Kiosco is a tiny Colombian restaurant situated off of the Marietta Square. My first taste of the restaurant was during the Taste of Marietta festival where I first sampled their Empanadas and Tamales. The Empanadas have a crispy outside shell and the inside, with choice of beef or chicken, makes for the best Empanada I’ve ever tasted. Oh, and the Tamales with their beautiful presentation are tasty as well and make for a filling snack. Those items are worth a visit to Kiosco. Just make sure to go easy on the green sauce that accompanies the Empanadas – it is HOT!

I’ve now eaten at Kiosco twice. Once for lunch and once for dinner. When I say the place is tiny, I’m not kidding. There are about seven tables in the entire restaurant. I asked owner, Eddie, when he plans on expanding. His answer? “Never!” He said he loves the cozy feel of the restaurant and I get the impression he enjoys that fact that he can’t accommodate all wannabe diners on weekends because it keeps patrons interested in visiting his restaurant.

The food is very reasonably priced. Lunch entrees are around $7 and dinner entrees are around $13 – $15. All entrees, whether at lunch or dinner come with choice of soup or salad. Get the salad with Garbonzo beans, carrots, onions and cilantro, it is pretty delicious. The house made Sangria is a house specialty. Many groups order a pitcher as soon as they site down. You can’t go wrong with either one – white or red.

While there are several seafood specials, I have tended to stick with meat entrees. The Carne Pantacones – beef with fried green plantains, Round Steak, and the Bandeja Paisa (the mother of all dishes) are all tasty meals. See picture of the Pantacones above left and Bandeja Paisa above right. The Bandeja Paisa comes with rice and beans topped with a fried egg, steak, chorizo, Chicharones (pork rinds), and avocado. Be prepared to put away a lot of food if you order this dish.

As I said, the restaurant is small. If you plan to visit on the weekend, make a reservation or you won’t be able to eat there. Note that Kiosco is closed on Sundays.

48 Powder Springs Street
Marietta, GA 30060

With the slogan “We Know Tacos,” Perla Taqueria opened up their taqueria, the beginning of the year, in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood. Taking over a former Mrs. Winners establishment, the new diggs are still very reminiscent of a the fast food joint, down to the unchanged red roof. Stepping inside Perla, there’s bright colors splashed on the walls and the soup can lighting fixtures are a cute touch.

Nothing on the menu is over five dollars. In fact, most tacos, are around two. Customers order and pay at the counter. Then find a seat and place your table number so it is visible to staff and you’ll get your food shortly. Mine came out lightning fast, but I did choose to visit at an off time of day.

The menu is like that of a taqueria in that they offer the Al Pastor (pork), Chorizo (Mexican sausage) and Lenguna (Beef tongue). There are burritos, quesadillas and a smattering of other Mexican sides available. I’d like to return to give the house made Talmale and the Chicken and Corn Pozole a try. On this visit, I stuck to tacos, ordering the shrimp, fried chicken and Barbacoa tacos.

I loved that the corn tortillas are house made and while I don’t usually care for corn tortillas, I thought these were rather tasty. While I enjoyed the tacos, I did think the sauces added to them were quite overpowering. See the fried chicken one above right? Way too much sauce. I do like the fact that they are open late nights and have a drive through. It is a nice addition to the neighborhood – hope they make it.

1958 Piedmont rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
Perla Taqueria Website

As much as I like to go hiking at and around Kennesaw Mountain, I had never made it to Mountain Biscuits. It just never seemed the right time with my eating schedule. I knew Mountain Biscuits must be a popular spot, having driven by at peak meal times and seen the parking lot just about overflowing. However, I paid them a visit recently in the name of the research.

I visited late enough in the day to know I had avoided the lunch crowd. Good thing as there is not much seating inside. There are only about five tables inside that seat four people per table. There’s also a row of about six bar stools at the counter. It was nearly empty at my visit, close to 2 pm on a weekday. I did appreciate the bright colors and the mural on the wall. When it is not crazy hot and humid, there’s a picnic table to enjoy your biscuit outside.

I tried the sausage biscuit with egg and cheese. It was HUGE. I could have easily split it with someone and been totally full. Super cheap at only around three bucks for such a mammoth biscuit, it was delicious too. I kind of expected the biscuit to crumble under the weight of the sausage but it held up rather well. I’m anxious to go back and give Mountain Biscuits’s Country Ham, and Chicken Biscuit a try too.

Note: They are closed on Sundays.

1718 Old 41 Hwy NW
Marietta, GA 30060
770-419-3311

Ditching an invite for cereal with the rents, we slept in and stopped in at Tony’s Taste of Ybor City for lunch. It wasn’t on my list, but Mr. ARB picked it and I’m always in the mood for some good Cuban. For a restaurant that boasts Cuban, Spanish and Italian, the menu was really small. We opted to share everything starting with the Ropa Vieja Empanada followed by the Cuban Sandwich. The Empanada was crispy and the filling was juicy and tender. It is served with a small salad, which was a little confusing as it isn’t really a starter but too small to be an entree. For the $4 they’d be better off to serve two of them as a starter. The Cuban sandwich was large, tasty with crunchy bread and sweet ham – plenty enough to fill us both up.

8100 S Thomas Dr
Panama City Beach, FL 32408
850 230 3840

Next we stopped in on a lazy Sunday at Liza’s for brunch. Liza’s is the top rated restaurant in Panama City Beach on UrbanSpoon, not that I based my decision to go there solely on this. The menu looked awesome. Poached eggs topped with Hollandaise sauce over fried eggplant? Yes, please. They don’t take reservations and the place is quite small. You place your order at the counter, pay, and shortly after it is brought to your table. I was worried we’d have a long wait to find a table, but we popped in at the perfect time, easily snagging a table. But by the time we got our food, the line was about 10 deep. We started off with Bloody Mary’s which were superb. They have half portions of some breakfast items but what’s the point? Mine wasn’t huge and I ordered the full portion. Mr. ARB’s Breakfast Burrito, on the other hand was quite substantial. I wouldn’t hesitate to order either breakfast again. They also serve sandwiches.

7328 Thomas Dr
Panama City Beach, FL 32408
850 233 9000
Liza’s Website

That same Sunday, having skipped lunch, we were pretty peckish by early evening. We’d already agreed not to eat the reheated fish Mr. ARB’s parents would no doubt drag out for like the third day in a row. So heading for a “walk on the beach” we made our escape to have a decent dinner. We stumbled upon a bar called Buckaloo’s which sounds like a tourist trap if I’ve ever heard of one, but the live music sounded good, so we thought we’d give it a try.

Starting with some popcorn shrimp with a tangy sauce, dinner was off to a good start. We then split the gigantic half bbq chicken. Tender and moist, served with onion rings we couldn’t have asked for more. Well, I guess a better beer selection if I had my druthers. We shared a $5 pitcher of Yuengling (the best beer available there) and I enjoyed a nice buzz. I felt like a teenager: sneaking out, drinking beer and then sneaking back in. Not a bad stop if you are seeking live music, decent food and cheap beer.

6628 Thomas Dr
Panama City Beach, FL 32408
(850) 249-5270

Earlier this year, I was approached by a publishing company, Globe Pequot Press, and asked if I was interested in writing a Food Guide book for Atlanta. I practically jumped out of my skin, I was so excited that they picked me. My publisher just sent me the cover of the book (pictured above) and I wanted to share it with you.

I’ve had so much fun over the last several months visiting restaurants around Atlanta and talking to staff and chefs. It has been a wonderful experience writing the book and I definitely have a new appreciation and respect for both authors and editors.

As you are reading this, I’m down in Florida for a short break and celebrating finishing the book!

Cheers!