Athens, Georgia
Paul V. Hartman

Athens Restaurant Reviews - Page Two

CHEF LAMAR'S   IRON GRILL
Mitchell Bridge Road - West Side Athens (706) 543-9955
American. Casual. Moderate. Easy parking on-site.
Located in the quirky-modern blue and green slab building formerly occupied by Harry Bissett's West Side. The interior is much better looking than the external. There is a large bar area down stairs, and most dining is upper level. Described by the chef as "global", the Southern influences outweigh the Asian. It is the meat dishes for which this place hums. There are 25 wines by the glass, covering a wide spread, and another 25 or more by the bottle. (The wine prices are not extravagant.)

The four of us had main courses arrive promptly, cooked to the right temperature, and pleasing to the pallet. The desserts were clever.
Lunch/Dinner from 11:00, Tues-Sat, Sunday brunch. Reservations accepted.



MIA  CASA
Clayton and Hull St. corner, near Last Resort (706) 227-4444
South Americam with variations; easy on the wallet. Parking scarce.
This critic was sorry to see Mia Madonna go under, the restaurant which last occupied this spot; I scored it highly. This new effort with different cooks is Small Plates (call them Tapas) which mix South of the Border with Southern. You can clump tapas choices in clusters for multiple diners, and groups tend to favor this place. The food is decent, the price is right, and the ambience largely retained from the former restaurant works well. There is a full bar where townees can mix with UGAs.
Lunch and dinner 7 days; 11:30am - 10:00pm or 11:00pm weekends. Reservations accepted.



MIRKO PASTA
2 Main Street, Watkinsville (706) 310-1233
Italian. Casual. Inexpensive. Parking on-site.
The concept of choosing your pasta and sauce separately was made popular by Macaroni Grill, but Mirko is less ambitious in scale, more homey. And the sauces are quite good. Fifteen types of pasta ($4-5 each) may be ordered with eleven elegant sauces ($4 each). Order your meal at the counter, and they give you a portable name holder to carry to an empty table. If no table, wait for one; food is not cooked until you are seated. The meal arrives minutes later. Our group of 6 loved this place. 18 wines by the glass. Lunch/Dinner 10 - 11, Mon-Sat. Sunday 5 - 9. No reservations.



ON THE BORDER
Atlanta Highway at Timothy (706) 543-2299
Mexican-Texican. Festive building. Easy parking.
The outside of this place is so distinctive that if they ever had to sell, only another Mexican place could take it. The food inside is sufficiently distinctive, however, that they should be quite successful in Athens. One of a chain of 90 restaurants which began in Dallas in 1982, the theme is Mexican cowboy with Texan flavors. The corn flour tortilla is not emphasized: steak and chicken is.
Lunch and Dinner from 10:00am, 7 days a week. No reservations.



FIRE MOUNTAIN      (now renamed:   Ryan's Grill Buffet)
Epps Bidge Parkway, across from Wal-Mart (706) 543-8203
I liked the name when I watched this place going up. This is the worst food in town, but they bring it to you at a very reasonable price, and the portions are large! If you think the owners will be unhappy about this review, forget it. They could not care less.

You want buffet? They have it here in abundance. What kind of food? Everything from American to Mexican to Southern, to (sort of) Italian, to Soul Food. (Sorry, no nouvelle French.) Here there are multiple buffet tables. Much of the food is below the proper serving temperature. The largest buffet is the one for Dessert. That is no surprise, for in my single appearance at this restaurant, I saw more 300 pound people than I have seen in a week at DisneyWorld. On the plus side, it is relatively clean, when you consider the high traffic flow. This restaurant chain is a spin-off from Ryan's Steakhouse. I would buy stock in this enterprise, and avoid the food. They may need to expand the parking lot. Welcome to Athens.

Lunch from 11:00am, Dinner to 9:30pm. Sat & Sun open at 7:30am. Walk right in.


EAST WEST BISTRO
351 E. Broad Street (706) 546-9378
Asian, Greek, and inbetween. Casual. Parking difficult.
The unusal menu here combines traditional fare with touches of South East Asia and even Greece. The bar here becomes especially popular after 10:00pm. Downstairs the menu is expansive and carefree; upstairs the menu is aimed at fine dining and more limited (and more expensive) dinner choices. The Southeast style "Vegetable Lasagna" is an interesting item on the lower level.
Lunch and Dinner from 11:00am to 10:00pm+, 7 days a week. Reservations accepted.



LAST RESORT GRILL
184 W. Clayton Street (706) 549-0810
Nouvelle Southern. Casual. Moderate. Parking available.
Exposed brick walls. Outdoor patio. Open cooking area. The work of local artists is featured on the brick walls. The menu here is eclectic: How about salmon and grits? Last Resort is a favorite of UGA faculty, which is generally a frugal bunch. Veggie quiche, wildrice pancakes, salmon/scallop pasta, cheese-stuffed chicken. Interesting, even provocative. Small bar room off the dining area.
Lunch and Dinner from 11:00am. No reservations.



RAFFERTY'S
Atlanta Highway, opposite Mall (706) 613-0045
Steaks and Ribs. Casual. Moderate. Easy parking.
A varied crowd will all find something to like at Rafferty's, which enjoys a good local following. They cook over wood fired flame. (The barbecue ribs are cooked over hickory) The salads are generous. The steaks and fish are properly prepared. Tuesday night is prime rib night. It gets crowded every evening after 6:00pm, but if you go at 5:55 you will probably walk right in.
Lunch and Dinner from 11:00am. No Reservations.



PICCOLO'S ITALIAN STEAK HOUSE
2061 Hog Mountain Road (706) 705-1501
Steaks and Traditional Italian. Casual. Medium priced. Easy parking.
The busy menu folds out three times, and you see 16 appetizers, 4 meat entries all served 4 different ways, so that's 16 choices in the meat category. And the chicken comes 8 different ways. Plus there are pasta dishes and shrimp and scallops. This new place wants to please, so waiters and owners query the patrons frequently as to what is right and what is not. Plus the kitchen is versatile and will serve you anything possible. That being said, I think this restaurant will improve as they figure out what works best from the many items on the menu, so we will re-visit in a couple of months.
Wine by glass or bottle. Lunch and Dinner from 11:00am, 7 days a week. Nice website. Reservations accepted.



LOGAN'S ROADHOUSE
Atlanta Highway near Barnes and Noble (706) 227-9890
Steaks, Ribs, Chicken, Seafood. Very Casual. Inexpensive. Easy parking.
A steak house for the pick-up truck set. They sprinkle peanut shells on the floor and you are welcome to add to the clutter with your own bowl of free unshelled peanuts.
Large variety on the menu. Special pricing Monday, Tuesday. Lunch and Dinner from 11:00am. Reservations accepted.



ETIENNE BRASSERIE
311 Broad Street, at corner with Jackson. (706) 850-8008
This is a bar, with food. They say it is French. Moderate pricing. Parking difficult.

There are menu items with French names. The main courses (dinner) are actually pretty decent. (The Coq au Vin was very nice.) The poached salmon appetizer on baguette, however, tasted like canned tuna on toast. I saw the escargot but elected to pass it by.

The wine list contains four brands of bubbly. Evidently they expect some diners to celebrate something. The wine prices by the bottle are over twice retail. The selection will not win a Wine Spectator award. The name is backwards: it should be Brasserie Etienne. Quel dommage.

In my role as food critic for Hilton Head Island (Link), I am always eager to review any new French restaurant which opens, there being anywhere from 6 to 10 on the island at any given time. Etienne is not a French restaurant. It may want to look that way, and it may serve some decent food - with French names - but that is not enough.

Also, to correct a newspaper review, there have been two other legitimate French restaurants in Athens in the past two decades. Each lasted several years, then packed it in. Downtown, drinking comes before eating.

Repeat: this is a bar, with food. I fully expect they will thrive downtown, because that is what downtown wants.
Lunch and Dinner from 11:00am. Reservations accepted.


This is the SECOND page of Restaurant Reviews in Athens, Georgia. The First page is

We did not review, but also like:
Cali 'N' Titos, Savannah Room, Jason's Deli, Schlotsky's.

We did not review, and have no plan to review:
Applebee's, The Grit, Longhorn, Red Lobster, Outback, Sonny's Barbecue,
numerous Chinese and Mexican eateries, pizza joints, and other fast-food places.

Can't find a Review which used to be posted here?
Like most small cities of 100,000 population, restaurants come and go.
Click to go to our new "restaurant graveyard".


There are more than 150 restaurants in the Athens Area.
For those not reviewed here, and those that will never be reviewed here,
try the "exhaustive list" provided by going

Can you have good restaurants in a small town? Click for my opinion.

Click to see my comments on restaurant WINE prices.