The Athens dining scene is experiencing lots of innovation this spring from spicy lemonade drinks to Florida-imported fish dishes to Taylor Swift-themed beers and more. Check it all out in this week’s restaurant roundup.
Kilwins
Kilwins, a chocolate, fudge and ice cream shop that got its start in 1947, is coming to Athens in the spring of 2024, according to its website. It will be located at 283 E. Broad St.
Starbucks
Released on Tuesday, April 16, Starbucks now has a line-up of spicy lemonade refresher drinks, available for a limited time this spring. The menu includes “Spicy Dragonfruit,” “Spicy Pineapple” and Spicy Strawberry,” as well as a “Spicy Cream Cold Foam.”
Each drink contains lemonade and “Starbucks Spicy Chili Power Blend.” The cold foam is a combination of the spicy chili blend and the classic cold foam and can be added to any beverage.
ZZ & Simone’s
ZZ & Simone’s has a new menu item: “Filet Mignon al Barolo.” This juicy cut is an eight-ounce certified angus beef filet mignon with grilled portobello, ramp butter and Barolo sauce.
Crumbl Cookies
“Cinnamon Square” is back at Crumbl by popular demand, according to Crumbl’s Instagram. The treat is a cinnamon square base marbled with brown sugar cinnamon butter and topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Another new addition to Crumbl’s menu is the “Maple Cream Sandwich,” two shortbread cookies that sandwich maple cream cheese frosting, decorated with a maple leaf on top. The other flavors in this week's lineup include “Birthday Cake ft. Oreo,” “Red Velvet White Chip,” “Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip” and “Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk.”
Fully Loaded Pizza Kitchen
It’s burger season, and Fully Loaded added a new burger to its menu. The “FLP Burger” is a beef patty with sautéed onions and melted provolone cheese on a toasted brioche bun. Also, it now has pretzel bites with queso on the menu.
Frank & Sons Neighborhood Bistro
Monday is now “Student Night” at Frank & Sons, and students will receive a 15% discount.
Athentic Brewing Company
Athentic Brewing Company collaborated with Athens Land Trust for the Land Trust’s 30th anniversary to create a new lager: “For Land Sakes.” The beer is hopped with Sabro and Cascade, giving it a “crisp” and “snappy” flavor, according to Athentic’s Instagram.
Puma Yu’s
On Thursday, April 18, Puma Yu’s is hosting “Late Night Kissa,” the first of a series of events inspired by the Japanese jazz kissa culture. The event begins at 8:30 p.m. and goes until midnight, and will include co*cktails, sake and wines by Ally Smith of Puma Yu’s and Clayton Hoffman of Novena, and food by Pete Amadhanirundr.
Marti’s at Midday
Marti’s graduation catering for brunch, lunch, snacks and dinner is now available at the link in its Instagram bio.
Andy’s Frozen Custard
Summer is back at Andy’s with the release of its three berry treats.
“Strawberry Shortcake Sundae” is Andy’s vanilla frozen custard with Grandma Elaine’s homemade shortcake, topped with strawberries.
“Blueberry Chip Concrete” is vanilla frozen custard blended with blueberries and melted chocolate chips. “Freedom Berry Jackhammer” is made with vanilla frozen custard, blueberries and strawberries, then drilled down the center and filled with marshmallow creme.
Also, Andy’s loyalty members now get free tea with any $5 purchase.
South Main Brewing
Nothing pairs better with warm weather than a cold beer, and South Main Brewing released two new beers.
“Ain’t Lime Grand” is a sea salt and lime-infused light lager that’s 3.2% alcohol-by-volume. “Southern Session IPA” is made with 100% southern-grown malts and includes hops like Citra and El Dorado. It is 4% alcohol-by-volume. Both brews are “lower alcohol, lower calorie and lower in price,” according to South Main Brewing’s Instagram.
Athens Cooks
For the rest of April, Athens Cooks is bringing cultural cuisine to Athens through its upcoming classes.
On Thursday, April 18, from 6 to 8 p.m., it is hosting Chef Alejandro Ortiz of Pinta School of Wine for “Taste of Thailand.” The event includes five courses, including a starter, three main courses and dessert.
On Saturday, April 20, from 9 to 11 a.m., Chef Michael Kahikina is leading “French Bistro Brunch.” The final class will occur on Friday, April 26, with Chef Alejandro Ortiz.
Athens Cooks also added “The Vegan” to its menu, which is a sandwich filled with housemade red pepper hummus, cucumbers, pickled red onions, microgreens, spring mix, everything spice and an avocado spread, all on Independent Baking Co. sourdough.
Sun Cat Sweets
Sun Cat Sweets is back with another pastry box. The selection includes two rosemary chocolate chip cookies, one brioche donut with passionfruit glaze and cacao nibs, one strawberry cheesecake hand pie and one slice of coconut date coffee cake.
The coconut date coffee cake is a coffee-infused and coconut sugar cake base with shredded coconut streusel spiced with cinnamon and a date coffee spread in the middle.
Pick up for the pastry boxes is on Saturday, April 20, from 2 to 4 p.m., at Figment Fermentation. Each box is $32, and customers must venmo Sun Cat Sweets upon ordering. To get an order started, direct message the Sun Cat Sweets Instagram account.
Any extra pastries will be available per piece on pick up day.
Southern Brewing Company
On Friday, April 19, Southern Brewing Co. is holding a Taylor Swift-inspired release party for its “Look What You Made Us Brew,” a women-made Rosé Saision.
The event will include Taylor Swift-themed yoga by Feel Free Yoga from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m, eats from the The Alpine Pizza Co. food truck, friendship bracelet making, Easter egg giveaways, specialty co*cktails and mocktails and lots of dancing. Additionally, there will be an Eras costume contest at 8 p.m.
Then, on Saturday, it is hosting the “Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival” beginning at 2 p.m. Food will be provided by Southern Smoke Shack BBQ, Concessions on the Move food truck and The Snow Biz Crew shaved ice truck. Music will begin at 3 p.m. with performances by Big C & AJ, The Vibrations, The Original Screw Tops, Terraplane Blue, Frankie’s Blues Mission and Rick Fowler Band.
Five and Ten
Imported from Florida’s coast, Five and Ten is now serving mahi-mahi. The flakey fish is served with poached fingerling potatoes, spring onion, artichoke purée and a cilantro and sunflower pesto sauce.
Taqueria del Sol
The Prince Avenue location of Taqueria del Sol is serving weekly specials exclusive to the state of Georgia. These include a chicken fajita taco, jambalaya and “Potato Crusted Tilapia.”
The chicken fajita taco is not your average take on the dish, consisting of marinated chicken tenders with avocado sauce, green bell peppers, onions and cotija cheese served in a flour tortilla. The jambalaya is a more traditional take, made with andouille sausage, rice, smoked tasso chicken, herbs, spices and hatch green chile and chipotle peppers, served atop a Creole sauce with toasted French bread.
The “Potato Crusted Tilapia” is a tilapia filet crusted in potato, garnished with sautéed shiitake mushrooms and served with white rice and a green “New Mexico chile sauce.”
Mellow Mushroom
Mellow Mushroom is offering an online ordering deal on Saturday, April 20. Its pretzel bites will be available for $4.20 online only with the code “MEL420.” The pretzel bites are Mellow Mushroom’s dough tossed in garlic butter and parmesan, served with your choice of regular or spicy Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cheese.
Big City Bread Cafe
This Friday, April 19, Big City Bread has a line-up of dinner specials running from 3 to 9 p.m. The menu features a soup of the day, two small plates, a salad plate, a special burger, a special dinner plate and special sides.
The first small plate includes Maine mussels Provencal, tomato, garlic, fresh herbs, white wine and butter, served with grilled French bread. The second small plate is burrata cheese with truffle, prosciutto ham and petite arugula with extra virgin olive oil.
The salad plate contains locally-sourced red leaf lettuce, Georgia grown strawberries, toasted sunflower seeds, shaved red onion, feta cheese and citrus-mint vinaigrette. The dinner plate is pan-fried pork chop loin with brown butter, braised local sourced collard green with capers and roasted red potatoes.
