Macon, Ga -- for what seems like a very long time

I'm going to be in Macon for two weeks. Anybody ever been? Anything good to eat? Drink? Do? All suggestions welcome.

I'd advise not speeding in Georgia,
and around Macon in particular.

I've often heard that they are
notorious for pulling people over;
I know that I've had nothing but
bad-luck there.

I got pulled over while trying to
pass a log-laden semi trailer
(spewing wood chunks onto my
windshield with every bump in the
road). Granted, he got me at 95
(or maybe 97) in a 75. I called
the number on the ticket and was
told that the fine was $480.

Haven't been to Macon, but a quick search turned up the dining section of the Macon newspaper. The reviews are horribly written, but it might give you some good leads.

Fresh Air BBQ in Jackson has a second location in Macon. Jackson is very good (from experience) amd I have heard that the Macon location is also.

I have completed my two week tour in Macon Ga and here is an incomplete overview of what one can do to avoid horrible chains (e.g., something called Krystal -- White Castle w/o the culinary sophistication), terrible Mexican (I swear that was French dressing on my enchillada but at least the margaritas were cheap and strong), and aggressively unspicy Indian.

I hit two worthy bbq places. Fresh Air is well known and well-reviewed. The ribs were solid. Tender, not jello. They came with a tomato based and peppery sauce all ready applied. Ultimately, however, they weren't as smoky as I hoped. There was a pink smoke ring but the smoke flavor just was not that strong. Good. Not Great.

Old Clinton, on the other hand, is great. About 20 minutes east of Macon on the road to Milledgeville (Flannary O'Conner's home) and not as well-known as Fresh Air, Old Clinton gave me the smoky chewy rib experience that I wanted. They serve a vinegary, allspicy and peppery but balanced sauce along side the perfectly crusty yet tender ribs. The baked beans also stood out as particulary dark and porky. I went there twice and both times spent the next several hours secretly smelling the smoke on my fingers. (As a bonus they also sell a book about and prints of a painting of the Goat Man of the United States -- a man who spent years being led around the south by a herd of goats.)

There are several other local barbecue restaurants but I didn't get to them. Some of my colleagues really liked Fincher's.

Jim Shaw's a fried food bonanza. On one plate they gave me fried catfish, fried oysters, fried okra, hushpuppies and batter fried french fries. It tasted good at the time and absorbed a lot of alcohol but I didn't sleep real well that night.

Len Berg's is a local institution that has seen better days. I can't abide a restaurant that sells fried chicken but does not serve dark meat.

Nu Way Weiners sells bright red broiled hot dogs smothered with chilli in a 90 year old diner in Macon's near-dead downtown. Patrons and staff spoke to each other with accents so thick they thwarted all of my efforts to eavesdrop. This place is an institution in the best sense. The staff and customers seem to have known each other for years but are friendly to outsiders. And the hotdogs, fries and country ham biscuits are pretty good.

I missed H and H (the Allman Bros' favorite restaurant) and Satterfield's (another ancient southern food emporium that one of fellow conference attendees raved about) b/c both keep odd hours -- lunch only, closed on weekends. Oh well.

I am sorry that I was not together enough to get down the addresses on these places but they are pretty easy to find.

It's been a couple of years, but Catch 35 was always my choice for fresh seafood simply prepared in a downtown location (not cheap, tho).

Website below:

http://www.catch35.com/

SCUBAchef wrote:I'd advise not speeding in Georgia,
and around Macon in particular.

fyi. actually, GA is a very safe place to speed in. Just don't exceed ten miles over the limit. Yes, plenty of folks do. But they are in jeopardy.