Bits and Pieces of Atlanta

Atlanta is a large business center, and I enjoy my free time while here.

Atlanta has one of the largest airports in the country and some say it is the busiest in the world. My experience is that it is well organized, and I rarely have problems arriving or leaving. There are many shops and restaurants in the airport to pass the time if you are delayed, or have extra time. In the airport, I enjoy the colorful art by local school children on exhibit. Outside, there are sculptures/figures of luggage and baggage decorated with colorful license plates and street signs.

Outside the airport, most of my business and my lodging is near the impressive Concourse Business Park of two 30 story buildings and adjacent smaller office buildings and hotels, including the very nice Westin, other hotels, and a huge health club. Locals call the Concourse buildings the "King and Queen" towers, because they appear to have crowns on top. Around the towers are attractive ponds, fountains, and gardens. The towers have great views of the surrounding area.

The Concourse Business Park is near Buckhead, which has lots of nice malls and restaurants.

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Atlanta has one of the largest airports in the country and there are lots of flights to and from here.

There are many options for ground transportation. Atlanta's train and subway system (MARTA) is economical and in my limited experience, efficient, clean, and safe.

There are also traditional options with more flexibility, including rental cars and taxis.

This very nice Westin is in a prime business location in Atlanta's Concourse Business Park, and sits on a beautiful pond between the beautiful adjoining Concourse Towers office buildings in a nice setting of gardens and fountains. Fitness buffs should not miss the huge Concourse Athletic club next door, where you can treadmill, stairmaster, and much more while enjoying the view of the lake and fountain.

This Westin has 370 rooms and 6 suites on 20 floors and a lower concourse, and there is a huge attached parking garage (free). Even at 20 stories, the building is dwarfed while looking down from the 30th floor of the Concourse Tower across the lake.

There is a wall of windows across the back of the hotel providing a view of pond and gardens. You can enjoy the view from the Lakeside restaurant downstairs, and you can even sit outside in the garden next to the lake. The Lakeside Restaurant has breakfast and lunch buffets or you can order off the menu. They also have a dinner menu of seafood, steaks, and poultry. If you don't have time to sit and eat, there is a Starbucks. This Westin also has 24 hour room service.

The Westin has contemporary decor throughout the common areas and in the rooms. They have a lobby bar that seems to always have a friendly crowd of customers and employees. It provides a nice welcome to the end of a long day of business...almost as nice as the spotless rooms and lots of premium soaps to relax in a bath with. The rooms are extremely comfortable beds with nice down comforters. They have all the things you would expect in a high-end full-service business hotel, including dual line phones with data ports, safe for valuables, coffee makers with packages of Starbucks coffee, and a minibar.

They have a lot of support services too. They have a bunch of meeting rooms and facilities, secretarial and translator support.

This Westin is in a prime location for business travellers. As such, I suspect that they have great weekend rates when the business travellers are not around. Although this property is 15 minutes from downtown attractions, it is convenient to Buckhead, Parameter Shopping Mall, Lenox Square Mall, and lots of nice restaurants.

The Westin Atlanta North is located at 7 Concourse Parkway in the Concourse Business Park, near Atlanta-Perimeter/Ashford Dunwoody at I-285, well north of the airport and downtown. To get there, take I-85 North of the airport and downtown to 400 North exit. Exit 400 North at Glenridge Connector and turn right. Go to Ashford Dunwoody Road and turn left, and turn left at Hammond Road and look for the Concourse Entrance on your left. You can't miss the huge office towers. Enter the business park and drive to the left parameter of the park until you see the hotel parking garage. I really enjoyed my stay here.

This Holiday Inn Express is located next to (walking distance) the Concourse Business Park of highrises, fountains, and ponds (see my overview), and is a decent value at $79 weeknights.

The lobby is tastefully decorated like a more expensive hotel. It has a sitting area to meet, read the paper, or watch TV. Next to the sitting area is where they serve their free breakfast buffet of coffee, teas, juices, fruits, breads, and hot rolls. There is a second TV in the buffet area for catching the morning news before leaving for work. The second floor of the hotel has a balcony overlooking the lobby.

This property has 8 floors of well-equipped rooms and suites. I have stayed here on several occassions, and have had standard rooms with 2 queen beds, and larger room with a King bed and a couch. All the rooms I have stayed in had desks, working TV amd speakerphones, and large wardrobes. All rooms have a small refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker. They also have irons and ironing boards, hair dryers, and clock radios, so pack light. There is a pool on property for seasonal use, but I have not checked it out.

This Holiday Inn Express is an economical alternative to the much nicer Westin Hotel in the Concourse Business Park (see journal entry). However, the 2 properties target different markets are should not be compared. There is also a Hampton Inn next door to this property (that I have not tried yet) that probably more directly competes with this Holiday Inn Express than the Westin.

The only thing missing from the Holiday Inn Express that you will find in full-service hotels (other than restaurants, bars, room service, etc) are plush bath towels. However they make up for it with things like delivery menus from area restaurants, and the free breakfast buffet. They have free covered parking right outside the elevator, which is convenient when lugging your bags in and out (don't look for porters or concierge).

The Holiday Inn Express is located at 765 Hammond Drive near Atlanta-Perimeter/Ashford Dunwoody at I-285, well north of the airport and downtown. To get there, take I-85 North of the airport and downtown to 400 North. Take 400 North and exit at Glenridge Connector and turn right. At Ashford Dunwoody Road, turn left and at Hammond Road turn left. The hotel will be on your left.

"Maui-Mex" food..."Mexican Food with Mauitude." As unlikely a combination as it sounds, I had to try it, and they pull it off well. I was pleasantly surprised. They blend Mexican Burritos, Tacos, and more (all with fresh ingredients) with Hawaiian flavors and spices (pineapple, lime juice, etc). The result is a nice change from the ordinary, and a good value for money.

Maui Tacos is a small chain of small restaurants that serve innovative and delicious fast food in a cool island decor. They have several restaurants in Hawaii and a few scattered across the US, including 3 around Atlanta.

Although they have a fast food format with no servers (order, pay and they call your number), they have a wide variety of HUGE Burritos, including grilled chicken, steak, beef, and fish ($5) and vegetarian ($3-$4). They also Tacos ($3-$5), quesadillas ($4-$5), and nachos and salads ($4-$5). Each dish has a cool Hawaiian or surfer dude name. If you have a big appetite, you can buy sides of beans, rice, chips, guacamole, and more. Maui Tacos also serve beer, wine, and frozen cocktails with your food if you like.

After you get your food, you take it to their salsa bar and try their different types of salsa. The Salsas come in a range of spiciness, but generally are pretty tame.

The Maui Taco's I visited is located in Atlanta at 1100 Hammond Drive, across the street from the Concourse Business Park, near Atlanta-Perimeter/Ashford Dunwoody at I-285, north of the airport and downtown. Its location makes it very popular for lunch. To get there, take I-85 North of the airport and downtown to 400 North. Take 400 North and exit at Glenridge Connector and turn right. At Ashford Dunwoody Road, turn left and at Hammond Road you will see a large strip mall. You will find Maui Taco's near the end of the strip mall.

Chin Chin V is a small local chain (I guess this is store #5) of Chinese Restaurants around Atlanta. They have a huge menu of lunch and dinner entrees, and appetizers, soups, drinks, and desserts. They have good food and decent value. If you go during peak times, the service is only fair, but not too bad. You have takeout and delivery options available to you.

This location is hugely popular for lunch due to its proximity to the Concourse Business Park, providing convenience for long work days to grab a quick (but good) lunch or dinner to eat and return to work.

The decor outside is unassuming. It is positioned in the corner of a strip mall. Inside, the the decor is tasteful Chinese. They have a lot of small tables, so if you have a large party expect to eat in close proximity to each other. They have an open exhibit kitchen where you can see the cooks at work and the flames fly.

I have visited several times for lunch and dinner. They have a wide range (over 30) lunch specials for $6-$7 dollars, including chicken, shrimp, beef, pork, and vegetable entree that are served with vegetable fried rice (you can ask for steamed rice) and soup or chicken wings. I have had and can recommend Asparagus Chicken and Scallion Beef (both $6).

They have a huge dinner menu including a wide range of appetizers ($3-$9), soups ($2-$7), and entrees including poultry ($9-$10), beef and pork ($9-$10), seafood ($11-$14), low calorie ($7-$13), vegetable ($7-$8), noodle/lo mein ($7-$9) and rice ($7-$10) dishes. Separately, they have many Chef Specials ($10-$26) of very exotic Chinese and Taiwanese dishes. I like the Spring Roll appetizers ($3), Hot and Sour Soup ($2), and Hunan Chicken and Asparagus Chicken ($9). They also serve beer.

With such an extensive menu, I think they have something for everyone, to Americanized dishes to exotic specialities for the adventurous.

Chin Chin V is located in Atlanta at 1100 Hammond Drive, across the street from the Concourse Business Park, near Atlanta-Perimeter/Ashford Dunwoody at I-285, which is well north of the airport and downtown. To get there, take I-85 North of the airport and downtown to 400 North. Take 400 North and exit at Glenridge Connector and turn right. At Ashford Dunwoody Road, turn left and at Hammond Road you will see a large strip mall. You will find Chin Chin V is the very middle of it.

Great Italian food and lots of it. This place is right out of a mafia movie...a traditional Italian restaurant, down to the dark wood furniture and red and white checkered tablecloths. Maggiano's has a large selection of traditional Italian dishes and wines.

This Maggiano's has a neat enclosed porch with lots of light that provides a warm weather environment without exposing you to the elements. During our visit for an early dinner, there was some kind of private function in there.

Maggiano's boasts that their portions are large enough to share, and they aren't kidding. If you enjoy salads and deserts, consider spliting an entree with a guest. For large groups, you can order a 2-3 course family style dinner ($22/person dinner, $10-$14 lunch), you choose 2 appetizers, salads, pastas, main courses, vegetables, desserts, and they bring out tons of food instead of individual plates/entrees.

If you prefer to order ala carte, Maggiano's has an absolutely huge menu of reads/appetizers ($3-$12), soups ($2-$4), salads ($4-$12), Ravioli and Lasagne ($12-$16), Pasta ($9-$16), Chicken ($13-$16), Steaks ($23-$31), Veal ($19-$29), and Seafood ($19-$22). As some kind of cruel joke, they also have lots of desserts ($3-$6), but I'll bet they don't sell many of them.

They also serve lunch with small entrees and sandwiches ($7-$8). My visit was for dinner. I had Lasagne ($14) and a half order of Asparagus ($4), and both were fantastic. I almost finished all of it before becoming stuffed. They also have full bar service.

In case all of that food is not enough, there is a Corner Bakery at this Maggiano's colocated in the front corner of the restaurant.

Maggiano's is located north of downtown in Buckhead, not far from the Concourse Business Park I occassionally work at. Come hungry and even still you may carry home food.

Joey D's Oak Room is an upscale restaurant and bar in far north Atlanta, near Parmeter Mall. It has a dark clubby atmosphere with lots of wood. It has a nice bar with such a large selection of liquors that they have high shelves with a tall ladder for retrieving them.

Joey D's has many personalities. It is popular for business lunches and attracts families for dinner. Late at night, it becomes a nightclub with live music for the younger set.

Joey D's Oak Room has a large menu that includes Appetizers ($4-$9), Entree Salads ($7-$10), Sandwiches and burgers ($7-$11), Steaks ($19-$25), Beef and Pork Ribs ($13-$18), Prime Rib ($15-$19), Seafood and Pasta ($13-$17), Chicken ($11-$12), and Desserts ($3-$5).

I tried their Prime Rib with baked potato and salad, and they were all very good. One guest had Filet Mignon, and the other had a large salad. Both looked great, and I heard no complaints from anyone.

The food and service were very good on our visit. My only complaint was that on the night of our visit, they had chairs turned up on top of the tables in part of the restaurant. They didn't put them up while we were there, but it kind of took away from the atmosphere. I don't expect that kind of thing when I go to nice places. Aside from that, the food and service were first rate.

Joey D's is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. They are located at 1015 Crown Pointe Parkway, just around the corner from Perimeter Mall, at the corner of Perimeter Center West and Crown Pointe Parkway. Their phone number is 770-512-7063.