Bar

Vortex

Posted on by Justin

After watching an episode of Man v. Food, I was intrigued about an Atlanta haunt called “The Vortex.”  I decided that while I was in Atlanta, I HAD to get there.  As it turns out, there are two locations.  The Wife came to visit one weekend while we were there, and we popped out to the original location in Little Five Points.  It was, eclectic to say the least – just our kind of place!

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It was 2 pm on a Sunday, and we had a 40-minute wait.  To be fair, it was the weekend of daylight savings, so it was like it was really 1 pm, but still, we were surprised by the wait!

Once we got inside, the inside was very stylishly decorated.

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Anyplace that has a motorcycle hanging from the ceiling has to have some good stuff going on.

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With décor like this, is it any wonder that they had a remarkably-entertaining menu?

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So… ambiance… light-hearted menu… how ‘bout the menu?  Well, I don’t think there was anything that was “heart healthy” available. 

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Notice that the double bypass burger is served between grilled cheese sandwiches instead of a bun.  Wow.  I was impressed at even attempting it – let alone institutionalizing it as a mainstay of the menu. 

So, we finally ordered our meal.  Everything was fried, believe it or not.  We started with fried pickles (unavailable in Vegas), and cheese curds.

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The fried pickles were good, but not great.  The cheese curds were good, too, but not great.  I was beginning to think this place be big hat, no cattle (all show and no substance).  I was ready for the main course, and it showed up shortly.

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The Wife ordered the pimento burger.  Notice the big glob of pimento cheese on top.  We also appreciated the hefty helping of tater tots. 

My burger was equally impressive (if not a little more impressive).  I ordered the coronary burger (see above).

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I do love myself a nice Red Robin Royal burger – but THIS put it to shame!  Extra bacon, tasty American cheese, and a fried egg!  Awesome.  And the taste lived up to the hype!  The tater tots were excellent – perfectly crisped and hot, without being [too] greasy or scalding hot. 

Big hat, no cattle?  Shame on me for even thinking it.

We had so much extra food, it left us quite a set of leftovers.

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I wanted to make my way back before I left time, but I didn’t have time.  Definitely I’ll make it a point to get back there sometime, though.

 Vortex Bar & Grill (Little 5 Points) on Urbanspoon

It’s not Taco. It’s not Mac. But it’s good.

Posted on by Justin

While in Atlanta, one of my coworkers recommended going to a local chain with a large beer selection – Taco Mac.  One evening, a couple of us popped out to enjoy a brew from their extensive beer selection, and give the food a try, too.

After arriving, I was shocked at how extensive the draught beer selection was. 

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I was impressed with the beer menu.

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What was even better, there was a great selection of Georgia beers.  I’m a big fan of both Terrapin and Sweetwater breweries, so I was excited to try some beers that are generally unavailable in Las Vegas.

They didn’t just have beer, though.  As our reader is probably aware, Coca-Cola is housed in Atlanta.  Evidently, Coca-Cola is trying out a new drink dispensing system – basically a new kind of soda fountain.  Taco Mac, being a local Atlanta merchant, had this new system.  The beverage selection was, just as much as the beer selection, extensive.

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After surveying the beverage selection, I did, in fact, decide on a beer.  One of my all-time favorites – Terrapin Rye.

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I also ordered a bite to eat.  Boneless chicken fingers (known as chicken nuggets or chicken fingers when I was in elementary school) and French fries.

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As it turns out, the food was actually really, really good.  The fries were perfect and the tenders were juicy with great sauce.  It was all top-notch, which I didn’t really expect.  I generally expected the beer selection to compensate for what was otherwise mediocre/lackluster food.  Not the case, though!  The beer was everything I hoped for, while the food exceeded my expectations. 

I topped it all off with a second beer – Sweetwater IPA.  Georgians definitely know how to do craft beer.

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It was “just a bar,” but everything about it was a step above everything I expected.  I made my way back again (to a different location – it’s a local chain) while I was in Atlanta, and found it to be just as tasty.  I was even more excited when I heard that Taco Mac had opened a shop in our very own, Charlotte (South Park)! 

Taco Mac on Urbanspoon

Dueling Pianos at Encore’s Eastside Lounge

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

About two weeks ago, you may remember that we celebrated our friend’s birthday at Pamplemousse. After our wonderful dinner, four of us headed to the Strip to continue the party with dueling pianos.  We headed over to the Encore’s Eastside Lounge where there are dueling pianos at night.

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The lounge is decently sized and is open to the casino floor so everyone could enjoy the music.  Hostesses seated us at a table for four with some comfy chairs (I was eyeing the couches at other tables which I guess we could’ve gotten if we got there earlier).

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Beautiful ceiling over the pianos :-)

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During performances after 9pm, the lounge has a 2 drink minimum (which we knew going into it) and the drinks of course are “Vegas prices.”  They offered up twists and their own unique concoctions though which I appreciated it.  Our wonderful cocktail waitress advised that they have a mixologist who comes up with their drink menu.  I spent a lot of time looking at the menu and found ingredients here and there that I didn’t like but I found one drink that intrigued me – the Spiced Apple Mule.  It was Moon Mountain Organic Citrus Vodkaa, Thatcher’s Apple Spice Ginger Organic Liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and Natural Fever-Tree Ginger Beer.  It was fun and interesting!

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The rest of the group went with less interesting drinks :-)

In terms of the dueling pianos, they were a bit underwhelming.  I would describe them more as “dual pianos” than “dueling pianos” – a giant two sided piano with the players acting more as a team.  The music also wasn’t energizing enough, although there were small groups here and there that got up to dance.  There wasn’t a lot of singing going on though. 

Each of the tables had notepads/cards where you could request songs.

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We requested a handful of songs but after not hearing any of them, we ended up leaving.  Not before the Husband playfully modeled the birthday girl’s tiara.  Always the joker :-)

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Overall, we were underwhelmed with the dueling piano aspect of the bar, but enjoyed the overall environment, the drinks, and our cocktail waitress.  However, we don’t expect we’ll be back.  The Strip has a handful of other dueling piano bars and we hope to check one out soon! Any recommendations??

Miller’s Ale House at Town Square

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Way back in September, the Husband and I (when we were both at home in Nevada at the same time) headed over to Town Square to run some errands.  As we shopped, we got hungry and decided to find a place to eat within the giant shopping area.  The Husband and heard about a sports bar called Miller’s Ale House and we decided to give them a try.

Since it’s been a while since we actually visited the restaurant, I don’t remember much details other than the fact that we were unimpressed.  The food was fine – not good but not bad.  Our waitress was friendly and there are a million televisions so probably a good place to catch a game, but on game day I could see it being potentially quite crowded and loud.  Since I don’t remember much, here are the photos I took :-)

The Husband with a beer…

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Potsticker appetizer because we were super hungry…

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Zinger salad for the Husband

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Seafood Mac N Cheese for me… very unimpressed

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With all of the other options at Town Square, we won’t be back.  If we’re looking for beer and good food, we’ll head back over to the Yard House.



Miller's Ale House on Urbanspoon