Appetizing Aperture: Willy's Pimentodilla

Southerners love their pimento cheese sandwiches – heck, we love pimento cheese slathered on anything, from grits to simple sammies at the Masters golf tournament. The Pimentodilla at Willy’s Mexicana Grill straddles Southern and Southwestern borders. The grilled quesadilla holds sinaloa chicken and Willy’s own pimento cheese and comes with sides of homemade roasted red pepper jelly and sour cream ($6.95 regular/$7.95 grande).

Rush In for an Hour of Half-Off Appetizers Monday-Thursday at Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub in Brookhaven

Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub in Village Place Brookhaven is defining its own “rush hour” of sorts by offering half-price appetizers from 5-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday evenings. Who wouldn’t want to rush in for addicting bites like these: house pimento cheese with Tillamook, piquillo peppers, local apples and crostini; Berkshire pork potsticker with ginger, toasted sesame and chili soy; ahi tuna tartare with avocado, tomato, coriander, feta and yuzu; Indian curry chicken spring rolls with garam masala, tamarind and cilantro-yogurt dip; and duck fat pub fries to dab in bacon mayonnaise. Appetizer prices are regularly $4-$12. Summer’s scorchers are no match for Kaleidoscope’s array of cold beer, cocktails and global wine list.

Appetizing Aperture

Lunch with Mark Twain. The Southern Gentleman is his usual Atlanta lunch spot -- his larger-than-life portrait watches over the lunch crowd at the gastropub on Buckhead Atlanta’s top floor. Bet he’s wishing he could jump out of the canvas for modern versions of Southern beloveds such as this Low Country shrimp boil with spiced andouille sausage, corn on the cob, sweet onions and fingerling potatoes ($16). He’s so jealous of y’all, sipping classic Southern cocktails by the seersucker-curtained windows and lunching there Monday through Sunday on pimento beer cheese and cracklings, field lettuces with crispy black-eyed peas and grilled peaches, lacquered Virginia duck breast or crispy fried shrimp and oysters on a baguette with house-made hot sauce. Fiction? No, siree. Delicious reality, every day.

Give Back and Support The Drake House at Bantam + Biddy Avalon May 18

Fried chicken is one of those feel-good Southern foods, especially when chomping into crispy-tender pieces of regionally raised poultry generates multiple rewards, i.e. your personal comfort food tank and assisting homeless families move toward more stable lives. Give Back Night at Bantam + Biddy Avalon on Monday, May 18 is such an occasion. After 5 p.m. that evening, 10 percent of all proceeds move on to The Drake House. This North Fulton County nonprofit helps homeless mothers and their children work toward self-sufficiency through short-term crisis housing, education and empowerment programs. Fried chicken is just the start. Bantam + Biddy offers rotisserie chicken, pork loin, pork schnitzel, sautéed Maine salmon, Southern Breakfast All Day, salads, sandwiches and snacks such as pimento cheese, crispy wings and Jb Farm deviled eggs. Browse the complete menu here.

Chick-a-Biddy Runs $15 Special during Atlantic Station Restaurant Week May 12-17

Count Chick-a-Biddy in the mix of 10 restaurants offering prix fixe menus during Atlantic Station Restaurant Week, Saturday, May 9 through Sunday, May 17. The easy-going eatery cracks open a three-course lunch and dinner menu priced at $15 per person (excludes alcohol, gratuity and tax). Choose pimento cheese with veggies and crackers or homestyle chili with sour cream and cheddar as an appetizer; one quarter chicken grilled (piri piri or jerk) or fried (Buffalo or mild) with a choice of two sides as an entrée; and homemade carrot cake or Key lime cheesecake for dessert. During Atlantic Station Restaurant Week and throughout May, Chick-a-Biddy will donate 20 percent of prix fixe meal sales to the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation. 

Appetizing Aperture: Bantam + Biddy Pimento Cheese

From sweet tea and fried chicken to pimento cheese, the South has its staple items no matter the day or the occasion. Bantam + Biddy keep these southern staples alive by serving up their own version of pimento cheese. Guests dining at the Ansley Mall or Crescent Avenue locations can enjoy a generous scoop paired with crackers and veggie slices ($5). 

Hold Your Horses - It's Almost Derby Time at South City Kitchen Vinings

Dressing up and sipping mint juleps for "The Run for the Roses" is a Southern tradition.  All that horsepower.  All of those juleps.  Oh-so-hospitable South City Kitchen Vinings is throwing a Kentucky Derby party from 5 - 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 7.  You won't miss a minute of the action as the restaurant will televise it, high volume, on its flat-screen TVs.  Out on the patio, saddle up with cocktail tastings of mint juleps, mojitos and Kentuckyritas and enjoy heavy hors d'oeuvre including smoked chicken wings, Kentucky sausage meatballs, grilled pimento cheese sandwiches and burgoo-a traditional Kentucky stew. 

Hold your horses -- there's more: bartenders will teach guests step-by-step how to stir and shake up these cocktails themselves -- you'll even get recipe cards to take home so it'll be perfect every time. Even if your horse loses the Derby, you'll still win because partygoers will receive 10 percent off dinner if they choose to stay for another lap.  Purchase Kentucky Derby party tickets online for only $25 per person plus tax and gratuity. 

Pimento Cheese

Thought I would share that I discovered the most heavenly pimento cheese in Atlanta at JCT bar. And the best part is that it only cost me $1 on Thursday night. Delish.