat it as leftovers.

The price is steep, but I think you get the right quantity and quality of food you pay for. Mr. Kitty gives this place 4 paws up.

Joey D's Oak Room
1015 Crown Pointe Pkwy
Atlanta, GA 30338
http://www.centraarchy.com/joeyDs.php

Varasano's Pizzeria–Pizza Engineering 101

Jeff Varasano seems like a controversial character in the Atlanta pizza scene. For years, he reversed engineered his favorite pizza from Patsy's trying to perfect it. He also threw many private pizza parties at his house, showing off his creations. 

Back then, Jeff didn't think he would open up his own restaurant. He had his software company. He made pizzas as a hobby. 

He did have a website. It documented in great detail how he made his pizzas. It also had reviews of many pizza places around the country. He was brutal in his reviews of Atlanta pizza places. At first, it didn't matter; he was just another Internet guy giving his opinion.  But he started to become a "celebrity" in the Internet pizza making community, and his reputation started to grow. 

Then he decided to open up his own pizza shop. So the Atlanta pizza wars began. Antico popped up. Fritti upped their game. And people were licking their chops to see if Jeff can stand up to the best in Atlanta. 

I think to this day, people are still resentful of Jeff's opinions. It did give him a lot of publicity though. I guess any publicity is good publicity. But even today, you can still sense people's bias when you read their reviews.

Truth be told, Jeff was right. I went around various pizza places in Atlanta before Varasano's opened.  I craved a great Neapolitan style pizza. But nobody in Atlanta, at that time, made it well. Fritti didn't, and Baraonda didn't. They all sucked, like Jeff said. 

Now it's different. There's Antico, Varasano's, and other places that probably serve decent pizza. People even told me to try Fritti again, telling me they've improved a lot. Atlanta has some decent pizza now, and we're all better off because of it. 

I have a feeling Jeff did learn a lot from opening his own place. He took down the negative comments in his website, and he did tell me making good, consistant pizza in a restaurant is harder than making it in his house. 

Can the Pizzas Live Up to The Ridiculous Hype?

Anyway, I love Varasano's pizzas. They are thin crust, Neapolitan style. I have tried all of Varasano's pizzas, and my favorite are the simple, traditional styles: The Nana's and the Margherita di Bufala. These two really accent his crust, cheese, and sauce well. 

Nana's with roasted peppers–roasted peppers not included.

Margherita

My other favorite is the New Haven Clam–another classic style in Connecticut. Traditionally, they eat it with white sauce. But I like it both in either red or white sauce. It has a strong flavor of garlic and clams. If you don't like seafood or garlic, don't get it. But I like clams and garlic, so I usually get this.

New Haven Clam with white sauce–very garlicy and clammy

I like the other pizzas, but I like the Nana's, Margherita, and the New Haven Clam better so I never get a chance to get these.

Caramelized Onion-very oniony

Fontina Mushroom–very mushroomy

Chica Bella–very arugula-y

Nucci–very arugula-y and meaty

Salumi–very uhh... thinly sliced cured meaty

The pizette is the bomb. It's like gourmet Hot Pockets. It's not on the menu now, but he is planning to add it. If you went to Taste of Atlanta, you might have had a chance to taste it.

Pizzette–Hot Pockets that actually taste good. 

Varasano's offers a few desserts. The Italian Doughnuts seem to be popular. They make it with pizza dough with powdered sugar and filled with something sweet. It's very simple, but very good. 

Italian Doughnuts–Just his pizza dough with some powdered sugar. So simple but so good. 

Not Your Everyday Delivery Pizza

If you like the traditional, American Deep Dish pizza with a ton of cheese, 5 different type of meats, and vegetables, Varasano's might not be for you. In contrast, Varasano's simpler, traditional Neapolitan pizza is what makes it great. So you should at least try it. Maybe you'll be surprised how just dough, a bit of sauce, some basil, and some mozzarella cheese constructed correctly can be so delicious. Mr. Kitty gives this place 5 paws up.

Varasano's Pizzeria

2171 Peachtree Rd

Atlanta, GA 30309

http://www.varasanos.com/

Rincon Latino (Latino Rincon in English)

Rincon Latino seems to be famous for their pupusas. Everybody who reviewed this restaurant seemed to talk about the pupusas, so I had to try one.  Rincon Latino makes the pupusas with corn tortilla and stuff it with something. I got the mix pupusa, which had pork and refried beans in it.

I liked it. It seemed a bit small though. When you order one, you just get one. You can't make a meal out of it. I see it as a side dish or an appetizer.

Pupusa–Pretty average

I tried some of their meat dishes–the fish and the pork. They came with rice, some lettuce, and some pieces of tomatoes. The pork came out breaded and fried. The fish came out just fried with some diabla sauce.

They make a decent meal, but it's not something to get excited about. Unless you're a fan of Salvadorian food or want to try out something new, you can get better things for the same price at Buford Hwy.

Carne Adoboda–Pretty average

Mojarra Diabla–Pretty average

I liked their shrimp cocktail though. I think it's their best dish. I love seafood and avocados so how can you go wrong with this dish? The sauce it comes in complements the shrimp well. The goblet is also huge. 

I forgot to take a picture of the Shrimp Cocktail, so I borrowed this picture from Yelp.

The tables–Pretty average

My recommendation is to get the Shrimp Cocktail and the Pupusas. I think I got the most enjoyment out of those 2 dishes. The other dishes seemed just average; so Mr. Kitty gives this place 3 paws up.

Rincon Latino

5055 Buford Hwy NE

Doraville, GA 30340

(770) 936-8181

Peter Cheng AKA Peter Chang AKA Tasty China Version 2.0

Peter Chang seemed like a legendary figure. You would hear about his heroics in the cooking world. He would be cooking at some no-name Chinese restaurant all over the South West, and his fans followed. By the time you figured out where he was cooking, we would've already moved on. It looked like he didn't like the fame and publicity.

Finally, Peter Chang settled at Tasty China. Did he got tired of moving around and decided to just finish his career at a small, unassuming place in Marietta, GA?

Nope, I was wrong. he created his own, gigantic, swanky restaurant with his name attached to it with great fanfare. It was pretty out of character for him. And in a way, I miss Tasty China's humble, hole-in-the-wall-esq atmosphere. Peter Cheng's seems too upscale to me.

He also changed his name to Peter Cheng. I guess that's the correct pinyin spelling. I don't know if that's a good idea though. Everyone knew him as Peter Chang. Maybe it's his way to start fresh in Sandy Springs. Or maybe the restaurant designer spelled his name wrong. 

The Bad Stuff

First, I want to get this out of the way: the service sucks–sometimes. You might get lucky and get someone with a clue, and everything will seem perfect. Or it might be one of those days where everyone is running around with their heads cut off.

One time, I came here with a party of 6 and waited 15 minutes before someone finally came over to give us our waters. We actually had to find someone and tell her that we did not get any service. Obviously, the hostess didn't do her job seating us in the correct place or notifying the servers that we were here. The service didn't get better afterwards. She kept forgetting about us. 

On other days, the server usually disappears.  If you need something, too bad.  You probably have to wait 15-20 minutes until the server decides to reappear again. It doesn't matter if it's busy or not. The service might still be slow.

They need to improve their service. I don't always get bad service, but it happens enough that I notice it. 

Do you see anyone in this restaurant? Look there's even a second floor.

Still empty, yet our waitress was nowhere to be found.

The Salty, Greasy, Unhealthy Good Stuff


Now I got the bad part of the restaurant out of the way, let me write about the good stuff: the food. It tastes incredible.

Everyone loves the Dried Fried Eggplants. It's probably one of their more popular dishes. I agree with the masses. I don't even like eggplant. It doesn't even have any meat on it. And I think it's one of their best dishes.

Dried Fried Eggplant. Very good, even if it's eggplant.

My other favorite is the Mapo Tofu. It's absurdly hot. It's heat has been cranked to level 10. In fact, I like Peter Cheng's version so much, other places' mapo tofu taste bland to me.

Mapo Tofu AKA tofu in chili oil.

I usually try something new when I go to Peter Cheng's. Last time, I tried the Steamed Salmon Sichuan Style. Peter Cheng's fish dishes always come out different than I expect. Well, I didn't expect this dish to come out hot pot style in it's own propane powered pot. 

It was hot, spicy, and yet refreshing. It had a lot of chili peppers and other vegetables. I considered it a nice break from the mapo tofu and other dishes. 

When I first bit into it, the interesting flavors overwhelmed me. At first I didn't know if I liked it. But the more I ate it, it slowly turned into one of my favorite dishes. 

Steamed Salmon Sichuan Style. It kinda tastes like Korean Spicy Seafood Stew, but Chinese style.

There are many other dishes that I like at Peter Cheng's such as the Sichuan Double Cooked Pork, Dan Dan Noodles, Hot Numbing Beef Rolls, Pork Belly with Sichuan Chili Sauce, Beef Tendon with Sichuan Chili Sauce, and others. Even his non-Sichuan dishes taste good such as the Mongolian Beef.

The menus also seems larger than Tasty China's. There are a lot of dishes I haven't tried yet.

Get the white rice, it's the only break you'll get from the heat. 

Some Tips and Tricks

I would recommend you to order the right combination of foods, or you might not enjoy the experience.  If you go with a big group, the better. There's a better chance of having good variety of foods. I would also suggest trying something on the Chef's Specialties section.

One simple thing you want to do is balance out the dried fried foods and the non-dried fried foods. Don't get all dried and fried stuff.  You'll get tired of it fast. There needs to be some variety in the texture of the food.

Also, most of the items on the menu are spicy. So be prepared for a flavor explosion in your mouth. Therefore,  I think it's good to have one of the less spicy or non spicy items on the menu. Good luck finding one though.

Also, most of the items are greasy. So you might crave something more refreshing and light. I would suggest one of the lighter soups. Again, good luck finding something non-greasy on the menu though.

Final Thoughts

This is Chinese food, so expect the food to be oily. Actually, expect the food to taste overly greasy, salty, spicy, hot, heavy, and unhealthy in general. You'll probably leave feeling bloated, with a higher blood pressure, with severe heart burn, and with higher LDL cholesterol. But it tastes so good.

If I want to rate this place solely on food, I would give it about 5 paws. But I can't, due to my experiences with service. They need to improve that so it will be consistently good. For now, I'll give it about 3.5 paws up.

Peter Cheng's
6450 Powers Ferry Rd NW
Atlanta, GA 30339
www.petertasty2.com

Nakato or Nakaton't?

Nakato is one of the older Japanese restaurants in Atlanta. They opened in 1972. Sheesh, that's older than me. 

Also, I didn't realize how large it was. Maybe it started out small like other Japanese restaurants, got used to the American lifestyle, and got fat. But who cares if they got fat? As long as they served good food. 

They offered all fads of Japanese cuisine: teppanyaki style, izakaya style, and sushi. They didn't have ramen though. Maybe they missed out on the current Korean owned, Japanese style ramen fad. I should come back in a month and see if they added ramen to the menu. 

Anyway, we opted to go for the non-hibachi side since I'm not a big fan of teppanyaki. To me, teppanyaki is just fried rice with fancy meats. Fried rice is fried rice. It's what Asians make when they have leftovers. 

The miso soup they gave us before our meals tasted too salty. But it was your basic miso.

The miso. So thick your spoon is stuck there.

I tasted the jalapeno roll. It didn't taste that bad. Instead of relying on the heat from wasabi, you get the heat from jalapeno. They did offer wasabi still.

The other rolls didn't taste too bad either.

Jalapeno roll

Tempura Moriawase was a huge mountain of fried goodness. It came with a large dish of dipping sauce with some shredded daikon and other stuff to mix in with your dipping sauce. I'm not a big tempura fan, but it did taste good. Although, I don't know how much of the fried batter my stomach could take.

Tempura Moriawase

My omakase looked a bit tame. The sushi tasted good, but I didn't think it was anything special.

Omakase. The Chef surprises you with 9 

I liked it overall, but I wasn't too impressed. They seemed like another average Japanese restaurant to me. You can find 100's of simliar quality Japanese places here in Atlanta.

I also don't think it's a great value for the quality or quantity of food we got. But I think they have specials going on occasionally. They had coupons on restaurant.com. They also had the happy hour special, which I think is still going on, where you get 5 plates for $15. You just have to search around to see if you can find a good deal. Then I would think it would be worth it.

Even though I mentioned the place was big, it still had a nice atmosphere. And the service was 5 star quality, so it could be a good place to impress your date.

Also, if it's your birthday, have them sing you their version of Happy Birthday. Heck, even if it's not your birthday, say it's your birthday so you can hear it. The song is awesome. Overall, Mr. Kitty gives Nakato 3 paws up. 

Nakato 

1776 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE

Atlanta, GA 30324

(404) 873-6582

http://www.nakatorestaurant.com/