On a very recent trip to Atlanta, my wife and I do what we do best when it comes to food; we ventured out of our way a little to try new places. On our way to the Braves game, we found a pub near the Georgia Tech campus. I must admit, at first I was skeptical because of the reputation of the neighborhood around Tech. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere, the service, and the food; obviously the holy trinity of restaurants.
The atmosphere was very eclectic and laid back. It had the feel of a true pub. With the college not so far away, I am sure the college scene lends to a lot of the atmosphere. I am sure this place has seen its share of late night snackers and drinkers, but I don't say that to detract from its value, only to give you a sense of the cool vibe the place gives off. The service fit the vibe of the place. The server we had was very good and willing to help us make our decisions. I like being able to tell servers that we are there for the first time, and then letting them tell us the good stuff. She kept out drinks filled and made sure we were okay. She was busy in our section, but of course that was okay.
After a quick chat with the server, my wife and I were ready to try some of the food. As an appetizer we order the Oysters Rockefeller. I have to admit that I was leery as we were over three hours from any body of water that could produce fresh oysters. However, these were steamed and the menu had an extensive selection of seafood and oysters. I must admit, I am glad we ordered the oysters. Served in a large cast iron skillet, the oysters were oozing with cheese and scorching hot. They were steamed perfectly and had the best flavor. Not only cheese, but the spinach and a little squirt of fresh lemon juice and I had the best oysters this side of Mobile, Ala. (That's another story for another day). For our main course, my wife is a sucker for a burger with blue cheese. So, once she saw that on the menu, she was hooked. I think she has a personal mission to eat as many Blue burgers as she can to see which one is the best. As a side, she ordered the home style chips. It's hard for me to describe her food, but she said it was good. I did try her burger, and it was a little dry for my liking, but complete destruction of the burger lends me to believe that she loved it.
For my meal I wanted to venture out a little, as I generally do in new places. The combination tacos really caught my interest, although the steamed crab legs almost won out. In this combination I decided on the catfish taco, the fried chicken taco, and the blackened shrimp taco. When the tacos first came out, the thing that immediately caught my attention was the freshness of the meal. It seemed that everything was fresh and nothing canned, jarred, or frozen. I tried the catfish taco first and was amazed at the depth of flavor. The catfish was perfectly cooked, and topped with fresh cabbage, fried onions, and a horseradish dill sauce. All of this on toasted flour tortilla. The flavors were so well balanced and nothing was over powering. I tried the fried chicken taco next and my mind was officially blown. Using fresh chicken made a huge difference, not to mention the fresh corn straight from the cob, cilantro, and fried jalapeno peppers. The combination was amazing. On top of all of that I put a little of the fresh salsa verde and I was hooked. Just like the catfish taco, nothing was over powering and all of the flavors were clear and defined. The fresh corn added a sweetness to balance out the fried jalapenos, and the cilantro added the perfect lemony punch to a perfect taco. Finally, I tried the last taco, the blackened shrimp taco. I am not sure if following the chicken taco was the problem or if I just didn't like it, but it was just okay. The first thing I noticed was the texture of the shrimp. Maybe the texture of the shrimp in combination with the flour tortilla just didn't match up. Despite the texture, the flavor was pretty good. I must admit that I only took one bite of the shrimp taco. However, I demolished the other two. It is worth mentioning that I got the beer battered onion rings as a side. According to the menu, they use a beer from a local brewery, which we did pass on our way to the Braves game. The rings were really good and had a great flavor to the crust. My wife and I are nuts for a ring batter that is crispy and light. These were perfect. Although we like some doughy rings, we prefer just the way these were cooked.
So, if you are near the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and you would like a good lunch or early dinner, you should really try Six Feet Under. The vibe and the food are great, and although I did not mention this earlier, they have a Bloody Mary bar where you can fix your own BM the way you like it. Pretty cool.
