A few weeks ago I went out to lunch with my favorite former boss. We were both looking forward to this trip and had actually planned our outing even before I left for my internship in Dayton, because we had both heard great things about the Buford Hwy seafood spot Crawfish Shack.

Crawfish Shack

In my mind, Crawfish Shack is working to emulate the coastal eateries I grew up around in Louisiana. The interior consisted of a very simple ordering counter, picnic-style tables, and cheesy plastic seafood decor on the walls. Menu items include mixed seafood platters containing mostly fried items (as it should be) and po’boys. I’m usually VERY wary of restaurants outside of Louisiana trying to do the Cajun thing, but the good news is, Crawfish Shack does it VERY well.
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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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This is a much delayed post on the last Girls’ Breakfast (though this one was really brunch) of the semester with two of my lovely classmates. For this excursion, we decided to venture a little further outside our usual Midtown/Downtown range and try out Sun in My Belly in The Dec.

Sun in My Belly (via suninmybelly.com)

Sun in My Belly is a full-service catering and event design company that also happens to have both a “neighborhood cafe” in Decatur/Kirkwood and a “garden cafe” at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. We visited the former for brunch on a warm and breezy morning and decided to sit on SiMB’s back porch to enjoy our meal. Both of my companions were in a breakfast-y mood and ordered the Challah French toast (stuffed with honeyed ricotta, served with brown sugar glazed berries and maple syrup), but I was in the mood for a sandwich and decided on the Rose Pistolla with a side of mac & cheese:
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I met up with Atlanta Restaurant Blogger Malika in the not-so-distant past for lunch at recently opened Crazy Cuban on 14th St. As the name implies, Crazy Cuban serves Cuban sandwiches. And since sandwiches are easily my favorite food, I was looking forward to stopping in for a taste. The small shop consists of the food prep area and counter and a small bar for customers, so it’s really meant for take-out. There are also some picnic tables in the back parking lot which would benefit from a tent or something for shade.

To me, a Cuban sandwich should be a textural sensation – a mix of slightly crunchy bread, gooey cheese, crisp pickles, and juicy meats. The best one I’ve had in recent memory is from TINY Bistro, so theirs is my “gold standard” for now. A few bloggers (Eat Buford Highway, Foodie Buddha) have lamented the fact that Crazy Cuban’s signature sandwich contains veggies–lettuce, tomato, and jalapenos–which you don’t typically see on a Cuban. I don’t know whether it was due to the bloggers, direct customer complaints, or what, but Crazy Cuban now offers both a “Traditional” and a “Classic” Cuban. I think the Traditional is veggie-free, but don’t quote me on that. Whatever the name, that’s what I ordered (as did Malika), along with a bag of plantain chips and a drink:

Veggie-less Cuban

Chick-fil-A is pretty much my favorite fast-food restaurant, so I was excited I got the chance to get an “advance” taste of their new spicy chicken sandwich, which is being debuted for real on June 7. All you had to do for a free sandwich was visit getspicychicken.com and reserve a time for May 24-June 5. A great gimmick for Chick-fil-A, I think. But on to the sandwich:

The anticipation is killing me

The Sandwich

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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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I’m ashamed to admit that I have spent almost zero time in the Inman Park area since I’ve been in Atlanta. Equally as surprising is that before last week, I had never visited Parish Foods & Goods, a New South eatery with a New Orleans flair (hence “Parish”…we don’t do counties in Louisiana). I stopped by the market side for lunch (Parish consists of the restaurant upstairs and the market downstairs) and was looking forward to trying a po’boy. They offer shrimp, oyster, and for those of us who can’t make up their minds, combo po’boys. I went for the combo:

Shrimp & Oyster Po'boy

Atlanta’s Westside has a ton of lunch spots I’m trying to check out, and last week’s stop on my rounds was TINY Bistro. TINY is an offshoot of Figs and Honey Catering that serves mostly sandwiches and salads during lunch hours. It is located at the weird little intersection of 8th St, Marietta St, and Brady St, or across the street from my cupcake fav Caryn’s Cakes if you’ve checked it out

TINY Bistro

I’ve heard lots of good things about TINY’s Cuban sandwich (guava mojo pork loin, ham, pickles, swiss, on Cajun pistolet) and decided I was in the mood to try one out on my visit:
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I checked out new Midtown favorite Noon Midtown for lunch last week. Noon is run by a chef-turned-lawyer-turned-chef again who was searching for good lunch options in Midtown and decided to open her own. I don’t know much else about Noon, other than that they serve sandwiches, my favorite food, and are receiving awards for said fare.

Noon Midtown

I tried the Turkey sandwich (house-roasted turkey, fresh mozzarella, cranberry relish, basil aioli on country bread), which, according to their website has changed for fall to include bacon and a different condiment combo.
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I have been wanting to visit Star Provisions for the longest and finally made it over Friday afternoon with my friend Tracie. Star Provisions is a culinary shop with deli and cheese counters, a bakery, and an eclectic gift/cookware shop. But we were visiting to check out “Provisions to Go”, which serves up a fantastic array of gourmet dishes and my favorite, sandwiches, to eat-in or take-out. Arguably their most talked-about sandwich is the shrimp po’boy, but I was ridiculously excited to see that on my visit, their sandwich special for the day was an oyster po’boy:

Oyster Po'boy