D. Taylor's Food & Travel

We have grown to really love Ruby Tuesday.  After I returned from Minnesota, the first restaurant we went out to at at was Ruby Tuesday, on South Cobb Drive in Smyrna .  On the Ruby Tuesday website they call it Ruby Tuesday of Concord. Although it is about a block from Concord Road, the other Ruby Tuesdays in the area are named based upon the city they are in and not a nearby road.  We receive coupons in the mail regularly for Ruby Tuesday which help convince us to go there.  Our last visit was excellent.  My wife goes for the Memphis dry-rub ribs. Her big decision is if she is going to get a half rack or a full rack and take some home.  Steamed Broccoli  and White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes comprise her sides. As usual, she was extremely pleased with her food.  Fall-off-the-bone ribs are always wonderful. I, on the other hand have a lot of trouble deciding what to have.  There are so many choices.  I usually go for something I don’t...

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Mounds View, MN   I love it when an iPhone app really works. I was recently (yesterday) in Minnesota visiting friends and family.  While at my friend Doug’s house, we decided to go to lunch and used the Urbanspoon iPhone app to help us decide where to go.  We had some trouble narrowing in to what cuisine we wanted; however after a bit, we finally decided on my favorite, Mexican. The Urbanspoon app has a feature where you select nearby restaurants and can then filter by cuisine.  Press the “thumbs up” and you receive “Nearby Mexican by Popularity.”  Urban Spoon suggested El Loro , at 2535 County Road 20 in Mounds View with a rating of 96 (50 people rating).  My friend had never been to El Loro (the parrot) so we decided to head to it before going to the airport. The atmosphere was excellent. Bright, cheery, choices of booths, tables, or at the bar.  We were led to a booth, which was comfortable.  There are e...

While I was in Minnesota my brother suggested we go to breakfast at just about the best breakfast place he had been to lately.  He said it was about ten miles but would be well worth the trip.  So we loaded up our mother and headed to Rockford and the Bridge Street Cafe. The Bridge Street Cafe is a home-town cafe which is open for breakfast, starting at 6:00 AM (7:00 AM Sat & Sun) and open until 2:30 PM (3:00 PM Sat & Sun) and provides a nostalgic trip to a classic all American classic cafe.  Apparently downstairs of a Masonic Lodge the decor is pleasant. We were quickly greeted and asked if we wanted coffee or juice. We looked over the menu, my mother decided upon the “Breakfast Scramble” with breakfast potatoes (versa hash browns).  Both my brother and I decided on “The Bridge Street Breakfast.”  Three eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and toast.  Quite unusual, one of the options is French toast and both of us selected that as well as hash...

As I mentioned before, my mother has many “favorite” restaurants.  She lived in Big Lake for many years, so she has several there.  Of course, Russell’s On the Lake is one of her favorites but for casual fare, she likes the Lake Cafe in Big Lake.  The Lake Cafe is a “home cookin” establishment that has been there since 1968.  It has an extensive menu covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It has a lunch counter, booths, and tables to provide many seating options.  It is also the kind of place you often see a few regulars, just chatting and having coffee.  Real friendly.  We went there the day after mother’s day, so I was trying to be “good” and have something a bit lighter, so after a thorough review of the menu, I decided on a Taco Salad.  I know a taco salad isn’t something you would expect getting at a neighborhood cafe, but I figured, why not.   Taco Salad at Lake Cafe Our order came quickly and the taco salad loo...

My mother has quite a number of “favorite” restaurants.  During a recent visit with my mom she made sure we went to several of her “favorite” restaurants. The Mill Creek Inn was the second of her many “favorite” restaurants we ate at. I agree, the Mill Creek Inn is excellent. Really good food at a great price. The Mill Creek Inn is a neighborhood bar and grill on County Road 35, just west of Buffalo about two miles.  It has horse harnesses reused as mirrors on the wall along with wood plank walls for a great northwoods, decor.  The staff was friendly and efficient.   I ordered the chili burger and my mom order the Reuben both of us substituted onion rings.  The chili was very good and the burger cooked nicely (no hockey puck here).  Mom’s Reuben had a great mix of corned beef, sauerkraut, cheese, and dressing.  Her marble rye was nicely grilled without being soggy. The onion rings were awesome - fried perfectly and not at all oily.  T...

The Varsity Terminal C, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Sometimes you know you are doing wrong but you think it won't be so bad.  What a mistake I made going to The Varsity at Atlanta Airport.   I was running a bit later than I like in getting to the airport for flight so, I figured I'd have a bite for breakfast at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on my way to Minneapolis. The  Chick-fil-A on Terminal C had a long line but the Varsity next door had very little of a line. I thought, "I like The Varsity downtown for lunch; I'll give this on a chance for breakfast." What a mistake.  I should have moved on when they informed me they didn't have any coffee. Their machine was broken.  Oh well, I ordered a sausage and egg biscuit, hash browns and a tap water.  $7.79.  What?  Yup $1.79 for a tap water. Same as a soda, they even ring it up as a soda. More than a coffee would have been had their machine been working. Talk about a ripoff. The hash brow...

Cinco is a "casual yet sophisticated" Mexican restaurant with four locations in the Atlanta area.  I have only been to the Atlanta location which is on Akers Mill Rd near the Cumberland Mall. It is upscale casual with plenty of space between tables, black cloth napkins and interesting decoration.  There are two very different atmospheres within the restaurant, one darker section with mostly padded leather booths and the other an open feeling room with lots of windows, tables and chairs. I mentioned to a friend that Cinco had one of the better Sunday brunch buffets I had been to recently, so we decided to meet our friends for brunch. My wife and I arrived first and were deeply disappointed to see a sign on the door which indicated they weren't having the brunch due to Cinco de Mayo.  We watched a couple of other couples arrive, see the sign and turn around to go elsewhere.  I called my friend to see if he wanted to go somewhere else. He said he was just pulling in...

First Watch is a relatively new restaurant located at the Ivy Walk Shopping Center (corner of Atlanta Road and Cumberland Parkway, SE) in Smyrna. Although they don't like to think of themselves as a chain, they are with over 100 restaurants over thirteen states. There are two currently in Georgia; the other store is located in John's Creek.  They serve breakfast and lunch, but no dinner, seven days a week.  The restaurant in Smyrna was my first contact with them. Walking in the door, we were promptly greeted by a very pleasant person who seemed genuinely happy with life in general and with our arrival.  We were asked how we were to which we said "hungry."  The greeting person said they could fix that. Selecting from the menu was difficult.  There are so many varied items to choose from. Omelets, eggs, pancakes, healthy selections, salads, soups, and sandwiches. Our server was there quickly and found we were not ready to order. We asked for water with lemon...