I visited some friends and family in the Southeastern United States a few weeks ago and here is a wrap-up of what I ate during that week.
Tried Johnny Rockets for the first time in my life at Underground Atlanta. I will never make that mistake again. I thought it was over-priced fast food at best. The city of Atlanta should be ashamed at the condition of Underground Atlanta which is supposed to be a tourist mecca. It was filthy and a real disappointment.
We had dinner at La Parroquia, a very nice Mexican restaurant in Kennesa, Georgia. It was very good authentic Mexican food. We started the meal out with fresh homemade tortilla chips and cheese dip. I'm not quite sure what exactly what type of cheese they used or if anything was added to the cheese, but it was the best cheese dip I had ever had. It was thin and creamy, more like a cheese sauce than a dip. Because of this experience I spent the whole week visiting grocery store after grocery store hoping to find the queso fresco I had so enjoyed at the restaurant. No such luck.
For my main course at La Parroquia I ordered the carnitas platter which came with sides of beans and mexican rice. I'm pretty sure they killed two pigs for all of the pork that they gave me, what an unbelievable portion. The carnitas was very good, a little crispy on the outside, but nice an moist on the inside. It was cooked with a mixture of peppers and onions that gave the meat a rich flavor. All and al it was an excellent meal. The service was fantastic and the prices were very economical, especially considering the portions. Definitely visit La Parroquia if you are in the Kennesaw, Georgia area.
The next day we spent in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina with my friend. That is truly a gorgeous part of the Old South. After walking the street markets and avoiding the kids selling sweet grass roses we took a quick elevator trip to the top of the Market Pavilion Hotel. My friend wanted to give us a nice view of the city from the Market Pavilion's rooftop bar while we enjoyed a few adult beverages. Since we had some time to blow we ordered the duck confit nachos appetizer. This got me excited because I was a duck confit food virgin. Too bad we didn't just order duck confit. The nachos were slathered in what can only be referred to as a gritty and salty cheese sauce. I was really disappointed because not only did it ruin my first duck confit experience, but it was $20 worth of gritty cheese sauce. The lesson of this visit was that if you ever go to the Market Pavilion Hotel's rooftop bar in Charleston, don't order the duck confit nachos. Well, you can order them, just skip the cheese.
Since we spent most of the next week driving around visiting cities in South Carolina and Georgia, most of our money was taken by the gas man. We went pretty low class from Charleston on, visiting mostly fast food restaurants. The good people of the South do not know how lucky they are to have drive through Chik-Fila's. They have the greatest chicken sandwiches known to mankind and any way they can provide to obtain them easier is a real blessing. Up here in the North, you are lucky to find a Chik-Fila, let alone a drive-thru Chik-Fila. I also enjoyed the Krystal's restaurants, based in Chatanooga. The burgers aren't the best, more like a poor man's White Castle, but they are edible. What I really enjoyed were the Krystals' Chicks which are these little friend chicken sandwidches. Two bites and you are done. Those were excellent. Too bad there isn't a Krystals within 200 miles of my house.
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