The Original Waterfront Crab Shack
Location: Fort Walton, Fl
This place is absolutely AMAZING!!
It’s the effect dockside seafood dive with absolutely delicious food! We had a large party at lunchtime on a weekday, and we were seated immediately. Our waiter w
Here’s the website.
Papadeaux’s Seafood Kitchen
Location: Norcross, Ga
This place is absolutely amazing!! We had actually gone to eat at one of the sister locations just the day before and had a not so great experience, but a friend of mine and I decided to drop by this location to have a “redo,” oh, my. Was it ever worth it! Wow!
We were seated in one of the best seats in the house, a nice little corner with plants and flowers at the window, hissing the parking lot, and a vintage entryway displayed out the other window. The server was terrific. You’d have thought we see his only, and most important customer of the day. So, we were already to set to have a great lunch, but I’m not sure we could have been prepared for the deliciousness we were about to consume!
We started with the coconut shrimp, which are HUGE! These are giants, but yet, they’re not tough like tiger prawns. They are meaty and tasty. Then, I had a Caesar salad, and they put creole grilled baby tomatoes on it. Now understand, I don’t like tomatoes, but if it weren’t for a texture things with me, these things could make me begin to! They’re yummy, and the salad is great.
My friend ordered the salmon, and she said it was probably one of the best salmon she’s ever had. I ordered a season feature, halibut and Spanish octopus. Now look, I’m not exactly the “adventurous type, when it comes to eating; so, I didn’t couldn’t stomach having the octopus 🐙 put on my plate, but I will say, the picture of it didn’t look too bad. Lol. 😂 The halibut was one of the best I’ve ever put in my mouth, and the combination of toasted hazelnuts, butternut squash, all grilled in a light buttery sauce was absolutely to die for!! It was so much food, I couldn’t finish it all, as we wanted a dessert, but wow. That left a mark.
Then….DESSERT. Oh. My. They bring this huge dessert tray with all kinds of delectable, homemade desserts, and you just want to ask them to leave you the whole tray! 😂 We opted for the creme brûlée and the key lime pie. Oh. My. Word!! My friend said the creme brûlée was wonderful, and my key lime was just as if it was fresh out of The Keys, topped with just a bit of yummy whip cream and fresh berries (strawberries, blackberries and blueberries). This meal was incredible, we’re still talking about it!
Note, this Norcross restaurant is on the “high end” of the money scale; so, be sure to take your wallet, but I promise you, you won’t regret it! Papadeaux’s has three locations; so, check out their website for directions and menu options.
Topgolf
Location: Alpharetta, Ga.
The food was great and moderately priced for a “sports bar.” Anytime you eat at an “entertainment venue,” the prices will be just a bit more. However, we did get a fried chicken sandwich with fries, a brisket grilled cheese with tator tots and a pepperoni flatbread, along with 3 drinks and a big “donut” dessert for about $60. It was all very tasty, and the waiter was impeccably nice; so, I’d say we came out pretty good.
The dessert alone was worth the $11. Fried, bite size donuts with “infusable” flavors of chocolate, raspberry and Bavarian cream, complete with little “syringes” to insert each flavor! These were crazy good, but there were so many (2 dozen), and it was so rich, that we couldn’t finish them all! Had they not been fried, I’d been tempted to take them home (fried stuff never reheats well. 😜). … Yeah, probably a good thing, cuz just one or two of those, and I think I’ve gained 5 lbs!! 😂
My husband and youngest son enjoyed an hour and half of teeing off, and the digital read outs gave great stats of range, height, curve, etc. There’s comfortable seating, nice restrooms and fans and heaters to accommodate the changes in the weather.
It was a great day outing, and for all the entertainment and good food, we were only out $150. That amount can be shaved next time with no dessert, no membership fee and waters only. 😉 As my husband pointed out to one of his friends, it’s not necessarily the place for the “professional golfer” or to get that “real golfing feel,” but if you’re looking to work on your swing, don’t want to get bored at the regular driving range, or you need to take someone to get used to golf who might just drive you crazy out on the range, and you’d like to not spend your whole day out in the woods looking for the ball, this is a great, comfortable day to spend enjoying a “round” of golf! They do keep a scoring system for you for a little friendly competition, and there can be as many as 8 to a section; so, with the comfortable seating, ability to bring your own clubs, and all the extra little perks I’ve already mentioned, this is fun for all ages. Oh, and a little bonus, because you’re completely under a covered roof, you’ll have no worries if you get caught in a little summer shower as we did today! 😉
There’s also a “kidzone” registration if you have kids ages 12 and under, which includes perks and discounts, and they are also running a “family pass” summer special May- Sept. For $199, you’re family can come any weekday from opening-5pm, as long as a child 12 years old or younger is present. They have some other packages and deals as well, just check it all out online.
The location we went to was in Alpharetta, Ga. However, after looking at the website, I realize there are, apparently, many across the states! Who knew?
The Yard Milkshake Barn
Location: Fairhope, Al
Ok, now that I’ve hooked you with the pic, let me tell you a little about the place… they’ve done it up right. Cute decor, small seating area with a huge, comfortable courtyard seating to enjoy your yummies outside…
Now, let me temp you with some more delicious, over the top milkshakes…
Oh. My. Word. Can we say deliciousness?? I’m just thankful I don’t live in Fairhope. I think I’d be as big as a house! 😂
Check out their many locations here.
Italian Pie
Location: Dacula, Ga
Small venue with robust flavor! This place isn’t very big; so, if you bring a crowd, you might want to come early or plan to eat on the patio. But if you’re in the mood for pizza, you won’t be disappointed. The friendly staff will be glad to assist you with whatever you need. They do have high tops, a few booths and several tables on the patio out front.
We ended up here as recommended by a friend, and I’m so glad we came. Everything was delicious. We ordered a side salad and garlic rolls to start. Romaine lettuce was fresh and the rolls were scrumptious, swimming in garlic butter and herbs (Not soaked, but just enough for a delicious flavor). We then had 2 kids pepperoni pizzas and a calzone with pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers and mushrooms. It’s hard to find a place that does a calzone right, but they’ve done great! The crust was crunchy, and the inside was nice and hot and cooked through. One of the great things about this place is you can choose from a medium or large calzone, too. But understand, even their medium is pretty big, at least for someone like me, who can’t usually eat a large and enjoyed a few garlic rolls beforehand! 😉
They do have wings and several other things on the menu, and they even had what looked to be homemade cheesecake in the dessert case, but we were too full to try it. I look forward to going again and saving a little rom for that cherry cheesecake, or maybe even, the chocolate chip one! Yumm-O!
Tradewind Coffee Co.
Location: Dacula, Ga
What a great little coffee shop! I had been hearing of this place for a while, and I finally got to go by yesterday. It was wonderful…Everything from the friendly staff, the yummy dessert display, the cute little kids room and “board” meeting rooms, the overall cleanliness, and of course, the delicious coffee! And yes, I got the gigantic brownie, and they asked if they could warm it for me. Yes!!
They even have an area for guest musicians and open mic night. A great seating area right outside, and even tons of coffee beans for you to buy and take home! If you’re in the area, be sure to carve out some time to come, sit and relax for awhile. They have great, comfy seating both inside and out, as well as, high tops and cafe tables with free WiFi and plugins; however, if you’ve got two rowdy, older boys, as I did that day, they’ll be glad to fix your coffee to go, too! 😉
Bistro Off Broad
Location: Winder, Ga
Great atmosphere, friendly staff and amazing food. This place is a hidden gem. We were told about it several months ago, and today was the first time I got to try it out.
My apologies for this not being the best picture, but I forgot to get a pic of the appetizer when it came out before we gobbled it down; however, you can slightly see it in the background here. These were fiery buffalo mozzarella bites with a tomato jam. They were extraordinary! Little bite size mozzarella balls with jalapeño “coins” that bring an amazing heat, and the “jam” is a sweet combination to cool it all down a bit.
I had, also, ordered a Caesar salad, which was amazing, and I thought I had snapped a pic, but evidently, I did not. The dressing was perfect, not too soupy, not too thick, just light enough to bring flavor to the fresh romaine and crunchy croutons. Oh, and the baked Parmesan piece as a “garnish” was the perfect touch. You can add grilled shrimp, roast chicken or steak to this to make a full meal. This is what my friend had as her meal, and she said the chicken was absolutely delicious.
Yes, I have posted a close-up of the French Dip; so, hopefully, you can see the slight softness of the fresh bread and the piles of shaved Prime Rib on this sandwich! It was scrumptious!! Everything was fresh, farm to table goodness. Even the fries were irresistible with just a slight bit of saltiness and no greasy after taste.
Please note, due to their farm to table dedication, some of their items are seasonal and not always available. However, even though their menus is a bit limited, they seem to do what they do with extreme excellence! I look forward to eating here again soon!
Here is the website to find location and menu option.
Tani Thai
Location: Buford, Georgia
This is a newer restaurant in Downtown Buford. If you’ve ever been downtown, it is in the same location that Adam’s once was. The owner and staff are very friendly. The atmosphere is very nice, and the food is delicious! … and I’m not even a frequent visitor to Thai cuisine! 😉
A friend and I went here for lunch one day to try it out, and we had so much fun as we split all of our dishes and treated it as a 4 course meal. We started with the shrimp cones. Oh My! These were scrumptious!! I’m sorry we didn’t get a picture of them. We gobbled them up too quickly, but they were whole jumbo shrimp wrapped in a type of egg roll, served with a tangy-spicy sauce. I’d go back simply to get these!
Next, we decided to have soup and salad. We ordered the coconut mushroom soup with chicken and the Tiger Tear’s salad with chili-lime seasoned grilled beef and sweet peppers and fresh greens. Both were delicious and just spicy enough to bring a little warmth.
The entree was the Masaman Curry with yellow coconut curry, onions, sweet peppers, avocados & cashews, with your choice of chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu, served with steamed rice or brown rice. We chose chicken with steamed rice, and we had no regrets! It was incredible! The heat was just a little warmer than the soup, and when I go back again, I’ll go up one notch, but it had such a wonderful flavor…and the steamed rice is a nice heat reprieve for your mouth!😂
For dessert, we ordered the coconut cake. Oh my goodness, talk about moist! It’s moist and sweet cake, served on a plate of raspberry and lime sauce, but it wasn’t too overpowering sweet; however, I wasn’t able to completely finish that huge slice. The raspberry sauce was delicious and cut a bit of the sweetness, but the this picture doesn’t do justice to the actual slice!
We will definitely go back. …well, it’ll probably have to be a girls’ lunch, as it was before, as my husband isn’t too keen on this cuisine, but I’ll definitely go back. 😉 If you’d like to find their address or check out their menu, here’s the website.
Note: For each dish, you get to choose the level of heat (scale 1-5), and even though I enjoy quite a bit of spice, I was a little hesitant and unsure of the level of Thai (curry) spice; so, we chose 2 for the salad and the soup and 3 for the main entree.*
Ps. Here’s an interesting article that might help you when deciding on the level of Thai spices…
UPDATE: Returned visit a few weeks later: everything was still delicious. I ordered almost the same thing, except I opted out of the soup this time and changed the appetizer to the cheese rolls. These were amazing! If you like crab ragoons (done right), you’ll love these. These do not have crab, but they are made with that same cream cheese goodness all wrapped and rolled up in, what looks like, a mini egg roll. My friends got the fried rice and the garlic, honey chicken. These were great dishes as well.
Also, note: if you are like me and don’t much care for fish oil, get the salad dressing on the side or not on it at all. Apparently, this wasn’t on the salad the last time, but this time it was. They quickly and graciously amended it, but it was a definite surprise on that first bite. The waiter said some have to become accustomed to the taste…
Baumhower’s Victory Grill
Location: Auburn, Al
This used to be Bob’s Victory Grill. New menu, same place and staff. The place is cool, food is good, and the staff is friendly.
The good is still great, but they’ve taken off a few things from the menu that I’m really bummed about! CHICKEN PHILLY! This was absolutely amazing, and now, I don’t know what to order. The Royal Rooster Ana the Buffalo Chicken sandwiches are great, but they’re so messy, you have to eat them with a fork and a knife. Ugh. The gooey fries and the fried pickles are a must! They still serve the slaw and their amazing sauce before the meal. Add a pack of crushed up club crackers and call it a salad. Lol.
Our sons got the wings and the pizza. Both are amazing. So, maybe next time we come, I’ll get the pizza or try a calzone, because that pizza was pretty delicious!
The strawberry shortcake is amazing and so is the blackberry cobbler, but they need to skip the sundae appearance of the cobbler and just give you more! It’s so delicious, but you feel skimped, because the glass is filled half way with ice cream and whip cream. Great presentation, but I’d rather have a little more( See pic)!
Here’s their website for menu and location info.
Dutch Kitchen
Location: Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands
This place is in the middle of the airport, and has plenty of seating to spread out and chill for a bit. We did not eat a meal; so, I cannot speak to that. However, we stopped here on 2 different layovers, and the staff is very friendly, even when they don’t speak your language well, and the coffee and desserts are amazing!
You have to get the Dutch Delight coffee! You will send me a Christmas card! Lol! It is so delicious!! If coffee isn’t your thing, they milk, tea, juice and plenty more to choose. There are several desserts from which to choose, and we love this little cookie with an almond on top. To be honest, I don’t know what kind it is, but it’s scrumptious!! We have also had an apple tart, a stroopwaffle and their “pancakes” and syrup. The pancakes are more like crepes, and they are tasty. The syrup they put on top is almost like sorghum, and it is delicious!
If you have a little time in your layover, be sure to stop by. There are comfy chairs to sit, cute teacup tables and even a big “teapot table” table with a tv for Kids. The restrooms are nearby, and if you’re a smoker, the smoke room is right next to it. There is also a little “Dutch market” around the corner if you need to pick up some chocolates or other goodies before your flight. Happy eating, and Happy flying! 😊
Hey don’t have a website that I can find, but here is the foursquare connection.
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