Two Culinary Delights on Northside Drive
Audio link: https://anchor.fm/southern-bon-vivant/episodes/Two-Culinary-Delights-on-Northside-Drive-eogkv8
There’s few things we can take true pleasure in these days; with so many social gatherings gone and chances to see folks it seems there’s just one true creature comfort left to turn to: food.
Luckily for us, there’s two new places on Northside Drive in Macon- in the very same shopping center- that you can check out. Each are very different, each are very good.
You’ve likely heard of one of them, it’s gotten a LOT of media attention- while the other hasn’t. Each of them bookend this particular strip mall.
The Homestead Bakery and Coffee has gotten quite a bit of media coverage, and so I’ll mention them first. I went in just after lunch and their pastry counter was nearly cleared out, so you definitely need to go early in the morning if you want to get your pick, and since they open at 6:30 am Monday through Friday (closed weekends) that’s relatively easy to do. I was able to score a chocolate croissant and a lemon bar along with a latte. When the owner (darn! I didn’t quite catch her name) asked me did I want whole or almond milk… I thought I might go for the almond milk, why not mix it up a little?
The coffee was strong, just what I needed on that rainy day, and the chocolate croissant was everything one could hope for- just the right amount of chocolate and flaky, buttery goodness. The lemon bar wasn’t too tart, and had a slightly thicker crust on the bottom which honestly I love because it gave a better balance between the lemon and crust. Although crust isn’t quite the word for it either? No matter, just trust me that it was really good.
I was very happy with my visit, to say the least.
Next just a walk away is Pho Cali– I’d had my eye on them for a little while watching for them to open because quite frankly there’s nothing quite like a big hot bowl of pho. If you haven’t had it, it’s like a soup on steroids. Filled with an amazing broth and really good veggies.
I really just happened to go in one night because I was picking up NuWay for the rest of my family (holy Jesus has anyone else experienced the crazy wait over there lately??!! but- it’s worth it!) and I wasn’t really feeling like hot dogs or hamburgers that night. I drove down Northside on my way home not quite knowing what I was going to get for myself but was thinking of stopping in Panera for a sandwich when I glanced over and saw the sign at Pho Cali was on: they were open. I made the quick decision to take a right into their parking lot and walking inside to place my to-go order.
The people there were SO friendly- and they weren’t busy at all. I felt bad for them.
While there I noticed they had several kinds of boba tea, which my daughter is obsessed with after seeing it on TikTok or YouTube. Generally, boba- or bubble- tea has tapioca balls in the bottom of it. But Pho Cali offers boba tea with more than just that, I wish I had gotten a photo of everything they offered but I just was a bit overwhelmed by it all. I go two choices for my daughter, thinking whichever one she didn’t want I would have.
But now- now was the main show for me: the pho. I got one with shrimp, and they were large and lovely. I was also impressed with how well they packaged everything- all separated out so that once I put it together at home it would be freshly prepared.
As you can see- the photo on the right was just before I added the broth, but right after I added the sriracha they included. To be honest, writing all of this up makes me hungry for more.
Be sure to head over to 3780 Northside Drive, Macon, GA 31210 (I’ll also embedded the Google Map for y’all at the bottom of this post) so that you can get both your pho fix and your sweet/coffee tooth satisfied!
Love to all y’all,
Molly
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