Friday, February 17, 2006
Mad Dog's BBQ
Some people say that it's impossible to make a good barbeque that will pass a county health inspection. Those people haven't been to Mad Dog's, where they proudly display a health inspection certificate with a big red 100 on the wall. And they manage to make top-notch barbeque anyway. The pork has a good and smokey taste, and the generous amount of butter that they use on their bread makes this my wife's favorite spot for a barbeque sandwich.
The sauce they use is an authentic Georgia BBQ sauce, the kind with a fair amount of vinegar and red pepper as well as tomatoes. The mild sauce already has some detectable hot pepper, and the hot one is hotter without being overpowering. It definitely doesn't resemble the thick commercial pseudo-Texas glop that you find in stores.
Mad Dog himself is a pretty friendly guy. If there isn't a line at the counter, he'll come out and talk with the customers about how their relatives are doing or the time one of his regular customers challenged a DJ from 96 Rock to a race after he had claimed that drag racing took no skill. There's a little cork board on the wall about that episode too, to commemorate one of the Regular Guys getting smoked by a teenage girl at Atlanta Dragway.
It's hard to believe that a restaurant could have the feel and taste of an authentic small town BBQ joint when it's located in a strip mall and has a perfect score from the county health department. But Mad Dog's pulled it off.
Contact:
4489 Highway 20 South
Conyers, GA
770-922-2272
The sauce they use is an authentic Georgia BBQ sauce, the kind with a fair amount of vinegar and red pepper as well as tomatoes. The mild sauce already has some detectable hot pepper, and the hot one is hotter without being overpowering. It definitely doesn't resemble the thick commercial pseudo-Texas glop that you find in stores.
Mad Dog himself is a pretty friendly guy. If there isn't a line at the counter, he'll come out and talk with the customers about how their relatives are doing or the time one of his regular customers challenged a DJ from 96 Rock to a race after he had claimed that drag racing took no skill. There's a little cork board on the wall about that episode too, to commemorate one of the Regular Guys getting smoked by a teenage girl at Atlanta Dragway.
It's hard to believe that a restaurant could have the feel and taste of an authentic small town BBQ joint when it's located in a strip mall and has a perfect score from the county health department. But Mad Dog's pulled it off.
Contact:
4489 Highway 20 South
Conyers, GA
770-922-2272
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Tokyo Hibachi Express
Many foreign language books start with easy-to-learn phrases that may be useful in the land where the language is spoken. One that you learn relatively soon in Japanese for Dummies is how to say, "Is that an octopus?" If you are looking at a sushi bar, you'll find that this phrase is, indeed, a useful one to know.
Admittedly, I'm not a very big seafood fan. It's hard to find fresh seafood, so I tend not to be any more adventurous than shrimp unless I am very certain that the place where I am eating gets some very fresh seafood. Tokyo, a Japanese restaurant in Conyers, does not have the freshest of seafood.
What they do have, however, is hibachi dining at a bargain price. You can even order fillet mignion for $11. You'll find a few signs of cost cutting; you have to pay extra for hibachi vegetables, and they stretch the fillet by mixing it with diced mushrooms. They don't skimp on the total amount of food, though - they'll serve enough fried rice to cover half the plate to a depth of an inch, and fill the other half up with your entree, along with the expected soup and salad. Overall, it's a pretty good place to find inexpensive hibachi food, which can be something of a rarity here. Most Japanese restaurants in the area will set you back a few more dollars per plate.
Decour is about what you might expect, with bamboo in the front and Japanese artwork on the walls. It doesn't look like they spent quite as much on the decorations as the competition, another reason why their prices are lower. Still, they keep the place pretty clean. Looks like they spend their money where it counts the most.
Contact:
3020 Edwards Drive
Conyers, GA
770-860-1234
Admittedly, I'm not a very big seafood fan. It's hard to find fresh seafood, so I tend not to be any more adventurous than shrimp unless I am very certain that the place where I am eating gets some very fresh seafood. Tokyo, a Japanese restaurant in Conyers, does not have the freshest of seafood.
What they do have, however, is hibachi dining at a bargain price. You can even order fillet mignion for $11. You'll find a few signs of cost cutting; you have to pay extra for hibachi vegetables, and they stretch the fillet by mixing it with diced mushrooms. They don't skimp on the total amount of food, though - they'll serve enough fried rice to cover half the plate to a depth of an inch, and fill the other half up with your entree, along with the expected soup and salad. Overall, it's a pretty good place to find inexpensive hibachi food, which can be something of a rarity here. Most Japanese restaurants in the area will set you back a few more dollars per plate.
Decour is about what you might expect, with bamboo in the front and Japanese artwork on the walls. It doesn't look like they spent quite as much on the decorations as the competition, another reason why their prices are lower. Still, they keep the place pretty clean. Looks like they spend their money where it counts the most.
Contact:
3020 Edwards Drive
Conyers, GA
770-860-1234
I can't say I'm too surprised...
It looks as though Cosmo Joe's has gone out of business.
