Sweet Auburn Curb Market///Grindhouse Burgers

The other week we visited the Sweet Auburn Curb Market in MLK's old neighborhood.  The SACM was founded in 1918 by the Womens Club of Atlanta after a fire ravaged the area.  It was originally an open-air market but was moved indoors in 1923.

Today the SACM exists as an urban farmers market and a popular lunch stop for professionals in the area.

We sampled the wares at a few shops.

Sweet Auburn Bakery case

sweet potato cheesecake from Sweet Auburn Bakery

The sweet potato cheesecake from the Sweet Auburn Bakery was so delicious...

and the popcorn from Miss D's New Orlean Praline's so tasty.

Also at the SACM is Grindhouse Burgers, an Atlanta-based burgery started by an Emory J.D.  

The name derives from the Grindhouse films playing on the wall facing the bar, a silent entertainment for those quietly chowing down.

Their shtick is that their burger meat - blend of chuck and brisket - is freshly ground everyday.  So can you taste the freshness and special care?

Heck yes you can!  This burger was moist and flavorful, and a perfect ratio of meat to other parts.

 We got the Grindhouse-style burger, hot dog, and spicy sweet potato chips.

Grindhouse is worth the trip for those chips alone.

Farm Burger is still top of the list but Grindhouse was a surprisingly close second.  For a no-frills burger, Grindhouse is the place to go.

For more info and some interviews with the proprietors of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market shops, start looking out for the podcast I'm starting with a friend.  It's called Out There Atlanta.  We cover food and culture events in Atlanta and feature on-site interviews.   Follow us on twitter @outthereatlanta and expect more podcast updates in the next few weeks!

Food Highlights from Wm's visit

Alex's good friend Nick Wm H-M. (for realz) visited us last week in a trip that resulted in each of us gaining 10 lbs.

We went to Waffle House...

Double buttermilk waffles with pecans...

plus, 3 egg & cheese biscuits...

and large hashbrowns, smothered and peppered.

After that we had our Seder.

We also went to Farm Burger...

(pictures courtesy of Nick and his sweet camera)

Farm Burger with bacon

from another angle

boiled peanuts

For dessert, Atlanta's answer to shaved ice: Suno.

original flavor shaved ice with red bean & mango.

While it wasn't as amazing as the real thing in Taiwan, Alex and I were nevertheless completely engrossed.

The last full day of Nick's visit was a doozey.

We started the day with matzoh brie. 

For lunch, we visited Hankook, a Korean taqueria we'd heard good things about.

Daeji Gogi Sliders

Sesame fries (a MUST-order)

bulgogi taco

fish taco

 Hankook is in a small building with an even smaller parking lot. While we were there we witnessed a hit & run.  All part of the Atlanta experience, am I right?

After Hankook we stopped at Star Provisions to ogle the amazing merch.  Didn't take any pictures, but I was very tempted to get the silver julep cups, exotic salts, and a braided buffalo penis treat for Didi.  

After Star Provisions, we headed to Flip Burger for dessert/a mid-afternoon snack.  

chocolate mole shake.

strawberry shortcake shake

Flip Burger is owned by Richard Blais, who won the most recent season of Top Chef, Top-Chef All-Stars!  Alex and I were rooting for this home-town-hero all the way, and were gratified to hear he's investing his winnings into a new Atlanta restaurant.  A waiter at Flip Burger told us plans are underway for a hot dog restaurant in the Highlands, conveniently walking distance for us.  Here's hoping the milkshakes are heading to the Highlands as well!

After a trip to the High Museum to see the Cartier-Bresson exhibit (fabulous) and selections from the Vogel Collection (there's a cute documentary about the Vogels that details the backstory of these amazing and unassuming collectors), it was back to the Howell Mill area for dinner at Abattoir.

chicharones!

duck "ham" with ramps.

amazing steak.

rabbit leg stuffed with rabbit sausage.

fresh baguette hot from the oven (we went through several of these)

chocolate chess pie with toffee brittle and creme fraiche.

coconut tres leche with dulce de leche ice cream and a burst of meringue.
Not pictured: Abattoir's home-brewed ginger beer (it burns!  in a good way!)
and how full we were after this day.

Every part of our meal was amazing from start to finish.  Abattoir is one of the few restaurants we've been to in Atlanta that I felt delivered from start to finish (and oh, what a finish!  It'd be worth going back just for those desserts).  

Thanks Nick for being such a great guest and indulging with us!  

More to come this week (maybe next week) on some of the actual sights we saw while Nick was in town.

Blurry Vortex Burgers

This past weekend we continued our Atlanta burger journey at the Vortex in Little Five Points.  The Vortex touts itself as a "biker-burger bar" that takes a hard-line with customers (see "rules" on the website) and considers itself an "idiot-free" zone.  They also make you wait at least an hour if not more for a burger, which may be part of the hype.  Their burgers are known for their hugeness and over-the-top aspects.  The menu includes the "Coronary Bypass Burger" which consists of a 1/2 lb patty, a fried egg, 3 slices of American cheese, 4 slices of bacon, and plenty of mayo.  Thankfully, no one ordered that (though some members of our party were tempted). 

 We started the meal with piping-hot fried dill pickles served with jalapeno ranch.  Yum.

 I ordered the bison bacon-cheeseburger with fries.  The fries were terrible!  Apparently they normally do a crinkle-cut but had run out by the time they got to me.  They arrived cold and bland :(  After the first few I ignored them, but I did polish off that burger.

 Our friend Cayenne ordered the pesto burger with fried zucchini slices (not as exciting as the fried pickles but definitely one of the best sides we ordered).

 Alex ordered the bison Texas burger, which arrived between two slices of Texas toast and was topped with fried onion rings and bbq sauce.  It was the surprising hit of the night, and the tater tots were the best side of the table.

I think our friend Adam ordered the mushroom swiss with bacon, with a side of potato salad that he definitely regretted ordering. 

I forget what Carl ordered, but he finished it so it must have been good!

All in all, the sides were a waste of stomach space but the burgers went down easy.

Leaving, we may have felt like this...

... in the way one normally feels after consuming insane quantities of meat.  

Farm Burger is still champion in our minds, but the Vortex was a fun visit.