Last Resort Grill, nestled on a corner of Clayton Street
just a few short steps away from the famous Georgia Theatre and the bar lined
streets of downtown, is arguably the most famous restaurant in Athens, Georgia.
On any given night, outside you will find diners spilling out onto the
sidewalks waiting for a table, and inside standing room only at the cramped bar
area.
There seems
to be no limit to Last Resort’s patronage. There were elderly couples nursing
wine, young professionals, college students with their parents, and even a gaggle
of drunken twenty-somethings there for a bachelorette party. Inside, it is dim
and noisy with conversation. The exposed brick walls and light fixtures that
resemble beehives made of sticks give off an underground bodega kind of vibe.
My favorite
dining companion, my Mom, a friend and I arrived around 8:15, a little early
for our 8:30 call ahead [Last Resort does not take reservations] hoping to get
seated a little earlier. As it turns out, the “call ahead” was completely
futile and we could not have been more wrong. We crammed in at the bar and
ordered a couple of beers for the wait. By the time our table was called at
9:40 we were slumped over on a bench in the bar, already three beers in and
ravenous.
Once at the
table, a four top tucked into a quaint alcove, we eagerly consumed the menu. We
settled on two “small plates” [I told you we were hungry, right?], the shrimp
quesadilla topped with jalapenos, Monterey jack cheese, and pineapple salsa
[$6.95], and the Carolina crab cakes [$8.95]. The appetizers arrive after about
15 minutes and we dive in.
Both apps were good, but I’ll
admit, we devoured them like angry vultures so that could just be the hunger
talking. The pineapple on the quesadilla offered a sweet contrast to the
jalapeños, and the shrimp were perfectly cooked. The crab cakes were simple,
and not too mayonnaise-y, which is often my biggest complaint about crab cakes.
At one point my friend, Morgan, looked up and said guiltily, “I think I just
ate half of a crab cake in a single bite.” Amen, sister.
For the
entrée I select the Praline Chicken, a Last Resort classic. It is stuffed with
a “medley of cheeses,” drizzled with walnut honey sauce, and served with creamy
grits and green beans. At $14.50, its one of the cheaper items on the menu. My
Mom settled on the Pecan Crusted Blue Trout, served with lentil rice and
veggies, priced at $16.95.
Last Resort's Praline Chicken
Our food
arrived in about 30 minutes. The presentation fit the feel of the restaurant-
not overly fancy but still impressive. I started with the sides first, as I
always do. The beans were nothing special, just your average green beans that
your mom could have made for dinner on a school night. The grits were creamy
and quite good, and the texture felt more like mashed potatoes. The chicken was
juicy and plump, although it was more like a medley of cheeses with a side of
chicken than the other way around. Luckily, the medley was good.
My Mom’s
trout, however, was overdone. The pecan flour, cornmeal and walnut “dusting”
was really more of a smothering, and she had to scrape off most of the topping
just to taste the fish. No complaints about the rice and veggies, but no
ravings either.
We were
pretty full after the marathon of food shoveling we did [really, one would
think we were contest eaters], but the dessert choice was an easy one- Red
Velvet cake, my all time favorite. As a disclaimer, I am picky about my Red
Velvet due to my inability to pass it up under any circumstances, and therefore
having tasted an embarrassingly large number of variations. The cake was good,
moist and not smothered in gobs of icing. My only complaint is that the icing
was not the cream cheese variety, the traditional companion to Red Velvet cake.
Last Resort's Red Velvet Cake
When all
was said and done, the bill came around 11:30 and we were all certifiably in a
food coma, barely short of asking someone to simply roll us home. The place had
emptied out by then, and we shared the dining room with only one other couple
on a date. While I didn’t have any major complaints about the food, I wasn’t
completely blown away either. When weighing the food against the trouble of the
lengthy wait time and the constant jostling of the crowds, it just doesn’t
stack up. In the future, I think I’d steer clear of the dinner crowd and give
it a second try at lunch.
So why is
Last Resort such an Athens legend? The price range is a little outside the
realm of the average college student’s budget, although you do see a few couples
there on dates, and the food is good but not exceptional, especially compared
to some of the other restaurants in Athens. The best answer I can offer is
simply that it’s trendy. It’s a good place to go and be seen and its reputation
as an Athens classic has diners scrambling for a table. Everyone should try it
just once, but beware; it might not live up to the hype.
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