Local Lettuces

by Lauren Willson

Radishes, bok choy, apples, and anchovy paste. Reading those food items probably did not make you drool on the page. However, these foods are real, grown by real people, and served in a locale not far from where it was grown.

Genetically engineered food specifically designed to tantalize your taste buds and leave you wanting more abounds in American food culture today. As obesity rates demonstrate, people are addicted to food. One restaurant attempting to change the way Americans perceive food nestles in the heart of downtown Athens. Farm 255, located off of West Washington Street, functions in the most traditional and non-traditional ways of serving food. Traditional in the sense that food is grown on a farm about 20 minutes away; non-traditional in the sense that, who does that?!

As a recent adoptee of the gluten-free diet, I have accepted a bittersweet detachment from foods containing any form of wheat. My menu options have been reduced to salads and the occasional potato, which is why I ended up with the medley of less-than delectable foods listed at the beginning of this review. When the farm says anchovy, they are not kidding. I attempted to salvage the organic goods with a heavy dose of spicy mustard, however my attempts were met with a crinkled nose and pursed lips. It was simply inedible. Even if the anchovy had not been present, the fresh veggies were extremely difficult to chew as they had been cut into large hunks.

However, not all was lost. One taste of the butternut squash soup and my faith was restored. I happily accepted the last bites of a decadent, creamy mushroom polenta my supper mate offered me. The polenta was cooked to the perfect al dente, and a slight drizzle of truffle oil made the umami flavor in the shiitakes spread over my palate like room temperature butter.

Prior to my loss of eating wheat products, I ordered the burger every time I went to the Farm. I fondly remember it’s succulent, rich flavor as one of the best burger experiences I’ve ever had. Served rare, which the restaurant can confidently do since they don’t have to worry about meat contamination, the chef puts a foodie twist on the toppings with different cheeses and whatever’s farm fresh. Made from grass-fed beef, this is a burger you can feel good about eating.

The farm expanded its ventures with a daily food cart that serves a variety of lunch items. Nothing can be expected when you visit the restaurant, and the same goes for the little cart parked outside the front door. You can also look for the Farm Cart weekly at the Athens Farmers Market.

Despite it’s occasional faux pas, the Farm 255 provides more than just food. It’s a rare experience.

Mexicali Grille

by Sophie Loghman

It’s that time of the month again. I’m bloated, but don’t care; I have stomach cramps with a side of a pounding headache, and to top it all off-- I’m craving a burrito. I am also quite tired of the usual Mexican restaurants in the area –you know, like Taqueria, and La Parrilla, and Agua Linda—so I decide to try something new. I remembered seeing signs about the reopening of a Mexican restaurant somewhere on West Broad Street, so I hop in my car, drive all but five minutes from my apartment and turn left into a crammed parking lot.

“Welcome to Mexicali Grille,” coos one of the softly spoken hostesses, who I have to say, slightly resembles a taller (and more plump) version of Mila Kunis.

This restaurant looks bland. All I really notice are the ever-so-typical Mexican flags, a few sombreros and some pieces of Mexican cloth hanging around its yellow walls.

But the menu! Here I am holding a menu with a profusion of Mexican dishes that all cost under only $12. I see burritos and enchiladas and queso and even chalupas. But wait-- what’s a chalupa? I think I’ve heard of it on a Taco Bell commercial, but never have I actually thought about its ingredients. I look over to the left side of the menu and see that Mexicali has graciously put a description of its dishes. How very convenient. I read that a chalupa is a tostada platter in Mexican cuisine, filled with lettuce, onions, salsa, chicken, beans and tortillas. Kind of like a taco salad and a burrito mixed in one—but I think I’ll pass.

After careful examination and a handful of impeccably salty chips and salsa (which is complimentary with every meal, I might add), I tell my grinning waiter that I’d like a cheese dip to start things off. He tells me for just one dollar I can upgrade to a size large cheese dip and I think, “What the hell? Bring it on.”

He’s right. The cheese IS pretty big. But can it beat Taqueria’s?

Unfortunately, it can’t.

The cheese was too unattractively thin. I couldn’t even keep it on my chips without making a huge mess of gooey white cheese on the table. And where are the jalapeños for flavor? Suddenly, my headache gets a little worse.

My burrito supreme comes out next. It wasn’t the kind of the burrito I’m used to. The lettuce, the cheese, the tomatoes, and the sour cream are all on the outside of the tortilla. What kind of Mexican restaurant is this?!

I see the two owners sitting at a nearby table doing what looks to be taxes. I crinkle my eyebrows and give them a my infamous evil eye.

As I bite into my burrito next, the waiter returns with some more salsa and chips, which is refreshing that he noticed that I was on a chip-frenzy and needed more at that very moment. What can I say? The service is excellent here.

My burrito tastes a little plain. I can’t complain, but it’s definitely not an authentic straight-from-Mexico tasting burrito.

I ask my waiter to bring me a Passion Fruit Margarita to calm my throbbing headache.

I take a substantial slurp and MMMMMMM. That is by far the best margarita I’ve ever tasted. Not too sweet and not too alcoholic—I have to drink some more.

My fruity mixed beverage went unexpectedly well with my basic-tasting burrito. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t call it anything past mediocre.

My description of the burrito is exactly how I would describe the restaurant. I would definitely choose somewhere else for authentic Mexican food, but this is still pleasant place to hang out, share some margaritas and down some perfectly plain Mexican food.

It’s probably not the place to bring your parents the weekend they come up, but if you’re looking for a cheap meal—which, let’s be real, everyone is in this economy—come here before your next pregame downtown.

Add Drug

by Amelia Rossi

In the charming Athens area of 5 points, there is a hidden burger and fries joint located within the nondescript drugstore, Add Drug. The drugstore has been local favorite of families and students since the 1960s, providing an appetizing, cheap lunch for just as long.

The drugstore looks as though it never left the fifties, which only adds to the experience. With only two waitresses, who both resemble the chain-smoking school bus driver in Forrest Gump, the drugstore-diner is able to serve approximately 25 people who sit at the bar on classic red vinyl bar stools. The menus, well, there are no individual menus … instead everything is listed on a lit-up board, similar to one you might find at a little league concession stand. You’ll be surprised to find out that almost everything on the menu costs less than five dollars, perfect for the budget of a college student.

My Add Drug experience was exactly what I expected once my friend and I sat down, took a gander at the menu, were awed at the prices, and quickly decided on several items to chomp on. Our waitress was prompt, kind and even suggested we try their homemade sweet tea, which was beyond refreshing and sweet, and/or a handmade milkshake. We ordered a variety of foods from the menu, which consisted of the classic hamburgers and fries, and southern favorites such as a tomato sandwich and a grilled pimento cheese sandwich with tomato, and a not so common “Steak-Umm” with cheese and grilled onions. Each item ordered satisfied our desire for artery clogging yummy-ness.

The hamburger and fries were comparable in taste to a Johnny Rocket’s burger and fries, except Add Drug’s fries were crinkled and a little crispy. The condiments and topping on the burger are what stood out in my mind; the tomato, chopped white onion, and fresh iceberg lettuce were amazingly fresh and ripe. Rumor has it that Add Drug gets their produce from the neighboring organic grocery store, Earth Fare. This could explain why the toppings tasted exceptionally great atop a greasy burger, or as the main ingredient in the tomato sandwich. The tomato sandwich didn’t need anything but its toasted wheat bread, dab of mayo and the full-grown tomato. The hamburger and tomato sandwich did not fail me, or my friend, in any way.

What exactly is a “Steak-umm” sandwich? It sounds like “Manwich,” which just sounds disgusting. But, this delectable pre-made, and frozen sliced steak is the best thing that’s happened since sliced bread. The product’s original creation was to be used for Philly cheese steaks because it is so thin and easy to slice. Steak-umm cooks up on the grill in a matter of minutes, is placed on a grilled burger bun and topped with grilled, chopped onions and melted cheese. Every bite you take simply melts in your mouth (and, of course, your arteries) and you simply can’t resist taking another bite. I couldn’t get over how much my friend and I loved the Steak-umm, and could not stop talking about it.

The last item we treated ourselves to was the Southern classic, a pimento-grilled cheese sandwich with the added grilled tomato. It became another instant favorite, just like the Steak-umm. The sandwich begins with your basic sliced bread that you can find in any grocery store, but it is buttered up and slammed with a massive scoop of pimento cheese. It’s placed on the grill next to the tomato, and when done these two are smacked together to entice and love your taste buds.

The Add Drug experience is simple and satisfying if you want fast, greasy, scrumptious American food. Remember to bring to cash, since it is technically a “drugstore,” you can’t tip with your credit card. After filling your prescriptions at Add Drug, you’ll soon find out you won’t need them anymore because their food is a cure-all.

Trappeze: The Beer Drinker's Beer Bar

by Bo Moore

Nestled in the heart of a bustling, rowdy, $2 PBR college town, Trappeze Pub is one of the Southeast's finest beer bars. But you won't find any sorority girls sneaking in on fake I.D.'s here; Trappeze is not just a beer bar, but a beer-drinker's beer bar.

At Trappeze, the motto is “good beer matters.” Located on the edge of downtown Athens and down the street from the popular 40 Watt Club, Trappeze certainly lives up to its standards. With around 30 taps rotating high-quality beers from around the country, a menu featuring beer-infused and beer-inspired dishes, and a staff knowledgeable enough to pair the two together, Trappeze takes the traditional gastropub to the next level.

I entered late on a Wednesday night, as the pub was transitioning between daytime restaurant and late-night bar. The guys sitting at and behind the bar obviously know their beer, but Trappeze never crosses the threshold to beer snobbery. The staff—and fellow patrons—are quick to offer suggestions to both beer veterans and newbies alike. My date and I seated ourselves at a booth near the bar, and were quickly approached by a waitress to take our order. Though we waved her off a few times while taking a while to decide on our meal, she didn't disappear when we were finally ready.

Trappeze's beer list, which is extensive to say the least, has only one flaw; it's usually out of date. My server suggested I instead refer to the large board opposite the bar for an up-to-date list, as Trappeze rotates their beer selection fairly regularly. At the declaration of my intended order, a bartender quickly offered a few recommendations to go with my beer cheddar soup. I decided on a half-pour of 2XIPA, a decisively bitter double India pale ale by Southern Tier Brewing Company. Trappeze's half-pours are a welcome addition for the beer drinker who doesn't want to fully commit to the high-gravity—or high price—of a full pour of craft brew.

Our food arrived quickly, maybe 10 or 15 minutes after ordering. My beer cheddar soup, made with cheddar cheese, onions and Victory Prima Pils, a German pilsner from Victory Brewing Company, was served with toast. The beer taste is definitely evident in the soup, poking through the cheddar with a faint bitterness. I usually dislike onions, but in this soup I didn't mind. The soft onions and creamy cheddar tasted best with the accompanying toast, adding a slight buttery crunch to the mix. My recommended 2XIPA gave a nice clean finish to the dish, lifting the cheddar from my mouth with a blast of hoppy bitterness.

Our burgers, too, were beer inspired, topped with a creamy beer cheese. Almost more a spread than a cheese, it added a slight hint of hoppy spice to the otherwise average beef patty; a delicious twist on the standard cheeseburger. Even the sauces sometimes feature a beer addition. When I asked for some honey mustard to dip the thick-cut, perfectly salted french fries, I was presented with a strangely not-yellow liquidy substance. It tasted like honey mustard—sweet and spicy with a slight tang—but my server explained it was made with honey, stone-ground mustard seeds and, sure enough, beer. Unique, innovative, delicious.

While Athens, known more for its football games and music scene, may not seem the place to find a top-quality gastropub, Trappeze is definitely worth a visit for fans of good food and good beer alike. Finding the perfect balance between the carousing frat boys down the street and the craft-brew connoisseurs sitting at the bar, Trappeze lives up to its slogan, proving that “good beer matters.”

Cali n Tito's: Don't Forget the Cash

by Megan Niager

Cali n Tito’s invites their guests to pull a seat (and cooler) to enjoy a good time over dinner. Conveniently located within walking distance to UGA’s Foley Baseball Field, this restaurant is unique because it encourages BOYB. With a $2.00 service fee, you can freely drink your own beverages which is a major plus in my book.

Cali n Tito’s provides an authentic Mexican feel right in the heart of Athens. Conveniently located within walking distance to UGA’s Foley Baseball Field, this restaurant is unique in the sense that it encourages BYOB (bring your own beer, wine, assorted adult drinks, etc.). With a $2.00 service fee, you can freely drink your own beverages, which is a major plus in my book.

Financially, it’s a great find. The only downside being they take cash or check ONLY. Of the seven guests I was dining with, three of us discovered this the hard way when we arrived with only our debit cards (who carries cash these days?). Without a forewarning from our dining mates, we had to make a 20-minute detour to each of our ATMs in order to get cash. However, the food, customer service and overall atmosphere were well worth the inconvenience and postponement of our meal.

The Cali n Tito’s menu offers a variety of appetizers, seafood, salads, wings, vegetarian plates, as well as a special kids menu and an assortment of shakes. Placing my order from the Spanglish menu, I chose the Quesadilla De Pollo, which consisted of grilled chicken filled with rice, beans and mozzarella cheese for a mere $6.75. Ordinarily I would think this price of the quesadilla to be expensive considering it’s served alone, but I was pleasantly surprised at the size and fullness of my entree. It was cooked to perfection with an ample amount of chicken and was nicely cut into four slices of pure heaven.

I also ordered chips and salsa for $2.45 to be split down the middle with a fellow dining buddy. This was a great decision because there was an abundance of chips and a huge bowl of salsa – my favorite!

Although I had never heard of it before, I tried my hand at Tostones which originate from the Spanish verb tostar, meaning “to toast”. Basically, they were fried green plantains for only $2.95. Served as an appetizer, about nine circular fried objects filled the plate in front of me. I was hesitant at first but with a little encouragement and some incredible sauce (more to come on that), I bit in and found myself on good terms with this plantain of a thing. Because it was fried this pleased the greasy side of me, but yet it was soft on the inside. I’m such a texture person when it comes to food, but since its softness was hidden underneath a fried layer, I was overwhelming, pleased.

Now about that sauce. I’m a sucker for sauces – seriously, I love to dip everything into almost anything. The waiter came to our table with a small container of a reddish dipping sauce I was unfamiliar with. I was excited to try it, though, and loved it for both my quesadilla and my fried plantains. It tasted like a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup. I was a big fan. I also tried a guacamole and salsa mixture that was incredible. It was a unique blend that tasted more like guac than salsa, but I loved it with my chips.

Cali n Tito’s creates a comfortable atmosphere for their customers. With a fun and engaging vice, the festive environment allows for drinks and conversation to flow throughout dinner. Because the seating is outdoors only, I was expecting some space heaters on this chilly November night. The area was encased in one of the plastic tent type things, but there were no heaters to be found and it was quite cold! Good thing we had our beverages to warm us up!

Whether enjoying a Wednesday night dinner with a group of friends or tailgating before the Friday night game, Cali n Tito’s is a great place to relax and enjoy a good time with friends. Be sure to pack a full cooler and bring an empty stomach!

Clocked: The Health Unconscious Decision

by Jessica Cole

I’m a peanut butter fanatic. Give me a plastic jar of Peter Pan chunky peanut butter and I will have a midnight snack for a week. Stemming from my love of the mouth-molding nuttiness of the peanut, it was only necessary that I take a stab at Athens, Georgia’s local diner Clocked and see what this peanut butter bacon hamburger was all about. Word-of-mouth reviews ranged from “delightful” to “disgusting” and walking into the almost empty diner at 11:30 a.m. I went in with no expectations except a yearning for something to fill this vacant, grumbling stomach.

The girl at the counter, a 20-something brunette with a nose ring, greeted me kindly and was extremely helpful. Wanting to completely divulge in the Clocked experience, I ordered the peanut butter bacon burger with the condiments on the side, a half-order of tater tots and sweet potato fries, and to top off this health unconscious meal, a watermelon sprite.

It’s difficult to mess up tater tots. If they have grease dripping off of them, or if you burn them then that’s a problem, but there’s not much room for creativity. With that in mind, Clocked’s tater tots were everything you’d expect: crispy and salty.

Something I’ve noticed as a trend in restaurants lately— sweet potatoes. Sweet potato fries, sweet potato chips, mashed sweet potatoes, I don’t remember these orange spuds being as popular as they are now. Whatever the reason for it, I’m not complaining. And the Clocked fries do this trendy food justice. They were fresh from the oven, just the right amount of crispy with a light seasoning of salt and pepper. I’ve always liked the accent of sweet and savory, and these fries have just the right amount of salt to bring out the potatoes’ subdued sweetness. And do me a favor and don’t dip them in ketchup. I tried this out and basically all you taste is your condiment. You’re better off just getting regular fries.

The main dish, the peanut butter burger is both simplistic genius and the healthI split the burger in half and lifted the hood. The peanut butter was of the smooth assortment and was melted and runny on top of the patty. I decided to try one side plain (bun, patty, bacon and peanut butter) and the other adorned with veggies and special sauce.

First half: I took the first bite of the plain half and really, all I tasted was peanut butter and bread. It was like biting into an oddly textured piece of toast. With every bite the peanut butter oozed out of the burger and stuck to the corners of my mouth.

I’d only eaten half of the first half of the burger and I already felt full. It was like I was in the pilot episode of Woman vs. Burger on the Food Network and I’m losing.

And taking a sip of that overly sweetened soda didn’t help. It made me feel a bit queasy, but I had to wash down that peanut butter somehow.

Second half: I put on all of the condiments and took a bite, and let me say, wow. I actually tasted a burger this time instead of toast and the taste of the peanut butter wasn’t nearly as overwhelming. The different flavors and textures all melded together was a pleasurable shock to my taste buds, especially bites that included peanut butter, patty and pickles.

I managed to finish the entire burger, but by that point, I was so full, all I wanted to do was take on the characteristics of my father after a big meal and sit back, unbutton my jeans and scratch my belly. Yes, I was fat, happy, and ready to bust.

And that’s the type of meal you get at Clocked: Extra filling, extra tasty, extra calories.

But the food is tasty and that’s all you need for a health unconscious meal.