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BYE BYE FRY GUY
Fire Down Below: Fire Mountain Grill, the new
concept from Ryan's—that is to say, basically a
Ryan's—is not having any trouble attracting busi
ness in its Epps Bridge location, across from the
Super Wal-Mart (technically at 1021 Dowdy Rd.,
543-8203). Mere days after opening, the entire
parking lot was fulL Clearly, there is a market for
cheap all-you-can-eat (S5.99 for lunch, not
including drink). In many ways, it is less expen
sive to eat at Fire Mountain Grill than to cook
yourself a steak, let alone a steak, pizza, hot
dogs, ribs. Southern-style vegetables, fried
chicken, baked potato, salad, fruit salad, dessert
and so on. However (and that's a big however),
much as I appreciate an inexpensive meat it
doesn't have to come with the sacrifice of quality.
You could about tear your labrum sawing through
the steaks, even cooked relatively rare. The ribs
aren't much better. Being on a somewhat limited
income, I couldn't have imagined leaving steak
uneaten on my plate, but you leam something
new every day. The desserts were tooth-hurtingly
sweet and underbaked, one pan of brownies
topped with what seemed to be nothing more
than Hershey's Syrup. And the experience—shuf
fling through a maze of tables and buffets, almost
running into someone every time you turn around,
your nostrils assaulted by the scent of too many
different genres of food available simultaneously
and the smell of brand-new construction—is
stressful The Texas toast, available from the grill
area, was a bright spot: massive, buttery, deli
cious. Would it be madness to pay S5.99 for all-
you-can-eat Texas toast? If so, it is a madness
both I and my lunch date contemplated. In short,
if this is your kind of thing, you will ignore what I
have to say as the ravings of a snob who would
live on fish eggs and lattes if given the choice,
rather than good ol' American corn-fed beef. If it
is not. you probably weren't planning on going in
the first place. Either way, now you know for sure.
Bada To Nuts: The former Ba-Da Wings has
changed its name to Wingnuts (529 Baxter St.,
583-9611), but the concept isn't particularly dif
ferent. Boneless wings are still the emphasis,
paired with crinkle-cut fries in combos and avail
able in a whole list of flavors, like wild Asian
teriyaki and chipotle ranch. As previously, I can
confirm that medium will not scorch your taste-
buds. The wings themselves have suffered a little,
but the fries have improved, and the menu has a
few additions, live in the dorms or just off
Baxter? You can get onion rings, egg rolls, crab
Rangoon, cheesecake, strawberry cake (?) and
sugar donuts delivered to your door.
Experimentation: Achim's K-Bob (350 E. Broad
St, 546-5362) has always had a relatively limited
menu, but there has been branching out of late,
with side salad, fruit salad, tuna k-bob and Blue
Bunny ice cream bars added, as well as the sub
ject of this small paragraph: the Reuben k-bob.
Made with the k-bob beef instead of the tradi
tional corned, jammed full of sauerkraut and con
taining a sauce not quite Thousand Island, it is
indeed unnatural strange, perhaps a
Frankenstein's monster of sandwiches. None of
this, of course, means that you shouldn't eat it
While far from what normally passes for the king
of sandwiches, it does have an odd appeal Maybe
it's my innate love of sauerkraut or my sadness at
the Lumpkin Street location closing, but I give it
a thumbs up of sorts, while acknowledging its
bizarre world quality.
Question: What will become of the fry guy, that
source of so many nightmares and obsessions,
now that the Lumpkin Achim's is closing? Damn
you, road work!
Around: There is work going on in the former Blue
Sky location on College Ave. downtown, which is
being turned into a coffeehouse named Walker's.
Indie kids, you will soon have a place of your own
again. La Jalisco, a supermarket way out on Old
Jefferson River Road that was supposed to have
tasty food, has burned down. Big Easy
Coffeehouse & Cate on Greensboro Highway in
Watkinsville is open. Something that appears to
be a bar (The Arch Bar?) is going in on the olock
of Lumpkin between Washington and Clayton
downtown. Le Maison Bleu is running behind on
construction and projects a reopening date of
June. A Taste of India, on Bioad St. downtown,
looks to be northern Indian food (meat!) and
plans to open in late May. Bombay Cate is now
officially serving meat, with booze to come.
Carithers & Scott Barbecue is open on
Danielsville Road right where Clarke and Madison
County meet, in the former Angie's Place, but
only Thursday through Sunday.
Hillary Brown
Wanna be my muse? Emaib food@flagpole.com
Daily Special
by Donna L. Barstow
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