glecroy's Profile
Is Restaurant August the real deal or hype?
We just had the 20.12 lunch, which was fantastic! We sort of shared everything and both loved everything. Luckily we each liked what we ordered better. We had the English pea soup and the strawberry/pistaschio salad, then the sheepshead and crab BLT, which was a soft-shell crab buster over some bread croutons, marinated tomatoes, and with some bacon. It has a $10 upcharge, but still such a bargain. We then for dessert had the dark chocolate and blueberry sorbet. Since it was our first visit, we were pleased to get the egg and the dark chocolate and brittle. Overload on dark chocolate, but what a way to go! Just as an aside, we had the 3 course prix fixe lunch at Commander's Palace yesterday, but although CP was really good (turtle soup, snapper and bread pudding souffle) we preferred August, perhaps since we've been to CP many times and this was a first at August. What a great visit! Although we planned to go to the last day of Jazzfest, it was raining when we got here about 3:30 Sunday, and since we had not bought advance tickets we decided to skip it. We went to Preservation Hall Sunday night. After our big lunch at CP we had a couple of small plates at 3 Muses and went to Snug Harbor for Charmaine Neville's show. Since it was right after Jazzfest, her dad was here as well as a great former band member, and a fabulous young singer with her dad's band from Massachusetts who sang "At Last". Leaving tomorrow with an 8 hour drive :( I'll try to find a place we can get a muffaletto to take on the road for lunch before we leave, but it might be too early in the AM. What a great food city!
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Report on rehearsal dinner - Service was very good, didn't rush us when one guest was running late, everyone loved the food they ordered. We didn't go outside for drinks though we might could have. I asked if we could take the opened bottles of wine with us for the party after wedding and Michael said yes, but we forgot until our car was brought around, so we left them. I couldn't have asked for a better experience, thanks for all your help!! We did have flowers delivered from a florist Michael recommended. He was very helpful and easy to work with. Thanks again!! Gail
Saturday lunch in Birmingham this week
Thanks for the input! Think we'll try Bottega Cafe. My elderly mother will be with us so I doubt she can wait until 5:30 without a nap :)
Gail
Saturday lunch in Birmingham this week
Going to UAB next Saturday at 1:00. The places I wanted to eat do not appear to be open for lunch - Highlands, Hot Fish, Ollie Irene, Bottega. We're from Huntsville, and my sister from Pensacola is meeting us, so we don't need southern food or BBQ, as we have that all the time. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Gail
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Sent deposit to reserve room at La Grotta today. Thanks for all the help!
Gail
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Thanks to all of you for the comments and recommendations! Now we just have to wait for the bride and groom for some feedback. I agree that we should probably play it safe, not knowing the preferences of wedding party and their dates. I think I'm leaning towards either La Grotta or Eclipse, depending on how formal they want to be. They are going to Atlanta in November so maybe can check them out. Hopefully that won't be too late to reserve!!
Gail
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Never been to the church and don't know about Decatur, other than the one that's 30 minutes from Huntsville AL and home to Big Bob Gibson's BBQ (you should try if you ever get to Huntsville), but on Mapquest the church is only 3 miles from La Petite Maison, looks very convenient. Also convenient to La Grotto Ravinia although I suppose traffic will be worse around Perimeter Mall. I spoke with them both today. La Grotto already faxed the banquet menu with several price points, depending on the selections we want to offer. La Petite Maison will have the owner call me back to discuss around the end of the month after they get the new menu done I think. Haven't heard back from bride or groom about their thoughts yet. Rehearsal dinner probably not her most pressing item and she's been traveling for work. She may have something else entirely in mind. I just don't want to worry about finding a place for a group that big at the last minute, not being that familiar with Atlanta. We probably average going to Atlanta once or twice a year, but not with a big group.
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
BTW, rehearsal is at 4 PM on Friday. Does that alter any of the recs? Looks like it makes sense to have it north of town like La Grotto or La Petite Maison rather than on the way downtown to let the traffic die down - will it? Would the traffic be bad around perimeter mall by 5 -5:30? For either La Grotto or La Petite Maison, did they have the group order in advance or did everyone order off the menu? Maybe we have drinks at 5:30 and dinner at 6:00. Thanks y'all!
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Will have to check with bride regarding other areas. With Massachusetts wedding last month it seems like we did lots of driving on the turnpike going to bride's home to hotel to rehearsal to dinner to wedding to reception, all in different places. And Massachusetts is a small state. With the various locations I would think we might prefer something between St. Jude and downtown, on the way if you will, to a bar downtown (I guess the bride may know about those, since she went to GA Tech). Do any of the recommendations fit that description? I'm good with either Italian or French but. I think Italian may be a little more mainstream and I'm not familiar with the wedding party's palates. Would 103 West do a group that small? Thanks again for the input. I've emailed the bride and groom to check out this thread out so we'll see what they think.
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Thanks to you both! We're from Huntsville, AL, so we have been to Atlanta many times. I think we had a terrific lunch at La Grotta several years ago. It's in a hotel across the street from a mall? I think it must be the place because it had gorgeous outdoor decks and gardens. I was looking at their menu last night and emailed them asking about private rooms. In February we will probably be inside. I think we have also eaten at Chequers, Do they have an awesome happy hour with cheap lobster? Or maybe that was someplace else, or maybe we went to Sunday brunch there. We have not been to Ruth's Chris there, but I guess they are all good. We've been to Flemings in Nashville, about the same as Ruth's Chris. Is Maggiano's actually in the mall? Across from the W Hotel? I think we arrived late one night and ate there. I wasn't blown away by it. Bride doesn't want brewery, we had that for other son's rehearsal dinner last month in Massachusetts with southern style BBQ catered in, and banana pudding for dessert. The caterer didn't make sweet tea though. Thank goodness we are only the groom for both weddings :) I'll check these out - I appreciate your input!!
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Bride and groom want rehearsal dinner near church, St. Jude, 7171 Glenridge Dr NE, Atlanta, close to Dunwoody/Sandy Springs, in order to try avoid some of the traffic, and maybe around 30 people is all for dinner. Then they want to go downtown to a bar to meet up with others not in the wedding party, maybe with a reserved room. Any thoughts?
Gail
Rehearsal Dinner Atlanta
Son is getting married in Atlanta in February. Bride grew up there, though now they both live in DC. Any recommendations for the rehearsal dinner? Small wedding party, so maybe 40-50 at rehearsal dinner. Wedding is downtown, I think out of towners like us will be staying in Buckhead. Reception at Greystone. Bride has shellfish and nut allergies. Thanks for any advice!! Gail
St. John USVI -Ted's Supper Club (personal chef)
Just returned from a week of paradise in St. John, our first trip there. We (4 of us) were staying on the Coral Bay side of the island. We had Sunday Brunch at Ms. Lucy's, burgers at Skinny Legs, pizza at Donkey Diner, dinner at Shipwreck Landing, bbq to go from Candie's near Starfish market, lunch at Vie's, grilled out once at the villa, had picnics at beaches a few times, lunch at the restaurant in Mongoose shopping center. All of these were pretty good, but we had an absolutely FABULOUS meal cooked at our villa by Ted Robinson, who is a personal chef under the name of Ted's Supper Club. He spoiled us for the rest of the week, because nothing else could hold a candle to the meal he prepared. He brought all the food, presented it exquisitely, and cleaned up as well. He was very pleasant during the preparation. He used to be a chef at other restaurants. He will prepare a menu for your price range and work with you if there are items you either do or do not particularly want. We had homemade focaccia bread, shrimp or scallop appetizers, hearts of romaine salad, either filet or potato wrapped mahi mahi, and either molton lava cake or almond lace cookies with white chocolate mousse and marinated strawberries. Everything we had was delicious! Hubby and I split everything and it was all great. It was one of the best meals I have ever had. I wanted him to stay the week with us :)
Here is his website:
http://www.tedssupperclub.com/Teds_Supper_Club/welcome.html
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Danna,
I agree with you about the green garlic soup at FIG and the Hominy Grill. Next time we might try the Sun-Thur 3 course meal at McCradys, but am not sure when that will be. Oil on AL beaches yesterday breaks my heart. I'm sure our usual vacation destination at Sandestin FL will be hit soon as well. And more waters are closed to fishing.
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
The shells seemed too hard, more like shrimp shells might be. The 4 others got flounder, grouper and fish stew. We all liked the dishes we got, other than the crab.
The baby calamari was very good, but there were many of them. Some of the party are not big fans of calamari, so they gave theirs to the others. The ones who love them got very, very many. I quit eating them after about 2 dozen. It wasn't unbalanced, if everyone in the party likes them. We had a group of 6 so we had our own table. If you went as just a couple you would be seated with people you do not know, which I would find fun, but some might not.
Oh, we also went to Mellow Mushroom, but didn't order pizza, the kids just got beer. And they went to some beer store near the waterfront park and bought a couple of bottles. They also went to Two Rivers Tavern on Daniel Island and got a couple of other different ones. The older one took a class at Virginia Tech called the science of brewing as an elective, which was about beer. He made a 98. He opted not to take the wine tasting class because he heard it was hard and they encourage you to spit it out :)
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Funny how the 3 favorites of my family were the least expensive :)
Boulevard Diner and Tomato Shed were very cheap for lunch. Trattoria Lucca was a great value for what we got. $34 for 4 course dinner. It probably is not what we would have ordered given a choice, but we really liked it. Well, a couple of us not wild about the large amount of baby calamari in the pasta course but other than that we loved it.
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Boulevard Diner
409 W Coleman Blvd, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
Trattoria Lucca
41 Bogard St, Charleston, SC 29403
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Our Week in Charleston
Sunday
Brunch High Cotton – 4 in party, 3 got crab cake Benedict and loved it, on fried green tomato with poached egg. Had Firefly cocktail and bloody Marys. High marks from all for food and atmosphere.
Dinner – Sunday Supper at Trattoria Lucca – all 6 had arrived. This was given highest marks by all. 4 appetizers, English peas with bacon, marinated mushrooms with mozzarella, smoked meats (2 different ones, but not sure of the names), and fried eggplant with a cheese sauce. All were wonderful. Next was pasta with calamari. One of the party has shellfish allergies, which I had mentioned when the reservation was made. Chef Ken himself emailed me that it would not be a problem. She got veal meatballs with hers rather than calamari. The main dish was a chicken over mashed potatoes, incredibly rich and good. Of course by then we were pretty well stuffed. The dessert was a polenta cake, to me like a sweet corn muffin, with fresh strawberries and marscapone cheese. It was really good as well, we had just eaten too much to fully enjoy it.
Monday
Amen Street Fish and Raw Bar – we all had fish dishes, some had raw oysters, which were not as big as the oysters we are used to from the Gulf Coast of Florida, but we had switched our plans due to worry over the oil spill. This was good and we enjoyed it. That might we just had sandwiches at the condo and fresh strawberry pie I made with local strawberries brought from home.
Tuesday
We stopped at the Tomato Shed on our way to the Charleston Tea Plantation. One son said it was the best crab cake he had ever eaten. Too early for local tomatoes, so the tomato dishes were somewhat of a disappointment. The squash casserole was good and there were many vegetable sides to choose from. This place was also on the list of favorites for most of the group. We stopped back by there on our way home to pick up vegetables to cook for our planned grilled shrimp and steak meal that night. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the grill to start at the condo so we cooked inside. The shrimp was not local at Fish Net Seafood, and none was available at the Stono Market, so we got farmed shrimp which we cooked in the oven. At Fish Net Seafood we got fried blue crabs for $1.45 each and hushpuppies. They said the soft shell crab season ended 2 weeks earlier. These were our appetizers for the oven baked shrimp and pan fried steaks.
Wednesday
Lunch was sandwiches we took to Isle of Palms beach, where we spent a pleasant day. Dinner at FIG. I was expecting this to be everyone’s favorite, and it might have been except that 2 people ordered soft shell crab based on the waitress recommendation. They have eaten it before, so it was not that they didn’t know what to expect. We asked about the season based on the conversation at the Fish Net the day before but she assured it us they were still in season and very good. They didn’t eat much of it and in retrospect should have sent it back and asked for either the flounder or grouper, which were both excellent. That would have changed the whole experience into a much more positive one. The staff asked more than once if everything was to our liking, so I suspect they would have brought something else. We have never done that before, I guess our southern upbringing. Desserts were excellent. The experience was a little disappointing, but I guess our expectations were too high and it was our fault for not sending the crab back.
Thursday
Lunch Cru Café, which I visited on my first trip 2 years ago. I had remembered with longing the warm chocolate torte, and it was as good as the first time. We all liked what we ordered. The tilapia and shrimp over angel hair pasta were especially good. The 3 desserts were all winners, chocolate torte, tiramisu and bread pudding. We did a pub tour that night including appetizers. The best apps were at Social, the homemade potato chips with blue cheese were great.
Friday
Lunch at Boulevard Diner which was outstanding. We ordered way too much food because we wanted to try so many of the vegetables. After our 3 orders of fried green tomatoes we couldn’t finish, or even get a decent start, to the 8 side veggies we ordered in addition to our meals. No chance to order dessert we were so stuffed. Since we were going to Sullivan Beach we didn’t get to go boxes. For supper we had the She Crab soup we bought at Tomato Shed and had sandwiches at the condo. High marks again from all in party.
Saturday
4 of us went to Hominy Grill on our way out of town. The other 2 flew out way too early to eat anywhere. The fried green tomatoes were good. I had shrimp and grits since I had only tasted others on the trip and hadn’t ordered them. They were good, but not as rich as Boulevard Diner. Hubby had breakfast. Biscuit not great. Girlfriend with fried green BLT wished for bread rather than bun. Desserts here were good, buttermilk pie, hummingbird cake and chocolate pudding.
All in all a great experience in Charleston. Thanks for all the recommendations!
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Hominy Grill
207 Rutledge Ave, Charleston, SC 29403
Boulevard Diner
1978 Maybank Hwy, Charleston, SC 29412
Trattoria Lucca
41 Bogard St, Charleston, SC 29403
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Reservations at High Cotton for Sunday Brunch, Trattoria Lucca for Sunday Supper, which sounds like fun. Other members of group now ranking their picks for activities and food, including older son, whose post regarding beer you may have seen :)
I hope the other reservations during the week might not be an issue, other than the next Friday night since school is not out yet and Spoleto is not until the next week. Is that likely to be the case? We have to get our schedule figured out if they will be a problem. Hunley open only on weekends, so Sunday is our only option for that. First Flush festival at tea plantation also Sunday, so we might split up.
I really appreciate all the input!!
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Trattoria Lucca
41 Bogard St, Charleston, SC 29403
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Do the guys need jackets at McCrady's and FIG?
Thanks, Gail
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McCrady's Restaurant
2 Unity Alley, Charleston, SC 29401
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
I prefer Mr. Crite's BBQ on Snake Road out in the middle of nowhere near Athens to all the others. My other favorite is Chuckwagon in Madison on Madison Blvd in front of Old Time Pottery. Both of these are little hole in the wall places. Chuckwagon has brisket, which I have never liked before getting it there. Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur is better than the other Gibson's in Huntsville in my opinion. I don't think Dreamland is as good as Mr. Crites for ribs. The sports folk rave over the Tuscaloosa Dreamland. I went before it ever made TV. It was quite an interesting place back then. Son went to school in Tuscaloosa and also has favorites other than Dreamland there.
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Thanks Littleman. Not so interested in BBQ as we can get great pulled pork and ribs here in AL as well as chicken with an awesome white sauce.
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Thanks Lizzy! One of the kids wants to visit the tea plantation on Wadmalaw Island. How is the Tomato Shed at Stono Farm Market? It might be on the way. I saw that on a previous post. Looks like we could buy the shrimp there. We'll be in a condo and will eat some sandwiches, fruit and yogurt, plus cooking the shrimp and fish there, so we have way too many restaurant choices!
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
Sue,
Thanks for the info. We were thinking of Altanticville too. Too many restaurants! We actually might eat out only one meal per day.
Charleston next week -help narrow choices for us and two 20 somethings with girl friends
We will be coming to Charleston May 15-22. I came to Spoleto 2 years ago with my sisters. We ate at Peninsula Grill, Cru Cafe, Tristin's, SNOB, Magnolias and Hanks. None of the family coming with me this time has ever been to Charleston. Husband and 2 sons with girl friends, 25 and 23 years old. We will be staying on Daniel's Island. Husband is history buff (esp Civil War), one son wants to take girl friend to water park since she is from NY and has never been to one. We are from AL, and changed our vacation plans from Destin, FL to Charleston at the last minute because of the Gulf oil spill. The condo has a grill and we hope to find some fresh shrimp and fish to grill (any ideas?) in addition to eating out at some great places. We would probably go to the beach one day, Sullivan or Folly? Sullivan appears to be a good bit closer. Any good places at either beach, or should we pack a lunch? Husband wants to see Hundley and probably Ft. Sumter. Aything around either of them? I loved King Street shopping last time, but alas, the 3 men are not shoppers, though we will have 2 cars. What about the deep sea fishing for the guys? Sorry, this is off the food subject. So far I am thinking for lunch Cru Cafe (loved it last time), Amen Street Raw Bar (a couple of them love raw oysters), Five Loaves, maybe Magnolia (liked this last time for brunch) or Hominy Grill. For dinner, McCrady's, Bowen's Island, FIG, maybe Trattoria Lucca Sunday dinner. How is Fast & French? I guess we could just as easily go to Mt. Pleasant as old town Charleston, so what are the recs there? Oh, and the kids might want some happening bar scene (cheap) and music.
Thanks for your help! Gail
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McCrady's Restaurant
2 Unity Alley, Charleston, SC 29401
Hominy Grill
207 Rutledge Ave, Charleston, SC 29403
Peninsula Grill
112 N Market St, Charleston, SC 29401
Five Loaves Cafe
43 Cannon St Ste A, Charleston, SC 29403
Trattoria Lucca
41 Bogard St, Charleston, SC 29403
Best in Huntsville, AL...........
We've been to the Spice of India in the Country Inn & Suties hotel on Madison Blvd in Madison (Hwy 20) and it's good. They have buffet at lunch but you order off the menu at night I think. Haven't tried Sitar.
Best in Huntsville, AL...........
I've only been to D & L Bistro at lunch recently, but it was good. I had the fish special there a few weeks ago. I haven't been to 801 Franklin in a long time. It used to be good, so maybe it's still a good choice. GIve Cotton Row on the square a try. Once I went and it was great. I took 10 people there for lunch because I liked it the first time. The second time we had trouble with both the service and food. Maybe they were short-handed. Try Phoenix as well. Not open every night though, so you would need to check before you go. I think they are open at lunch. It's a couple of blocks from the square downtown. Paulis has beer tastings with the new "high gravity" beers on Thursdays with oysters and usually something else special. This week it was king crab. If your son is in Madison you've probably been to Paulis.
Best in Huntsville, AL...........
Where are you from?
We've had good food at Grille 29 in Providence. The food is always good although the place could use some sprucing up at Pauli's in Madison. There is a Ruth Chris in the Embassy Suites downtown or Connor's Steak in Bridge Street. Phoenix and Cotton Row are also good. Well, Cotton Row was great the first time I went and not as good the second time. Do you want ethnic? If so, what type? Sushi and other Japanese is good at Mikawa, a block off University Drive. The following are not "fine dining", but for southern BBQ Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur is good, try the BBQ chicken with white sauce and get peanut butter pie if they have it (this is a VERY casual place). If you want fried catfish and hushpuppies Greenbrier is good on I-565 between Madison and Decatur (also very casual). Some think the ribs at Dreamland BBQ are the best.
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Grille 29
475 Providence Main St NW, Huntsville, AL 35806
Cotton Row Restaurant
100 Southside Sq, Huntsville, AL 35801
Embassy Suites
670 Verdae Blvd, Greenville, SC 29607
New York style deli in the Huntsville area?
In Arab you might also try The Fried Tater Mill.
Fried sweet potatoes, with a glob of cinnamon butter on them is what they are named for. Basic southern food.
New York style deli in the Huntsville area?
If you're going to Athens anyway, you should go by and get ribs to go at Crites :)
We just had BBQ brisket from Chuckwagon on Madison Blvd in front of Old Time Pottery in Madison. Owner is from TX. Not your traditional southern BBQ but mighty tasty!
