Punta Cana Latin Grill (Athens, GA)

367 Prince Ave Ste 1, Athens, GA, United States, Georgia

 

Punta Cana Latin Grill is a Dominican restaurant just outside of downtown Athens, which serves a variety of more or less well-known Dominican street foods, including tacos, sandwiches, and empanadas, with a broad variety of different proteins, including chicharón and longaniza. Tostones and maduros also feature prominently on the menu.

I've eaten here several times. My favorite is the Punta Cana Sandwich ($8.99) with grilled tilapia, which is light and tasty, and comes with a side over lunch - the maduros are pretty good. The Riki Taki ($9.99) is classic streetfood, a big sandwich filled with ground beef, some vegetables, and massive loads of ketchup and mayo... tasty but very bingy. The Bandeja Punta Cana ($15,75) is a combination of 2 meats and 3 sides.

VERDICT: 82/100

Punta Cana offers Dominican streetfood, which is quite tasty but not subtle, as most dishes are decent but too geasy.

Hafnarbúðin (Höfn í Hornafirdi, Iceland)

Ránarslód 2, 780 Höfn í Hornafirdi

 

Hafnarbúðin is a rather small snackbar that serves burgers, sandwiches, fries, onions rings, and salads. The specialties are fish and lobster, as this place is just off the sea in a small touristic town in South Iceland. It is packed on this August early evening.

I get the Fishburger (ISK 1740 or ~$13.50)) and a Pylsa or Icelandic Hot Dog (ISK 430 or ~$3). The fishburger is  original and tasty, though not very special, and the hot dog is the standard tasty Icelandic version.

 

VERDICT: 83/100

Decent but not remarkable snackbar

Tri-Country Seafood (Cordele, GA)

401 S Pecan St, Cordele, GA

 

 

Small restaurant next to a fresh seafood store that serves a wide variety of fish and seafood, mostly grilled and fried. They also have burgers etc.

 

As a starter I get the Gator Bites ($7). Gator tastes a bit like, you guessed it, chicken and I had gator bites before and liked them. But these Gator Bites are very chewy and almost uneatable. 

 

I then get the Grilled Catfish Sandwich ($7) with side of a slaw. The Grilled catfish is very underwhelming and it is not helped by the bland tartar sauce. The slaw looks funky and doesn't taste particularly good.

 

VERDICT: 70/100

Despite being connected to a seafood fresh market, I found the food very underwhelming.

Popeyes (Athens, GA)

 3160 Atlanta Hwy, Athens, GA 30606

 

 

Popeyes is a US fast food chain that specializes in "Louisiana-style" (i.e. cajun) fried chicken. It currently has more than 3,000 locations, the vast majority of them in the US, but mow extending to some 30 countries too. Simply stated, it is a spicy KFC. I have eaten at various Popeyes since coming to the US, but have never been a fan. Most fried chicken is lukewarm and stale by the time you order it and the fries and sides are mediocre. 

However, the last two times I got sandwiches, in particular the Spicy Chicken Sandwich ($3.99) and the, new, Cajun Flounder Sandwich ($4.49). When prepared fresh, both are great sandwiches. The chicken sandwich is a serious challenger for then Chick-fil-a Spicy Chicken Sandwich -- crust is thicker and it has a spicy sauce -- while the Flounder sandwich had a good amount of fried fish with cajun seasoning (the tartar suace was weak). Both definitely among the better fast food sandwiches that any of the major US chains serve.

 

VERDICT: 78 (87)

Fast food is always tricky. Much depends on how long your food has been waiting for a customer. Overall, Popeyes is fairly average, but these two specific sandwiches are affordable and tasty!