I recently had the pleasure of visiting HOTLANTA (Altanta), and while I didn’t get to go to The Waffle House (as referenced by Jermaine Dupri) I did get to sample some food from another famous Atlanta Institution: The Varsity. Founded in 1928, this 2 acre drive balances quantity, “Two miles of hot dogs, a ton of onions, 2500 pounds of potatoes, 5000 fried pies and 300 gallons of chili are made from scratch daily”, and quality. They insist on ” the freshest of all ingredients and three to six deliveries per day are routine.”
Of course, I had a bite of everything, from the Burger and the Chilidog to the Onion Rings and Fries. I didn’t stop at one dessert, having both peach and apple pie, and I did not deny myself the Varsity Orange frosty. The fare is basic all-American drive-in food done to a turn, and although I wouldn’t recommend this sort of food on a daily or even weekly basis, if you’re visiting Georgia, you have to break your diet and visit The Varsity.
Coca-Cola is headquartered in Atlanta; though I am by no means a pop (soda) drinker, touring the World of Coca Cola is one of those “Must-See” sites. It is a veritable Willy Wonka Wonderland of Coke history and artifacts complete with drink fountains flowing with international Coca-Cola brands. Beverly, an Italian tonic water with bitters, I would stay away from, and Vegitabeta, popular in Japan, is a drink I wish they would launch in Canada and the States.
Other tourist destinations to visit in Atlanta are definitely CNN, Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and Centennial Olympic Park. Also be sure to visit the Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest aquarium, and in my humble opinion, one of the coolest. Aside from being wowed by the beluga sharks, penguins, and sea otters, you also have the chance to pet baby sharks and stingrays.
Unfortunately, I was in Atlanta for only a brief while and much of the food I sampled was catered food, but the foods that are most “authentically southern” are fried chicken (can’t go wrong with that!), fried green tomatoes (anything fried is delicious, really), grits (a popular breakfast or side dish made out of corn with the consistency of porridge), and buttermilk-biscuits (the most diet-unfriendly-but-tastebud-friendly biscuits of them all). Of course, you can’t forget sweet tea, the staple drink of the south, which is basically just a hyper-sweet black or green tea. I asked the hotel reception where the best sweet tea in Atlanta was and was told to visit a Chick-fil-a (!!!!) or McDonalds (double !!!!). Clearly, my work as a FT (food trotter) is unfinished and my next visit to Hotlanta, or the dirty south, will have to include some serious food sleuthing!
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Why is Atlanta referred to as the ‘dirty south’? Is it particularly dirty?
haha Good question! It’s called the dirty south not because of literal dirtiness, but rather historical and social conflicts w race relations and corruption in government. Also, the dirty south isn’t just Georgia but includes southern Virginia, the Carolinas, northern Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and eastern Texas.