Georgia

Tuesday’s Treats #21

/ The WheatandTares

Uncle Maddio’s

Location: Buford, Ga

This place is great! It has a comfortable atmosphere, and you get to “direct” the making of your own pizza. It’s almost like a Subway for pizzas. You walk in, and the staff is usually very friendly with a shout out, “Welcome to Maddio’s!” You can see the menu at the beginning, but you really don’t need it, as you walk down the line telling the staff what you would like on your pizza. You can choose from white and whole wheat dough, sundried tomatoes, spinach, sauce, pepperoni, grilled chicken, steak, veggies, and even anchovies. You can do the same thing with a salad.

The salads are great. You can choose the toppings, or they can simply make you a garden, Greek or Ceasar salad. Personally, I love the Greek with the dressing. It is delicious. Oh, you also get a little breadstick with this. It is just as good, and, I think, you can order a bunch, too. The prices are pretty good, too. You can order a pizza and salad for $8.99. I can’t remember the cost of the drinks, but the sweet tea is just as it’s supposed to be in the South, and the cookies are maybe $2-3 (a little steep, but oh, so worth it!) So, for about $15, you can fill your tummy to overflowing. When we go, I am usually taking half of my pizza home, cuz I eat my dessert before finishing. Now, let me tell you about that…

You MUST have a cookie for dessert, too! Oh. My. Word!! These things are delicious! Being LOTR fans, our family calls these The Arkenstone, because they have this yummy goodness in the center. You can choose from chocolate chip and oatmeal cranberry. They are both incredible, but you definitely must like oatmeal for the latter. Our boys don’t much care for it, but I love it. It’s always hard for me to decide which one I want; so, usually, I order the oatmeal cranberry and just steal a bite of their chocolate chip! (…best of both worlds. haha!)

 

These drops of yumminess just came out of the oven…

If you haven’t been to Uncle Maddio’s, you must find one soon. You won’t regret it. I’m just so glad they are building so many of these around. You can find them many more places than there used to be. Check out their website for all of the locations, as well as, the menu and other needed information.

Tuesday’s Treats #20

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Sweet Magnolia’s

Location: Gainesville, Ga

Okay, I know I should have had such a better picture to post today, but I promise you, this Hello Dollie will be one of the best things you’ll put in your mouth!

These are rather delicious, too. Homemade coconut pecan cookies, two of my favorite flavors in one bite. Wow.

Okay, excuse me for getting distracted, but it’s yummy desserts. I always get distracted by dessert!  So, now onto the rest of the story. This place is simply delightful. You walk in and feel like you’re entering a little storefront cafe. You order at the counter, take a number and then find a table. There are adjoining shops where you can meaner while you wait or after your meal; it’s probably best after your meal, as you have a number that your waiter has to find once your meal is ready, but I was able to find a table right beside one of the shops; so, I took a quick peak while I waited. It took just a few minutes for them to being my (already mentioned) yummy desserts and my lunch special of chicken salad on croissant with a small cup of chicken noodle soup. (I’m sorry I don’t have a pic. I thought I had, but I can’t find it! 😁) They call this sandwich the Rebecca’s Famous Chicken Salad, chosen by Esquire Magazine as one of the best sandwiches in America, and if you like chicken salad, I can see why. It is delicious. They took that croissant, loaded it with this yummy chicken salad and grilled it just enough to toast the outside without heating up the salad or lettuce. I am really picky with chicken salad, too; so, I was a little hesitant. I don’t like a lot of mayo or celery, the chicken can’t be fatty and the grapes need to be firm and fresh. This one is made perfect!

To be honest, I probably won’t order the chicken soup again. It was more like Campbell’s condensed soup with larger noodles, which isn’t too bad, but I just didn’t care too much for it. I’ll try the chili next time. They offer that everyday, and I think that might be one of their better ones.

Everything else was wonderful, and I will definitely be back again. I knew I’ve included the menus in the photos, but you may need some more info, like their location. 😉 Here ya go.

Tuesday’s Treats #16

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Fogo De Chao

location: Atlanta, Ga 

I had never eaten at a Brazillian Steakhouse until the other day during our “Night on the Town.” Oh. My. Goodness. You can really hurt yourself when eating there! They have an enormous salad bar, appropriately called, The Market Table, and then, when you’re ready, the waiters start bringing out the meats!

You have a little coaster, which is red on one side and green on the other, and you use this to let the waiters know if/when you want more. The room seems to almost “move” as each waiter goes from table to table with a skewer stacked high of individual types of meat, such as top sirloin, bottom sirloin, house sirloin, filet of lamb, ribs, pork loin, chicken legs and chicken sausage. You can choose what you like, and you can have as much as you’d like.

The food is absolutely fantastic, and because it’s simply slices of meat that each waiter gives you, it’s pretty easy to not realize how much you’ve really eaten until you are about to bust! 😉

They also have an incredible array of desserts, if you can actually stand putting another thing in your belly after all this! They have New York style cheesecake with strawberries, Creme Brûlée, Turtle Cheesecake, Molten Chocolate Cake and Key Lime…just to name s few!

Here is their website to find all the information you need. 😊

Tuesday’s Treats #15

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Rico’s World Kitchen

Location: Buford, Ga

Rico’s is a cool little eclectic restaurant in the heart of Historic Buford. Buford is the town famous for The Mall of Georgia, but sometimes the downtown can get missed, because it’s a few Mike’s away from the mall. Rico’s has been listed in several magazines and articles as one of the best places to eat in Georgia, and I completely understand why. Their food is unique, and it tastes incredible!

Pictured above is their sandwich called, “The Chicken Cuban.” I promise you, when you first bite into it, you will think it is a wonderful pork Cuban. It’s all in the marinade. The first time my husband orders it, he called the waitress over and she knew before he even asked what he was going to say. She assured him it was chicken, and it was due to the marinade and cooking process. He thinks it’s the best chicken sandwich on the planet.

I do think it’s wonderful; however, I’d have to say their “Royal Rooster” is my all time favorite. They (now – it used to be just one) take TWO chicken breast, marinate them in a habanero sauce and fry them, place them on a bun with tomato, lettuce, and mayo. Now, I switch mine up just a little, because I sub in smoked Gouda for the Swiss, and I only have it with lettuce and the bun.

You have a choice of inside dining and outside patio, both are nice. If you time your meal just right, you’ll also get the treat of watching the train run through downtown. I always love that..I guess, I’m still a kid at heart. 😊

They always have the best sweet tea (yes, this is the South! 😉), a creative and delicious daily special and beautiful desserts on display. If you haven’t been to Rico’s, you’ll want to try it! Here is their website for more information.

Tuesday’s Treats #14

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Hilltop Grill

Location: Athens, Ga


Hilltop is a great local steakhouse restaurant in Athens that we love to frequent when we can. They have to best bacon-wrapped shrimp appetizer that you’ll put in your mouth! They have incredible burgers, sandwiches and a various assortment of different plates. One of their sides I love is their grits. Oh. My. Yum! Their sweet tea is good ol’ Southern Sweet Tea, and their dinner rolls are the delicious yeast kind that melt in your mouth with a little butter on top.

They have special “lunch plates” Tuesday-Friday for lunch, and the price isn’t bad at all. These are like roasted pork loin, meatloaf and even turkey and dressing. Their salads and soup are great; they usually have a special soup of the day. The “icing on the cake” is their hilltop brownie. Oh. My. Word! It’s to die for!! 😉 They have several other desserts, but that one is my favorite.

The atmosphere is really cool, too. It is nice enough for linens on the table, and you can come dressed “to the nines,” or you can come dressed for game day, and you’ll feel perfectly welcomed. Just know, if you come on game day, you better come early, cuz this place will be packed!!

Here’s their website to get more information.

Tuesday’s Treats #11

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The Country Kitchen

Location:  Pine Mountain, Ga

This place is great, but you probably wouldn’t see it, unless, you know about it. I apologize for not having a pic of the actual dinner we are here. We were traveling back from Florida, had stopped at the beautiful overlooks and were totally consumed with the atmosphere and the sunset as our food arrived.

I’m going to include the menu; so, you can check it out. It was simply a delightful place, and we got to watch the sunset over the horizon, too. That was an incredible ending to an incredible week of chasing sunsets. 😊

They have a little country store with all kinds of goodies and specialty items.

These are the views from the overlooks, but I thought I’d include them to entice you just a little. 😉

Honestly the pics really don’t do it justice…

Ok, enough distractions. On to the menu… 

 Our party of 8 ordered chicken pot pie, veggie plates, grilled chicken salad, cheeseburger, chicken fried chicken, and chicken tenders. Everything was delicious. The fried okra on the veggie plate was a little greasy, but that happens sometimes. The mac and cheese wasn’t processed; it was homemade. They serve biscuits and corn muffins, before your meal, with homemade muscadine preserves. Oh. My. Word! Incredible. It was a great meal.

The only drawback was I do wish someone would come and wash the Windows from the outside (and in), because we couldn’t get any really great shots of the sunset as the windows were messy. Other than that, we had a wonderful time! 😊 

If you’re looking for an enjoyable dinner, with beautiful surroundings and down home country food, this is the place to go. You can find their website here.

Wednesday’s Ode #16

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I absolutely love the state of Georgia!

   I moved to the state of Georgia almost 18 years ago, and I fell in love with it from the start. We first moved to a small town in the northeast side of the state, and we lived there for about three years. From there, we moved to almost South Georgia and then back to the northern part of the state over the next several years…sometimes, you can move a lot when you’re in ministry. Because our extended families live in various places outside the state, and because we love finding small towns to explore, we have traveled through almost the entire state. 

Truthfully, where we are now, in the northern part of Georgia, is probably our favorite; however, we’ve really loved each place we’ve been…We just love Georgia. We love the swamps near Waynesboro and the remote wilderness of the Cohutta. We love the coastal shores of Savannah and the rolling hills of Blue Ridge.  We love the bright lights, big city of Atlanta and the tiny country towns of Rutledge, Vidalia and Ball Ground. 

In no particular order, some of our favorite areas of the state are: Cloudland Canyon, Clayton, Hiawassee, Elijah, Big Canoe, Clarksville, Savannah, and Tybee Island. We love the waterfalls, hiking trails, and small town antique shops. We love to hike to the top of Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia, and take the stairs to the top of Amicalola Falls (about 600 steps from the base to the top!). We have spent time on the waters of the  Chatuge, Chattahoochee and Lake Lanier. We’ve perused the shops in the Mall of Georgia and Atlantic Station. We have taken the drives on the Richard B. Russell Parkway and “jeeped” the back roads into the Cohutta Wilderness. We’re constantly revisiting “old favorites” and trying to explore new adventures. 

  
I have written quite a bit about mountains lately in my Wednesday Odes, and I don’t want to be too redundant; so, you can read about a few more of our favorite places by reading one of my past Odes for the North Georgia Mountains. If you’re not from Georgia, or if you’ve not been here in a while, I invite you to come back for a visit! There’s just a little for everyone to enjoy! 🙂

  

Wednesday’s Ode #14

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I absolutely love the North Georgia mountains! There are so many things to see and enjoy there! My husband and I love to take “road trip dates” and drive through the small mountain towns, stopping to peruse through an Antique shop or two, or taking a refreshing hike to see a waterfall, or even finding an old gravel State Forest road and attempting to get lost in the Cohutta Wilderness Area. We’ve had so many memorable trips and adventures. A few of our favorite drives and “pit stops” are the Richard B. Russell Parkway, Popcorn Overlook, Minnehaha Falls, Highway 197 and the Mark of the Potter, and Highway 60 between Dahlonega and Blue Ridge. 

  

We love all the little towns of North Georgia like Dahlonega, Clarkesville, Hiawassee, Ellijay, Young Harris, Clayton and Helen. We try to go apple pickin’ in Ellijay in September (just not on the Apple Festival weekends, because we’d like to avoid the crowds!) and pumpkin searching at some of the local farms later in the fall. (We don’t usually go to the more commercialized ones, because it’s just too busy. 😉 )

  
We love the Mark of the Potter on Highway 197, which is an old grist mill that still has water running through the basement. It is now a potter shop, and I can absolutely spend hours in there…and it’s not a really big shop! Our boys love to go there, because the river runs behind the mill, and they provide a fish feeder for a $.25 handful of feed. The trout are huge! My husband loves to go there, as well, to peruse through the shop, but he loves most to stand on the back deck and look at the waterfall and Soquee River. It is simply a “must see” when you’re in the area. We, also, love to go to the little town of Dahlonega. The downtown square is something to experience. There is an old General Store that still serves 5-cent cup of coffee and has a pianola, or a player piano, which you can sit in the rocking chairs and listen to for another $.25. There are little shops all around the square where you can purchase homemade fudge, chocolates, ice cream, woodworking, potter, artwork and more. There are restaurants all around the square as well. It is a delightful little town. They have many festivals and events throughout the year; so, if you want to join in the fun, or you’d rather avoid the traffic, like us, you’ll want to check the calendar.

   
 In Young Harris, Georgia, one of our very favorites restaurants is located. It is called Brothers (at Willow Ranch), and it could be best described as a locally owned Longhorns Steakhouse. Oh, my goodness! It is soooo good! Of course, they have steak, chicken, beef brisket, burgers, and they also have pasta, fish and all kinds of veggies and desserts. Every meal is served with yummy yeast rolls and honey butter, or regular, if that’s what you prefer, and they have the best sweet tea (aside from my house, as my boys say!) Have I made you hungry yet?? Another great thing about this restaurant is as you enter and leave, the mountains surround you to one side; so, the view is spectacular! Also, if you’d like a little resort living, the Brasstown Valley Resort is located right across the highway, and that place is awesome, especially at Christmas time!

Another little town we love is Ellijay. This town has special meaning for Joey and I, because for two and a half years of our dating, we lived two states apart and would meet in Ellijay every Saturday just to spend the day together. It was about an hour’s drive for both of us, and we would meet just as soon as I got off work on Saturday mornings, and we’d stay till we had to say our very last goodbyes on Saturday evenings before I would be late for my curfew! There are so many antique shops, restaurants and, now, retail shops in the area, it is a great “day trip for two.” As I mentioned before, they have the Apple Festival in the fall, and along the way to Ellijay, there are a few places to find pumpkins, too. If you’d like to take a nice hike, or simply drive to see a beautiful waterfall, Amicalola Falls is not too far from the downtown, and if you need a Walmart, Longhorns or a few other more “modern” conveniences, they’ve got that, too. We absolutely love Ellijay!

   
 The North Georgia Mountains are a great place to come for a vacation, a short visit, or just a day trip to get away. It definitely won’t be the place you’ll find big citylights and the hustle-and-bustle of that city life, but if you’d prefer to kick back and breathe a little fresh air, this is the place to be!