I hadn’t been to Front Page News in years, when I set up a meeting downtown with a fellow from Newnan.  We were going to split the distance between our offices and he suggested that we meet there.

Years ago, when we first started our in-town eating adventures, Front Page News (the one in Little Five Points) was a fairly regular stop.  But, over time, I started looking for “new” places and it fell out of the loop.  I didn’t drive by it often, or hear about it often, so it was forgotten. After it was suggested, I got excited about going there again, as I’ve become more adventurous in my food choices over the last 5 – 6 years.

I arrived a little early (11:15 or so), and the place was so empty that in fact I wondered if they were open

There was NO ONE there.  No one at the hostess stand.  No one in the bar.  No one in sight.  After a few minutes a server came down the stairs (out of the picture to the left) and offered to help.  As I was the first of three, I opted to wait by the window and watch the rain fall.  By the time my companions arrived, there were several tables full of folks upstairs and it filled to about two-thirds capacity by the end of the lunch hour.

Their stated goal is to bring a taste of New Orleans to Atlanta, so I went with the shrimp and grits (the menu description: “Cobblestone Mill stone ground yellow grits, topped with plump shrimp in Toulouse sauce with tomato, andouille, and more than a hint of Sherry”)

The shrimp and grits themselves were well executed, but they failed to mention all the extra “stuff” that was in the sauce.  Being as anti-onion as I am, and believing that most garnish is solely for looks, when I finished the shrimp and grits I had about a quarter of a bowl full of onions, celery and garnish.

I was impressed that when I asked the server if they had a certain brand of hot sauce (there was Tabasco and one other on the table), he directed me around the corner to “the wall” – a rack of 60 – 70 bottles of different brands of hot sauce.  I found one that I hadn’t tried that looked promising and splashed some onto the grits. 

Now that Front Page News is back on my radar, we’ll have to try it for dinner again soon.