ATL Tings For The Week

Okay Girlies, gosh do I have to catch yall up. So, to give you all a quick summary- originally, I wanted to take a quick baecation for spring break to Disney World. I’ve never been and I figured it was perfect- a week off from school, great weather, some bomb pools, restaurants, beaches- you know, VIBES.

But unfortunately, the trip started to get really expensive really quick. I’ve always heard people say that Disney Land/World is not for the brokies, and boy they were not lying. Honestly the trip would’ve been attainable but there was just not enough time. SO, Jeff and I decided to push Orlando back until Christmas 2022.

We still had to figure out where to go and with only a week and a half left, choices were slimming down quickly. Deciding that we wanted to go somewhere close but not too close, fun but not too expensive (and also somewhere we both have never been before). Lord behold, we agreed on good ‘ole Georgia. Atlanta, to be exact.

So today I’m going to be giving some tricks, tips, and reviews about the 4 nights we spent in ATL.

First, the tips.

1. GROUPON

At this point, it’s 2021. Why are you traveling without Groupon? Matter of fact, why are you doing anything without Groupon? Shit, I even use it to get oil changes. But any who, like I said- you shouldn’t be traveling in 2021 without Groupon. I for one use it to mostly find spas to visit every time I go out of town. Every time.

Speaking of Spa’s, Groupon had an AMAZING deal for a black/veteran owned beauty bar, located in Downtown ATL. It’s called Eye Am Royalty Beauty Bar (on Instagram as eye_am_royalty_). When I was planning our spa day, I bought four Groupon’s two for each person. A 45-minute back facial and a 60-minute facial costing me $117 saving me $200+. Honestly, the experience was good. It helped me to relax, and only took about 2 and a half hours for both of us. The owner was very friendly, knowledgeable, and provided some funny conversations!

2. Get a Bird

CHILE, Atlanta sweetie. One thing yall should be ashamed for is those damn Uber prices! Even with the Uber pass that grants you 5% off rides, literally EVERY Uber we took was over $15. It was $26 to go on a 4-minute drive! Anyways, on our second to last day Jeff and I just decided to grab one of the electrical scooters/bikes just laying on the sidewalk, we downloaded the app and took off. Yes, you do have to download the Bird app (but you have the Uber app, right?) and for just $40 Jeff had the scooter and I had the bike, and we drove around Downtown for about 46 minutes straight-with $5 each left on the account.

Next, food.

1. Crazy Bee Café

I was craving some Soul Food like crazy, and what better place to try it than down South?! I came across The Crazy Bee Café on Groupon, and although I did not buy the voucher on the app (it wasn’t much of a deal) we ordered online for pickup. We spent $50 and the wait for our two platters was an hour and a half.

Jeff had the pulled pork platter, with macaroni as his side. His meal didn’t come with a bun- so technically it wasn’t a sandwich, just- pulled pork. I on the other hand had the catfish platter with yams, collard greens, macaroni and a corn muffin. We both agreed that the macaroni really wasn’t that good, it gave very much add water and stir. The yams and collards were AMAZING but the fish wasn’t that good. It was probably due to the fact that the batter didn’t hold well on the ride home. The steam really did the batter wrong so in that condition- I did not care for the fish.

2. Krabs Hut

Now this was exciting. From here, Jeff and I got to try our very first crab broil. And hunny, when I tell you- I was talking to my imaginary YouTube audience all night I was so excited. I order the Captain’s Catch which included 1lb of headless shrimp, 1 lobster tail, 1 claw of crab legs, 2 potatoes, 2 eggs and corn. On the side, we also ordered an entrée of catfish which really satisfied my craving that Crazy Bee’s left. Our tab here was $60 and even though we shared both entrées’, trust we both were very full afterwards.

3. Atlanta’s Breakfast Club

Honestly, I found out about this place on a brunch thread that Spiritual Word posted on their Instagram. It was 5 minutes from our hotel and their food looked bomb, so I figured it was only right we made a stop. When we first visited, it was for a late brunch and they closed at 3 pm so they weren’t able to seat us since the wait time was already at an hour. They did however tell us to feel free to order our food to go, but since we arrived by Uber we really didn’t want to wait on the already crowded front ‘sitting’ space outside- in the heat.

However, we did not let that stop us. The next morning we arrived around 10 a.m. and this time the wait was only 10 minutes. Although we did have to wait outside in the rain until our tables were ready, the food. Trust me, the food made up for it!

Jeff ordered the biscuits with chicken gravy, and an omlette containing bacon, sausage, and ham. I on the other hand ordered the peach cobbler French toast and chicken and waffles. It was amazing, the food stuffed us literally- we took the whole omlette (uneaten) home. The French toast complimented nicely with the peaches and cinnamon, although the chicken and waffles cured my hunger- the waffles were a bit dry (nothing butter couldn’t fix I’m sure) but the chicken tenders were huge and went with them nicely.

4. Sweet Stack Creamery

Wanting a quick cure for my sweet tooth, google maps located this local ice cream joint only 4-minutes from my hotel. Based off the Yelp reviews and a quick pdf of the menu, I decided long before we went that I wanted the flavors ‘Black Panther & Amber Rose’. Unfortunately, they did not have what appears to be their most popular flavor- Black Panther.

They did however have Amer Rose which was pink cotton candy ice cream with red and blue pop rocks.

They were reasonably priced, and I enjoyed my ice cream and so did Jeff. They did have many other creative flavors, so make sure you check them all out!

5. Breakfast at Barney’s

Every time I searched for brunch places near me, this place popped up. Every time I asked an Uber driver for recommendation’s, this placed popped up again. Long story short, I was hearing about Breakfast at Barney’s everywhere I went. So, what did that mean? I looked up the menu and went there the next day.

Let me start by saying this, everywhere I went this past week has mostly been owned by black people. Everywhere I visited this week, was packed with mostly black people. I have always heard this about Atlanta, but during this visit I understood why they call it the Black Mecca.

Upon entering Breakfast at Barney’s, green velvet and Maxwell’s Ascension were the first things to catch my eyes and ears. As I requested a table with the hostess, a man walked into the restaurant and greeted a fellow patron and his wife with a loud dap and a ‘Wassup Nephew!’ a classic greeting in the black culture. I loved it there.

The wait was approximately 20 minutes, it was freezing outside but they had some towers outside to stand around that gave off heat.

Our waitress was nice, although it was hard to add things to our order because we rarely seen her (I totally understand, the restaurant was super busy) Jeff and I was able to place our main orders which consisted of:

- 2 glasses of orange juice

- A chicken philly

- Soul rolls

- Chicken and waffles

- French toast

Yall as I’m writing this post no lie, a tear is coming to my eye. The food was amazing yall but that damn French toast, the FRENCH TOAST. Yall KNOW I liveeee for a good French toast. And this one was soft and fluffy, with very nice compliments of mostly banana, and berries. Honestly, I’m tempted to travel back just to visit one more time.

From the restaurant’s about section (also located on their menu) “Breakfast At Barneys is a family run business founded by two AUC alumni friends "Barney" Lee Berry Jr & Dr. Rashad Sanford. The pair dreamed about creating a place to go during the day in downtown Atlanta that brings together everyone from all backgrounds to enjoy food, culture and share good times.” And trust me their creation did just that. The place emitted vibes, and I would recommend this place a hundred times over.

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I’m not going to keep yall for long, I just wanted to tell you all a bit about my trip and activities. Overall Atlanta was a great vaca, and southern hospitality is the real deal.

As always if you have any questions just shoot me a message below. Till next time!

Love yall!

Khyra C