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AMICI
Wednesday
WING NIGHT!
Home of the Best Wings in Town
TRY OUR HEW ASIAN CHILI WING SAUCE
50< WINGS • *6 PITCHERS
Thursday
THIRSTY THURSDAYS
All Draft Pints $2 after 7pm
LIVE MUSIC with VSESr
NEW SNEAKERS
Friday
LIVE MUSIC with
FUZZ BUCKETfSP
LIVE MUSIC with
vs muaiv mm
SLICE PIE 9
HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY!
PIZZA & BEER SPECIALS
$ 10 Large One Topping Pizzas
$ 6 Pitchers ALL DAY
of Bud, Bud Light, Yuengling & Miller Lite
TWO for $20
Any IWo Pasta Entrees,
IWo Side Salads and IWo Drinks for $20
HAPPY HOUR 3-7pm
$3 Wells • $3 Craft Beer Pints
$2 Select Domestic Bottles
233 E. CLAYTON ST. /SS
706.353.0000 i
AMICI.CAFE.COM
Please Join Athens Canine Rescue
for our Monthly Adoption Day!
Please come meet our wonderful pups on
Saturday, September 24
from 10:30am-12:00pm at Pawtropolis
(130 Whitetail Way, Bogart).
For more information visit
www.athens.caninerescue.com.
OCAT
i>Mn Cm -mm. »
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3557 Atlanta Hu/y.
in Academy Shopping Center
Lunch & Dinner Daily
706-227-0001
iCu'u'. sakuraathens. com
and ujp’II celebrate uiith cake!
Shayne is
on call for
all your hair
emersenciest
706.552.1515
100 Athenstown Blvd.
Citysalonandspa.com
\
for fast
turn-around.
Need it in a hurry?
No problem.
163 E. Broad Street
Downtown Athens
706-548-3648
wwv^e^e^on^
LOVIN’ THE BRICK OVEN
Localism, Part 3: Sometimes localism isn't even about sourc
ing all your ingredients impeccably. Sometimes it's about the
feel of a place. Perhaps the nicest thing I can say about Ted's
Most Best (254 W. Washington St.) is that it is both extremely
Athens and that it is somehow not annoying in the slightest
little detail. I say this as someone both easily annoyed by and
very fond of The Grit, which is a sort of big sister to Ted's.
I love that restaurant dearly, but I would never claim it to
be free of irritation. Its policies against splitting checks, its
inconsistently attentive service and its habit for many years
(thankfully, no longer) of providing a plate and a sheet of tin-
foil for leftovers got under my skin on a regular basis. But what
a pleasure it is to go to a restaurant that has it all together,
especially when that place hasn't been open very long.
Ted's has a simple, short menu: pizza, calzones, panini,
salads, a nice case of baked goods, some well chosen beers
and wines. You order at the counter, but the line isn't long and
it moves quickly. The staff is friendly and relaxed but present
whenever you want them to be. The prices are good (about S3
for a personal pizza slightly larger than those at Your Pie). The
atmosphere is cool without being too cool. The renovation of
the former Snow Tire space is industrial-chic but welcoming,
with a great patio and a bocce court. Everything is clean as
can be. A lovely scent wave of garlic wafts toward you when
you open the door. There are places in town with more ambi
tious menus than Ted's and places with better food, but I don't
know if there are any other restaurants so amazingly free of
vexation. The pizza is also very tasty, especially the "bacon
and egg," which is topped with mozzarella, thinly sliced pan-
cetta, a perfectly cooked egg in the center with a runny yolk
and fresh herbs. Baked in a brick oven built into a corner of
the somewhat open kitchen, its crust is thin and not burned
to a cracker-like consistency. It
doesn't shatter when you bite into
it but does have texture.
Daily specials are a good way
to go, as the staff tends to be
enthused about them. A recent panini featured a banana pep
per pesto that was the result of a happy experiment; picture a
pesto with a little more kick but no less of what makes it good
normally. My only suggestion would be to put the pesto in the
middle rather than using it directly on the bread like a condi
ment, as the sandwich tends to slide apart into its various lay
ers under pressure. The meatball sub is simple and nice, with
light, flavorful meatballs not drowned in marinara.
The salads are wonderful. Whoever is picking the greens is
particular, and they could not feel less like the usual vaguely
slimy handful of mixed baby lettuces. The frisee is crisp and
fresh, the spinach likewise. Someone is washing these suck
ers carefully, then drying them with love. Apparently co-owner
Jessica Greene is«. big fan of beets, so they're always on the
menu in some form, and the spinach and beet salad, which
also includes feta and toasted walnuts, isn't revolutionary but
is delicious. The desserts are good, too, which isn't surprising,
considering the ones at The Grit, and are made in-house. Even
if you can't handle a slice of cake, you might well spring for
a pretty shortbread cookie that subtly incorporates mint and
chocolate chips. Ted's Most Best is open for lunch and dinner
every day, has beer (on tap and canned/bottled) and wine and
takes credit cards.
...banana pepper
pesto...
Thwarted: The opposite of the above was the experience I
had at China 1 (2026 S. Milledge Ave.), in the Shops of South
Milledge. I arrived there around noon, well within its busi
ness hours, only to find the lights on but the door locked and
no one inside. I knocked. I waited. I called, peering through
the window to see if someone would come running from the
kitchen, flustered and apologetic. A phone call returned some
time later featured the excuse: "We had a thing." Hmmm.
I went back, curious to see what the food was like. It's fine.
It is inexpensive, to be sure, and it is speedy. Its fried rice is
fairly porky (good if you like pork, bad if you don't), and its
pineapple chicken is sweet without being grossly so. It doesn't
have much in the way of atmosphere, but I imagine it works
well for take-out, especially if you live in the area. China 1 is
open, theoretically, every day for lunch and dinner. It delivers
and takes credit cards but has no liquor license.
Hillary Brown food@flagpole com
8 FLAGPOLE.COM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
