Monday, September 18, 2006
Decatur, GA
Decatur is a close in suburb of Atlanta, about 10/15 minutes east of downtown.
Pyng Ho
1357 Clairmont Rd Decatur, GA 30033-5311
(404) 634-4477
I like Chinese food, but I'm no expert like some of the other contributors to this blog. But this is my favorite Atlanta Chinese restaurant. I tend to order the same things a lot in ethnic food restaurants and judge them on the basis of their proficiency in these dishes. For Chinese restaurants it is Hot and Sour Soup, the entree is really an afterthought. Pyng Ho makes a great Hot + Sour. They also happen to have an enormous menu full of interesting looking things, but I haven't tried too many of them.
Southern Sweets
186 Rio Circle, Decatur, Georgia
404-373-8752
11Am - 5pm
Southern Sweets is primarily a catering operation, specializing in cakes and pies. But they have a few seats and tables and serve sandwiches and salads foor a few hours a day. The sweet tea is good, as should be expected of any place called "Southern Sweets" and I love the salmon salad. Everything tastes good but some of the sandwiches are poorly engineered (the bread doesn't hold together with the filling). Southern Sweets is located in a kind of drab area just across from Your Dekalb Farmer's Market.
Southern Sweets' website
YDFM Cafeteria
Cafeteria is inside farmer's market at
3000 E. Ponce De Leon Avenue Decatur, GA 30030
404.377.6400
11a-8p
Your Dekalb Farmer's Market is on balance probably my favorite place to eat. It is a giant airplane hangar of a farmer's market with all kinds of great fresh food and highly recommended for locals looking for groceries, but this blog is for travelers, and they also have a good cafeteria. I go there a lot simply to eat even when I'm not shopping. It has a hot bar and a cold bar. The cold bar is salad and prepared salads, like lentil salad, bok choy salad, wild rice salad ect. The hot side has various vegetables (the YDFM is an "International" market and emphasis is on diverse ethnic style dishes), a couple bean dishes, a few rice and pasta dishes as well as meat and fish. I love the goat and lamb dishes, and the grass fed beef dishes (all beef dishes are grass fed beef). They also have Samosas and soup at an extra charge (evertyhing else is charged by weight). What's so great about the YDFM cafeteria is that you can get a wide variety of healthy food (especially vegetables) at once. This is key when you've been on the road eating McDonald's for a week.
The cafeteria closes at 8 pm but they usually stop refreshing the food well before that. I wouldn't go after 7pm. Also remember it is cash only!
YDFM Website
Sushi Avenue
308 W PONCE DE LEON AVE,DECATUR,GA,30030
(404) 378-8448
This is Decatur's neighborhood sushi bar. It's good, clean and moderately priced. Nothing crazy here, but they do all the usual stuff well. If you like sushi, you may not be wowed, but you will not be disappointed.
Levi's
308 W.Ponce de Leon Ave. Suite I Decatur, GA 30030
404.378.8881
Closed Monday. Open Weekdays and Saturday 11:30am - "close" Sunday opens at 4pm
Levi's is a few doors down from Sushi Avenue. It's a fun, casual fish house. I go there occasionally for oysters. The fish dishes are good and come with a side of sweet plantains (maduros).
Levi's Website
Mediterranean Grill
2126 N Decatur Rd Decatur, GA 30033
404 320-0101 Fax 404 320-9425
Monday - Saturday 11:00am - 9:30pm Sunday Noon - 8:30pm
Your basic Turkish/Middle Eastern/Greek shop. No lamb in the kufta, it's all beef (a negative point as far as I'm concerned). All the usual suspects are here and done well: falafel, gyros, kabobs. If you can get there in the middle of the day the "buisness lunch" combo is a great deal.
Mediterranean Grill's Website
Viet Chateau
254 W Ponce De Leon Ave Decatur, GA 30030-3269
404 373-0100
At the corner of the same street with Sushi ave and Levi's is Viet Chateau, a somewhat fancy but still inexpensive Vietnamese restaurant. The waitstaff is friendly and the food is tasty. I can't really remember specific dishes I've gotten there beyond pho, but it's all been good. They have some interesting smoothies, and though I've had durian I haven't yet been able to bring myself to get a durian smoothie.
Pyng Ho
1357 Clairmont Rd Decatur, GA 30033-5311
(404) 634-4477
I like Chinese food, but I'm no expert like some of the other contributors to this blog. But this is my favorite Atlanta Chinese restaurant. I tend to order the same things a lot in ethnic food restaurants and judge them on the basis of their proficiency in these dishes. For Chinese restaurants it is Hot and Sour Soup, the entree is really an afterthought. Pyng Ho makes a great Hot + Sour. They also happen to have an enormous menu full of interesting looking things, but I haven't tried too many of them.
Southern Sweets
186 Rio Circle, Decatur, Georgia
404-373-8752
11Am - 5pm
Southern Sweets is primarily a catering operation, specializing in cakes and pies. But they have a few seats and tables and serve sandwiches and salads foor a few hours a day. The sweet tea is good, as should be expected of any place called "Southern Sweets" and I love the salmon salad. Everything tastes good but some of the sandwiches are poorly engineered (the bread doesn't hold together with the filling). Southern Sweets is located in a kind of drab area just across from Your Dekalb Farmer's Market.
Southern Sweets' website
YDFM Cafeteria
Cafeteria is inside farmer's market at
3000 E. Ponce De Leon Avenue Decatur, GA 30030
404.377.6400
11a-8p
Your Dekalb Farmer's Market is on balance probably my favorite place to eat. It is a giant airplane hangar of a farmer's market with all kinds of great fresh food and highly recommended for locals looking for groceries, but this blog is for travelers, and they also have a good cafeteria. I go there a lot simply to eat even when I'm not shopping. It has a hot bar and a cold bar. The cold bar is salad and prepared salads, like lentil salad, bok choy salad, wild rice salad ect. The hot side has various vegetables (the YDFM is an "International" market and emphasis is on diverse ethnic style dishes), a couple bean dishes, a few rice and pasta dishes as well as meat and fish. I love the goat and lamb dishes, and the grass fed beef dishes (all beef dishes are grass fed beef). They also have Samosas and soup at an extra charge (evertyhing else is charged by weight). What's so great about the YDFM cafeteria is that you can get a wide variety of healthy food (especially vegetables) at once. This is key when you've been on the road eating McDonald's for a week.
The cafeteria closes at 8 pm but they usually stop refreshing the food well before that. I wouldn't go after 7pm. Also remember it is cash only!
YDFM Website
Sushi Avenue
308 W PONCE DE LEON AVE,DECATUR,GA,30030
(404) 378-8448
This is Decatur's neighborhood sushi bar. It's good, clean and moderately priced. Nothing crazy here, but they do all the usual stuff well. If you like sushi, you may not be wowed, but you will not be disappointed.
Levi's
308 W.Ponce de Leon Ave. Suite I Decatur, GA 30030
404.378.8881
Closed Monday. Open Weekdays and Saturday 11:30am - "close" Sunday opens at 4pm
Levi's is a few doors down from Sushi Avenue. It's a fun, casual fish house. I go there occasionally for oysters. The fish dishes are good and come with a side of sweet plantains (maduros).
Levi's Website
Mediterranean Grill
2126 N Decatur Rd Decatur, GA 30033
404 320-0101 Fax 404 320-9425
Monday - Saturday 11:00am - 9:30pm Sunday Noon - 8:30pm
Your basic Turkish/Middle Eastern/Greek shop. No lamb in the kufta, it's all beef (a negative point as far as I'm concerned). All the usual suspects are here and done well: falafel, gyros, kabobs. If you can get there in the middle of the day the "buisness lunch" combo is a great deal.
Mediterranean Grill's Website
Viet Chateau
254 W Ponce De Leon Ave Decatur, GA 30030-3269
404 373-0100
At the corner of the same street with Sushi ave and Levi's is Viet Chateau, a somewhat fancy but still inexpensive Vietnamese restaurant. The waitstaff is friendly and the food is tasty. I can't really remember specific dishes I've gotten there beyond pho, but it's all been good. They have some interesting smoothies, and though I've had durian I haven't yet been able to bring myself to get a durian smoothie.
