Hillary Brown, Flagpole Magazine Journalist Profile

Articles

New Ice Cream Shops To Beat the Heat

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

This week marks the official start of summer, which means you can absolutely consider ice cream a meal. Cold and full of protein and calcium, it can sometimes be the right answer when nothing else sounds good. Treathouse, the creative, vegan soft-serve ice cream shop that operates out of Treehouse Kid and Craft on Barber Street, recently extended its hours for the summer, so that it’s now open 12–6 p.m. Sunday and Monday, 12–8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 12–9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Plantation Buffet Makes a Change, and More Food News

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

Plantation Buffet, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Pkwy. (always an extremely awkward combination), has been sold to new owners and has a new name: J & L Buffet. Hours remain weekdays from 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.The building at 3755 Atlanta Highway that was the Carriage House, and before that was Sonny’s BBQ for a long time, is no more. In its place will arise a new Barberitos and yet another Dunkin’.
Steamed Bagels, More Mexican and Other Athens Food News

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

Sully’s Steamers, a steamed bagel sandwich franchise that uses words like “oozy” to describe its products, is open at 255 E. Clayton St., which previously housed a frat bar. It does business mostly starting at 7 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m.Down the block, Athens Wok is closed for good, a victim of the next-door hotel’s remodeling and expansion.
ZZ & Simone’s Sunday Brunch, and More Food News

1 month ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

ZZ & SIMONE’S (1540 S Lumpkin St., 706-395-6556, zzandsimones.com): It’s hard for me to believe that Shae and Ryan Sims’ suavely casual Italian restaurant has only been open for about three years, so quickly and smoothly did it become an established part of the dining scene in Athens. One thing I’ve appreciated about it is its commitment to stability from the perspective of a customer. It’s not always tinkering. That doesn’t mean the menu never changes, but the experience isn’t aggravating.
Metro Diner’s Middleground, and More Food News

1 month ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

METRO DINER (3075 Atlanta Highway, 706-708-9243, metrodiner.com): It’s quite possible that Metro Diner is the most aggressively normal restaurant I’ve ever eaten in. Opened last year in front of Target, in a space that was previously Hardee’s, it is a franchise out of Jacksonville, FL.
New Locations for Your Bubble Tea Fix

2 months ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

I’m not much for a fancy beverage that’s not a cocktail (recognizing the legit need for mocktails) and never have been. It’s not that I’ve never been to a Starbucks, but for the most part I make my own coffee, and if I do happen to go to a coffee shop to get my caffeine fix, my order is rarely more complicated than “black, no sugar,” maybe iced if it’s hot out. While I take my children to get bubble tea, I don’t really get or participate in that phenomenon either.
Baddies Burgers Will Replace Winghouse Grill This Summer

2 months ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

About five years ago, Winghouse Grill opened a location in Normaltown, in the space formerly known as Ike & Jane (and as Black Forest Bakery before that). Yesterday its owners confirmed via social media that that location will close May 1, running limited hours (11 a.m.–3 p.m.) and serving out of its food truck until then. The locations in Hull and Watkinsville will remain open.
Foxtail Coffee Opened, Three Buddies Has Come to Baxter Street, and More Food News

2 months ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

Foxtail Coffee Co., a Florida-based chain, has opened on West Hancock Avenue in the bottom of the Hancock House apartment building. In addition to serving a traditional coffee shop fare, Foxtail’s menu includes beer, wine and 10 flavors of gelato. After a long time being “temporarily closed,” Ponko Chicken on Baxter Street closed for real (is it possible that the only chicken fingers that can succeed within a stone’s throw of UGA’s high-rise dorms are those made at Raising Cane’s?).
316 Caribbean Cuisine Brightens Mall, Plus Beechwood’s Family-Friendly Mexican Restaurant

Mar 26, 2025 | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

316 CARIBBEAN CUISINE (3700 Atlanta Highway, 404-904-3574, @316caribbeancuisine): In a time when what’s left of the Georgia Square Mall calls to mind Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, it’s nice to find a bright spot: an entrepreneurial setup serving tasty Jamaican food out of the nearly abandoned food court. Sure, the lights seem to be off in the cavernous space, and the only other eatery around is Jack’s Cheesecake. Even the pretzel stand is closed.
Pretty Boy's Youthful Atmosphere and Explosion of Flavors

Mar 12, 2025 | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

Pretty Boy (247 Prince Ave., 706-850-0938, prettyboyathens.com): It was a long wait for Kenny Nguyen’s Vietnamese-with-a-twist restaurant to open. Then it was a long wait for me to get to it—sorry! Life gets in the way sometimes. It’s inevitable, given the clientele (young Millennials, old Gen Zs) and the East Asian focus of the food, to compare it to Puma Yu’s, but they have different vibes. Pretty Boy is a little younger in its feel and its audience.