Posted Sun Dec 1, 2002, 7:23am Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
I'll be doing some nosing around of my own in future months in Charlotte, as my new girlfriend owns a house there and will be living there permanently a few months from now. A frined who's less fanatical than I am about espresso drinks but still fairly discerning recommended Dilworth Coffee House at 1235 East Blvd. They're an on-premises micro roaster and he says they make a darn good drink. Charlotte has a bunch of Caribou Coffee locations but they're more or less a *$ knock-off with predictable results. Citysearch.com is the best search method I've found for coffee houses - good luck and report back!
Posted Sun Dec 1, 2002, 8:49am Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
I will post back with results as I begin to visit there more regularly and get a feel for the place. I can't comment on the merits of Atlanta or Charlotte relative to the left coast but what I've seen and experienced of Charlotte thus far has it seeming preferable to Atlanta. Traffic in Atlanta is a hige problem that is getting worse. Charlotte has its own traffic issues but seems to be building up the highway infrastructure rapidly enough to deal with it. I'm a big fan of Vietnamese food and was pleased to find that there's a large enough Asian community in Charlotte to support six Vietnamese restaurants. The downtown is actually kinda cool wiht some funky old and new buildings and cool little shops and cafes but it's like a ghost town at night and six miles and a 20 minute drive from midtown Manhattan, where I visit for fun a few times each week. It's a difficult adjustment to be in a place where "downtown" is 18 miles away yet you still live in the city limits.
Posted Sun Dec 1, 2002, 9:30am Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
Yes, I was pleasantly surprised with Charlotte. I guess the reason Atlanta is a consideration is the job market. My husband may not be able to secure a job in Charlotte.
I know what you are saying about traffic....we live in Los Angeles and both commute daily.:-(
Good to hear about the Vietnamese places....I would actually like to know about other ethnic places, particularly Indian, Ethiopian and Persian.
I did see some interesting coffee places while I was visiting last time but I was only there for three days so didn't really visit much. I really want to find something comperable to our local place here, Peet's coffee. I love the stuff!
Posted Sun Dec 1, 2002, 10:04am Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
I know there's at least one Ethiopian restaurant in Charlotte and one jamaican take-out place. There's another "Caribbean" place listed on Citysearch but it may be a fusion sort of thing rather than the real deal. Atlanta appears to have a very large Asian population and a slew of associated restaurants. It also has mroe than a few Persian restaurants, some of which are said to be very good. When I was last there I tried one out near Perimeter center where I was staying - it was excellent and moderately priced. My GF is in the insurance business and to get a job at her level she may have to work in Atlanta, coming home just for weekends or possibly working out a deal to do some remote work from a home office part of the time and just be in Atlanta on alternate weeks. Not an ideal solution but she has a far stronger desire to live in Charlotte in part due to having very close friends there but also from the quality of life perspective. Depending on what area of Atlanta you are considering, you may find Charlotte to be a bit more "Yankee friendly". This is only a guess based on hearsay but my GF and her Charlotte based friends (who retired there from NJ three years ago) are African-American and perceive Charlotte as being a friendlier place from their perspective. At least in some areas, they find to be a good mix of people with local roots and those who have come from elsewhere. I'm still quite uncertain as to whether I can adapt to the suburban lifestyle, having never lived it, but I'll see how it goes on my visits. I'll eb there again from Dec 21 to 23rd and will report back on whatever coffee experiences I have there.
Posted Tue Dec 17, 2002, 11:25pm Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
ATL here, San Fran coffee company in the highlands is really nice. latte's and such are good , very good when you find someone there that actually cares. One of the stores shares space with a small art gallery that is really cool. The main store roast a few times a week and has several blends/roast to choose from. The smaller store with the gallery gets its fresh beans from the main store on wednesday so be aware that sun-mon coffee is so so and i would not buy on those days. There is supposed to be one other nice place here, i have to check it out before i can recommend it. As far as traffic, yes it sux. But planning where you will live in relation to work helps to the point that is non issue. If you move down let me know id be happy to show you guys around some nice restruants, i know great thai and chinese ( which is hard to find here , well stuff that doesnt suck is ) and we have some international markets that are good if you cook at home. Ill ask my vietnemese friends what is good in that area as well, i know a few good indian curry joints too.
bobbler Senior Member Joined: 30 Nov 2002 Posts: 12 Location: Atlanta / Chicago Expertise: Intermediate
Posted Wed Dec 18, 2002, 2:48am Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
> Good to hear about the Vietnamese places....I would actually like to know about other ethnic places, particularly Indian, Ethiopian and Persian.
I moved from Chicago to Atlanta 13-years ago. It's like a different country here, LOL... There are southerners, and there are the ones still mad about the Civil War (no joke)... flying the rebel flag (assoc. with not wanting to free the slaves is a major election issue).
Traffic here in relation to Chicago (and I suspect LA)... is non-existant (although I hear about it all the time, LOL... I never actually see it). The hinderance to getting somewhere is certain bottlenecks (certain areas of bad traffic)... and the fact that there is no direct route to anywhere (as most of the major streets and highjways were old Native American trails that were eventually paved over).
COffee: We have San Fran coffee house, Aurora, starbucks, Carribou, and Intermetzo Cafe on Peachtree St.. Its hit or miss with the starbucks and caribou. Im not excited about Aurora, but I plan to try San Fran (after seeing the other guys post on it).
Posted Wed Dec 18, 2002, 5:33am Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
I'll be back in Charlotte for a few days this coming weekend and also the following weekend. Hoping to at least get to Dilworth's to file a report here and perhaps try out the Viet place that was recommended to us (supposed to be good and it's out towards Concord near my GF's place).
Posted Thu Dec 19, 2002, 10:30pm Subject: Re: Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA
bobbler Said:
> Good to hear about the Vietnamese places....I would actually like to know about other ethnic places, particularly Indian, Ethiopian and Persian.
I moved from Chicago to Atlanta 13-years ago. It's like a different country here, LOL... There are southerners, and there are the ones still mad about the Civil War (no joke)... flying the rebel flag (assoc. with not wanting to free the slaves is a major election issue).
Traffic here in relation to Chicago (and I suspect LA)... is non-existant (although I hear about it all the time, LOL... I never actually see it). The hinderance to getting somewhere is certain bottlenecks (certain areas of bad traffic)... and the fact that there is no direct route to anywhere (as most of the major streets and highjways were old Native American trails that were eventually paved over).
COffee: We have San Fran coffee house, Aurora, starbucks, Carribou, and Intermetzo Cafe on Peachtree St.. Its hit or miss with the starbucks and caribou. Im not excited about Aurora, but I plan to try San Fran (after seeing the other guys post on it).
Heh, I hate the traffic in LA, its about the same as Atlanta from what i have seen. We have let it get out of control and its terrible.
I tried some coffee from Cool Beans in Marietta ( northwest metro ATL ) . Im not exactly taken on it. The beans are very fresh, they appear dry with no oil and the roast is light. They were roasted just hours before I got them, and maybe this is why i dont like them. This is the coffee they explain as being suitable for espresso, I didnt see a french roast in the place that looked nice and oily like the stuff from San Fran. The gentlemen pulled me a double to see if i liked it and you cant beat the service. Maybe I can talk him into roasting me something darker, what type of beans should I ask him to roast? He has costa rican beans, sumantra, etc, and a ton of others. I've never tried auroa and I have had decent experiences from intermezzo, but i need a place i can buy roasted beans. I plan on trying freshroast.com next, they are in ATL and I need a consistent place to get a roast a tad lighter than San Fran.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 