Pallookaville Fine Foods (Avondale Estates)

Toddler Foodie Rating:  4 out of 5 Gummy Bears.

:) = GREAT spot for kids of all ages (and kids at heart).  Creative, fun throwback-carnival-meets-cartoon theme with fun décor to keep littles entertained.  Extremely friendly, kid-conscious staff.  Huge menu of tasty soda fountain-style beverages, including a booklet full of delicious boozy soda fountain beverages for stressed out mommies and daddies.  Casual, no-fuss dishes, such as corn dogs and an array of deli sandwiches made from locally-sourced ingredients.

:( = Not the healthiest menu in town, although it's a contender for one of the "funnest" (yes, Mommy told us that's not a real word).

Note:  Our friends at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently announced that a take-out only version of Pallookaville is opening in Little Five Points soon.  Fun stuff!

Carnival/deli-style feast (clockwise from top):  Garbaged Fries, Pork Burger, side salad, Brunswick Stew, Fryinstein Monster

Pallookaville Fine Foods is a "you have to see it to believe it" spot.  We learned about it through a recent article in the AJC listing family-friendly restaurants in Atlanta and, upon taking one look at the menu, we just had to pay it a visit.  Pallookaville is a retro carnival, soda fountain, and deli flavored with tongue-in-cheek grown-up humor (the adult humor is subtle enough that only adults would detect it).  Pallookaville is filled with fun décor, from a huge sculpture of Mike from Monsters, Inc. to a large wooden elephant on the wall to kitsch 1950's paraphernalia featuring cartoonish drawings.   And there are TVs mounted to the ceiling showing old school Bugs Bunny cartoons.  We were enthralled.

"Duuuude... look at this place.  Pure magic."

Our server, Nathan, came over to greet us right away. What a nice guy!  He was so helpful, answering all of Mommy and Daddy's questions, giving them recommendations on what to eat, putting up with us every time we interrupted.  With his expert guidance, we ordered a smorgasbord of items off the retro menu:  Boilt Nuts (hard-boiled peanuts) to start the meal, the Fryinstein Monster corndog (one beef frank, one Polish kielbasa, and one Italian sausage dipped in cornbread batter and fried), a side salad, a cup of Stacy Family Brunswick Stew, a 1/2 Pound Pork Burger (the burger patties are made with ground pork and bacon and taste like breakfast sausage), and an order of Garbaged Fries (which the menus describes as cheesed, onioned, peppered, and poutined).  Because she absolutely couldn't resist, Mommy also ordered a chocolate New York Egg Cream off the soda fountain menu.  

In general, we liked all the food we ordered.  The hard-boiled peanuts were fresh (as in, stems were still attached to some of them) and had great flavor with just a little hint of spiciness. 

"These peanuts are so fresh, they still have stems in them!"

The Fryinstein was HUGE.  The four of us shared it and ended up bringing half of it home.  At first bite it was clear that it was a premium corndog made with top-quality ingredients - not the frozen type you would normally get at the carnival.  Pallookaville offers three different types of corndog batter, which is pretty neat.  We went the traditional route and ordered the Golden Cornbread batter. 



"My corndog is bigger than yours."

The rest of the food was okay - edible, but not so memorable that we would suddenly crave it.  The Brunswick Stew was a tad salty.  The Pork Burger was interesting because it was like breakfast food for dinner; but it wasn't interesting enough to make us swear off regular burgers for life.  The salad tasted like something you would find in a public school cafeteria (hmm, now that we're thinking about it, maybe that was the point).  The Garbaged Fries had lots of interesting flavors and textures due to the multitude of toppings, but the fries themselves were a bit bland.  The highlight of our meal was the New York Egg Cream.  What a frothy, bubbly, chocolatey treat that was!

"Mommy said I have to eat five bites of salad for one sip of that Egg Cream.  Oh, the injustice!"

For Mommy and Daddy, however, the highlight of the meal came at the very end, when Mommy ordered the Toasty Cinnamon Crunch Shaketail (vanilla ice cream, cinnamon toast crunch cereal, butterscotch, and Fireball whiskey) upon our server's recommendation.  Of course, we didn't get to try any of that milkshake; but we could tell from the looks on Mommy's and Daddy's faces when they took the first sip that it was ahhh-mazing.  Maybe life-changing.

All in all, we liked Pallookaville.  We will definitely stop by again or check out the new Pallookaville Jr. opening up in Little 5 Points.  Even though some of the menu items disappointed us, the awesome service, super kid-friendly atmosphere, and incredible soda fountain menu justify an occasional visit.  And we suspect Mommy and Daddy will be back without us one Date Night to try some of the other Shaketails. 

We Ain't Beefin': Shake Shack (Buckhead)

Toddler Foodie Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Gummy Bears.  Raise to 4 Gummy Bears if your kids are 4 and up.

:) = Convenient location with ample parking that's free for the first hour.  High chairs.  Rooftop patio.  Burgers, hot dogs, and fries made with fresh, authentic, eco-friendly, grass-fed, organic, free-range, uncaged, uninhibited ingredients.  Fun variety of concrete (frozen custard) mix-ins and milkshake flavors.  Beer and wine for mommies and daddies.  Frozen treats for doggies.

:(  = It's hard for one parent to eat here alone with children under 4 years old.  You have to stand in line to place your order with the cashier, and the line can get really long (bring a stroller if you get there during busy hours).  Then you have to grab your food/drinks at the counter and your utensils, condiments, and water at the service area.  If you're alone with your little ones, you have the option to a) leave them at a table alone (okay, this really isn't an option when you have toddlers) or b) try to balance your tray with your little ones wrapped around your legs or clinging to your arms.  

Note:  Try the 'Shroom Burger.  No, seriously.  Try. The. 'Shroom Burger. 

Photo of 2-year-old Toddler Foodie , taken by 3-year-old Toddler Foodie.
 

Some of our little friends don't eat meat, especially not red meat.  Maybe they don't like the strong flavor or gristly texture of beef.  Or maybe their mommies and daddies don't eat red meat (or any meat) themselves.  Whatever the reason, there are little foodies out there who just aren't into hamburgers and steak the same way we are.  What options are available to them? 

We decided to investigate this question yesterday evening when we stopped by one of Atlanta's coolest new eateries, Shake Shack.  By now, most tuned-in Atlantans have heard about Shake Shack.  The Atlanta location opened last year to much fanfare and has been a popular foodie attraction ever since.  The chain is known for its environment-friendly values and hip vibe.  (Oh, its yummy burgers and custard-based shakes are a plus, too.)  Atlanta's Shake Shack is located in the heart of "New Buckhead," right off Peachtree Rd.  There's a spacious parking deck behind the restaurant where parking is free for the first hour. 

Shake Shack... and the infamous line.
Photo Credit:  http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/shake-shack-atlanta#f3VyI4TM8OMXuDFFEUXSfg

Many of the anecdotes we've heard about Shake Shack describe waiting in a long line to order your food.  When we arrived at 6:45 PM on a Wednesday, there was only one customer ahead of us in line; but by 7:30, there really was a line that spilled out onto the sidewalk.  Our advice is:  get there early if you're with your littles, or bring a lightweight stroller and a form of entertainment to keep them locked down and distracted while you're standing in line. 

Shake Shack's menu offers staples that you would expect from a burger joint (burgers, all-beef hot dogs, fries, shakes), but they also offer "concretes" (basically the same idea as a DQ Blizzard, but made with premium quality frozen custard), beer, wine, and doggie treats.  In keeping with our mission to hold the beef for this particular visit, we ordered the 'Shroom Burger, Chicken Dog, and cheese fries.  Thanks to the 'Shroom Burger, we did not miss the red meat one bit.  

Nope, no beef here!
Food (clockwise from top):  Cheese fries, 'Shroom Burger (vegetarian), & Chicken Dog (no red meat)

Shake Shack describes the 'Shroom Burger as a "crisp-fried Portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce."  First of all, we are flabbergasted at just how crisp that mushroom was.  The breading on the outside had a terrific crunch; yet the inside of the mushroom overflowed with earthy, smoky-flavored juice.  Even Daddy, who is the ultimate carnivore, expressed astonishment at the flavor packed in that mushroom and gobbled down our leftovers. 

The 'Shroom Burger stole the show, but the cheese fries played an important supporting role.  The fries themselves were pretty much your standard crinkle cut fries (albeit made from sustainable, earth-saving potatoes), but the cheese sauce - that cheese sauce was something special.  Even we could tell it didn't come out of a jar.  It had a rich, full dairy flavor and a slight tinge of sweetness.  Mommy said the cheese sauce tasted good because it was made with milk that came from cows who didn't eat medicine. 

"This cheese sauce is awesome.  Maybe
all cows should stay away from medicine."
 

The Chicken Dog was our least favorite item.  Perhaps we should have eaten it before trying the magical 'Shroom Burger and delectable cheese fries so we wouldn't have been so underwhelmed.  Or maybe we made a mistake when we decided to get it without any toppers.  Whatever our mistake was, we had to drown it in ketchup so it would live up to the rest of the food on our tray.  But - it was still nice to have it as an option, considering the other hot dogs were all-beef. 

"I guess I'll eat this Chicken Dog, since I finished
my portion of the 'Shroom Burger. More ketchup, please."

To complete our meal, we tried the Peachtree Milk Shake, which has fresh peaches and caramel.  That was an interesting flavor combination.  Next time, though, I think we'll try one of the concretes.  The shake was simple and didn't really feel like a dessert - we think Shake Shack really intended for it to be enjoyed with the meal. 

To end our evening, we did something that we haven't had a chance to do at any of the other restaurants we've visited:  we ordered a special treat for our security guard, Scrappy Doo Pham.  Because Scrappy is the best security guard in the world and deserves nothing but the best, we got him the "Pooch-ini" - a small cup of vanilla custard mixed with peanut butter sauce, topped with ShackBurger dog biscuits. 

"All those long nights guarding their cribs have finally paid off!"

We definitely have no beef with Shake Shack, and we'll visit again someday to try the famous burgers.  In the meantime, we are happy to report to our little vegetarian and semi-vegetarian friends that you, too, can have a spot in the Shake Shack line if you want it. 

Until next time, friends... happy eating!  And don't forget to check out our special edition Valentine's Day post if you haven't already - V-Day is just two days away!