The Florida Foodie
A Fall Foodie Fantasy Vacation: Athens, Georgia
By Saucy Sarah
Fall is a great time for the Florida Foodie to get-away from the heat and experience the bounty of fall. The change of the leaves, cool evenings, and an abundance of tasty delights are in store for you just one state away, a mere eight hour drive from Palm Beach County to Athens, Georgia. Located 60 miles east of Atlanta, Athens is the home of the University of Georgia—one of the oldest universities in the country—but Athens stands on its own two feet as a Mecca for music (this is the birthplace of the B-52’s and REM) and food. It is an ideal long weekend destination for us SoFla’s in search of some cool weather and some great eats. Being a true college town, you can’t beat the affordability either! So for this article I will share with you some of the highlights of my recent trip to Athens.
Athens Food tours are a great first stop, giving you an opportunity to get to know the food scene in Athens. Choose from a wide variety of themed tours, lasting 1 to 3 hours. You will be guided to several well-known hotspots where you get to sample selections from the menus (adding up to a full meal). Wines and beers can be an option on these tours as well. You also get to know the lay of the land and some history on Athens as well. And speaking of beer, Athens has a thriving local brewery scene. Try Terrapin Brewery for a free tour and tastings. Thursdays thru Saturdays, starting at 5:30pm, Terrapin opens its doors for tours of the brewery and samples of their brews. There is also live music! You can easily make this a nice first stop for your evening out.
Our plan of attack in tackling the dizzying array of restaurants in Athens was to visit some of the places that were awarded “best of” in Athens yearly competition, hosted by the local newspaper. Our first stop was “Transmetropolitian”, voted “best pizza of Athens”. This is a great family-friendly, yet trendy pizzeria. You can order by the slice all day long –
(one perk of a college town is cheap eats!). We tried the thin crust and the Sicilian—both use great dough and fresh ingredients. Their house salad was full of bright crisp greens and comes with your choice of shaved mozzarella or feta. Grab a table upstairs for a nice view of the avenue. Our next stop was “Clocked!” voted “best burger of Athens”. This is a funky, unpretentious, retro eatery with eclectic indoor seating of miss-matched tables and chairs or an outdoor grotto strung with twinkle lights. The burgers are cheap, organic, and delicious. Try the fries and tater tots as your sides. There are many unique burgers to try or make your own.
There are many places for BBQ and soul food in Athens, We tried “Big Dawg’s BBQ” a small storefront with a limited menu. The pulled pork was excellent with the sweet & spicy sauce. I fell in love with their mac & cheese which had a unique flavor I just could not figure out. “Five Star a Day” is a great place for all your soul food favorites.
The start of our trip was “Mama’s Boy,” a breakfast and lunch only operation. They are famous for their breakfasts and it is apparent when you pull up and try to get a parking spot. Get there early! Cars were parked down the road for almost a mile and the line out the door forms fast on weekends. I had no complaints about any of our selections. Their biscuits are enormous and tender. The peach French toast was out of this world. I had a side of fried chicken with them and was impressed by the moistness of the breast and the nice crunchy tang of the coating. The fried green tomatoes were stellar – juicy and crisp, served with a side of blue cheese dressing. I dream of going back and having that meal all over again. A fun and unique entrée they offer is chocolate cake for breakfast—a mini lava cake served with fresh fruit—my kids were delighted to have this for breakfast.
The out-of-this-world peach French Toast at Mama’s Boy in Athens, GA. Photo by Sarah Pearsall.Another delight, and not to be missed, is the Athens’s Farmer’s Market held at Bishop Park on Saturday mornings. There is a good variety of locally grown produce, fresh baked bread and pastries, local honey, and various artisans selling their wares. We enjoyed amazing croissants, samplings of local goat cheeses (try the peach goat cheese!), heirloom tomatoes from local growers, fresh pesto, and many other delights. The Farmer’s Market is a great way to get to know the local foodie scene since there is a commitment to using local and sustainable produce from the restaurants. Many of the purveyors at the market sell to the restaurant in town!
Another fun aspect of taking a road trip to Athens is all the great little farms and produce stands along the way. In the fall it seems like there is a farm stand at ever mile marker. We stopped at the Lane Orchard on the drive home where we stocked up on Peach preserves and butter, bags of pecans, and canned peaches for upcoming holiday baking. While there, were sampled their fresh made peach ice cream and peach cobbler from the restaurant on property, both were divine. You can truly tell the difference between the local, homemade products. It is worth the drive to experience these things.
Athens is the ideal long weekend vacation for the foodie. I recommend fall as the idea time to go for cool yet pleasant weather and to experience the bounty of the fall harvest. Athens is the kind of place you will want to revisit time and time again to see what is new on the foodie scene. The college town environment makes eating and exploring economical and ever changing. I know I am already planning my next trip.
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In her previous life, Sarah, a Palm Beach County Native, spent ten years working in various high-end eating establishments around South Florida. She is currently a fiction thesis candidate in the MFA program at Florida International University where she also teaches creative writing and rhetoric. If that is not enough, Sarah is also the owner of Cakes by Sarah, a local custom cake shop. Sarah lives in Lake Worth with her husband and two beautiful boys. “Food, fiction, and family are my life.”