Blog Topic: Restaurant News

Grub Notes: Wing Zone Is Open Downtown

By Hillary Brown | February 25, 2016 2:32pm

Someone was just telling me that Athens needed a dedicated wings place, so, boom. Here you go. Wing Zone is open in the former Yoforia on the ground floor (Clayton Street side) of the West Washington Street parking deck/mixed-use development.

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Grub Notes: Big Daddy Mike's and JB's Smokin' Pig to Add More BBQ to the Athens Area

By Hillary Brown | February 26, 2016 10:38am

Photo Credit: Photo via Facebook

Big Daddy Mike's

Big Daddy Mike's Barbecue Bar and Grill, the restaurant evolution of a BBQ sauce company that also does catering, will open soon in what was most recently Dickey's Barbecue Pit, on Hawthorne, near its intersection with Oglethorpe/Tallassee.

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Grub Notes: Two New Burger Restaurants Coming to Athens

By Hillary Brown | February 25, 2016 12:18pm

Burger 21.

Groove Burgers, a brand-new burger joint from Bridger Loftin (of Loco's), could have a soft opening this weekend, in the new Epps Bridge shopping center, by Kinnucans. The concept seems potentially franchisable, which wouldn't be a surprise, but for now it's a rare independent business in the Epps Bridge area.

Yet to determine a location is Burger 21, which is a franchise, with locations in Buckhead, Johns Creek and the Mall of Georgia, as well as in many other states. Its menu is a little more voluminous, and it offers seafood burgers, sliders, chicken tenders, hot dogs, turkey chili and an array of shakes and floats.

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Grub Notes: Mama Jewel's Kitchen Is Open on Baxter; Mother Pho Is Open Downtown

By Hillary Brown | February 19, 2016 1:09pm

As of Feb. 3, the space on Baxter Street that once housed Mirko Pasta is now home to Mama Jewel's Kitchen, an independent business that does Southern cooking and healthier options.

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Grub Notes: Five & Ten Nominated for James Beard Award

By Hillary Brown | February 18, 2016 10:45am

Photo Credit: Five & Ten

The James Beard Awards released its long list of 2016 nominees for restaurants and chefs of the year yesteday, and Five & Ten is among the "Outstanding Restaurant" semifinalists.

The James Beard Foundation describes its outstanding restaurant winner as the best restaurant "in the United States that serves as a national standard bearer of consistent quality and excellence in food, atmosphere and service. Eligible restaurants must have been in operation 10 or more consecutive years."

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In the Loop: South Kitchen + Bar Is Restoring The Georgian Ballroom

By Kat Khoury | February 3, 2016 4:25pm

Photo Credit: Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries

The new owners of the once-famed “Pride of Athens,” the ballroom at The Georgian, showed off their plans to restore it at an Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation event on Monday.

South Kitchen + Bar owners Kirby and Stephanie Sims, who also own Trappeze Pub and Highwire, are buying the ballroom from Chris Blackmon, owner of Rent Athens, another business in the building.

Several hundred Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation members filled the ballroom Monday, the more curious wandering through the halls and unused rooms of the former Palm Room, which has been sectioned off from the ballroom.

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Grub Notes: Big Family Cafe Adds Dinner Hours; White Tiger to Open Mondays

By Hillary Brown | February 4, 2016 1:13pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Big Family Cafe

Since it opened almost two years ago, Big Family Cafe has built a following in Homewood Hills by serving reliably delicious, fresh food off a large menu. You can bring your kids. You can bring your parents. You can get an omelet for breakfast or lunch, and avocado comes with tons of entrees. Once before, it tried expanding its hours to include dinner, but couldn't make a go of it. Now it's trying again. The new hours are 7 a.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m.–3 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday).

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Grub Notes: The Calzone War Rages On in Athens

By Hillary Brown | February 3, 2016 2:53pm

Photo Credit: Photo via Facebook

Eddie's Calzones

So, apparently Eddie's Calzones isn't just going to sit there and take D.P. Dough's press-release smack talk.

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Grub Notes: Zombie Coffee and Donuts to Open Downtown

By Hillary Brown | February 3, 2016 10:01am

Photo Credit: Photo via Facebook

The space downtown that most recently housed a branch of local franchise Your Pie will soon be home to Zombie Coffee and Donuts. Owner Tony Raffa, who won't graduate with his undergraduate degree from UGA until the end of this semester, owns another branch of the store in Washington, D.C., but says he's excited to open one in Athens.

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Grub Notes: Dollar Slices Today for Automatic Pizza's Birthday

By Hillary Brown | January 28, 2016 1:39pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

I'd buy 1/8 of that for a dollar.

In some ways it's hard to believe Automatic Pizza hasn't been around any longer than a year, so quickly did it attract an audience and become a regular stop for many in its neighborhood. But it's one year old today, so it's offering dollar slices and dollar PBRs all day. It closes at 11 p.m. Go get some.

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