Dining Out..Athen's Style

Our first dining adventure in Athens was located just steps away from the University of Georgia and after a long day on the road I think we both wanted a nice cocktail or beer and a good hot meal.  Let me say we were not disappointed.

Let me introduce you to...DePalma's Italian Cafe

Not sure that I was in the mood for Italian food but I was starving and after reading menu after menu along the street my thoughts were "why not".  A big plus, not having to wait;  not for a table, a server, or a cocktail, service was quick and friendly.  With a great selection of wine, beer and cocktails the martini menu quickly caught my eye.  Starting off with a Blueberry Martini was an excellent choice, if you like blueberries and lemon then you would not be disappointed, my only recommendation would be to have a few frozen blueberries floating on top.

Blueberry Martini & Laqunitas Pilsner

While waiting for our dinners, Nicole our very friendly waitress, brought us some bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, nothing fancy but it was a perfect way to start the meal.

We didn't wait long for our dinners to arrive but I gotta say it would have been worth it if we had to wait.  My dish was Fettuccine di Parma,

 

grilled chicken (or grilled shrimp, add $1) tossed with alfredo, prosciutto & peas; I choose chicken...the only disappointed with this dish, no prosciutto, the peas were sweet which was nice and it really balanced out the richness of the alfredo sauce.

Next up was Andrews, Pan Fried Mascarpone Ravioli & Grilled Artichoke

with sautéed spinach & tomato, butter & thyme pan sauce  

This dish came with four ravioli but one was snapped up before I could click the picture.  I do think that for the price that five ravioli would have been a better deal but Andrew seemed to enjoy the flavors.

We both decided on having another drink with our dinners, Andrew kept with his Laqunitas Pilsner, which by the way was a really nice pilsner and I'm not really a fan of pilsner beer.  I thought that I would try another martini from their menu, Prairie Organic Limeade, and boy was it limey.  If I had to do it over again I would have the Prairie Organic Limeade first then the Blueberry Martini.  The Prairie Organic Limeade was tasty with a good pucker value, went really to the tart side while the Blueberry martini was not sweet but had a nice blend of sweetness and tart.  

For our listening pleasure...

some great tunes from the '80's were played...no, not the 1880's...the 1980's, with a touch of Blondie and Talking Heads it was a nice way to finish off a long day on the road.

With 3 1/2 Forks I would recommend DePalma's in Athens and I'm thinking that if we lived in the area we would call this place one of our regular go to places for a relaxin' meal.

Until next time...

Forks Up...

KA