To my Dawg friends

Not that there aren’t 15,000 other options downtown. But Trappeze has good quality and selection.

I highly discourage eating at The Grill, though it’s a downtown tradition. It’s just not that good, and the wait staff mocks you for being a rube while you’re consuming their expensive, subpar fare. I love Farm 255, but it’s kind of expensive.

There are several hotels in the downtown area within easy walking distance. Hotel Indigo, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn & Holiday Inn Express, and Foundry Park Inn are all acceptable options.

It’s solid soul food. I used to love Clocked for burgers, but I haven’t been in years. I won’t even try to recommend a bar because I am way too old to be in any of them except after a victory between the hedges in the fall.

Has it gone downhill that badly? That was the closest thing to a ‘foodie’ spot when my wife and I were attending. Normaltown over off of Prince was my stomping grounds.

Anyway, Last Resort is over on West Clayton. Take in a show at the 40 Watt, just to be able to say you did— bonus points if a Pitch-A-Tent records band is playing.

Agua Linda on Prince Avenue is worth the walk, particularly if the owner’s son is still tending bar: his pitchers of margaritas were basically tequila with a lime waved nearby.

I don’t know if it’s worth a crap anymore, but a greasy quesadilla with onions and jalapenos from the Taco Stand on Milledge was the most awesome hangover cure.

In regards to the Grill, you may wish to visit it, just to say you did. The trick is, just order a plate of fries with a side of feta dressing (for dipping), and then a milkshake. You won’t be looked on as a rube (or at least that’s what the locals ordered when I worked there more than a dozen years ago).

sigh I miss Athens on fall days. Here’s hoping I can do the ‘football condo’ sometime soon.

I spent a total of 6 years there, just finished grad school in December.

These are my recs:

Friday afternoon: Check into a hotel downtown, Hilton Garden, Holiday Inn, or Gameday Condos. Go to the top of the GA Theater and have a few Terrapins on the rooftop bar (You enter from the corner of Clayton and Lumpkin and have to take an elevator to the top, ask someone nearby and they can point you in the right direction).

Friday dinner options: Last Resort (moderately priced, awesome food), The National or Farm 255 (Expensive, but both have Top Chef contestants as chefs), Amici (pretty cheap, wings, pizza, and beer), Utage (sushi), Nona (expensive, cajun).

Friday night: Nowhere Bar is awesomely sketchy and is a good place to kill time. Pauly’s is a great bar with lots of talent. Cutter’s and Allgood are usually fun with good crowds. If you want to stare at sorority girls, go to Bourbon Street or Magnolia’s (let’s be honest, you need to spend about an hour there and wish you were still in college), Bourbon has $1 drinks from 10-11 every night. Boar’s Head is where I spent about $10,000 of my parents’ money. General Beauregard’s is fratty in a racist way, but some people love it. City Bar is pretty good. Farm 255, Max Canada, and Trappeze are good for a hipster, beer snob vibe. RPM and Manhattan Cafe have militant hipsters who will be pissed that you showed up and inconvenienced them into serving you a drink. The Pub at Gameday is a good option as well.

Friday Late night food: Don’t eat at The Grill. It is full of assholes. There is a new Waffle House downtown and there is an Al’s Beef. Both are much better options.

Saturday AM/Afternoon: Eat breakfast at 5 Star Day and order either the 5 Star Benedict or the Elvis Breakfast. Last Resort also has a good brunch, there will probably be a wait.

Saturday Pre-Game: Royal Peasant or Cali n Titos are good options and close to Stegeman. Both have great food. Cali n Titos is BYOB, you pay a couple bucks for a wristband. YourPie is another option in 5 Points, they have pizza and the beer selection is decent. It’s about a half mile walk to Stegeman from 5 points.

Saturday Post-game: The same restaurants as Friday night. If you’re looking to not spend too much money, Five Star Day is again an option. There is another YourPie downtown on Broad. Taco Stand isn’t anything special, but does the job. East West is pretty good. Speakeasy has pretty good tapas and a bunch of groups of girls drinking bottles of wine. Shokitini is a more cosmopolitan sushi place, they have karaoke rooms.

Honestly, if you are looking for the older crowd, hipster vibe, stay West of Lumpkin Street. For the UGA undergrad experience, stay East of Lumpkin Street. Most Athens bars are closer to places like The Swamp and Salty Dog in Gainesville. The only thing close to clubs are The Loft (sketchy as hell) Barcode (sketchy as hell) 8e’s (sketchy, but awesome after midnight) and 9d’s (sketchy, and you’ll feel old).

Things to know: Don’t piss in public, cops are serious about this and you will go to jail. No open containers outside of the obvious patio places at bars, you’ll get a $50 ticket if you walk on the sidewalk with a beer, plastic cup or not. You’ll probably catch a lot of shit, people really hate Florida and will assume that you are a Jersey Shore reject.

But for maximum appreciation, you’d have to have experienced the Theatre pre-destruction.