Omnivore Atlanta

Best of Atlanta hits the streets and the interwebz tomorrow out now!, but because we know you can’t wait, we’ll offer up some teasers. We’re running through a few of the most popular categories readers voted on and see if you can guess who/what won. You can also guess on what’s the best free thing to do in Atlanta.

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*And yes, these were actual reader submissions.

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One day we will live in a world that has learned to remedy, um, voting problems in “best of” lists. For now, though, we must live with the fact that participants in OpenTable.com’s “Diners’ Choice” ratings have decided that the second-best restaurant in Atlanta is … Halyards of St. Simons Island! It is also the best coastal Georgia restaurant! Which is quite an accomplishment since it also serves … the best seafood in Atlanta!

In fairness, Open Table calls its ratings report a “beta” version and it’s not clear whether the Atlanta restaurants are rated along with other Georgia restaurants. Whatever, I am quite sure the Melting Pot in Duluth is not the sixth-best restaurant in the Atlanta area.

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As research for our upcoming Best of Atlanta issue, I took my wife and daughter to Crescent Moon at Northlake Mall. All three of us have enjoyed the place in the past, and Monday night is Family Night, allowing kids to eat free off the versatile children’s menu. Alas, we ended up eating Chic-Fil-A at the mall’s food court instead.

There was no wait, but our first warning sign came when the Crescent Moon hostess offered to seat us at a booth near the counter. A visibly tense server strode over and told the hostess that he also had an 11-party table on the other side of the restaurant, and he would have trouble paying attention to anyone sitting in that booth. He was so clearly stressed out that my family and I should have just left then, but we took a seat in a more populated part of the restaurant instead.
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Want the power to nominate a candidate for higher office? Have a strong opinion about what’s truly the best of the best in Atlanta? Become an officially endorsed CL Super Delegate and give us your opinions.

For this year’s Best of Atlanta Raging Election edition, we are looking for independent voters to act as special CL critics. If your nominations are picked, YOU will be considered a CL critic and given the power to bestow a Critics Pick Best of Atlanta award for 2008. We are looking for picks in all categories, so send us a blurb about what you consider to be the Best of Atlanta and why. Send them to bestofatlanta@creativeloafing.com.

If you haven’t voted, what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to take our exit poll once you do!

We look forward to your nominations!

Bookmark to:

Want the power to nominate a candidate for higher office? Have a strong opinion about what’s truly the best of the best in Atlanta? Become an officially endorsed CL Super Delegate and give us your opinions.

For this year’s Best of Atlanta Raging Election edition, we are looking for independent voters to act as special CL critics. If your nominations are picked, YOU will be considered a CL critic and given the power to bestow a Critics Pick Best of Atlanta award for 2008. We are looking for picks in all categories, so send us a blurb about what you consider to be the Best of Atlanta and why. Send them to bestofatlanta@creativeloafing.com.

If you haven’t voted, what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to take our exit poll once you do!

We look forward to your nominations!

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There are many things that go on in the world of food writing that pose a possible conflict of interest. Restaurants offer free meals in exchange for reviews. Advertisers pressure publications for reviews and become upset if the reviews are not as positive as they had hoped.

I hope it goes without saying, but here at Creative Loafing we take our integrity very seriously. We visit restaurants anonymously, admit if we are recognized and always pay our own way. Our advertisers in no way affect whom we review or how positive those reviews are. A couple of weeks ago, when our Best of issue came out, my brother overheard a conversation in which a woman was claiming that we only give awards to our biggest advertisers, citing the winner of Best Seafood. Funny, we didn’t give an award for Best Seafood. She must have been thinking of the Reader’s Pick, Six Feet Under. I have no control over what you crazy readers pick, although sometimes I wish I did (Hooters for Best Looking Waitstaff? C’mon guys, have some imagination).

A few months back when my husband became the chef at a bar and restaurant in East Atlanta, I knew there was a potential for conflict of interest. The place is not somewhere I would usually review, and even if it were, I would obviously not write anything on it in this case. But it is exactly the type of place my colleague Cliff Bostock would cover in his Grazing column. I sent Cliff an e-mail saying that my husband was going to be chef at a new restaurant, and if Cliff wanted to write about it we would have to have full disclosure about the connection. Cliff sent me back an e-mail saying “Uh, I think I’ll stay away from that.” And that seemed like the end of it.

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I went out of town last week, after just having spotted the blokes from Element at Wine South, and came back to find that the restaurant had closed. WTF?

Element, which took on the name “Element Gastro Lounge” after Richard Blais took over the kitchen this past spring, was one of the most innovative and interesting restaurants in the city. Blais’ micro-gastronomy was often thrilling to experience, and I can only hope that he pops up somewhere else in Atlanta rather than abandoning us like he did last year.

Element also won our Best of Atlanta award this year for Best Margarita. Humph.

You can read my review of Element here.

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