I had no intention of writing any kind of travel post about our weekend. We went to Atlanta for a concert, found a convenient place to stay, and that was that. I wasn’t looking to explore any part of Atlanta. I wasn’t particularly trying to find any good restaurants. We were just there with some of our friends for one night for a concert.
But after we spent even just a few minutes in College Park (and especially after we ate at the restaurants we did) I couldn’t not tell you about it. I can’t give you an all-inclusive detailed analysis of the community, but I can tell you this: it is convenient (it was near our concert venue, and it is right next door to the airport…actually part of the airport is technically in College Park), it has a quaint downtown, the food was great, and it was friendly (which, I’ll just be honest, is not what I expected). I mean, friendly like an older couple stopped and talked to us and asked if we were from out of town (probably because we were not regulars at the restaurant) and then a City Councilman came by while we sat on a bench outside as we waited to be seated and introduced himself to us. As one of our friends put it, “I kind of feel like I’m being recruited for something.”
It’s not a place I would usually visit, but I couldn’t help but be a little bit charmed by it.
What I really really want to tell you about though is the food. Because some of it blew me away. We only had two meals there. First–dinner at Brake Pad. Everything we got was great, and my chicken sandwich hit the spot.
The real star of our weekend though was breakfast at The Corner Grille. It absolutely blew me away. My pancakes were studded with chocolate chips and laced with cinnamon, the bacon was cooked perfectly (and I, who usually do not eat bacon for breakfast, actually ate a piece). One of our friends got French toast made of big pillow-y brioche and I was completely impressed by it (and I am not usually a fan of French toast). And Gerrit got the most amazing chicken and waffles I have ever had. I actually can’t tell you about the waffle part (although I’m sure it was good) because I used all my stealing-food-off-my-husbands’-plate allotment for chicken. Because oh my goodness that fried chicken might have ruined me on fried chicken for the rest of my life. I ate as much of it as he would let me under the guise of “Maybe if I taste it again I can figure out the seasonings so I can make it at home.”
I don’t have much else to tell you about College Park aside from that. It’s not exactly a tourist destination. But, if you are ever in Atlanta (especially near the airport) in need of a place to stay or in need of a place to eat (breakfast) especially, I just wanted you to know.