Regular Joe's Guide

First visit: Apr 2024 When I landed in Atlanta, I noticed a fair amount of places that looked good for beer and possibly a light dinner. What I clearly didn't pay attention to is what concourse I was in. Flying out it was concourse E, and I miscalculated that there would be a few places to hang out. I arrived about 3.5 hours before my flight and realized my options were going to be very limited. This isn't Baltimore - more like Vegas. Turns out Piano Bar was my oasis in a sea of nothingness. It sits right in the center of the concourse, in the food court, and is a round structure with bar stools. Most of them occupied. Where else are you going to get a drink? Certainly not at the fast food places. There is a Blue Moon Cafe in this concourse, if you want to only drink Budweiser options. No thanks. Piano Bar has a few decent taps, so it was my port in the storm. As for food - well I tried one of their flatbreads. I have no idea where the food came from, since they clearly don...

Latest visit: Apr 2024 (Georgia Tech area) First visit: Feb 2006 (Lindbergh / Piedmont - closed) Locations: 8 in the Atlanta area (including two in the airport), with one being built. What luck! I wasn't sure if I'd ever get back to The Varsity. I had one opportunity to try it prior when working for software-company-everyone-has-heard-of (and is now our arch enemy). There's not one anywhere near where our office is, and since I'm sans wheels, I have no way to get there without considerable time, money, and effort.  So as we closed down our training sessions, some folks began to head to the airport. Since we only have one flight back to the Springs, I needed to wait until 7 at night. No big deal, I'll continue to work at the office and walk somewhere for lunch. I'm beginning to realize that some of my peers are like-minded in the RJG methodology, including one of our leaders. The local gentleman (who suggested Little Alley) offered to drive us to The Varsity. It ...

First visit: Apr 2024 (Buckhead) They have a second location in nearby Roswell. As noted on North Italia, I was grateful for the light lunch because I knew this was coming for dinner. We concluded our first day and freshened up a bit. We all decided a good walk was in order, and we journeyed the 3/4ths of a mile to Little Alley Steak. This was a recommendation from one of our peers who happens to live in Atlanta. Him and his wife like to celebrate their anniversaries here. One of the best things about being with a company with deep pockets, especially in the sales organization, is money is no object. All expenses paid - within a certain amount of reason of course. Most of my career has been in delivery, where we were encouraged heavily to pinch pennies. Little Alley is a high end steakhouse. I think it took our waiter 10 minutes to get through the specials, and he spoke fast! There's 11 of us, so it's going to be quite the bill at the end. I think our leadership wisely stuck to...

First tried: Apr 2024 (Buckhead) Locations: A few in many states. They're owned by Cheesecake Factory who also owns Flower Child, another restaurant we tried via delivery. North Italia's first location is, interesting considering below, from the Phoenix area. So now it's time to earn our paychecks and get down to why we're here. After the morning session, the decision was to bring in lunch. The original plan was Moe's Southwest Grill, but something went awry. So we pivoted to North Italia. I wasn't aware this was a chain until one of our coworkers stated he can get this in Phoenix. Ohhh... In researching now, there's one up in Denver. We ordered three pizzas and four salads. The pizzas were smaller than anticipated, so it was more like an appetizer lunch. Which was fine by me considering our company provides plenty of snacks and I knew a big dinner was coming. Places like this are difficult to judge properly with DoorDash. That's why I say "tried...

First visit: Apr 2024 (Buckhead) They have a second location in Smyrna.  OK, the RJG is back in Atlanta. Last year it was a personal stop on the way to a work visit in South Carolina. This time it's the final destination as I'm here for two days of training. To keep things easier, I'm not going to cram in a half day of record shopping. There's one direct flight from the Springs, and that's on Delta at first light. Ya know, they didn't even give us a snack or a beverage. What the heck is that? There was no reason that I could tell, and they didn't explain why. So by the time I got checked into the hotel after 12, I was starving (got up at 3:30!). I have no idea what's in store for dinner tonight, and more on that as the situation develops. I'm in Buckhead and there's plenty of options within walking distance. Jack's New Yorker popped up, and that's exactly what I want - a big ol' sandwich.  Except I didn't get a big ol' sandwic...

First visit: Apr 2024 (Buena Vista) Locations: This restaurant is known as Casa Sanchez 3. Casa Sanchez 2 is in Leadville. There are two other Casa Sanchez's in Colorado: one in Frisco, the other Fairplay. They sport the same logo but have different websites. We'll presume different ownership but a common beginning. For the next morning we decided to walk the Sands Lake SWA trails in Salida. Stunning scenery of the snow capped mountains with the sounds of running water beneath. After that, it was time to head on home. Rather than going back from whence we came, we decided on taking a circle route through Buena Vista, and that will be our lunch destination. Mrs. RJG surprised me again by suggesting Mexican. This was the staple of the RJG lunch diet for many years. Well it still is - considering Mrs. RJG is, in fact, Mexican. But going out for Mexican is a different story and we rarely do that anymore. Based on reviews and the fact that we would be arriving a bit early at 10:30, ...

First visit: Apr 2024 As noted on the Currents review, we walked the river and sat on one of the benches and took in the gorgeous and cool evening. Now if Mrs. RJG had it her way, we would get ice cream and go back to the hotel. No way I'm wasting my one day here on ice cream. We're going to a brewery! It doesn't take much to convince her, as she loves them too, just have to be insistent about it.  And did this venue ever work out to our advantage. What a wonderful evening. First of all, the place was quite crowded, much more than you usually see in these days of hyperinflation. Best of all is there was a live band. They're called Ol' Scratch and they came from down south in Alamosa. They're just damn good. Wonderful mix of rock, funk, soul, and especially blues. Excellent guitar, electric piano, and sax. Oh wow, that second photo must have been taken just minutes after we left - we almost were spotted! I recognize pretty much everyone in it. In any case, the m...

First visit: Apr 2024 After piddling around Canon City, we took the beautiful drive on US-50 west along the Arkansas River. We've done this trip many times over the 27 years we've been married, and it never gets old. The river rafting companies are getting ready for the whitewater season coming up in another month or so. As is our protocol, we prefer to stay at a unique hotel versus the chains (though in retirement I plan on using every single point I earned!). Based on the reviews, we chose Browns Canyon Inn. On first glance it looks like your typical indoor motel from the 80s and 90s. But it's been fully renovated with wonderful rustic decor and lots of displays of taxidermy. Super clean rooms and everything works. And the price is right.  We spent the afternoon looking in shops and taking in the great weather. After dinner, we would walk the river and enjoy the evening (more on that in the next post...). OK then, it's time for dinner. Mrs. RJG says she wants a steak....

First visit: Apr 2024 As the weekend approached, it looked like it was going to be unusually warm and beautiful, so Mrs. RJG and I decided an impromptu getaway was in order. Last year we did three overnight trips into the interior of Colorado, all during the summer: Del Norte, Leadville, and Durango with stops along the way. One of those stops was Salida, and since we've never spent a night there, we thought that would make a good destination point. On the way there is Canon City, and it's time for lunch. Mr. Ed's is no more, so let's look for a new spot. Bunk House Burgers popped up and it looks perfect with strong ratings. Let's give them a try. We were the first customers of the day. Nice rustic look with plenty of benches outside, solo countertops, along with the usual interior tables. They can seat a lot of folks in this small space. It's a fast food joint, you walk in, and order at the counter. A very friendly young man assisted us. I tried the Bronco Burg...

Latest visit: Apr 2025 (Voyager) First visit: Apr 2024 (Voyager) HQ: Castle Rock, CO (founded in 2018 in Pasadena, CA) Locations: They were to expand rapidly last year, but are stuck on 6 locations. Looks like Colleyville closed. For Colorado they also have one in Littleton. Texas gets one each in the Houston and Austin metro areas. Phoenix and Orlando round out the total. Very disparate locations. This is a tough time for the restaurant industry. Almost precisely one year later, I'm back at Daddy's Chicken Shack for the second visit. This time armed with a coupon offering a free sandwich. No strings attached even. I hope this isn't a sign they're struggling for business. In any case, can't pass up this deal. And Mrs. RJG and I had to go to the Denver area for a family dinner event, so this will make the perfect lunch. Grabbed two chicken sandwiches and brought them home. Just basic Nashville Hot Chicken this time. I was pleased, and really enjoy the heat factor. An...