Trader Vic’s, Atlanta, Georgia

Posted on August 23, 2012 by The Jab

To continue on Le Continental’s 2005 road trip through Georgia, we come to Trader Vic’s at the Hilton in downtown Atlanta, There are only four Vic’s left in the U.S. since newer locations in Palo Alto and Chicago closed recently:
Emeryville, CA (opened in 1972 and my favorite, of course, because it’s the first one I went to and it’s near my home),
Los Angeles (a beautiful newer location which opened a couple of years ago),
Portland (a brand new location that I visited last May, that has some of the best decor of any recent Vic’s), and
Atlanta (which opened in 1976 and is the best of all the U.S. locations as far as the decor).

photo by stagednormalcy.com

Trader Vic’s Atlanta, photo taken by The Jab in 2005

Like many other Trader Vic’s, the bar is fine, but to really experience it you must dine in the dining room. The decor here is classic Vic’s, with lots of Polynesian art and artifacts, tikis, and tons of bamboo and tapa cloth. Every inch is covered except for the large windows which look out on tropical gardens.

photo by stagednormalcy.com

Order a Mai Tai or the Trader Vic’s Atlanta specialty drink, the Peachtree Punch, some Cosmo Tid Bits, and soak in the wonderful atmosphere. For an entrée I recommend something from the wood fired oven.

Mai Tai – photo by stagednormalcy.com

photo by stagednormalcy.com

Trader Vic’s
Hilton Atlanta, 255 Courtland St NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 221-6339
Open Mon-Sat 5:30-10:30 (bar closes at midnight)

The Colonnade Restaurant, Atlanta, Georgia

Posted on August 7, 2012 by The Jab

In the fall of 2005 I took a road trip from Nashville to Chattanooga, and then through Georgia, spending time in Atlanta, Macon, Augusta, and Savannah, then seeing the great Okefenokee Swamp before continuing to Florida for the annual Hukilau tiki event. In this and the next couple of posts I will recap some of the restaurants and bars I visited on the trip.

Georgia has a lot of great home cookin’ “soul food” places, and Atlanta is no exception. My favorite during my visit was The Colonnade, which opened in 1927, then moved to its present location in 1962 and is still going strong. In the 80s they expanded (and it looks like they remodeled then), adding a full bar with fireplace.

The decor is nothing very special, but the food is. Everything is homemade, including the salad dressings, sauces, desserts, and their famous yeast rolls, the best dinner rolls you will ever eat! Seriously, they are so fluffy and flaky and they melt in your mouth.

Colonnade’s iceberg wedge salad with Thousand Island dressing, yeast rolls, and sweet tea

They are especially famous for their juicy fried chicken, so I ordered that of course. On the menu you have 32 different side dishes to choose from, including such classics as tomato aspic and Waldorf salad. I wish I was more hungry so I could have tried several of them, but I ended up with just one. A great choice though – sweet potato soufflé, which was recommended on Jane and Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com, and was creamy and delicious. The fried chicken was some of the best I ever had. Mmmmmmm!

Colonnade’s fried chicken and sweet potato soufflé

This place was very popular when I went, so you may have to wait. The service was friendly and efficient, like most places in the south that I visited.

The Colonnade
1879 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 874-5642
Open Mon-Thurs 5pm-9pm, Fri 5pm-10pm, Sat 12pm-10pm, Sun 11:30am-9pm

Casa Orinda, Orinda, California

Posted on July 31, 2012 by The Jab

Roundup of Bay Area old west style roadhouses – part three of three.

In earlier posts I visited Rancho Nicasio and the Hayward Ranch, two wonderful classic Western-style restaurants in the Bay Area. Tonight we’re visiting the historic roadhouse Casa Orinda, which opened in 1932 at what was just a crossroad at the time, on the corner of 2-lane California highway 24 and San Pablo Dam Road. The restaurant grew slowly and decor was added, from wagon-wheel chandeliers to large oil paintings of Western scenes, a fireplace, and an extensive historic gun collection. There was even gambling in the restaurant for a while. The gambling is long gone, but the restaurant miraculously survived expansion of the freeway and growth of the town of Orinda, and retains its classy Western decor (quite different from Hayward Ranch, which is more casual and cluttered).

Recently I dined there with friends to celebrate our great friend Karen Finlay’s birthday (she is a fabulous writer, check out her blog here).

I love the bar with lamps made from oxen yokes.

Step up to the bar and order a martini or Manhattan. They made it just the way I like it – stirred with lots of ice.

They are famous for their fried chicken, and rightly so. It’s crispy, hot, and juicy. Without a doubt the best fried chicken that I’ve had in the Bay Area. But I almost always order it, so this time I got prime rib, and it was excellent too.

Casa Orinda prime rib – notice they still use vintage Western themed china!

Here is part of the main dining room with and original wagon wheel chandelier and oil painting. They also decorate the dining rooms with gorgeous fresh flower displays.

Casa Orinda is a must in the Bay Area for great fried chicken and steaks in a historic Western style atmosphere with a touch of class. Be sure and check out the large gun collection!

Casa Orinda
20 Bryant Way, Orinda, CA 94563
(925) 254-2981
Open Mon-Sat 4pm-10pm; Sun 4pm-9pm (bar may stay open an hour later)
Valet parking is available

CLOSED – Riviera at The Fireside, Westminster, California

Posted on June 28, 2012 by The Jab

This blog is primarily intended to celebrate classic and historic restaurants that still exist, but occasionally I will be mentioning a restaurant that is gone.

I was planning an upcoming trip to Southern Cal. and since I will be staying on the Queen Mary in Long Beach I thought I would visit an old restaurant in the area. The Riviera at The Fireside has been on my to-visit list for many years, since I first read about it on the sadly defunct L.A. Time Machines web site. I once popped in for a look (and a quick drink) once on my way to LAX from San Diego (and I took pictures, which I can’t find now), but I never got to dine there, despite many opportunities. So I was saddened this week to hear that it closed for good in October 2011, after 44 years in business.

The Riviera opened in 1967 at the South Coast Plaza and moved in 1992 into another long-time restaurant, The Fireside in Westminster just off the I-405 freeway. The restaurant offered Continental cuisine, with flambé dishes their specialty, which included Caesar Salad, Spinach Salad with hot bacon dressing, Filet Diane, Pepper Steak Flambé, Duckling A L’Orange, Cherries Jubilee and Crepes Suzette. Yes, they even flambéd salads! All served by waiters in bow ties and dinner jackets (just my kind of place!) and (as I can recall) the decor was updated original with large black booths, but with newer fabrics and lighting. When I peeked inside it was nicely decorated for Christmas, but it was hard to get an idea of what it was like during the rest of the year.

Let this downer of a post encourage you to visit a classic restaurant while you still can. Do it this weekend!

CLOSED – Country Bill’s, Portland, Oregon

Posted on June 19, 2012 by The Jab

In the Woodstock neighborhood of Southeast Portland is a steakhouse that has been owned and operated by the same family since 1964, Country Bill’s.

Inside is a large restaurant but the cocktail lounge is where you want to dine, among its red vinyl booths and wood-paneled walls. I’m not sure if they still use the restaurant side because when I went there recently with my Portland friends Drew and Dana we were seated in the lounge.

I had a New York steak, which had nice grill marks and was done just right. The meals are very reasonably priced and come with choice of soup or salad and potato, but you can substitute homemade dumplings and gravy for the potato (or rice pilaf, cottage cheese, vegetables, sliced tomatoes, or cole slaw).

New York steak with dumplings and gravy and garlic bread

I’m glad my friend suggested this place when I said I wanted to visit an old steakhouse because it has been up for sale since last year as the owners want to retire, and the real estate broker makes its preservation sound unlikely: “I can’t tell you how many people tell me they just need something like a nice sports bar or something.”. Better go soon!

Country Bill’s mascot

Country Bill’s
4415 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland, OR 97206
(503) 774-4198
Open for dinner M-Th 4pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 4pm-11pm; Sun 4pm-9pm; bar opens at 3pm daily

Le Continental

dining and drinking with The Jab

Category Archives: Restaurants

Trader Vic’s, Atlanta, Georgia

The Colonnade Restaurant, Atlanta, Georgia

Casa Orinda, Orinda, California

CLOSED – Riviera at The Fireside, Westminster, California

CLOSED – Country Bill’s, Portland, Oregon

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