Tastes of Tech

By Kimberly Link-Wills

Most university campuses are not known as foodie meccas. The Institute is working to change that by inviting a gastropub to set up shop and serve innovative grub washed down with craft beers in Tech Square.

The Barrelhouse Tavern is expected to open by the end of May in the 22 Fifth St. storefront vacated by St. Charles Deli, which is moving a block to be sandwiched in a smaller space between Waffle House and Great Clips.

“Tech is letting us take out the storefront glass that’s along Fifth and do an English pub sort of storefront, new windows facing West Peachtree and wraparound seating on a big outdoor patio,” said the Magnum Restaurant & Bar Group’s James Brooks, co-owner with Philip Christensen of Barrelhouse as well as Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta Village.

Architect Jack Thilenius, Arch 91, M Arch 93, said, “It was really important to us to make a statement on that corner and create a lot of activity because that stark brick wall sort of turns its back on the West Peachtree side and doesn’t take advantage of that plaza. I know it’s Tech’s desire to have that plaza be filled with people and activity and life.

“But we didn’t want it to be a sports bar. We didn’t want to fill the place with TVs,” he said.

Brooks and Christensen confirmed that the walls of Barrelhouse will not sport Tech decor or rows of flat-screen televisions, although the TV sets the restaurant does have will be tuned to Yellow Jackets coverage on game days.

“We will have no beer advertisements or anything like that visible. We are a gastropub, not a bar. Now, we will have a full-service bar, and there’s no But we are going to be very food driven. That’s one of the reasons why we’re bringing Timothy Magee on. He’s one of the best chefs in the city,” Brooks said.

“While Barrelhouse won’t look exactly like Graveyard — Jack designed it as well — it will be a place that feels very cozy and friendly with really great food,” he said. “Georgia Tech came to us. A lot of students, faculty and staff love Graveyard. It’s a very warm scene. We’ve got a tremendous menu, and it’s a very comfortable place.”

Barrelhouse food will be priced with the pocketbooks of Tech students in mind, Brooks said.

“We’re going to have very affordable sandwiches and burgers and those kinds of things. Of course we’ll have those sorts of staples, there’s no question about that,” he said. “But the advantage of bringing Tim on as the chef is we really can do some extraordinary food that’s really going to get people’s attention. We’ll have the type of food that folks from all over Midtown, from all over Atlanta will want to come and eat.”

Christensen said, “The way we’re looking at it is we’re opening a Midtown gastropub that happens to be on the Georgia Tech campus. That’s what Georgia Tech wanted us to do. They did not want it to be a Tech bar.”

Chef Magee, who has worked at such famed Atlanta restaurants as Buckhead Diner, South City Kitchen and Parish, said he is creating a seasonal, produce-driven menu.

“The menu will evolve every three to five weeks based on what’s in season. We’re going to do more unique things with seafood and meats. We’ll source locally when it makes financial sense,” he said. “We’re talking about doing vegan wings, which nobody in town is doing. We’re going to have a dedicated vegetable plate for dinner that’s not just a combination of sides. Hopefully it will change every day of the week based on cooking technique or what kind of vegetables we can get.

“The idea for lunch will be a little bit more traditional. We’ll have really great, unique sandwiches, but they’ll be approachable, then dinner and the late night will be where we’ll really separate ourselves from anything else that’s going on in that area — and my hope is Atlanta in general. We really want to do a legitimate take on the gastropub — the London, England, influence, where it all really started. We’re going to push the envelope,” Magee said.

Barrelhouse will operate from 11 to 3 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays. With a 3 a.m. closing, Magee intends to serve food until 2 a.m.

Special events also are in the works, Brooks said.

“What a great thing if you wanted to have a faculty dinner for Brooks said. “We’ll do beer dinners where we pair a whole series of beers with things the chef will come up with. We are going to do takeout, and we are going to do delivery because the campus is right there. And we’ll be on the approved campus caterers list. The quality of the food we’re going to be doing is going to completely separate us from anybody else.”

Barrelhouse will seat 80 guests inside and 40 outside in 2,700 interior square feet and just under 1,000 on the patio.

“The real focal point of this in my perspective is the wraparound patio,” Brooks said. “It’s going to be very visible, it’s going to be very active. That retail on Fifth Street, if you’re going down West Peachtree, you almost don’t know it’s there. I’m deliberately using this phrase: Tech wanted us to be the ‘gateway’ into the retail district. For us to create this English pub-like storefront on Fifth and punch these windows through on West Peachtree and really create this corner is going to change everything.”

Thilenius said operable windows are being installed so that patrons inside can hear what’s going on outside. “That connection with the plaza area both inside and outside — seeing and hearing things go on — is just huge for us.”

There have been big hoops for the restaurateurs to go through to bring a gastropub to the Tech campus. Brooks called Rosalind Meyers, Campus Services vice president, and Rich Steele, Auxiliary Services acting executive director, Barrelhouse’s “champions.”

Auxiliary Services administers all retail, including operations in Tech Square on Institute property. The BuzzCard is accepted throughout Tech Square for food. Alcohol may not be purchased with the card.

Steele, ChE 85, said the gastropub’s name was inspired by the Ramblin’ Wreck lyrics: “Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three thousands pounds, a college bell to put it in and a clapper to stir it round. I’d drink to all the good fellas who come from far and near. I’m a ramblin’, gamblin’, hell of an engineer.”

“The campus has always indicated that a pub was the kind of restaurant they like — comfort food, a friendly environment. We also understand our population is not just undergrads. We’ve got quite a number of grad students, we’ve got alumni who are interested in having events on campus. We wanted to find a gastropub that could create the right environment to meet the needs of our constituents,” Steele said.

“First and foremost, The Barrelhouse Tavern is going to be a great restaurant,” he said. “Restaurants at Tech Square have always had liquor licenses. All of our studies and everyone we’ve spoken with indicate that restaurants with full bars actually draw more of an adult audience, and there are fewer issues in those restaurants” than beer halls with cheap pitchers and boxed wine.

Steele said Tech representatives approached Brooks and his team because “Graveyard has been cited as one of the best bars in town on numerous occasions. [Brooks] has been very successful in that operation, and he liked the concept of being near a college campus. He had ideas for new concepts and changes that he would like to implement that would be very conducive to our population and would meet our needs.

“Georgia Tech has actually pushed the idea of opening the east facade of the College of Management building for many years. Barrelhouse also was very interested in doing that. We spent a fair amount of time ensuring we were going to do the appropriate thing, both aesthetically as well as beneficially,” Steele said.

More Campus Dining Scene Changes

Steele spends much of his time focusing on beneficial operations as 26 separate dining units fall under Auxiliary Services’ domain. Dining operations are expected to generate about $24 million in sales this year.

He said another major change on the eating scene is coming this summer with the opening of North Avenue Dining Hall.

“We really haven’t built a dining hall from start to finish since 1928, when we opened Brittain Dining Hall,” Steele said. “North Avenue Dining Hall is going to be a great venue, not just for people on the dining plan but for people who just want to walk in and get a great lunch or great dinner.

“Like our other dining halls, it will be an all-you-care-to-eat facility, only with multiple dining concepts. We have focused a large amount of the space on the concepts themselves. There will be 300 seats. In comparison, Brittain is closer to 400 seats, but it’s probably 40 percent smaller than North Avenue,” he said.

Steele said the dining concepts will include ethnic food stations, vegetarian and vegan options, a large salad bar and traditional hot line.

“We’ll be open 24-five. We’ll open Sunday evening and stay open until Friday evening,” he said. “The visibility of North Avenue Dining Hall is crystal clear. You’re going to see right through it, and I think that dynamic is going to interest a lot of people.”

Steele said campus dining has received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts, and he expects the newest dining hall to garner Gold LEED certification.

“North Avenue Dining Hall will essentially be a zero-waste facility. We will use a pulper to greatly reduce any of our organic waste. That takes it down by a factor of 80 percent. All that’s left will go to a composting facility. We will have a little bit of trash that has to go into a Dumpster, but typically where we would put a large 20- or 40-yard compactor we’re putting in an 8-yard Dumpster. We’ll have packaging materials that can’t be recycled and a few items here and there, but for the most part, everything will be recyclable or compostable,” he said.

“We’ve been trayless for a number of years in our resident dining. The water savings are huge by going trayless. The industry has proven it also reduces food waste, that students will take what they can eat, not what they can fit on their trays,” Steele said.

As a former Tech student, Steele knows how important it is for campus diners to find food they want to eat.

“My freshman year, I think every day I had a sandwich in the Bradley dining hall, which is where Junior’s is now. It was nearSkiles, where a lot of classes were held,” Steele said. “Rosa Miller, who ran that operation, still worked at Tech many years after I graduated. She was an icon on campus. She gave a lot of tough love, but she was an excellent operator.”

Thirty-six More Places to Try

Like Rosa Miller, such other dining icons as Ms. Ruthie and Miss Anne are gone from campus, and off-campus restaurants such as Wit’s End and the Yellow Jacket exist only in memory. But there still are plenty of friendly proprietors and tasty options on and within walking distance of the Tech campus. Here’s a sampling:

Antico Pizza Napoletana, was trumpeted as the “restaurant phenomenon of the year” by Atlanta magazine, which also hailed Giovanni Di Palma’s place at 1093 Hemphill Ave. as one of the best new restaurants of 2010.

What’s the big deal, you wonder, it’s pizza, right? Well, this ain’t like nothin’ you’ve tasted in Atlanta before. Imported flour is used in the airy crust, topped with fresh mozzarella and basil, then baked in one of three ovens brought from Naples, where Di Palma perfected his craft. You can witness the art of pizza making at Antico from one of the wooden communal tables inside the cookie-cutter building that transports you far away from campus the second you open the door and inhale.

BYOB, or wine, because the only thing that would make a visit to Antico any more of a pizza heaven would be a cold Peroni — and a seat overlooking the Bay of Naples. You won’t care as the hand-crushed tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil drip off your chin, and you’ll understand what all the fuss has been about.

Antico Pizza Napoletana is open Monday through Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. until the dough is gone. Seriously.

Made-to-order Mediterranean dishes are worth the wait at Basha Bistro, open since January in a storefront at 420 14th St., next to a mosque. The kebabs, falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush and stuffed grape leaves are fresh and delectable.

Patrons order at the counter of the open kitchen from a menu on the wall. Inexpensive and beautifully presented, the food at Basha Bistro draws a steady stream of customers, including Tech students and local workers.

According to the book Grand Hotels of the Jazz Age, dining options in the Biltmore Hotel when it opened at 817 West Peachtree St. in Atlanta in April 1924 “included the formal main dining room, private rooms, quaint tea rooms with the ‘cheer of old colonial days’ and an ultra-modern coffee shop with counter service.”

Today’s Biltmore Cafe and Grill, with its own entrance on Sixth Street, must be the site of that modern coffee shop. Regulars are greeted by name at the breakfast and lunch spot, which has about 24 seats for dine-in customers. The lunch menu varies from a meat-and-three option to deli sandwiches to teriyaki dishes and fried rice. Still, the cafe retains its Southern roots — the only iced tea brewed is sweet.

Brittain Dining Hall has been serving Georgia Tech students since 1928, but it’s still arguably the most beautiful place to eat on campus. While students no longer dine to the music of a live orchestra, they do have the stunning Julian Harris-designed stained glass windows at which to gaze.

Chick-fil-A became the first branded operation on campus in 1991. And, according to Steele, Tech’s Chick-fil-A was the first to open at any university. Chick-fil-A was relocated in 2010 from the Student Center food court to the first-floor commons, where it is situated alongside Subway and Taco Bell, the most requested addition to campus, Steele said, in large part because of its student budget-friendly menu.

Chinese Buddha, 100 10th St., sits just across the interstate from the northeast edge of campus. Dining in is a suitable option, but most of the Tech community knows it as the go-to spot for Chinese food delivery.

The expansive menu includes an abundance of vegetarian options, and the restaurant’s tofu is good enough to be mistaken for chicken. The General Tso’s chicken is a must, whether one opts for the meat or vegetarian version. Delivery portions are massive and of course include a fortune cookie.

“It’s good to be a snob,” says the downloadable menu for Coffee Snobs, also known as Le Petit Cafe, in the relaxing atrium of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. This may be true as the food and drinks indeed are quite good.

Because it specializes in “made-from-scratch gourmet food and coffee,” the cafe may not have everything on the menu available on a given day. Follow Coffee Snobs on Twitter or Facebook to find out the soups of the day. The menu boasts of “the finest coffee in the world” as well as fresh pastries, artfully arranged salads with organic ingredients, fish tacos, hummus and such Caribbean street food as stuffed Jamaican patties.

Those afraid the service at an establishment proclaiming itself as snobby may be reminiscent of the Seinfeld “Soup Nazi” are in for a pleasant surprise. The counter staff is patient in describing dishes and brewing special teas and coffees. Wait to hear your name called from one of the more than half a dozen tables or sofas and side chairs in the atrium.

Crazy Cuban, 290 14th St., fills the void left by the closing of Kool Korners — the replacement has the goods. Atlanta magazine says this little spot now serves the best pressed Cuban sandwich in the city. Unabashedly unglamorous, Crazy Cuban has a compact menu in a compact space. Pull up one of six or so stools to a narrow counter and dig in to the sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper and the black bean soup served in Styrofoam bowls. The classic Cuban consists of fresh, mustard-slathered, mojo-sauced bread pressed onto ham, pork, Swiss cheese and pickles.

Engine 11 Firehouse Tavern, on North Avenue between Peachtree and West Peachtree streets, really is an old fire station, and the architecture is a big attraction as signs of the building’s past are evident throughout the gorgeous two-story brick and wood structure. The building’s bones were respected when the long bar and comfy booths were added. Look around and munch on homemade potato chips covered with blue cheese, bacon, tomatoes and scallions.

Ferst Place, on the third floor of the Student Center, is a good place to find Tech faculty noshing on the buffet and salad bar.

“It has been operating since the building opened in 1970. It’s been called many different things. The original name was Table Service, just because that was the style of service,” said Steele, who announced that Ferst Place will be undergoing renovations this year. “We are always looking at tweaks. Our main goal is to reorient the room to add additional seating. It seats about 100 now. We’re trying to get 120, 125.”

You’ll pick up that smokehouse smell before you even open the door at 5th St. Ribs n Blues. The name of the family-owned eatery explains top billing on the menu and the posters of B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan on the walls. But there is more to the menu — chopped pork, barbecue chicken, wings and Southern sides like green beans, collard greens and Brunswick stew. And there is more to the decor as Tech athlete-autographed T-shirts, jerseys and pictures are aplenty.

Sides may be purchased by the pint and meat by the pound. Beer is served on draft and by the bottle and pitcher. And ribs come with plenty of sweet and spicy sauce.

An original Tech Square tenant, 5th St. is perfect for lunch with colleagues or a pregame barbecue fix. For a job interview or first date, not so much. This is finger-licking food requiring plenty of napkins and a willingness to get your face dirty.

Goodfellas Pizza & Wings, 615 Spring St., sits across the way from The Varsity. In addition to the titled foods, Goodfellas offers Italian classics like calzones and eggplant Parmesan. And Goodfellas delivers.

H20 Cafe, inside the Campus Recreation Center, has evolved to meet demand, Steele said. “We initially envisioned that as a food operation. Instead, we’ve transitioned that to more of a beverage operation. People, when they go to work out or they finish working out, they’re just not there to eat.”

J-Bones Grill, a stone’s throw from Tech Square at 714 Spring St., serves burgers, cheese fries and pizza Tuesday through Saturday nights and advertises in the Technique that food is half off with a Tech ID.

If you haven’t revisited J.R. Crickets since your Tech days, it shouldn’t be hard to find your way back. Just follow the trail of discarded chicken wings scattered along the sidewalks leading to the original 631 Spring St. location, open since 1982. While the eatery also serves ribs, chicken tenders, seafood, sandwiches and salads, it’s the wings that get top billing. There are flavors to satisfy every palate, from the original buffalo style to lemony pepper to buffalo teriyaki. Thrill-seekers brave enough to try the explosive Three Mile Island meltdown wings may need a “monster” size helping of the house-made bleu cheese or ranch dressing. Out-of-towners can take a bit of J.R. Crickets home by purchasing a bottle of the restaurant’s original wing sauce to go.

The Mellow Mushroom at the corner of Spring Street and Ivan Allen Boulevard is the closest one to campus these days, and the airy two-story facility is a far cry from the hole-in the-wall pizzeria that sprouted on Spring Street in 1974 at the hands of Rocky Reeves, IM 79, and Mike Nicholson, Cls 74.

Pizza still reigns, but over the years the menu has mushroomed to include terrific sandwiches and salads, most piled high with sprouts. Inside or outside on the patio, this Mellow Mushroom is a great spot for people watching at lunchtime.

Quad Cafe, according to Steele, is the most little-known eatery on Tech’s campus. “Right in the middle of the biotech campus, with a Seattle’s Best Coffee upstairs and an Einstein Brothers Bagels downstairs, the Quad Cafe is just a hidden gem people don’t realize is there, a beautiful facility with great views of that area of campus,” he said.

Ray’s New York Style Pizza, 26 Fifth St., brings a lot more than just pizza to Tech Square. There are calzones, salads, soups, a variety of tasty sandwiches and Mediterranean options such as gyros, falafel wraps and hummus. Lunchtime diners can simply opt for the buffet and try a sampling of anything and everything. For starters, try the flavorful garlic knots. And you can’t go wrong with the Greenwich Village calzone or the chicken pesto sandwich.

Rocky Mountain Pizza Co., 1005 Hemphill Ave., has been serving such favorites as strizzatta, buttery pinwheels of rolled up pizza dough filled with white sauce and bacon, since May 1997 in a slice-of-pie-shaped brick building. An ad promoting its opening in the Technique promised a “cozy mountain ski chalet atmosphere.”

Spoon, located just steps from the Ivan Allen College at 768 Marietta St., is a small Thai restaurant that fills quickly at lunchtime with Tech faculty and staff as well as local leaders who come for the delicious pad Thai and curry dishes.

Starbucks keeps the caffeine crowd lined up at the tiny hot-beverages-only post in the Student Center and at the 1,800-squarefoot cafe inside the Barnes & Noble at Tech Square. With the opening of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons this fall will come a huge 2,500-square-foot Starbucks inside the building.

Sublime Doughnuts, 535 10 St. N.W., is the sweet spot run by Kamal Grant, who rises at 2 a.m. every day to begin baking his creations with such enticing names as Reese’s cup, cookies and creme, s’mores, dulce de leche and Butterfinger. The clever A-town creme is shaped like the letter but filled like a Boston creme.

Student Center food court outlets generally operate mornings through dinner. They include Cafe Spice, Chef Sharon’s Station, Dunkin’ Donuts, Essential Eats, Far East Fusion, Rosita’s Cantina and Zaya Mediterranean.

Customers at The Varsity aren’t looking for service with a smile, Kobe beef burgers or foie gras. They’re looking for a cheap taste of nostalgia. It’s no surprise that The Varsity is said to serve 30,000 people on days the Jackets play football at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Nor is it surprising that politicians running for local, state and national offices make it a point to have their pictures taken eating at this Atlanta landmark.

The Atlanta chain Thumbs Up Diner opened a location at 826 Marietta St. in recent years, and the Tech community gradually has discovered the breakfast and lunch spot. The menu is classic diner fare, though with a good selection of healthier options. Look for the waffle with the restaurant’s logo seared onto it. The vibe is relaxing, and breakfast tends to stretch long as the waitresses frequently top off the fair-trade coffee.

The Tin Drum Asia Cafe at 88 Fifth St. was the first of a handful of the fast-and-fresh eateries that have since been launched by Steven Chan, BC 92.

“Steven created Tin Drum for Tech Square, and it has been the most successful restaurant operation for us at Tech Square,” Steele said. “Steven has developed a new concept called Wonderful World Burgers & More. He’s testing that concept at Emory University.”

The Tin Drum offers a variety of noodle, stir fry and curry dishes. The pad woon sen, with vermicelli rice noodles, is as easy on the taste buds as it is on the eyes.

Waffle House opened on Fifth Street in Technology Square in June 2010. Rows of photographs of famed Tech alumni grace the walls. Tech students appreciating smothered-and-covered cuisine may not know that Waffle House’s ties to the Institute include its management: chairman and CEO Joe Rogers Jr., IM 68; president and COO Walt Ehmer, IE 89; vice chairman emeritus Bert Thornton, IM 68; and vice president Will Mizell, Mgt 87.

WOW Cafe & Wingery locations on university campuses across the country total about 20, from Cal State San Bernardino to Marquette to Tulane. WOW stands for “world of wings,” and at Tech, that world will come to you as the Student Center site offers delivery until late at night for study groups large and small.

Tell us about your favorite dining spots on and off campus during your student days.

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