Atlanta Underground Market – Brunch Version

Yesterday, I went to the Atlanta Underground Market with Laura, her friend Felix, Heather and her husband Kirk. The Atlanta Underground Market is a monthly event where 30-40 different vendors, mostly home cooks and small businesses, sell their goods to people that otherwise might not get the chance to try them. The location is revealed in an email the day before the event. The entrance fee is $5 and the dishes are anywhere from $1-$5 each and are of various sizes.

Even though this event is somewhat secretive, a lot of people seem to be in the know and there was a line around the building to get in.

Fortunately, it moved fast once people were let inside. I’d been to the Underground Market once before, but this time was different because this month they focused on brunch foods. Now, truth be told, I’m not the biggest brunch fan. Don’t get me wrong; I like it just fine, but it’s not my favorite meal of the day. That said, I was still excited to try some new foods. And new foods I did try!

First were some gluten-free pancakes from Dr. Sweets Cake Emporium. Laura and I split an order of two and tried both the apple-jalapeno jelly and the raspberry lime jelly.

Next was a Bloody Maria mini cupcake from S’more cupcakes. Sounds kind of weird, but tasted delicious. It was savory, despite looking like it’d be sweet.

After the savory cupcake, it was time for another sweet treat, this time in the form of a Strawberry Margarita cookie from Cookie Underground. These cookies actually contain vegetables (this one was Lime Beet thin with Tequila Strawberry Cream rolled in Turbinado Sugar, to be exact). You would never know it though, because they were delicious.

After stopping at a few tables, we wandered around some to see our options. Last month was the first time I went to the Atlanta Underground Market and I didn’t have a strategy. I ended up buying the first five or so things that I saw and got too full to try some other things. This time, I knew that I needed to conserve my hunger until I figured out all my options.

Here’s an option that I didn’t try…

…it’s what you think it is.

We decided to wait in line for the most popular item in the market – arepas from Arepa Mia. Last month, I opted to not wait in the very long line for an arepa, but after hearing everyone rave about them, I decided that it was time to try them. We waited in line for at least half an hour before making our way to the front.

I was sort of worried that they might run out of the vegetarian arepas, but fortunately, they did not.

After that, we were tired and full and we parted our separate ways. My separate way included to my bed, where I spent the next two hours in a food coma. Well worth it though!