GLORY, do we ever recommend this restaurant.
A few months ago, while travelling to Athens, GA for the a cappella production work I do, we needed a sweet brunch spot. Some friends recommended this little place, Last Resort Grill. What a treat! In a town like Athens with SO many restaurants, you can never be exactly sure if you're heading into a tried and true place that will stick around for a while because of it's food, or if something is "recommended" because, to be frank, it's affordable to college kids.
Luckily for us, LRG fell in the former category.
The atmosphere at Last Resort Grill is kind of high-class meets downtown meets college town. Old windows, local art, and dark wood create a dark, cozy space, which we loved. At brunch on a Saturday morning the place was packed - this was definitely a place where kids get their parents to treat them to a great meal when they visit!
The first thing you'll notice when you walk in is the huge case of desserts. WHOA. We rarely eat dessert, especially at restaurant, but decided almost immediately that we'd make an exception and try one of the amazing looking cakes after our meal.
We had a lovely waitress who was knowledgeable about the menu, recent changes, and the specials. She recommended the black bean hummus to start, and it was a great recommendation! The creamy, deep hummus was offset by fresh, sweet pico de gallo and orange slices - delicious!
Jay got crab cakes for his meal and I got the ravioli special - a flavor that changes every day! Jay's crab cakes were delicious - light, airy but not falling apart, and accompanied by some corn relish and tons of greens, which he loved.
My food was great too, but the best part of the meal was the grilled Caesar salad that the pasta came with. It had fried capers on it! After that, no pasta could impress me. The ravioli was good (feta marinara was the special that day), but nothing that couldn't have been recreated easily at home. Given the name of the dish, I was hoping for a more pronounced feta flavor, or maybe some fresh herbs and fancy olive oil over the top, but I'm high maintenance when it comes to Italian food. We both finished all our food and loved all of it, even with minor gripes.
For dessert, we shared a piece of the coconut cake, and WHOA. Rewind, wish we had just eaten that for our meal.
It was so good.
Chilled desserts are great because they keep everything so moist, and this was no exception. Factoring in the fact (?) that I had 2 mimosas while I ate this cake, and I was an incredibly happy person.
I was also a person that didn't want to go back to work and wanted to nap instead, but that's an entirely different story.
Definitely check out Last Resort Grill the next time you're in Athens. You might need a reservation or have a bit of a wait, but that's only testament to the fact that this place serves great food at a great price - we can't wait to go back!
Click here to see the menu.
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