R and R Top 20: College Football Week 4

It was another crazy week for college football. More top 10 teams fell (Is Oregon that good or was Cal that bad?) which is making it difficult to decide how to rank the top 20 and which loss/win is more impressive and important. We also saw a nasty injury to Tim Tebow, which is sure to please Gator haters around the world. I understand why people don't like Tebow (envy), but you can't discount that he is a great college football player and an amazing human. Florida's ranking at number one in our polls definitely comes under some dark clouds from Mordor. Lucky for them, they have a bye this week to nurse some injuries before they go to LSU for a tough road game. As much as I am a Gator Fan, Bama is creeping closer to that No. 1 spot.

Here are our polls for this week:

BA Roof Top 20:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. Virginia Tech

5. LSU

6. Iowa

7. Cincinnati

8. USC

9. Oklahoma

10. Auburn

11. Houston

12. TCU

13. Michigan

14. Miami

15. Ohio State

16. Oregon

17. Georgia

18. South Carolina

19. Penn State

20. Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson Top 20:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. Virginia Tech

5. Oklahoma

6. Iowa

7. Cincinnati

8. LSU

9. Oregon

10. Boise State

11. Houston

12. USC

13. Michigan

14. Kansas

15. TCU

16. Miami

17. South Carolina

18. Ohio State

19. Penn State

20. OK State

Christopher J. Robinson's Best of Atlanta 2009

This list may cause controversy, knife fights, stomach grumblings, or a massive increase in revenue for said eateries. Either way, these are a few of my favorite casual dining spots that won’t break the bank. I haven’t been to every restaurant in Atlanta, but I have been to enough of them to make an educated decision. There may be some local bias, hell, I may have even been paid off, but this is just one award-winning critic’s opinion.

Best Burger: Six Feet Under’s Black n’ Blue Burger

This mouth-watering, gut-busting slab of red meat may be the best I’ve ever had. This burger is served on a toasted bun with blue cheese, fried leeks & fresh chopped spinach and comes with a side of Six Feet’s famous home style potato chips. I like to get a side of their salsa verde to dip the chips in. Holy schnikees. $8.

Two locations:
Grant Park (Across from the Oakland Cemetery, hence the name)
437 Memorial Drive SE, Atlanta, GA 30312

Westside (Near GA Tech)
685 11th Street, Atlanta, GA 30318


Runner-up: The Vortex


Best Tacos: Across the Street

The self-proclaimed “Best Dressed Tacos in Town” are just that. To call them anything else would be heresy. You can either get 2 tacos with a side of rice and beans or 3 tacos. I go with 3. There are plenty of fillings to choose from: fish, chicken, steak, pork with pickled red onions, beans, avocado, chicken tenders, fried tofu, and tempeh. I typically go with chicken, steak, and pork. These savory Mexican delights come served on flour tortillas with shredded greens, pico de gallo, sour cream and feta cheese. Feta cheese! So f-ing good. Pardon my English. You can go vegan if that’s what blows your hair back. Their chips and salsa are pretty darn good as well. You will not be disappointed. $10.

Inman Park
668 Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30312


Runner-up: Taqueria del Sol


Best Pizza: Fellini’s Pizza

If you’ve lived in Atlanta for more than a week and you are under the age of 40 then you’ve had Fellini’s pizza. I don’t need to say much here. It is an Atlanta staple. They’re open late (2am) and a great way to load up on carbs to absorb booze. Slices are cheap (under 3 bucks). The White Pizza is ridonkulous.

Locations: all over the ATL.

Runner-up: Camellis


Best Wings: Brewhouse Café

For the most part, wings are wings, and in general, Atlanta doesn’t have the best wings scene. There certainly are terrible some terrible wings out there. I’ve had wings with almost no meat on them, wings with the occasional feather sticking out, and wings that are 90% fried bread. That being said, it’s hard to make the leap into the upper echelon of wing quality. Brewhouse has done this. The wings are not breaded, plump with chicken, and come smothered in your choice of a variety of sauces: chipotle hot, Jamaican jerk, lemon pepper, hot blaz-in asian, kickin ranch, honey bbq, garlic hot, the thai wing, and chipotle bbq. My personal faves are the thai wings. 10 for $8.25 or 20 for $14.95. I also kind of have a thing for one of the bartenders here.

Little 5 Points
401 Moreland Ave, Atlanta, GA 30307


Runner-up: Taco Mac


Best Beer Selection: Taco Mac Metropolis

140 beers on draft
280+ in the bottle
50 HD televisions

Need I say more?

933 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309


Runner-up: Brick Store Pub



This list is short, sweet, and a stoner’s dream come true. I’m sure that in the coming weeks, BA Roof will roll out a more elegant, fine-dining ‘Best Of Atlanta’ list. Until then, enjoy some really great food and beer on the cheap. Please leave comments with your own opinions or other places to try that I may not have been to yet.

Cheers.

photo taken from caroline smith here.

R and R Top 20: College Football

We are going to do our best to rank what we see as the top 20 teams out there right now. There is sure to be plenty of debate, which is what we want (and expect) between college football fans. We tried to recognize teams that have surprised us and not put too much weight on national reputation. We also won't be afraid to make drastic moves week to week, to reflect what's really happening on the field.

Additionally, a lot has been said about the top ranked team in our poles, the Florida Gators, after their less than impressive win over Tennessee. While I agree there are some potential vulnerabilities on offense, take a second to remember that Jeff Demps and Aaron Hernandez were isolated with flu symptoms all week and Demps played with a 101 fever, receiver Deonte Thompson didn't play because of a hamstring injury and receiver Riley Cooper had a pinched nerve. Did Florida make mistakes, sure. Does this game mean they are not the number one team...only if you are an Alabama fan. I think we need to see a few more games to determine if Florida is the team we thought, or if the offensive woes will ruin their bid for a third national championship in four years.

With that, here are our Top 20 lists.

BA Roof:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. Miami

5. California

6. LSU

7. Penn State

8. Cincinnati

9. Ole Miss

10. Auburn

11. USC

12. Michigan

13. Virginia Tech

14. Oklahoma

15. Ohio State

16. North Carolina

17. Oklahoma State

18. Houston

19. Washington

20. Florida State

Christopher J. Robinson:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. California

5. Ole Miss

6. Penn State

7. Miami (FL)

8. Boise State

9. LSU

10. Cincinnati

11. Oklahoma

12. Virginia Tech

13. USC

14. Florida State

15. Ohio State

16. Oregon

17. TCU

18. Houston

19. Kansas

20. Michigan

Judgment Day Arrives: Tennessee vs. Florida

The very first ("real") post of the R and R Review detailed Lane Kiffin's arrival at the University of Tennessee. We learned quickly in the SEC that Lane has a big mouth and it appears, as of last weekend, Lannie Boy can't back it up. Judgment day is finally here. Saturday is the big matchup between the most hated team in America outside of Gator Country and the team that everyone in the SEC loves to poke fun at.

Well, one of the R and R Review's contacts located this great little nugget. It's only fitting that Lane gets pissed on by drunk Gator fans in one of the dirtiest bars (but one of the best) in Gainesville...Balls. That's right, a bar called Balls where we used to get pissed when 2 dollar double bourbon doubled in price to 4 dollars on game day weekends. Don't even ask what type of bourbon was poured into those drinks...it didn't matter. The label said bourbon, they were doubles and were only 2 DOLLARS.

Now, I'm usually a very reserved Gator Fan (as reserved as they can be) and don't go around yelling at opposing fans saying we are going to beat your ass today, your sleep with your brother, etc. I'm always concerned if I say too much, I'm going to ruin it all for our team. But, this weekend, I'm making an exception. We have beaten Tennessee the last four times and unless we have an Ole Miss collapse tomorrow, it's gonna be five. The series is currently tied at 19 games a piece and the Gators are going to take the lead. Thank you Lane for heating up the rivalry again, even if the outcome will be the same tomorrow.

Go Gators.

Kanye West wins the Classi Award at MTV Awards

So what's with these recent outbursts and interruptions during speeches? We had the "You Lie" from Representative Wilson interrupting President Obama's address to Congress last week, Serena Williams losing control at the U.S. Open and last night we saw Kanye West interrupt Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to basically say, "Yeah, you were good, but Beyonce was better." Have Americans lost their class??

This made me reflect back to when some friends and I decided (maybe during a bachelor party) that there are two kinds of "classy" people. You have true "classy" people, the old money types from Palm Beach, and you have "classi" people, the new money types from Boca Raton. Classi with an "i" was developed from stripper names, since they're never classy, but sometimes pretend to be on a pole and love (so I've been told) ending their names with an "i" (ex: Candi, Mysti) rather than standard "y".

An example for those still confused: Drinking French wine on a sail boat is classy. Drinking Boone's Farm on a bass boat is classi.

Obviously Kanye West didn't go up on stage to upset Swift. However, his drunken interruption was definitely in the "classi" category and reminded me of Steve Buscemi's character in the Wedding Singer. I sure hope more people start watching Mad Men to see how classy people should act. That's right, you need to dress well and use proper etiquette while getting drunk and cheating on your spouse. Kanye West certainly wins the Classi Award this week. Sorry Britney, I'm sure you'll reclaim it next week.

Vacation Destination Review: Hawaii Overview

The R and R Review was generous enough to give me a modest stipend and let me travel all the way to Hawaii this year in our attempts to really expand our vacation coverage. It was tough leaving my villa in Italy to make the trip, but I managed. I thought to myself, maybe this trip will make us the next Frommer's? I’m pretty confident we are close…as soon as those credit markets unfreeze. Regardless, the R and R Review decided we needed a second Vacation Destination Review (see the Vacation Destination Review of Door County, Wisconsin). On this trip, I visited the islands of Oahu, Kauai and Maui. If this were one review of all three islands, I think the article would be a bit too long (it already is). So, instead I’m going to break it up over the next few days (who am I kidding, the next few weeks), but really focus on Kauai and Maui. Next month, we will have expanded coverage of Oahu and Hawai’i (the “Big Island”) when the other R makes his visit to the 50th state.

Getting There:

No way around it, you have a long flight ahead of you. There is something a little disappointing when you fly ten hours and are still in the United States. Two years ago I flew eight and a half hours and made it to London (yes, I’m trying to brag that I travel a lot). However, when you step off the plane and see the lush tropical mountains as a backdrop to Honolulu, you realize this is not your typical state. We booked our flight through Delta, and if you read this blog, you might think I’m some former lover of the CEO or scorned employee, since I often review and criticize the airline. My focus on this particular company isn’t because of lost love or a vendetta, but simply the fact they have a stronghold on the Atlanta market. So, of course, I flew Delta to Honolulu. Was it blissful? No.

I can’t criticize Delta too much, because their plane (the Atlanta to LA leg) was actually pretty nice. They had non-cloth seats (this way I can see the bugs or what’s been spilled) and had television sets with on-demand movies and satellite television at every seat. The roughly four and a half hour flight truly went by fast after watching a movie and some real time television shows. Then came disaster. Our connecting flight was a Northwest flight. Since Delta is in the middle of merging with this Minnesota airline, there were bound to be hiccups. Besides the fact that our entire itinerary was wrong (said we only had an hour and a half layover, but was actually scheduled for a four hour layover), the real pain was when we got on the plane. The seats were the dirty, rough cloth fabric and there were only small televisions every five or six rows. This is fine on a two hour flight…but a five and a half hour flight over the Pacific? I want choices. I want WiFi. I don’t want to be forced to watch the Soloist (which was horrible) and reruns of Two and a Half Men.

I thought it couldn’t get much worse, and then I was proved wrong on the return flight on a Northwest 747. They still had ashtrays at every seat and a one grainy projection screen for each set of 100 passengers. I kept seeing promos for Mad Men on the flight and thought maybe they were pushing the 1960’s theme a bit too far with this relic of a plane. So, until Delta completely overhauls the Northwest sky buses, avoid any flight bearing a Northwest mention to the islands. TRUST ME.

Things to Do:

Okay, if you can’t find something to do on Hawaii, then you need to just forward me all your vacation time. There’s cultural stops, movie sights, hiking, water sports, relaxing on one of the many luxurious beaches or if you are in Honolulu, anything that a midsized city normally provides (i.e. nightlife, museums, etc.). I was surprised with the size of Honolulu and to discover that nearly a million people live on Oahu, which is pretty much just Honolulu or suburbs of Honolulu. One of the things that can be luring about Hawaii, is it’s a tropical paradise intersecting with normal everyday American life. If you travel to Hawaii and spend your entire time at Waikiki Beach, you really wasted your money, because a flight to Miami Beach would have been a lot less. My point being, when you go to Hawaii its easy to just pick a mega resort on a crowded beach for a week and say “I went to Hawaii”. While it’s fine to do this, you are really short changing yourself of the beauty of the islands if you don’t rent a car and explore your island (or islands) that you are visiting.

Before embarking on the trip, I read other websites that said you really needed to dedicate a week to every island (and not to island hop). I went to three islands in eight days, so I ignored the stupid advice. Sure, it would be nice to dedicate a week to each island…even a month. But, we all can’t be those kids on Gossip Girl who don’t need to attend school or work and have barrels of money lying around in trust funds waiting to be spent. Plus, I don’t intend on using all my vacation days for the next seven years traveling to Hawaii. There are too many other exotic or unique locations that I want to visit before I die. So, yes you can visit more than an island in a week. Just manage your expectations and your itinerary and remember…it’s a vacation, not a checklist.

My recommendation: really decide what you want out of the trip. Beautiful resorts? Outdoor activity? Combination of both? I decided, since we have so many readers, to do a combination. So, I picked Kauai and Maui (with a 24 hour layover on Oahu). They couldn’t have been more different and I felt I got the best of both worlds of Hawaii. My only tip…do the active part of the vacation first, so you feel relaxed when you leave.

Where to Stay:

I will get into more detail when I review the individual islands. Remember, Hawaii is generally expensive. However, there are many different options. If you are taking your family or don’t want to spend a small fortune, you can find condos to rent at various price ranges. Some are much more luxurious than others. If you want that luxury resort, there are plenty of those too, but on some of the islands, the options are more limited. We stayed at a mega family resort, a combination condo/hotel resort and a luxury resort to get a taste of what Hawaii has to offer. We definitely had a favorite.

Where to Eat:

Meals out can be really expensive in Hawaii. First you have restaurants catering to the resort crowd. At these places, imagine one of the more expensive places to eat in your city and double the bill. That’s what you can expect to pay. Part of it is because food is just more expensive on an island, but Hawaii is geared to ripping of tourists and their wallets. There are some great dinning locations, but they’re often not at the resort and their bills are usually less. So, when looking for a place try to avoid eating at the ones located right in your hotel every night.

Next Hawaii Review: Kauai, the Na Pali Coast and Waimea Canyon.

Havana Sandwich Shop: CONFIRMED

Last week I informed all three people that read this blog that Atlanta's Havana Cuban Sandwich Shop was coming back to Buford Highway. I'm happy to report that the photograph above is confirmation that it indeed is coming soon. We must thank the R and R Review's Cuban investigative reporter for this one. As you can see, this place is a new location, at the corner of Clairmont and Buford, and is just minutes from their old one. Stay tuned for details about their "grand re-opening".

Havana Sandwich Shop to Reopen

The whispers have become louder that the Havana Sandwich Shop, which burned down (circumstances surrounding the Canton restaurant and the fire at the old location are strange at best, but I don't want to be sued) almost a year ago, is reopening very soon close to its old location. For those of you who frequented this Cuban sandwich shop, I'm sure you too hope that parades will fill the streets on the day it opens. Havana had great sandwiches and meals at very reasonable prices and when they left their old Buford location, it left a HUGE gap in Atlanta's Cuban cuisine.

I'm happy that a great establishment is coming back safely inside the perimeter. Hopefully, they've learned their "lesson" and will "prevent" their new digs from burning down. I really feel that their opening will be a small step forward in opening normal relations with the real Cuba. Just a feeling.

Old Havana Sandwich Shop Spork Rating: