So…I took one of my boys to his first baseball game this week, and if you have to ask it was Dodgers vs Braves (we are both Dodger fans, being from LA, and also braves fans).

It was such a fun time and definitely one for the books and a core memory for my boys and I!

Anyway. Duluth is having its week, and it's earned it. But I kept looking at the calendar and thinking — what about the rest of us?

So this one's for everybody else. Lawrenceville, Buford, Suwanee, Snellville, Norcross, Sugar Hill, Dacula, Peachtree Corners. Every single thing below is somewhere other than Duluth.

Grab your coffee. Let's go.

439 W Pike St, Lawrenceville

Real talk for a second.

Like I said, I grew up in Los Angeles eating Mexican food, and more than that — cooking it. It's the food I make at home when I want something to taste like it's supposed to taste.

Which means I think I can be a hard critic customer at most Mexican restaurants around here. I sit down, take one bite, and think "hmm… it doesn’t feel like home."

El Indio on West Pike is the one place that shuts that voice up.

It's the only Mexican restaurant I think about when I don't feel like cooking it myself. That's the whole review. That's the highest compliment I have.

Get the quesabirria tacos. Get the consomé (CON-SU-MEH) with them and actually dip — don't be shy about it.

If you're feeling adventurous, they do a birria ramen that has no business working as well as it does. And go hit the salsa bar. It's self-serve and it's the good stuff.

They're open till 10 most nights, 11 on Friday and Saturday. Prices are honest.

👉 Menu and hours here

Now here's my question for you — what's YOUR version of this? The one restaurant that does the thing you already know how to make, but better? Hit reply. I read every single one and I'm genuinely nosy about this.

Friday through Sunday. Nothing repeated from Tuesday. Nothing in Duluth.

Karaoke Night at Slow Pour Brewing
Friday, August 28 · 8:00 PM–12:00 AM · Lawrenceville

407 N. Clayton St, right in downtown Lawrenceville. It's free, it's 21 and up, and the taproom opens at 4:00 if you want to get there early and eat first — Fork It Up Sis is parked outside.

Look, you don't have to sing. Half the fun is watching a guy who works in insurance absolutely commit to "Total Eclipse of the Heart." But if you DO sing — what's your song? Because everybody's got one.

If Saturday's more your night, they've got live music in the taproom that evening too.

👉 See their calendar

Two mahjong sessions this weekend, both free, both 50+, and both are the last one of the summer — so if you've been meaning to go, this is the weekend.

Mahjong at Buford Senior Center
Friday, August 28 · 1:00–4:00 PM
2755 Sawnee Ave, Buford. Three hours, drop in, no experience needed.

Mahjong at George Pierce Park
Saturday, August 29 · 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
55 Buford Highway, Suwanee. Shorter and easier if you just want to try it once.

👉 Senior rec info here

Homeschool Book Guild at the Dacula Library
Friday, August 28 · 12:00–1:00 PM · Ages 12–15

265 Dacula Road. They're discussing "They Called Us Enemy" — George Takei's graphic memoir about being a kid in a Japanese American internment camp. Heavy subject, but it's a graphic novel, and it's one of the best conversations you can hand a 13-year-old.

If you homeschool and you've never plugged into this, it's free and it's an hour.

👉 Register here

Free "Annie" Dance Workshop at the Lawrenceville Arts Center
Saturday, August 29 · 9:00 AM–12:00 PM · FREE

This one's genuinely cool. Aurora Theatre's assistant choreographer is teaching actual choreography from their "Annie" production — on the actual stage. Beginner class at 9:00, intermediate/advanced at 10:30. It's free, but space is limited and kids under 18 need a signed waiver.

If you've got a kid who lights up at musicals, this is a core memory waiting to happen.

125 N Clayton St, Lawrenceville.

👉 Grab a spot

Snellville Farmers' Market
Saturday, August 29 · 8:30 AM–12:30 PM · Towne Green

2342 Oak Road. Easy Saturday morning — let the kids pick something weird and then figure out how to cook it together. That's the whole activity.

👉 Market details

Closer to the north end? Suwanee's market runs the same morning, 8:00 AM–12:00 PM at Town Center.

Norcross Summer Concert Series: Macon Music Revue
Friday, August 28 · 7:30–9:30 PM · Thrasher Park · FREE

93 Park Dr, Norcross. Southern rock, city-run, completely free on the lawn. This is the last one of the series, so it's the one to catch.

They're also collecting for the CAN-Do Food Drive that night — so throw a couple of cans in the car before you leave. Costs you nothing and it matters to somebody.

Bring chairs. Bring a blanket. Bring the neighbor who never comes to anything.

👉 Concert details

Rise & Shine on the River
Saturday, August 29 · 9:00 AM–12:00 PM · FREE

Jones Bridge Park, Pavilion #1 — 4901 E Jones Bridge Road, Peachtree Corners. Right on the Chattahoochee. Calming music, moving meditation, a mini farmers market, and a hands-on nature activity for the kids. All ages, no cost.

Honestly this might be the nicest three hours available in the county this weekend.

👉 County event info

Yoga at Sugar Hill
Saturday, August 29 · 9:00–10:00 AM · FREE

The Plaza, 5039 W Broad St. Outdoor, beginner-friendly, city-run. Bring a mat and water, register ahead.

👉 Register here

3333 Buford Drive, Suite 2022E (second level, near the main entrance)

Soup dumplings. In a mall. In Buford. Stay with me.

This is the Southeast's first location of a New York dumpling house out of Flushing, Queens — the kind of place that spent years on the Michelin Guide's recommended list before anybody in Georgia had heard of it. They opened here this summer.

Order the "Lucky Six" — six soup dumplings, six different colors, six different fillings. It's a whole moment when it hits the table, and it's a genuinely fun thing to eat across from somebody. Add the pan-fried pork buns and the scallion pancakes.

👉 Check them out

350 Town Center Ave, Suite 100

Different vibe entirely. Went here for a double date a few months ago.

Global small plates, serious cocktail program, opens at 4:00 and runs to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

And there's a speakeasy room you get into through a phone booth, with drinks you can only order in there.

I'm not going to explain more than that. Go find it.

The best part is the location — you're right on Town Center Park, so you can eat, then walk it off, then go back for one more. Dinner plus a walk is an underrated date.

👉 Take a look

Which one are you doing? Reply and tell me — I want to know if anybody actually finds the phone booth.

Everything I sent you Tuesday, in one place, so you don't have to go digging through your inbox.

Wednesday, September 9 · 7:00 PM · Downtown Duluth · 21+

Six strangers. One table. A few hours later, they're not strangers.

That's it. That's the whole thing.

The first one filled up. About a third of the people who came booked the next one before they even got home. Bring your spouse, bring a friend, or come by yourself — a big chunk of the first group came solo and within twenty minutes you couldn't tell who.

Take the quiz, we handle the rest, you just show up hungry.

First time? Use code BESTSUMMER for 20% off — only a few codes left.

Can't make the 9th? Get on the list at that same link and you'll hear about the next one first.

Since moving here from LA, I have come to love the way communities in Gwinnett come together to celebrate each other, help one another, hang out in the open areas in our cities to hear great music, and taste good food!

There is so much happening and the one thing I have slowly come to enjoy as I have ventured throughout the county is the local food places. LA is filled with them, and in Gwinnett they can feel like hidden gems.

So I take the spotlights and recommendations serious, I hope you take them and enjoy.

Alright neighbor — go do one of these. Not all of them. One.

And then tell me which one, because that's genuinely my favorite part of the week.

Maybe I’ll see you out there,

Your Neighbor and GwinnettBest Creator,

Gus Ruballo