Tin Roof Kitchen closes for good

Those of you that love the food at Tin Roof Kitchen have probably been waiting impatiently for the restaurant to reopen after their "non-working hood incident".  Sadly, they are not ever opening back up.  After a friend asked if they'd reopened yet, I went on the TRK website and then linked to their FB page.  Below is the last note posted by the owner, Robyn.

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I know you all have been anxiously awaiting our re-opening date, however, at this point I have decided to close Tin Roof and offer it's assets for sale. This decision comes from my desire to spend more time with my family and to pursue other business opportunities. Thank you for a wonderful run and all of your support! If you are interested in purchasing the restaurant and obtaining the lease on the building, please send a message through the page here on FB. Thanks again!!!
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Unfortunately, TRK never quite got their act together on the service side.  But this is an issue at many places in Alpharetta where the kids usually don't need (or choose) to work.  Anyway, I'm sad to see it go.  And I'm really glad my favorite pancakes are those found at Another Broken Egg Cafe which is not only open in Johns Creek, it's insanely busy and the service is fast and friendly ;)

Happy weekend to all!  

First Watch gluten-free review

For several years, I'd read rave reviews of a FL based chain called First Watch so naturally I was uber excited when I learned about a location opening close to where we live.  Because I have celiac and try to limit the chance of the staff at restaurants messing up my food, I rarely go to a new place right when it opens.

Back in March, we tried First Watch for the first (and for now, at least, the last) time.  The staff was knowledgeable about the gluten-free menu selections which I very much appreciated.  My meal was gluten-free which I also appreciated.  What I was not thrilled about was that the scramble meal I ordered seemed much more like scrambled eggs and potatoes with a garnish of cheese and bacon than a cheese and bacon scramble.

Egg Harbor Cafe, Another Broken Egg and Tin Roof Kitchen all have excellent gluten-free brunch options and all offer specialty dishes like gluten-free pancakes, bread, etc.  Well, everything at Tin Roof Kitchen is gluten-free. So, First Watch already has a mark against it since there is not a single specialty item offered.

When my cheese and bacon scramble arrived, I assumed they'd left off the cheese by mistake.  Upon further investigation, I did find a minuscule amount of cheese on the very bottom of  the dish.  The bacon bits were a little more obvious.  There might have been two teaspoons of cheese and one teaspoon of bacon in the whole dish - or there might have been less than that.  The manager of the First Watch here needs to go eat at Egg Harbor Cafe so they can see what a scramble is supposed to look like.

On a positive note, my husband said his pancake-of-the-day special was very good.  So, if you can eat gluten, you might want to check the place out. Or if you don't mind not being able to have toast or bread or a bun or pancakes that you'd normally associate with a breakfast/brunch menu......you might also want to check out the place.  For now, I'll continue to spend my money where I can have a 'normal' breakfast that's as good as any gluten filled options on the menu.              

Food Truck Alley in Alpharetta

Berry cobbler at Tin Roof Kitchen

Food trucks have been popular for a while now, but honestly, I live in the burbs and rarely had a chance to check out the gluten-free options at the moving feast roaming the streets of Atlanta.  So I was super excited to find out that my new neighborhood has a food truck alley on Thursday nights!

At the event we attended, there were three food trucks that had various gluten-free options and a BBQ restaurant tent with many meat options as well.  Below are some gf friendly trucks (far from a comprehensive list) in the ATL.

WOW! (most arepas are gf)
Tex's Tacos (ask for corn tortillas, no gf quesadillas)
The Fry Guy (fab fries, avoid malt vinegar sauce)
King of Pops (bike cart - a few flavors contain gluten)
Happy Belly Curbside Kitchen (killer kale salad!)  
To learn more about Alpharetta's Food Truck Alley nights, please check out this website.  The trucks for each week are listed on Monday or Tuesday for that week's event on their FB page.

It was pleasantly cool during our visit to this fun event (due to a rainstorm earlier that evening) so none of us were jazzed about having a frozen pop from the King of Pops. (Plus, we can get their fabulous treats at Whole Foods).  Therefore, we walked a block over to Tin Roof Kitchen and shared desserts including chocolate cake, caramel sea salt panna cotta, apricot pound cake and berry cobbler. I can't think of a more perfect way to end our night at the Food Truck Alley event in Alpharetta!