One of my new favorite places (and apparently, one of EVERYONE’S favorites) in Jax is French Pantry. Yelp, Urbanspoon, Chowhound, even coworkers were telling me I HAD to get out to French Pantry–followed by a run-down of the rules. First, they’re only open from 11-2 M-F. There is ALWAYS a line, so plan accordingly (French Pantry lunches are “extended” lunches). Dine-in if you can for some of their fresh bread. The warehouse-like building can be difficult to identify (though usually, the line gives it away). And finally, dessert is a must.

French Pantry

French Pantry apparently supplies much of the fresh baked bread to restaurants in town. You can also pick up small items like loaves of bread, packages of rolls, or boxes of cookies from their display cart after your lunch. I’ve visited a handful of times now and always end up ordering one of their famed bruschettas, which are not your typical tomato/basil/olive oil-topped bread rounds. These are topped with a cheese and protein and served over salad:
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JCT Kitchen is one of my favorite places in general, but also one of my favorite places to take out of town guests for meals. I feel that it’s a reasonably priced representative of Atlanta’s great food scene. JCT Bar, located above the restaurant area, is also a fun spot for meeting with friends –live music, good drinks, skyline view. The food served at the JCT Bar has always been good, but here’s a new reason to venture out on Wednesdays: JCT’s Wiener Wednesdays. With Top Chef’s Richard Blais opening a gourmet hot dog restaurant in the coming months, we’re all hearing talk of hot dogs being “the new burger.” JCT’s Chef Ford Fry has also declared 2011 “Year of the Wiener.” Regularly $4 each, on Wednesdays, the gourmet dogs are only $2. Mario and I attended a Wiener Wednesday Tweetup hosted by Twitter personalities @ATL_Events and @AtlantaDish recently to try the new dogs. Our selections that night were the Smoked Coca-Cola BBQ with Vidalia onion relish, and the Pimento Cheese with Bacon, Pickled Cabbage and House Mustard:

Smoked Coca Cola BBQ Dog (back) and Pimento Cheese Dog (front)

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I heard about Hapeville’s (town the exit before the airport on 85-S) Grecian Gyro by following a former Atlanta Citysearch editor’s twitter feed. He seemed to gush about the place for days. I kept thinking, “I like gyros and all, but why would I drive all the way to the airport to get one?” Then, my parents came to town for a weekend and happened to have a flight back out shortly after lunch. Since they enjoy Greek/Lebanese restaurants (Baton Rouge has a strangely high density of them), we decided to check it out. 2 weeks later, I drove back down to Hapeville for no reason but to get another gyro.

Grecian Gyro

As you can see, the place has been there for a while. Yes, it looks a little diner-sketch. Yes, there are only about 20 seats inside (plus a patio outside). But the gyro–the best I’ve ever had–is worth any reservations you may have.
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Well, I’ve made it out of Ohio, took a quick trip home for the 4th of July, and now I’m back in Atlanta. I’ve only got a few posts from Ohio as most of the area around me was populated with casual dining chains. One chain that I found and loved, however, was Penn Station East Cost Subs.

Penn Station

Penn Station is a sandwich chain that started in Cincinnati, OH in 1985 and now has 200+ locations across 12 states. They’re known for their cheesesteak, and I tried one on more than one occasion, along with their vegetarian Grilled Artichoke sub (among other things. I visited a lot.):

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I’m finally jumping on the Antico Pizza Napoletana bandwagon, though at this point it probably wouldn’t matter what I say since the ATL blogger community has already fallen head-over-heels for the place. With that said, 1) the pizza is as good as everyone says, and 2) I hope to approach this post from a slightly different angle–customer service. I’ve been the recipient of some bad restaurant service lately, and Antico is unfortunately on that list, but they did work quickly to rectify the situation.

Antico is located in the Home Park neighborhood near Georgia Tech. They have recently expanded their hours to include lunch and close “when the dough runs out” (my guess is somewhere around 9pm). Initially intended to be take-out only, they have also recently added a community dine-in table to allow customers to enjoy their pies on the spot. I think this was change was mainly blogger-fueled, since ATLiens are getting to be very picky about their crusts with the onset of the “ATL Pizza Wars” (Google that for some interesting commentary) and it tends to get soggy when carried home. I visited one Saturday evening to take my pizza to go since I live nearby and hoped it wouldn’t be soggy by the time I got home. I ordered the Capricciosa (mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto cotto, bufala) and a cannoli:

Capricciosa

Dessert Counter

And now for my customer service angle:
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I’m about 99% sure I found the exact doughnuts that make Homer Simpson drool. Sublime Doughnuts is located in the shopping center on the corner of Hemphill and 10th St. I’ve been checking it out for a while, but I’m not gonna lie, I mostly haven’t been because the exterior looks kinda sketch:

Sublime Donuts

I’m starting to think I have a legitimate fear of strip mall eateries. However, I’ve heard so many good things about it that I finally decided to stop by.
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Here’s a quickie post while I study for two tests, write a fellowship proposal, and make more substantial posts on a girls’ night out last weekend and Taste of Atlanta.

It’s probably no secret now that I’m a certified cupcake addict. Well, I’ve found my new pusher, and she’s fortunately/unfortunately in walking distance of my place. Caryn’s Cakes appears to mostly be a wedding/special events cake shop (think “Ace of Cakes”), but they also have some amaaazing cupcakes, which I discovered when I walked over to pick up 2 last week:

Caryn's Cupcackes

One thing I love about keeping this blog is that it makes me actually think about what I’m putting in my mouth. Revisiting some of my favorite Baton Rouge eateries with a more objective eye can either leave me slightly disappointed or remind me why I love a place. I hope that my readers learn something by keeping up with First Bite (like in the Jamaica or crawfish bisque posts) and learn to think about what they’re eating as well! Now, on to the sushi…

Tsunami is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in Baton Rouge (though to be fair, I think I’ve only visited 3). Though not nearly the first sushi restaurant in the city, it was the first place I tried sushi and I think played a major role in bringing sushi en vogue in Baton Rouge. The bar scene and rooftop Mississippi River view draw crowds in the evenings (or, they did a few years ago; the party may have moved elsewhere by now) and they have great happy hour drink and sushi specials. I love going in the late afternoon when the restaurant isn’t very busy and taking a table by the large windows overlooking the river, which is what I did Thursday.

View from Tsunami

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Last Atlanta post in the queue! For my graduation luncheon, my family and I visited JCT Kitchen for some yummy Southern style bistro food. With a large party, we had to eat off of their special event menu, which proved to be nearly as good as their regular menu.

We were able to choose from:

1st course

• Tomato Soup; Fried Grafton Cheddar
• JCT Salad; Green Beans, Romaine, Spiced Pecans, Apples, Buttermilk Dressing

2nd course

• Springer Mountain Fried Chicken; Macaroni and Cheese, Garlicky Green Beans
• Shrimp & Grits; Tim & Alice’s Red Mule Grits, crusty bread for sopping
• Sweet Water Battered Fish & Chips; Fries, “Sweet & Sour” Apple Slaw, ooo-eee sauce!!

3rd course

• Ginger Bread-Pudding; Meyer Lemon Curd
  
• Georgia Pecan & Apple Fried Pies; Caramel, Cinnamon Ice cream
  

I tried to get photos and first bites of everything, but a girl’s gotta eat too! Many photos and family first bites after the jump.
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To celebrate finishing finals and prepare for this weekend’s graduation, we visited FLIP again for lunch. I usually wouldn’t make a second post about a restaurant, but since I tried something different and their burgers are so cool, I had to make an entry. We sat at the “chef’s bar” so we could see all the action in the back and got views of more of the burgers they make. I’d love to try all of them at some point!

The menu has changed a little since we last visited, and they are now offering a $12 combo of FLIP Burger, fries, and a milkshake. Pretty sweet. This time though, I had the Chorizo burger (spicy pork sausage, romesco ketchup, hash browns, fried egg, manchego cheese, smoked mayo) and vodka-battered onion rings.

Chorizo Burger & Onion Rings

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