Every time Mario and I visit Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood (kind of a littler Little 5 Points, Atlantans), Cabo Fish Taco has a crowd milling outside and a wait time of an hour-plus. To me, this says, “must be good.” It could also be due to the fact that the place was recently featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (although I really don’t think that it would qualify for any of those monikers):

Cabo Fish Taco

We waited patiently for hour hour-plus wait, alleviated slightly by the opportunity to peruse the gallery crawl held in NoDa on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month. When we were finally seated on the patio, we quickly made our choices for dinner. Mario went for the signature beer battered shrimp tacos (cheese only, yawn) and I had the BBQ Mahi Tacos (Grilled mango BBQ Mahi-Mahi tacos stuffed with Cabo slaw, tomato, avocado, mixed cheeses & finished with cilantro white sauce):

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I was back in Charlotte last weekend and Mario and I got a chance to meet up with some of my high school buddies that are new to the area. I’ve been debating on whether or not to do some name-dropping in this post, but I think I’m gonna go ahead and drop away One of my besties just moved to Charlotte to be with her longtime boyfriend and my old friend, recently acquired Bobcats player Tyrus Thomas. They requested a soul/Southern food spot, and after some debate, Mario and I decided to meet them at Boudreaux’s Louisiana Kitchen in NoDa. Obviously Boudreaux’s is not the name of this post, and that’s because I didn’t feel motivated to write a full post after our disappointing meal. The crawfish and spinach dip appetizer was the highlight. I had an oyster po’boy that was unseasoned and borderline gross. There was one interesting point on the menu–their selection of hurricanes. We couldn’t decide whether it was in poor taste or kind of funny/clever that they named their different hurricane concoctions after actual hurricanes. The Hurricane Katrina was made up of spirits from locations that followed the course of the hurricane. Hmm…

Anyway, toward the end of the meal, my friends asked if we had heard of Amelie’s French Bakery, also in the NoDa area. When we said no, they both insited we go right away. Tyrus, usually a pretty goofy guy, got extremely serious when he started to describe a fruit tart they serve. “Jessica. Ok they have this graham cracker crust. And then this custard that is really, really good. Then on top are these perfectly sliced strawberries and berries and stuff, gracefully arranged and topped with this apple jam….ok we have to go right now.” And so we did:

Amelie's French Bakery

Quickie post…not much to say besides: the strawberry cheesecake popsicle was fab and GO GET SOME NOW!!

King of Pops @ the Irwin Street Market

Strawberry Cheesecake Pop

I stopped into the Irwin St. Market (The King of Pops’ current home base) for my fix, but owner Steven Carse also has a roving cart (currently on the corner of North Ave. and N. Highland). Check out his interview on Scoutmob for more details on the King and what sparked the idea, and follow @thekingofpops on Twitter or check the Facebook page for daily menu updates!

And get some more lowdown from FoodieBuddha!

While I’m talking about New Orleans, I suppose I should mention what was served at my Saintsbowl party on February 7, 2010, the day the SAINTS won the Superbowl!! Yeah, I was excited. Anyway, my New Orleans-themed party was complete with jambalaya, king cake, and hurricanes for sippin’. I tried to keep my prep simple and my cooking to a minimum so I could fully enjoy the game, so one of the few “from scratch” items I made was meatball sliders:

Meatball Slider

These were quite easy to make, and more important, quite delicious.
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On my Mardi Gras trip, I decided to look for something a little different to try in NOLA. There are of course many places I haven’t visited, but Juan’s Flying Burrito was an intriguing (and cheap) option. We stopped by the “Creole Taqueria’s” location on Magazine St. in the Garden District for lunch.

Juan's Flying Burrito: Creole Taqueria

We were seated promptly and had a while (too long, unfortunately) to look around before our server stopped by. The interior is “interesting” (Vortex-like, for ATLiens) with a ton of eclectic art-for-sale lining the walls, much of it featuring skulls or bleeding hearts. Food and drink specials are written on chalkboards around the room, and like any legit New Orleans eatery, they sport a full bar.

Spencer and I deliberated over the menu for about 5 minutes, and then waited another 15 before our waitress came to take our orders. When she returned 10 minutes later asking Spencer, “Oh, your drink hasn’t come out?” we gave each other blank stares because…isn’t that HER job (especially because she had brought my drink 5 minutes earlier)? Sketchy service aside, our food [me: Flying Enchiladas (steak, chicken, and shrimp grilled together, then stuffed inside our cheese enchiladas served with all three sauces, topped with sour cream and guacamole) Spencer: Super Nachos Grande (ground beef and chicken, with black and pinto beans, melted cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa and jalapenos)] was good:
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On my recent visit home for Mardi Gras, my brother Spencer and I went cruising around New Orleans the Sunday before Fat Tuesday and ended up on Magazine St. in the Garden District. This is the neighborhood you see in romanticized versions of New Orleans: tree-lined streets, mini-mansions, and old-school architecture. Luckily, because of its location on high ground, most of the post-HK damage here was caused by wind and not water, and the vast majority of the residents have returned to the area. Anyway, on our slow stroll up and down Magazine, I happened to notice a sweets shop and of course had no choice but to stop in.

Sucré touts itself as an emporium of artisan sweets. According to their website, “unlike a traditional bakery, Sucré serves plated desserts with custom garnishes in addition to boxed treats.” As soon as I walked in the door, my eyes became the size of dinner plates. It took me a full 10 minutes to decide what I was going to order, and during that time I snapped a ton of pictures of Sucré’s offerings (not including the storefront below; it is from Sucré’s website):

Sucre

My selections

I finally decided to go with a gelato and 2 macaron flavors suggested by a staff member: lemon and the “Valentine’s special” raspberry & white chocolate.
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After stuffing ourselves on the usual Christmas feast of gumbo, turkey, ham, and more starchy sides than I care to mention, my brother Vincent and I decided to go check out a new pizzeria near our house, Oscar’s Ice Cream & Pizza Joint.

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar’s is occupying two suites of what used to be Heads ‘n’ Tails Seafood on Perkins Rd, one suite housing the ice cream shop, and the other the main restaurant. When Vincent and I stopped in for lunch, the small main dining room was not full, but had two or 3 larger parties dining in, a pretty good sign for a holiday afternoon. Oscar’s has a number of really interesting pizza combinations, and we decided to split a 12″ D&A Gumbo (Smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage & green onion on a roux based tomato gravy):
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As of last week, I have sworn off cupcakes until Thanksgiving. For real. Depending upon my willpower this hiatus may even be extended through December. So for my last hurrah, I visited Vinings cupcakery Sweet Pockets.

Sweet Pockets

Sweet Pockets, like Noon Midtown, is also a product of a daily-grinder (architect) turned chef. I tried their red velvet cupcake, and Mario got one of their specials, pecan pie:
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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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Well, better late than never. Last weekend I went to Taste of Atlanta with Mario and a new friend of mine, Stephani. With a Tech student advance purchase discount, we got 15 Taste Tickets for $20. When we first started our circuit, we were wondering how on Earth we’d make the tickets last through everything we wanted to eat. But after a few hours of sharing bites and free samples, we were wondering how on Earth we would spend them all! We had a lot of fun and tried a ton of food. Here are some of our favorites:

Highland Bakery

Sweet Potato Pancakes

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