My friends and I go out to eat a lot. One might argue that we go too much. I think part of it has to do with living in a foodie city (Richard Blais, Kevin Gillespie and Hugh Acheson, all from Top Chef, have restaurants here.) but I think mostly it has to do with our age. In our 30s, as most of my friends are, we don’t really do the bar scene anymore. That’s not to say that I never go to a bar, because sometimes I do, but meeting up with friends is generally over food and drinks rather than just over drinks.
My friend Joan’s fiance Sean just moved here and has been on a quest to find the most authentic Thai restaurant in the city. We decided to try Panita Thai Kitchen last night. This place is in the middle of Virginia-Highland, a very pedestrian friendly part of the city with tons of bars and restaurants, but it’s kind of hidden away on a side street.
I’d read some Yelp reviews that were mixed. What I gathered was that service could be on the slower side because the whole place is run by just a husband and wife. We were sort of surprised when we got there and found that the whole restaurant was open air and there was no air conditioning. Despite the sweltering temps outside, it actually didn’t feel bad at all.
The menu was large and I settled on the Scallops Farang. Everything came in some sort of carved out fruit bowl. Mine was in pineapple and a coconut, Jason was in a pineapple and both Sean and Joan’s came in a watermelon.
Everything tasted good and I thought the service was efficient. I didn’t feel like we had to wait at all. Plus, the server, who I assume is the wife, and I had a lengthly discussion about how we both didn’t get in the Peachtree lottery two years in a row! Apparently, she shares my bad luck. I have no idea how we started talking about that, by the way.
Sean declared this place the best Thai he’s had in Atlanta so far! A winner.
Of course, my restaurant eating didn’t stop on Friday night, because I had lunch plans with Tina on Saturday. Although we didn’t exactly go to a restaurant.
Tina had never eaten at Whole Foods before and there’s a nice one pretty much half-way in between our houses (we live about 45 minutes from one another) so it was a no-brainer. We both loaded up on both the salad and hot bars.
It was good, although I thought those things on the bottom right were fat mushrooms. Nope, they were eggplant. Not an eggplant fan at all (except for Trader Joe’s Eggplant Parmesan, for some reason.) I hadn’t seen Tina for a month or so, so it was nice to chat and catch up.
After lunch, I did some errands. And by that I mean that I went to the mall. While I was shopping, Jason was adding bead board to the wall in the bathroom and when I got home, he really wanted to get out of the house. Yup, we went to another restaurant, this time, a new Mexican place that just opened near our house called Las Colinas.
I tried very hard not to gorge myself on chips and salsa before our meals came. I think I did an okay job and probably stuck to one serving, though I didn’t count. For my meal, I went with a shrimp salad and added a side of guacamole. It was basically grilled shrimp atop a bed of shredded lettuce. Not quite a salad, but not bad. I think the guac came from a mix. No avocado chunks in sight.
They didn’t skimp on the cucumbers though! Jason got the Molcajete. He said it was too oily.
Now what I really need is a trip to the grocery store so I can eat at home for a while. All of these meals were fun (although I wouldn’t go back to the Mexican place) but I really want to just eat at home for a while.
How often do you go out to eat?
I love the food in Atlanta. Panita is by far the best Thai. The server is Cindy and she is one of the owners (her husband cooks). Just don’t ever order anything Thai hot. They aren’t kidding about the heat… but I choked it down like a champ. A champ on fire. LOL!
I loved Panita but Jeff wasn’t a fan. Last night we tried The Pinewood, the cocktails were incredible and all of the appetizers we tried were so so good. I’d say we usually go to a restaurant once a week and bars 1 to 2 times.
Does Jeff have a favorite Thai place? I’d love to hear what it is!
Not really, anymore. Garlic used to be very authentic but they’ve Westernized a bit in the last few months, still really good though. Mali has a few excellent dishes but we’ve had problems with service the last several times we’ve been to the point that we’re pretty much done with it. I really think Panita is the most authentic, he just didn’t care for it.
We got Thai this weekend, too, AND it was sweltering in the restaurant, too! But still tasty
You DO have a lot of good chefs in your area! We have Bryan Voltaggio right near us, and he has 3 restaurants in Frederick now (the new one just opened- haven’t been yet).
We rarely go out to eat (unless it’s lunch at WF while shopping). Honestly, I love cooking so much at home and don’t often want to go out. And we travel so darn much- we eat out for all meals then, so when I’m home, I want to cook.
I can’t believe Tina hadn’t eaten at Whole Foods! I eat at their salad bar way too much.
that thai place looks fantastic!
we used to eat out more than we do now with annabel! i actually don’t miss it that much. still love going out for brunch though!
i enjoy eggplant so i’m less of a hard sell, but TJ’s eggplant parm is indeed quite tasty! probably helped for a non-eggplant person by the abundance of tomato sauce and cheese
I think I like it because of the cheese!
I go out to eat once or twice a week. Trying to save money, so I limit it!
We don’t go out that much around here. With two kids and living on the outskirts of Atlanta, and well, I LOVE to cook, so we stay in for the most part. I used to hate eggplant, but now I really love it. I don’t like it mushy though. I prefer it firmer. I’m glad you had a great weekend!
I think I actually like it better when it’s mushy!
I had fun at lunch! And WF is good. I like the variety.
I feel like I had a weekend of eating out too by going out for my G-Pa for “dinner” (haha!) that night, then lunch after church on Sunday with the family. I hit up the grocery store right away too.
Living in Buckhead post college, I was on too tight of a budget to experience all that Atlanta had to offer, so I’d love to try out new (to me) spots when I visit. What is your hands down favorite restaurant?
I really like Wisteria in Inman Park. Have you been there before?
No, haven’t heard of it. Definitely will look it up though next time I’m in ATL- thanks!
Tasty weekend!
Chris loves going out to eat and could eat out every single night. I enjoy it too, but I also like cooking. I’d say we eat out about 3-4 nights a week.
I think Chris and Jason would really get along!
Keith and I eat out once a week. We would love to go more but it costs too much moola!!
Kirk and I had really cut back on eating out – probably only once a week – until recently. With the move we’ve gone out to eat A LOT, so I’m really looking forward to cooking again next week.
My friends/Jesse and I go out to eat too often too! I only buy food for Mon-Thurs and then eat out pretty much every meal Friday-Sunday… It’s bad. Just this weekend Jesse & I decided to cut back and at least cook on Friday, hopefully some Saturday & Sunday too. Trying to save money (and calories)!
I am right there with you. I would much rather go out to eat and have a great meal than just go out and get hammered. Although, I do both fairly regularly, but I definitely prefer the food. That fruit bowl thing is awesome!