birthday week...

Did you know? This is the best spaghetti I've had in such a long time. My last week started out with this...

Started my birthday weekend with these. And then...

My birthday was highlighted with this.

Thank you for making it the best birthday ever. The best week in my life. *speechless*

-Sean

add drugs (athens, ga)

In the heart of 5 Points in Athens is ADD Drugs right next to organic food market Earth Fare. Aside from the awesome pharmacy name (it stands for Athens Discount Drug not Attention Deficit Disorder) it has a quaint, little diner inside that's great for a cheap and quick bite.

They have two of the nicest ladies working the diner bar and it's hard to pass up on food when the prices are so cheap. The food isn't exactly the best quality or best tasting but it's made to order and a good steal for college kids on a budget.

What I really love about ADD Drugs is the old school feel of the pharmacy. You know...when they had soda fountains and stuff like this inside. Sadly, there is no soda fountain but there is a kickin milkshake maker that's still rocking out shakes. Cheap too priced just a bit over $2. You can also get your sodas flavored (vanilla, cherry, etc.) so don't forget to ask for flavoring should you get a drink. Like a lot of Athens eateries, the atmosphere and vibe make up for what the food may lack and it's definitely worth a visit.

Not listed on the menu is this pimento cheese burger. After the frozen patty is flipped to the second side, a big spoonful of pimento cheese if placed on top of the beef and then covered so the cheese melts. Once the burger cooks through and the cheese melts, it's placed in between two toasted buns with other toppings of your choice. Yum. It's not for the health conscious or grease-phobes but you don't exactly eat burger for health reasons anyway. How can you resist that gooey, melting cheese? Get it now.

Tips:

• There's only a limited number of bar stools and it can get pretty busy around noon. Go early or go after 1pm to avoid long lines.
• Minimum for debit/credit card is $3
• Burgers start at about ~$1.25

la dolce vita (athens, ga)

What started out as a venture to the downtown DePalma's for spaghetti turned into a trip to La Dolce Vita because of a 1+ hour wait. This little restaurant on the second floor seems to be somewhat forgotten about on gameday weekends as there was no wait time - a shame and weird because the food's pretty good.

The tagliatelle with meatballs pictured above, although somewhat salty, is well prepared with fresh tagliatelle pasta. I liked the tender meatballs as well and it helped balance the salty taste of the sauce.

I substituted fresh tagliatelle for the penne that this Italian sausage with mushroom originally came with. The salt level was good on this creamy sauce and both the sausage and mushrooms were tasty.

It's about $15 per pasta dish and although I thought the portion sizes were appropriate, some may think it's too small for the price. Overall though, I like La Dolce Vita and I'd recommend this little, downtown eatery when you're looking for fresh pasta and yummy sauce outside of your home kitchen.

huevos with red sauce

I scored a container of red sauce and tamales from Supermarket Chicago not too long ago (it's actually in Atlanta, not Chicago) and even after using the sauce for my tamales, I have quite a bit left over.

So I've been making this concoction every morning for the past few days to use up the red sauce I have left. I don't want to call this huevos rancheros because this really isn't huevos rancheros...although it could be if I had the ingredients on hand.

It's cheap, very simple to make and filling even though it feels pretty light after eating it.

There's a solid huevos rancheros recipe here (cc: Eat, Drink, Man) and this is totally inspired by Gene. I'm pretty much putting cotija cheese on everything now too. A worthy role model he is that Eat, Drink, Man.

More on Supermarket Chicago by The Bliss here on Creative Loafing.

Huevos w/ Red Sauce

Serves 1

Ingredients:

- 1 corn tortilla

- 1 egg

- 1 big tablespoon of red sauce (any tomato/chile based sauce will do)

- small bunch of cilantro

- cotija cheese

1) Fry an egg sunny side up. Remove to a plate and crank the heat up to medium-high.

2) Add a little more oil if the pan's too dry and fry to corn tortilla on each side for about a minute until crisp and browned. Remove to a plate.

3) Assemble your meal by placing the fried tortilla on the bottom and placing the sunny side egg on top. Drizzle warmed up red sauce over the dish and garnish with cotija cheese and cilantro.

It's pretty foolproof and quite versatile. Add your own twist to it and make it your own.

Oh, and did you know? The tamales from Supermarket Chicago are tasty.

athens eats - keba's pork doner kebab

School's pretty much become a full time job this year and although I haven't been posting much (well...at all) lately, I'm gonna try to get back on it this month. Anyways...

There's this place called Keba Spitfire Grill in the East Side of Athens. I wrote about it awhile ago and I had mixed feelings about it until I went to try their pork doner kebab that's only offered on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Each piece of the thinly sliced pork is tender, spiced well and juicy. There's a bunch of sauces to choose from but I get the Keba Sauce (their take on the tzatziki) because of the creamy, sour punch it adds to the sandwich. I thought it was a fluke the first time so I went back again and again and again... only to come out happy, satisfied and with a full belly. I've had both the European bread and the wrap and I prefer the chewy bread over the wrap.

I'm not looking for authenticity in this pork doner. It's tasty and the taste alone is enough to put it on my weekly rotation while I'm in Athens. More pictures below.

Tips:

• Go at lunch time when you can see the meat roasting and spinning away on the spit. The meat tends to dry out at night time as it sits out.
• There's a card in front of the cashier that gives you a free combo after you've purchased 10 of them. Don't be an idiot like me and pick one up on your first visit. I should be a few away from a free one right now *frown* *sad* *pout*