Weekend Wine and Dine in Atlanta

As a disclaimer, nothing in this post is sponsored – it is all my unasked-for opinion. 😉

For my birthday this year, I left the little one at home with daddy and traveled to ATLANTA with my mom to visit family. This trip was a short (but much needed) weekend get away, mostly made up of good food and wine!

I’m waiting to go back with Hubby and my girl, so I saved most of the fun “must-do’s” for when we are there as a family. Because of this, I’m mostly just going to comment on food/wine that was had.

Friday night, we ate at Ray’s on the River . This restaurant stresses the freshness of their seafood, which was apparent in all of the dishes we (well, everyone else) tried. Although they have a “gluten free selections” section of their online menu, their general menu has changed somewhat, so the online menu can’t really be trusted… Luckily, we had a very informed server team who were able to answer all of my questions! (I feel terrible, but I’m horrible at remembering names…). I ended up with the seared (not Parmesan crusted) scallops over Lobster-Parmesan Risotto, with balsamic reduction and basil oil. Ya’ll. I scraped my plate clean. My only complaint was that I probably could have eaten another serving…. I was also able to taste the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail – truly colossal, and the Creole Remoulade sauce was outstanding! For dessert, I was surprised with some Creme Bruleé (their only GF dessert) which was also really good!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good picture because I ate pretty much all of it before I thought about dragging my phone out.

I’m excited to come back here when the grapes are growing!

On Saturday, we went to two vineyards, Frogtown Cellars and Three Sisters Vineyards  . If you are going for the whole experience, including scenery, it’s not really the best time of year to visit – as you can see in the picture above, everything was pretty much dead… but I got to drink wine, so I was happy!

We started with lunch at Frogtown – it was delicious!  While the lunch menu was mostly Salads, Sandwiches and Pizzas, the food was amazing. Although there wasn’t a huge amount of options for me, I was able to get a Roasted Chicken Ceasar without Croutons, and didn’t have any reactions. My mom and aunt got the Duck Pastrami Salad, which they both raved about, and my uncle and cousin each got a pizza – my cousin said it was probably the best pizza she had ever eaten.

After enjoying a bottle of wine with our meal (if you are looking for a good wine, I HIGHLY recommend Frogtown Propaganda!), we did a tasting. I chose the Premium Red – I enjoyed almost all of the ones I tried. I honestly left with a list of wines I want to order (I haven’t yet, but still plan too!). I also texted some girlfriends while I was here about doing a girl’s weekend trip at a nearby B&B so we can come back here to eat and drink!

I told the Hubby we need to come back here, too. I can come with both groups! 🙂

We had made dinner reservations already, so had a little less time at Three Sister’s Winery. Instead of doing a tasting, we sat outside and enjoyed a bottle of wine with, a unique pairing from this winery, Cheetos and Chocolate!

I approve of Cheetos and Wine!

After drinking some delicious wine, we headed back to rest and get ready for dinner at 101 Steak. It was good – I got a filet with some monster-sized asparagus…. Maybe because I just started eating asparagus, but I didn’t realize it got this big… I also ordered the Blood Orange Sorbet and a glass of Amaretto for dessert! Like I said, it was really good, but nothing out of this world. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled on Filet Mignon though? Everyone else got the lamb chops and were literally gnawing the bone to get all the meat off – I’m planning to try that if I ever get to come back!

The size of this Asparagus was ridiculous… but tasty! 

The Best Dessert – Blood Orange Sorbet and Amaretto!

Well, that was about all from this trip. Can’t wait to fill you in on all the fun things we do and food we eat on our next visit!

Is there anything you suggest we do on our next trip to Atlanta? Or anywhere specific to eat (or drink!)?