welcome to elaney!

Those of you that know us well (and particularly our co-workers) know that we love a good sandwich.  It’s one of the many things that we got from emum, and we really took this one and ran with it (wish some of the other emum virtues had been so adamantly adopted).  We will spare you the details of our love affair with the turkey sandwich (we can’t complain about people talking about their eating habits on facebook and then do the same thing here), but just trust us: we love a sandwich for lunch.  That’s why we were delighted to discover this list of 14 best sandwiches in Atlanta (btw, DailyCandy is great again.  We just rejoined and love their redesign – much smarter.  Even stole the post title).  #1 is Victory Sandwich Bar in Inman Park…which we’ve been dying to try.  Plus, the list includes one of our other random favorite finds:  Papi’s (a hole in the wall cuban restaurant in Midtown).  Bun appetit!

As is the meal!  We’ve been wanting to try STG Trattoria since it opened, despite its opening to mixed reviews.  The AJC gave it 2 out of 5 stars, and we’d heard so-so anecdotal responses as well.  So why did we want to try it?  Few of the obvious reasons:  Italian is our favorite, we love trying the new spot in town, it’s in our neighborhood, yada yada.  However, we really wanted to try it because it was opened by the owner of Bocado.  And while we don’t love Bocado (the menu is just weird), we do like that it’s a fun place to have a midrange night out (it’s not Fourth & Swift but it’s not Zoe’s).  And if there is any category of restaurant that Atlanta is missing out on, it’s the nice / midrange spot.

So perhaps it’s because our expectation was low, but we really liked it.  We sat outside, but the inside is really charming too (the entryway doubles as a wine cellar).  We had two apps:  the beet salad and the pork meatballs…both yummy.  And then the pork sausage pizza.  We don’t have the most discerning palate when it comes to pizza napoletana, as we’ve never really met a slice we didn’t like, but we thought this iteration was satisfying as well.

All and all, a good Thursday night restaurant.

As previously mentioned, I am completely obsessed with the new BEP song ironically titled “Just Can’t Get Enough,” and I’ve been listening to it on repeat for 8 days.  On an essentially unrelated-note-but-I-really-just-wanted-to-talk-about-the-BEP-song-again-and-the-name-kind-of-lends itself, I’ve decided officially on my favorite Atlanta restaurant (get it – the one I “Just Can’t Get Enough” of?): Sotto Sotto.

Inman Park’s Sotto Sotto is such a great neighborhood Italian spot.  The atmosphere  has a good “just trendy enough” vibe, the pasta dishes are classic, but taste innovative, and the wine list is filled with tons of delicious wine you’ve never even heard of!  It’s the perfect first date restaurant.  Not to mention, Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest have been spotted there numerous times.  Personal favorite dish is Spaghetti Pescatore – rich with scallops, clams, shrimp, and calamari.  Sotto Sotto actually shares a kitchen with Fritti – also a great spot for pizza.

We’ve spent the last two days in downtown Atlanta in trade show craziness, so we have not seen The Bachelor.  And you best not be telling us / posting on Facebook / texting who got sent home after the Fantasy Suites (and yes, we presume that if one of the girls turned it down, she got sent home).  However, while we were not where every self respecting woman should be on a Monday night (glued to her TV), we were in a nice second.  Work dinner at Empire State South.  Apps?  Dessert?  That last glass of wine?  Well, thanks work dinner, don’t mind if I do.

Empire State South does an excellent good of crossing Southern gourmet with a modern feel.  The location is at the top of a high rise downtown, but the second you walk in, you feel like you are an a cozy (yet trendy) kitchen.  The menu includes classics like Shrimp and Grits and pork tenderloin, as well as food for the more adventurous paletes like a Charcuterie app and pork belly (a personal fav – so bad but so good).    Best new spot we’ve tried since Iberian Pig.  High marks!

We’re finishing up Restaurant Week / Things We Like in ATL (and the random Bachelorette non sequitur) with The New Deal that you need to FDR (find and download rapidly).  Scout Mob!  Have you heard?! It is like a bargain hunter (who wants to be in the know)’s dream!  Get it as an iphone app or as email alerts, Scout Mob hooks you up with great deals at cool spots that locals love.  No 20% off at Brio up in here.   See ya later 2 for 1 apps at The Palm.  Hasta La Vista free Spinach dip at Houston’s.  50% off at Carroll Street Cafe, Wasabi, Paul’s, and the Tap?!  Don’t mind if we do!

Scout Mob started in ATL and is now in NYC too.  It is awesome!  Enjoy.

All good ladies of leisure know that turning meals into verbs is one of the easiest ways to increase the appearance of your social adeptness.  You dine, you lunch, and on your fabulous weekends out, you brunch.  Brunch food es muy delicioso and hard not to do good, but that doesn’t mean some don’t do it better than others.  Our two favorite brunch spots are Highland Bakery (casual, hipster, but literally the most delicious, melt in your mouth breakfast EVER) and Murphy’s (traditional brunch fare, Highlands staple, and a great fancy brunch mimosa atmosphere).  Be ready to wait at both locales, but they are so worth it!   And yet, the list of ATL brunch spots go on and on…so we want to know, Ria’s, West Egg, what’s your pick?!

Fun day Friday fun category!  Nothing like getting a drink with Reader Melby after work on Friday.  However, for whatever reason, it’s sort of hard for us to think of different places to go for a glassa wine.  We don’t want to go somewhere that the Bert Show is doing a live broadcast (re:  Tin Lizzy’s or Fado), and we don’t want to go somewhere so chic and expensive that you feel out of place in your afterwork, mascara smudged getup (the St. Regis).  So we always end up at Treehouse.  Over and over again.  So, help us help you, and let’s hear YOUR suuggestions for after work cocktail.

Our favs (other than Treehouse):  Holman & Finch for wine / cocktails and Five Seasons for beer.  Holman & Finch has delicious apps and a cozy atmosphere.  The wine list isn’t super extensive, but there is plenty to choose from, and the wait staff knows what they are talking about.  Five Seasons is a fun brewery, sports bar-ish pick, and anything with an unstairs deck is fine by us!