Saturday, August 13, 2011

It's Rico's World

      This past Friday my fiancé and I found ourselves at my Mom’s house debating where we would go out to dinner.  The usual suggestions were made Mexican, Chinese, and a place named Digger’s.  I suggested we make the trek to downtown Buford from Suwanee to give one of the most popular restaurants in Atlanta a try.  I called Rico’s World Kitchen and they said there wasn’t a wait, but they took our information anyway.  The restaurant is in a remodeled gas station in the nostalgic area of Buford.  There is a no frills décor inside but if your food is good the atmosphere is the food.  We sit down and it is slightly warm in the dining room.  I look over the menu there are so many delicious flavor combinations to choose from.                                        
     My fiancé ordered some Sangria which was a nice homemade wine drink with fruit in the bottom.  We opted not to get any appetizers although the egg rolls looked amazing.  We ordered our food.  I decided on the fried green tomato and portabella sandwich with smoked Gouda and remoulade.  My mom ordered the mussel and shrimp appetizer in a barbecue broth.  My step father ordered the smoked chicken Cuban with mojo dipping sauce.  The wife to be ordered the shrimp po boy we all decided on the homemade sweet potato chips.  Of the four dishes ordered I tried three of them.  First my sandwich had a crispy perfect fried green tomato with a nice grilled mushroom that was not soggy like mushrooms can be.  Then it was topped with the subtle smokiness of the cheese and tanginess of the remoulade.  Every bite was a cornucopia of flavors I barely even missed not having meat for dinner.  The po boy was a great deal for $9 it was loaded with good size shrimp they were crisp and not greasy.  The mussels were slightly small but the number of them made up for the size.  The shrimp were massive there were about 4 in the appetizer.  The sauce was a nice broth similar to a white wine scampi broth with a Cajun kick.                                                                         
     Rico’s World Kitchen is an affordable restaurant that has plenty of gourmet flavors.  This is one restaurant I wish we had in Roswell.  He executes flavors with perfection and service is great.  With all the mediocrity that is around the Suwanee and Mall area Rico’s and the other restaurants in downtown Buford are a breath of fresh air. People of suburbia especially in Suwanee instead of going to the local sports bar or chain restaurant make the 10 minute trip to Buford for something that you will savor every bite of.  


Rico's World Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Roswell is Lucky


As someone who has been to the best burger joints Atlanta has to offer the Vortex and Flip I have longed for a neighborhood place that provides good quality without the drive.  We have been talking about trying Lucky’s for some time but have not had the opportunity.  Well Saturday night was a perfect time to give it a shot.  We were meeting another couple for dinner and wanted a nice affordable dinner in Roswell.  Upon arriving we were told the wait would be 45 minutes which was a little long but we were still waiting for the other couple so we agreed.  The wait was actually only about 15 minutes which is reasonable in Roswell.  The menu has many delicious looking combination burgers also chicken wings and salads.  
            For our first visit to Lucky’s we all opted for the basic burger.  The girls got the $7 special which is a 4 oz. burger fries and a drink.  We both got the Pure Breed which is the basic burger.  I got mine with Cheddar.  My fiancé got the parmesan fries and I upgraded for the sweet potato fries.  Our friends got the onion rings.  The burgers are massive and come on a challah bun.  The burgers were perfectly cooked and a nice blend of lean and fat.  It was juicy just like a burger should be.  My sweet potato fries were honestly the best I have had and came with blue cheese dressing for dipping.  The dressing was a good consistency with chunks of cheese and made me want to try their wings on a future visit.  My fiancés parmesan fries were nothing special as they just had grated parmesan on them.  She ended up eating half of my sweet potato fries.  The onion rings had a dipping sauce with them as well.  We were all satisfied with our meal and more satisfied with the check. A nice touch was the owner or manager coming out and asking how our meal was.  This makes me feel appreciated as a customer. 
            In conclusion I will make this place one of my regular spots to eat they have a nice beer selection and a menu that deserves to be tried.  Next time I will try for the Chihuahua burger which has green chili, guacamole, pepper jack cheese and chipotle mayonnaise.  It looked like spicy perfection.  

Lucky's Burger & Brew on Urbanspoon