Roots in Alpharetta

Several years ago I stumbled into the Chamblee location of Pig-N-Chik. It was almost by accident, more of… “Hey, there’s a Q joint, let’s try it!” I was impressed on that one and only visit. It was enough to get me excited when this location opened in Alpharetta about two and a half years ago. At that time, decent Q was something we simply didn’t have here. I had high expectations.

Fast forward to 2010… The barbecue scene is picking up a bit in Alpharetta and Pig-N-Chik has become just ho-hum by my book. It’s just hard for me to get real excited about this place. I neither like it nor dislike it really. For stripmall Q it isn’t bad. They have one of these glorified ovens/smokers, not a pit. You can see it attached to the back of the building, visible from the CVS drive thru. Yet unlike a lot of other stripmall joints, they do a decent job with it. Their meat has some smokey flavor around the outside. It could use a lot more.

They serve a very thick pulled pork here. The strands are massive, several bites worth in some cases. The outside meat is done well with the right amount of chew. There is a faint smoke ring present. The inside meat is moist but lacks a lot of barbecue flavor. If you’re feeling up for it, I’d suggest ordering only outside meat, which I think they will do here.

My biggest complaint about their pulled pork is that it is almost always fatty. Every single time I’ve ordered it I find pretty big hunks of fat. Not good eats! They either need to trim their butts a little or pick that stuff out before serving.

I enjoyed my sides on my visit this week. The fried okra was fresh out of the fryer, golden brown and delicious. They disappeared quickly. The stew was also decent with big hunks of pork, a lot of veggies and a peppery kick.

Their location is a bit hard to find as it isn’t visible from Windward. You’ll have to drive back behind the CVS drugstore to find them. It really is a bad spot for a restaurant, similar to Maryland’s Crab House. Nevertheless, Pig-N-Chik has managed to survive here a few years.

Something else to note about this area… The east end of Windward is mostly office parks. The dozen or so restaurants that exist here do the vast majority of their business to cubicle dwellers like myself. Many places are closed at nights and weekends. Those that do stay open don’t do a lot of business. Pig-N-Chik stays open, but I would caution against going here at off-peak times. Barbecue is best enjoyed when the restaurant is serving a lot of it. If you’re serious about trying Pig-N-Chik, I suggest going during the week for lunch.

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday. This week I continue a summer series reviewing barbecue restaurants in Alpharetta.

I’m always on the prowl for new barbecue. You’ve gotta look beyond the stripmall to find the hidden gem. Case in point is this article I wrote about a church BBQ fundraiser a few months back. It is also how I discovered Q at this joint on McFarland, a place I didn’t plan to review this summer.

So I’m driving down McFarland one day and notice blue smoke billowing from smoker attached to a pickup truck. Next I see the signs. Dottie’s Delight? Barbecue? I was scratching my head. I tried this place once, years ago, for breakfast. I wasn’t impressed. It was basically a lunch counter for construction guys with marginal breakfast options. It was also next to a sketchy looking “massage parlor”. I didn’t go back… until yesterday.

It seems they are in the midst of a transformation, from Dottie’s to something called Bad Wolf BBQ and Pancake House. The to-go menu I swiped says the grand re-opening is in September sometime. But in the meantime, Q has already taken over the lunch menu. I found pulled pork, brisket, ribs and chicken. Humm, sounds like a KCBS barbecue contest. I settled in on a quarter rack of ribs and pulled pork combo. Went with stew as a side item, available at an up-charge (boo).

The pulled pork looked great. The size of the strands of meat was about right, not too thick and a perfect size for a sandwich. It had an impressive smoke ring and a tiny bit of bark. It was moist and somewhat smokey but not overpowering. It could have been more tender but still decent. It worked great with the slices of white bread.

The ribs are baby backs. I was told that my rack just came out of the smoker. They come without sauce but with just a dusting of extra dry rub. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they were dry rub ribs, just had a few shakes for extra flavor. Nevertheless I thought they were very good. They were the perfect in tenderness. Fall off the bone is too tender by my book. These were soft yet had enough body to cling to the ribs ever so slightly. They were smokey and delicious. Just be warned, if you want a glaze or caramelized crust on your ribs you won’t find it here.

They have four sauces on the table. That’s way too much in my opinion. As I remember they had a mustard style, western North Carolina style and two Kansas City sauces. I thought the pulled pork went well with the KC style sauce, especially on the bread. The ribs didn’t need any at all.

The Brunswick Stew is very thick with limas and potatoes I think. There are some pretty large hunks of meat in it, but had a tartness that I didn’t care for a lot. The Q easily outshines the stew here.

On my way out I chatted with the pitmaster on his way to the smoker. He’s just a good old boy from South Carolina cooking what he loves. He seemed genuinely interested in what I thought if his barbecue. We talked some about his smoker and fuel (hickory and oak logs). It was just refreshing to eat Q from and honest to goodness pit smoker and not a Southern Pride electric oven.

Dottie’s/Bad Wolf surprised me. Don’t expect anything fancy here. It still has that lunch counter feel with NASCAR pictures on the wall. Do expect barbecue using traditional cooking methods. You just don’t see this stuff anymore in the affluent burbs.

Dottie’s Delight is located at 765 McFarland Parkway near the intersection of Union Hill Road. It is across the street from BB’s Bagels.

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday. This week I continue a summer series reviewing barbecue restaurants in Alpharetta.

I have a strong aversion to franchise barbecue. It is a prejudice I’ve created in my mind based on years of bad experiences. Right out of the gate a franchise Q joint has a high hurdle to overcome to please me. It took a few visits for me to come to this conclusion, but I think Jim ‘N Nicks is probably the best franchise barbecue in the northern burbs. Note that I said the best franchise joint. They keep some sorry company in this category.

Jim ‘N Nicks is has an outparcel location at The Avenue Forsyth. I’ve made fun of cheesy barbecue restaurant decor in my past reviews. Jim ‘N Nicks won’t be spared from my ridicule here. They’ve got their fair share of folksy pictures and other fake knick knacks all over the place. I started to doubt the cords of wood outside the restaurant. Are they for show as well?

Thankfully the answer is no. The barbecue here has a solid core of hickory smoke flavor. I tend to like heavy smoke in my pork. If you’re put off by that, Jim ‘N Nicks might not be for you. Their menu has pulled pork, brisket, ribs, chicken and probably some other Q I’m forgetting. The pulled pork is not really my favorite. It is often over-tender to the point of being mushy. They would do a lot better to cook it less. Otherwise it is beautiful with a nice smoke ring. They sauce it in the kitchen, which I don’t care for.

The baby back ribs are probably my favorite here. Again they have a solid smokey flavor with a decent rub and sauce that’s caramelized on the meat. It is flavorful, tender with texture. My only complaint here one of presentation. On my last two visits the ribs were up-side-down on the plate when they come out. I mean the membrane/convex side is up. It looks rather sorry given how tasty they are. Flip them over guys!

The non-barbecue side of the menu is very good at Jim ‘N Nicks. Many folks rave about the little biscuits they bring before the meal. I’m not a huge fan but they are decent. The chicken fingers are amazingly good, hand battered and worthy of trying as an entree. The fried cat fish is also delicious. Most of the side items are made from scratch. Brunswick stew is available as a side… at an upcharge. Boo!

All in all, Jim ‘N Nicks is decent stuff. The prices are expensive, on par with the boutique barbecue joints down in Alpharetta. I don’t think the quality of their food justifies the price though. Others must disagree with me because this place is always packed. It is worthy of a splurge from time to time though!

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday.

There is a certain type of restaurant that attracts the country club ladies. These are the older gals with a lot of disposable income that can drop a 20 spot on lunch everyday. I don’t know what these ladies do, maybe meet their scrapbooking friends or something. I like to poke fun at these gals but I’ll say this; they have exceptional taste in restaurants. Pay attention to where they eat, it is bound to be good. I find them at places like Never Enough Thyme and other higher end sandwich joints. I wasn’t surprised to see them here at 52 Bistro either.

52 Bistro opened recently in the old Slice Cafe spot in downtown Alpharetta. Their address, as you might guess, is 52 Main Street yet they can be hard to spot from the road. I find it best to approach the restaurant from Church Street, a small side street off Main. The owners of 52 Bistro also run the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub in Crabapple.

Awwe, isn’t their building adorable? It is a small little house nestled among trees. In front is a koi fish pond. They are not on the menu. The first floor is a little cramped with a small bar, hostess table, kitchen, dessert display and a few tables. Upstairs, where we sat, looks like a sanctuary of an old church. You’re under the high loft ceiling with two stained glass windows to add color. Off the upstairs is the treetop veranda. I don’t suggest this in the summertime but it is beautiful up there. All in all, this little house turned restaurant is cute, fresh, inviting… and probably several other words that realtors might use.

Let’s get to the food. We started with the seafood risotto fritter appetizers. These were like little baseballs of deep fried seafood goodness. They were cooked perfect, golden brown and delicious. On first impression I thought these would be better with more spice. Then the chili glaze taste started to hit me. Yum.

I ordered a Cuban sandwich, which I tried at Taste of Alpharetta a few months back. They use real roast pork (not deli pork meat), long strips of pickle and bread with the right crunch to it. I don’t want to get in trouble with Cuban foodie purists, so read this next part carefully. Is it an authentic Cuban sandwich? No. Is it the closest you’re going to get to authentic in Alpharetta? Probably. Is it delicious? Definitely!

The rest of the menu contains stuff like flatbreads, sandwiches, a little bit of seafood and lamb. It isn’t a deep menu, but there is enough there to keep me interested for a few more trips.

52 Bistro is a winner. I like the neat little house turned restaurant, friendly and attentive staff, and terrific food. Cubicle dwelling IT folks like yours truly might feel a little out of place among the snooty ladies. It’s totally worth it though.

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday. This week I continue a summer series reviewing barbecue restaurants in Alpharetta.

Let’s get the positives out of the way first. One Star Ranch is the most authentic-looking barbecue restaurant in Alpharetta. I like to ding Q joints on fake decor that comes across as cheesy. One Star has its share of bling on the walls. Old license plates, rattle snake skins, etc. If you pulled it all off the walls and hung it up in a strip mall space it would look contrived. But given One Star’s dive joint location, I find it completely believable. Maybe that’s a double standard I have. I just really enjoy the look and feel of this restaurant. I also like that they have live blues music from time to time.

But, (and this is a big BUT), the quality of the barbecue here is seriously lacking. I used to kinda like this place years ago, before the barbecue scene in town got competitive. Or put another way, I liked them before Smokejack and ‘Cue considerably raised the bar. I last visited One Star about three years ago. The ribs at that time were fatty and tough. I vowed never to return. I felt they needed another shot before writing a serious review.

On my last visit I stuck with chopped pork with a few sides. The pork comes out a course, thick chop with an average amount of outside meat. They will sauce it in the kitchen so I asked for it on the side. Their sauce, served warm, is a heavy ketchup base that I don’t really care for. The Q itself was a little on the chewy side and lacked flavor. The outside meat has promise, but several bites tasted of soot from the smoker. I struggled to eat half of it. Very disappointing.

For sides I picked stew and jalapeno corn bread. I’ve enjoyed the bread in the past, which has a little kick. On this night it was dry and tasted like it had been reheated. The stew wasn’t bad, the only part of my meal I enjoyed. I’ve heard folks rave about the tub of onion rings. I’ve never had them, might be worth a try.

Maybe judging these guys on pork alone isn’t fair. But to this barbecue fan (with North Carolina roots and Memphis taste buds), One Star doesn’t do it for me. If you’re from Texas and want a feel for a Q joint in that genre, One Star might work. The rest of the menu, with brisket, sausage and beef ribs, round out the Texas feel. I’d come back for a beer and some blues music, but skip the barbecue.

Wanna chew the fat on local barbecue? Leave a comment, email me at lee@rootsinalpharetta.com or catch me on twitter at http://twitter.com/rootsalpharetta.

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday. This week I continue a summer series reviewing barbecue restaurants in Alpharetta.

I vividly remember my first visit to ‘Cue about a year ago. This random barbecue joint opens up shop with no fanfare in a space that had proven to be unlucky to restaurants. It didn’t take me long to figure out that they were a boutique barbecue shop. But slowly I started to notice some familiar things. The racks of fresh bread, hand-cut fries, course chopped Q, delicious stew. It all reminded me of something. Then I started seeing faces that looked familiar including the owner of the joint. It all came together for me then… this is Swallow at the Hollow!

I went home and googled like mad, thinking this must surely be the second location of my favorite Roswell Q joint. Not so much. Turns out that Swallow’s former chef, Paul Doster, went out on his own. Thankfully he brought the best of what I remember from his days in Roswell. If you’re familiar with Swallow at the Hollow then you’ll know what to expect at ‘Cue. The barbecue is very similar. Many of the side items are as well. The Brunswick stew is a tad different but very similar. Everything is made from scratch, even the pickles.

But let’s talk about the barbecue… They cook shoulders and serve as a course chop. There is always a good mix of outside meat with the inside stuff. Noticeable smoke ring? Yep. Tender and moist? Check. Decent sauce that doesn’t overpower? Stick to the vinegar and pepper stuff and you’ll be alright.

I’ve had the ribs a few times but find them to be inconsistent. When they are on, look out! Very good stuff, tender yet with some body (fall-off-the-bone is over tender in my book). But I’ve had racks here that are fatty and unappetizing.

Don’t like ribs or pork barbecue? Shame on you! ‘Cue also has brisket, chicken, and sausage in addition to off-the-wall stuff like barbecue pizza and nachos.

I mentioned that the sides are all homemade. It is tough to go wrong with anything. I enjoy dipping the bread into stew. I’d also suggest trying their seasonal veggie of the day. Almost always a winner.

Can you tell I’m a fan of this place? Of all the Q joints I will review this summer, ‘Cue is by far my favorite. Nevertheless I think they have some things to improve upon. Those would be…

- Often I find the outside brown portion of my chopped pork to be overdone. It can sometimes be the consistency of very crisp bacon. It should be chewy but not crunch. They also don’t apply a rub to their pork (if they do, it isn’t much). In my opinion they are losing the chance to add a big flavor profile to their barbecue.

- Their restaurant is small. There’s no other way to put it. ‘Cue is very popular right now and is literally bursting at the seams. This tiny strip mall can’t handle it. Parking and finding a seat are tough. They’ve gotta get out of this piece of real estate pronto.

- Decor. To be fair, I can’t knock places like Dickey’s on fake Q joint decor and not do the same for ‘Cue. It is a little hokey.

So there you have it. ‘Cue is a winner. Disagree with me? I’m always up for a barbecue debate. Leave me a comment or shoot me an email at lee@rootsinalpharetta.com

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday. This week I continue a summer series reviewing barbecue restaurants in Alpharetta.

I took some grief in my review of Cheeky Taqueria when I called their restaurant “contrived”. I still stand by that claim. However, Dickey’s in Milton is a textbook example of contrived franchised barbecue. Every bit of the decor is there to trick you into believing you’re eating at a generations-old barbecue restaurant. It is embarrassing really.

Dickey’s is a franchise concept out of Texas. Their menu consists of pulled pork, brisket (sliced and chopped), baby back ribs, sausage, turkey and chicken plus the usual suspects of sides. Today I picked a two meat plate of pulled pork and ribs.

The pork was a tremendous disappointment. There was no outside meat whatsoever and no smokey flavor. It was a tad on the chewy side. I thought Slope’s pork was bland, but these guys might have them in this department. I didn’t even finish the stuff.

The ribs were tender enough but also lacked flavor. No smoke was evident, nor was there any rub or caramelized sauce. Again, they were bland and boring.

They offer three sauces served warm in pump vats (like the way Wendy’s does ketchup). Their regular sauce tastes like KC Masterpiece, just a little more thin. The sweet and hot sauces are not much better.

With my general dislike of the proteins, I devoured the side items. The Brunswick stew was was hearty and flavorful. I also liked the fried okra and yeast roll.

One gimmick I kinda enjoy at Dickey’s is the free soft serve ice cream. They have a self-serve machine with cups and cones. Since I was still hungry after leaving half my meat uneaten, I wasn’t shy and ate two cones.

There are a lot of barbecue restaurants along Highway 9 in Alpharetta and Milton. Dickey’s is not one I suggest. Maybe they are catching the overflow from ‘Cue down the street.

I hope SMG employees can see chiropractors as part of their benefits package. These poor servers have to walk around hunched over Quasimodo. I kinda felt bad for them.

Thursday night my wife and I made our first visit to the new Studio Movie Grill theater on Holcomb Bridge. I wrote a preview article about this a few weeks back. If you’re not familiar with their concept then read my article here. It’ll be interesting to see if this idea takes root in the burbs.

The theater is in an old grocery store, restored beautifully into a modern theater. Walking into the lobby feels nothing like a typical movie theater. Gone are cheesy video games and greasy pop corn stands. It is more like an upscale waiting room with a bar. You wait until they call you to enter the theater. It is almost like a train station or an airport terminal. “We are now seating for Sex and the City.” Excuse me, that’s my movie. Let me bring my cosmopolitan.

The theaters themselves are different of course. Each horizontal isle has seats on either side. The seats closest to the screen have a long bar-like table. On the other side of the isle are little tables big enough for two people. The little tables are perfect for a couple on a date because you have a tiny bit of privacy. On the other hand, these seats have more obstructions when Quasimodo walks by with drinks. If you want to avoid seeing the servers, sit at the bar seats.

You sit on chairs that are a lot like the big chairs in a conference room at work. They are comfortable but nothing like traditional theater chairs.

On each table is a little button and a red light. Pressing this alerts the staff that you need attention. The servers are very attentive and any of them can wait on you. I found that they have a small army of wait staff in each theater. We didn’t have to wait long at all when our button was pressed. The staff all carry little hand-held Palm-OS looking things to take orders. Very high tech.

So let’s talk about the food. The menu is heavy with stuff like pizza, burgers, sandwiches, wraps, etc. I picked a fried chicken sandwich and my wife a pizza. I didn’t care for the pizza much at all as it was a little on the bready side. My sandwich was pretty good but on par with something like Chili’s. It was about what I expected. This place isn’t going to win any culinary awards anytime soon, that’s for sure. It’s chain restaurant food with a couple-a extra bucks tacked onto the price.

Let’s talk beverages… They serve Pepsi products. Yeah, it’s a shame too. Someone from SMG corporate assured me here on my blog that they’d have Coke products in Atlanta. Not so much. They do have Diet Dr Pepper which is a decent alternative. Their bar has some interesting cocktails yet lacks a deep selection of beer.

The movie watching experience was nice. You can feel the quality in their projectors and sound system. The basic ticket prices for movies are in-line with traditional theaters in Alpharetta.

All in all, I thought it was a cool theater. The food isn’t anything to write home about, but I kinda expected this. There is some disruption to the movie from the wait staff but I expected this as well. They do indeed try hard to minimize the interruptions. Quasimodo won’t say a word to you without a button push.

I’d go back to Studio Movie Grill. Drinking Yeungling while watching a movie is terrific. Having someone refill your drinks ain’t bad either. But get dinner somewhere else before coming.

And for complete disclosure… I was invited to attend on media night and was given free admission and food. I don’t think it clouded my judgment though. I’ll let my readers be the judge of that.

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday.

I believe we are on the tail end of this burger craze. For the sake of my cholesterol, I certainly hope we are. But in the meantime, let’s add yet another custom burger shop to the mix.

Scratch Fresh quietly opened up about a month ago. I say quietly because they literally hung a banner sign and started cooking. They have a website with no content, have performed no marketing that I’m aware of and have almost no reviews online. Nevertheless, they have a terrific location and people are finding them. For lunch last Saturday they had a decent crowd.

It is easy to compare Scratch to Five Guys. They cook a hand made burger on a flattop griddle. You add toppings like you would at Five Guys and the prices are similar. They deviate from Five Guys in that their menu is more broad and the toppings more numerous.

But let’s get to the burgers, shall we? I enjoyed my Scratch burger a lot. It was perfectly cooked with a little singe on the outside, yet was juicy and flavorful. Is it the best burger in Alpharetta? I wouldn’t go that far. Is it better than Five Guys? Oh hell yes. The Windward location of Five Guys is pretty shitty anyway. This place would be a terrific alternative. Anyway, I promise not to mention Five Guys anymore.

This appears to be a family-run operation; the service is friendly and attentive. They are also very kid/family friendly. My kids enjoyed the chalk boards in the back of the store. They laughed and laughed while getting covered in chalk dust.

There are several things I believe Scratch can improve on. Among those are:

Fresh cut fries – They serve frozen fries. But to give them credit, they were cooked perfectly with a nice golden brown crisp on the outside. To remain competitive I think they need fresh cut spuds on the menu. Even, um, the other place on Windward does this.

Pepsi – I don’t tolerate Pepsi products. Really disgusting. I know it probably costs more to offer Coke, but this is metro Atlanta. Shame shame! Although their lemonade is very tasty.

Milkshakes – I tried one of the hand-spun shakes and it was pretty good. I’d suggest they hide the food service containers of shake flavors. They line a wall and look kinda tacky. It diminishes the experience a bit, taking it from a hand-spun shake down to something I’d expect from McDonalds. They also serve a cinnamon roll dessert which my wife didn’t care for at all.

All in all, Scratch is probably my favorite mid-grade burger joint in North Fulton. They offer a friendly environment that is welcoming to kids and a more diverse burger menu.

Scratch Fresh is located on Highway 9 near Windward, across from Walmart near Meyers Deli.

12872 Alpharetta Hwy 9 Ste 110

Alpharetta GA 30004

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday. This week I continue a summer series reviewing barbecue restaurants in Alpharetta.

I really want to like Slopes BBQ. There are several reasons outside of barbecue that make these guys so darn likable. First, they seem to hold some pretty conservative political views. If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know I’m a hardcore red state kind of fella. Behind the counter the Slopes folks have a cool collection of right-wing bumper stickers. I got a chuckle out of a few of them.

Slopes also does a great job at old fashioned social networking. I mean the face-to-face variety, not Twitter and Facebook. They are friendly folks who get to know their customers well. I have a lot of friends who are very loyal Slopes customers for this reason.

Slopes is probably the oldest Q joint in North Fulton that is still operating. They are also in the midst of expansion, currently with six stores across the northern burbs. Consider this a review of their Alpharetta location, which is actually in South Forsyth in the Midway area.

I have a hard time getting excited about the barbecue at Slopes. The pork comes finely chopped but not to the point of being minced. It is very lean, often dry and lacks smoke flavor. There is absolutely no outside meat (aka bark) served. I once asked about this, wondering if I could order it with some outside meat mixed in. I was told that they remove this in the morning and put it into the stew. I was stunned! The best most flavorful part of the barbecue is drowned in the Brunswick Stew.

They serve a sauce that I find similar to Williamson Brothers in Marietta. It is a tomato base with a little vinegar and some tang. There is also a spicy version available. I find that I use more sauce here than at any other local Q joint. The meat needs a lot of it.

I mentioned the Brunswick Stew before. As you would imagine, it is pretty good. Slopes makes the most authentic Brunswick Stew around. It is smoky and flavorful. The rest of the side items are above average for the most part.

I also like the cobbler at Slopes. On my last visit they had four varieties. I tried the peach and was impressed. You really should save room for a bowl of it.

I keep telling myself that I ought to just order a vegetable plate and cobbler on my next visit. Yet I keep trying the chopped pork hoping that I will like it more. They now offer beef brisket everyday which looks pretty tasty. I haven’t tried their ribs or chicken.

Slopes has a lot of potential to be a well rounded Q joint. I just find their pork to be one dimensional and not pleasing to a refined barbecue palate. Yet there are scores of locals who would disagree with me on that assessment. If you enjoy the Q here then that’s alright by me. They are for sure with a try.