syntaxfree07 wrote:I know Atlanta and it's surrounding area has a lot of "MASSAGE: ASIAN BLACK LATINO". I see billboards for them all of the time.

... whatever that means.

Aw damn I love me some multiethnic chicks

Go to the Louvre.

I'm sure it's right off of Peachtree.

For food, go to Buford Highway. Lots of EXCELLENT real Asian cuisine. Little Szechuan is the best Chinese food in the city.

Skip Wax and Facts and hit Wuxtry at North Decatur. Or check out Criminal Records in the shopping center next to Wax.

Star Bar (in Little 5 Points), Drunken Unicorn, Lenny's, the EARL (East Atlanta) are all good spots for live music. Pick up a Creative Loafing or a Stomp and Stammer for concert listings.

For drinking, go to Manuels on North Avenue. It's Atlanta's version of Cheers. Basically, an old Democrat bar with lots of regulars and a cool layout. The Brick Store in Decatur has a Belgian bar that's good--pricey, but good. The Euclid Avenue Yacht Club on Euclid (natch!) in Little 5 Points is cozy and good.

Avoid: Buckhead nightlife (i.e., drunken yup scum and and their airheaded honies), Stone Mountain, Underground, and Six Flags.

Your Cap'n Speakin' wrote:For food, go to Buford Highway. Lots of EXCELLENT real Asian cuisine. Little Szechuan is the best Chinese food in the city.

Skip Wax and Facts and hit Wuxtry at North Decatur. Or check out Criminal Records in the shopping center next to Wax.

Star Bar (in Little 5 Points), Drunken Unicorn, Lenny's, the EARL (East Atlanta) are all good spots for live music. Pick up a Creative Loafing or a Stomp and Stammer for concert listings.

For drinking, go to Manuels on North Avenue. It's Atlanta's version of Cheers. Basically, an old Democrat bar with lots of regulars and a cool layout. The Brick Store in Decatur has a Belgian bar that's good--pricey, but good. The Euclid Avenue Yacht Club on Euclid (natch!) in Little 5 Points is cozy and good.

Avoid: Buckhead nightlife (i.e., drunken yup scum and and their airheaded honies), Stone Mountain, Underground, and Six Flags.

This is right.

A regular customer of mine keeps bitching about the quality of the Mexican food here in Portland, despite the fact that Portland's suburbs are full of Mexicans, some of whom staff the carts this guy says are no good.

Said customer is from Atlanta and says "Atlanta has it dialed in".

I spent a week in Atlanta in '98, a week in Athens in 00', and a week in Savannah in '03. I remember great soul food and ribs but I sure as fuck cannot imagine "dialed in" Mexican food on such a massive scale that Atlanta can trump a city in a part of the country fueled by Mexican labor.

Please let me know what places this guy could possibly be speaking of or I'm gonna pelt him with boiled peanuts.

The Vortex burger restaurant was pretty good when I was there four years ago. It was in Little Five Points, where a friend of mine was living; there were some decent, fun bars, and an excellent dvd rental place in that area.

Steve V. wrote:

Your Cap'n Speakin' wrote:For food, go to Buford Highway. Lots of EXCELLENT real Asian cuisine. Little Szechuan is the best Chinese food in the city.

Skip Wax and Facts and hit Wuxtry at North Decatur. Or check out Criminal Records in the shopping center next to Wax.

Star Bar (in Little 5 Points), Drunken Unicorn, Lenny's, the EARL (East Atlanta) are all good spots for live music. Pick up a Creative Loafing or a Stomp and Stammer for concert listings.

For drinking, go to Manuels on North Avenue. It's Atlanta's version of Cheers. Basically, an old Democrat bar with lots of regulars and a cool layout. The Brick Store in Decatur has a Belgian bar that's good--pricey, but good. The Euclid Avenue Yacht Club on Euclid (natch!) in Little 5 Points is cozy and good.

Avoid: Buckhead nightlife (i.e., drunken yup scum and and their airheaded honies), Stone Mountain, Underground, and Six Flags.

This is right.

Agreed.

Buford Highway:
El Taco Veloz, El Nortenia, Happy Valley (Dim Sum)...you really can't go wrong there.

Buckhead is fucking awful.

Brinkman wrote:A regular customer of mine keeps bitching about the quality of the Mexican food here in Portland, despite the fact that Portland's suburbs are full of Mexicans, some of whom staff the carts this guy says are no good.

Said customer is from Atlanta and says "Atlanta has it dialed in".

I spent a week in Atlanta in '98, a week in Athens in 00', and a week in Savannah in '03. I remember great soul food and ribs but I sure as fuck cannot imagine "dialed in" Mexican food on such a massive scale that Atlanta can trump a city in a part of the country fueled by Mexican labor.

Please let me know what places this guy could possibly be speaking of or I'm gonna pelt him with boiled peanuts.

What major city in the U.S. (where the cost of living hasn't gotten too out of hand) isn't fueled by Mexican labor? There's lots of great, authentic Mexican food here. Now whether or not we're "dialed in" or better than Portland in that regard, I couldn't say - but there is plenty of great Mexican fare here.

The main thing that sucks about the food scene is that it's a sprawling city with shitty public transit, so without a car it will be tough for a visitor to get a really good sampling of everything. Buford Highway does have a ton of great Mexican food - carnecerias, taquerias, seafood places, etc. A little closer to Buckhead (but still a car drive away) is Nuevo Laredo Cantina.

For shows, http://www.atlantashows.org is a pretty good resource, though they don't always list every show at each venue. The three main venues that play the sort of stuff that generally appeals to the masses here are The EARL (which has great bar food,) The Drunken Unicorn, and Lenny's. I'd check those individual sites as well for show listings in case the atlantashows site misses one.

For records, Wax'n'Facts used to be good but it's been on a steady decline for ages. Their selection is pretty stale. Wuxtry is probably my favorite record store in town. Low Yo Yo might be the best in the metro area, but it has quirky hours. Last time I went there it was only open on the weekends. Up off Peachtree Industrial, it's probably as close to Buckhead as Wuxtry.

Some things about Atlanta that are usually worth showing out-of-towners: the Clermont Lounge (a strip club featuring middle-aged and older strippers - Shellac played there way back in the day and the Black Lips did the same just last week,) the Starlight Six Drive-In theater (the biggest drive-in left in the States,) and Southern Comfort (a honky-tonk trucker dive bar on the south side of town that defies description.)

Thanks everybody, this is great information. Much appreciated!

Personally if I found out I had to go back to Atlanta for any prolonged period of time I'd jump in front of a train the minute I got there.
No way I'm going through that again, fuck it I'm out.