Hole In The Wall

I have come to love hole in the wall restaurants. I think that they are unique and most of the time their food is unlike anything you would try at a chain restraint. Today I would like to introduce a couple of my favorite hole in the wall restaurants in Kennesaw. They just so happen to be only about a mile down the road from one another.

The first one that I am going to tell you about is The Nest. The Nest is a beer & BBQ joint located on Cherokee street. If you are not familiar with the area it is very easy to pass because it is located on a road with many old houses. The restaurant itself is the union of two 1880’s homes and opened in February of 2016. I have been there for birthday parties, graduation celebrations, and even just to grab a beer from their extensive beer list which I will talk about later. Needless to say, it is very popular among the people that know about it.

It took me awhile to figure it out but when you order a BBQ sandwich you are actually just ordering the pork and you get to put the BBQ on yourself. They have a few different ones like the white BBQ, spicy, and sweet. To me, I think that BBQ is better when the pork is marinated in the sauce for a while after it has been in the smoker. The flavor does not quite make me say “WOW!”. The beer on the other hand is a different story. I absolutely love how they sell their beer and how many options are on tap and the unique flavors that are switched out for something different when the keg runs dry. They sell their beer in three different sizes 4oz, 8oz, and 16oz. The prices of these sizes are what make it cool. They make sure that you are paying the same per ounce. So if a 4oz stout is $2.00 the same stout in an 8 oz will be $4.00 and the 16oz will be $8.00. This means I can go in there and buy a bunch of 4oz beer and get to taste a bunch of their current taps without being charged extra for getting a smaller glass.

Here is an example of the draft beer list on an average day for The Nest. The colors are coded by the type of beer.

The Nest has an outdoor seating area which they call a beer garden. It is complete with a Sherman chimney, umbrellas, an outdoor TV, and a view of Cherokee street. The ambiance there changes depending on what time you go. During the day I get vibes of a relaxed, at home comfort that I can order a beer from the bar and go sit on the front porch. When I have come during the night the ambiance feels a bit romantic, warm, and intimate, perfect for a date or a night out with friends. I absolutely love this location and as much as I would like to keep it a secret so the intimacy isn’t interrupted by large crowds, I can’t because it is just that great!

The second hole in the wall is also located on Cherokee street. The name of it is Bangkok Cabin and it serves authentic Thai cuisine. The interesting thing about this restaurant is that not only is it built in a house like The Nest but when you walk in you literally feel like you are in a house that has multiple tables and a checkout desk. It is not the most decorative place but you definitely feel like the cook is your personal chef because out of the approximately 10 times I have been in there, half the time we were the only people in the whole place. I am not sure if it was because of what time we went or what but it is extremely intimate. However, that does not stop the servers from being professional and treating us as if we were guests in their home. They are always polite and the place is always clean.

This is a picture that was taken from the front of the restaurant. You can see that the structure of the house is not very open.

Bangkok Cabin has Pad Thai that is to die for. I have gotten it a few times and every time it satisfies my craving for spicy Thai noodles. Even though it is a hole in the wall and it seems to be empty every time I go there, they still manage to stay afloat. I think this has to do with the amount of to-go orders and Uber Eats orders they receive.

I used to think hole in the wall restaurants were not good or clean because of the main fact that if I had not heard of it then I was not going to like it. This closed minded way of thinking stops you from experiencing some amazing food! Now that I have opened up to the idea of trying hole in the wall restaurants, I crave unique food. I absolutely love going to places like these!