🥗 Endless Caesar salad!
Feb. 5 — Hello, internet friends.
🍝 Something I think about a lot is how Olive Garden really got it right with the unlimited salad deal back in 2010. And yes, the soup and breadsticks are also unlimited – and good – and I promise there’s a point to this. You’ll have to keep reading to find out. Let’s just say, as someone who recently discovered she does, in fact, love salads, that when I really enjoy a salad, I tell everyone about it. That includes one of my food colleague group chats.
Earlier this morning, I published the longest “Quick Bites” I’ve written in my life (okay, in the month since I started editing “Side Dish”). I’m taking that as a positive sign from the universe.
🐇 With that said, get intel today on some recent restaurant openings, a few Valentine’s Day events worth checking out, and new restaurants arriving later this year. There’s also details on Commune’s final dinner service, a Madeira Park wine tasting, and El Ponce’s Bad Bunny party in honor of his Super Bowl halftime performance.
Plus, read about the best dishes Beth McKibben and I ate in January, including Greek lasagna, duck soba, and a sweet and salty jaggery latte from a new South Indian coffee shop in East Atlanta. I have a story on Filipino restaurant Estrellita and its relocation from Grant Park to South Downtown. And I take you on a Very Hungry Caterpillar-esque tour of a very strong food weekend I just enjoyed. (There was an endless Caesar salad involved.)
ICYMI, here’s a link to Tuesday’s “Family Meal,” where Beth offers a comprehensive roundup of January restaurant openings, and Tipsy Thaiger shares its fiery collards recipe.
See y’all next week!
🎂 Sarra
💙 The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has supported every major IBD research breakthrough. Who do you know with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis? Give today and support them through our Torch Gala on Sat., Feb. 7. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Quick Bites
Restaurant openings
🥯 PopUp Bagels opens its first Atlanta location at 661 Auburn Ave. on Feb. 6. The Connecticut-based chain is known for its “rippable, grippable, and dippable” bagels and currently has plans for four more Georgia locations, including an upcoming location at the Buckhead Landing shopping center.
🍉 Salted Melon Market & Eatery opens in Buckhead’s Andrews Square Feb. 11. The fast-casual sandwich, salad, and smoothie operation originally opened in Charlotte in 2022. The Andrews Square location is Salted Melon’s first restaurant outside of Charlotte, and fourth overall. Salted Melon Buckhead will celebrate its grand opening on Valentine’s Day. The first 100 customers will receive a free tote bag with any purchase.
🍕 The former Seven Lamps space at the Shops Around Lenox in Buckhead became Corbu’s Pizza in late January.
🥙 Alpharetta’s longtime Turkish restaurant Cafe Efendi (pictured) rebranded to Efendi Mediterranean Restaurant, according to a press release.
🍜 Ramyun Gallery and Lucky Claw “clawcade” are now open at 2860 Lawrenceville–Suwanee Road in Suwanee. Ramyun Gallery, inspired by East Asian convenience stores, opened its first location in Duluth last summer and offers a selection of customizable instant noodles. The restaurant will host a massive grand opening party, including menu discounts, a “K-Pop Demon Hunters” cosplay, and a DJ after party on Feb. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Restaurant closing
🍔 Suite Food Lounge on Luckie Street in downtown Atlanta announced it’s closing after 13 years, according to an Instagram post. Although a final service date wasn’t listed in the post, Suite Food Lounge is no longer taking reservations on OpenTable or orders on UberEats.
Coming attractions
🍕 Unkie’s Pizza + Bar will open at 3400 Clairmont Road in Brookhaven later this year.
🍡 Smorgasburg Atlanta returns to the intersection of Forsyth and Trinity on March 7. The weekly food festival’s Atlanta iteration originally debuted in South Downtown last October. Applications for food and retail vendors are now open. Check out Rough Draft’s favorite dishes from Smorgasburg Atlanta here.
🥐 South Korean bakery chain Paris Baguette will open at 1100 Peachtree St. in Midtown this spring, according to Tomorrow’s News Today. Paris Baguette currently has seven locations in Georgia, including one in Kennesaw, one in Chamblee, one in Dunwoody, and two in Duluth. A location at Vinings West is also in the works.
🍻 YAVA Kitchen and Brewhouse in Cumming is set to open on Feb. 17. That’s also Lunar New Year.
🥗 Atlantic Station recently announced a new wave of tenants, including Gocha’s All Day from Gocha Hawkins, which opens this spring, and Playa Bowls, which opens this summer.
Menu changes
🍸 Commune listening room and wine bar in Avondale Estates announced it will be doing away with full dinner service after Valentine’s Day. The announcement states that Commune will “still serve tasty snacks, just on a smaller scale.”
🧀 Buena Vida Tapas Bar on the Eastside Beltline is offering a new lunch menu, featuring $12 specials. Expect meal bundles like a chef’s salad, Caesar wrap, or grilled chicken pesto focaccia sandwich with a side and a soft drink.
Membership privileges
🖼️ Starting this week, all High Museum members will receive a 10 percent discount at Chef Craig Richards’ new restaurant, Elise. The discount excludes alcohol and special event menus. Members just need to present their current digital member card to their Elise server.
Add to your calendar
🍹 Spend Super Bowl Sunday at El Ponce, which will host a Bad Bunny-themed party called “Que Rico, Puerto Rico!,” featuring food and drink specials, a set from DJ Zólcalo, and performances by Conchita Bimbo, Mr. Elle Aye, and Chichi Pa’la Banda.
🍷 Madeira Park will host a Finger Lakes wine event on Feb. 11, led by General Manager and sommelier Jade Palmer. Tickets are $65 plus tax and available now.
💌 Manuel’s Tavern is having a fun Valentine’s Day contest that offers a first-place prize of a free meal in booth 8, a bottle of bubbles from Elemental Spirits, two movie tickets to the Plaza, a mead flight from Monks Meadery, and a night at Hotel Clermont. The second-place winner will receive a gift card for two DVD rentals from nearby Videodrome, $20 in Manuel’s Bucks, and a free flight from Monks Meadery. To enter, stop by Manuel’s Tavern to speak with a staff member. No purchase necessary. Winners announced Feb. 13.
❤️ Spiller Park Coffee’s Toco Hills location will host a Valentine’s Day Market on Feb. 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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Top Stories From the Week
Our best bites from January
😋 Since it’s part of our job as the dining team, Beth and I routinely eat at restaurants around Metro Atlanta and then gush about our favorite meals in Family Meal and Side Dish each week. Here’s our latest monthly roundup of favorite dishes and drinks from January dining.
⏩ Read more about our best bites from January.
Filipino restaurant Estrellita moving to South Downtown
🇵🇭 Good news, Estrellita fans! The Grant Park Filipino restaurant will relocate to South Downtown and open in a larger space, featuring an expanded menu and killer patio real estate. Service at Grant Park will wind down this fall, ahead of the opening in South Downtown by the end of 2026.
⏩ Read more about Estrellita’s new location.
At the Market + Two Recipes
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
🌶️ Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets are partnering to give you two recipes you can make using ingredients from your local farmers market. Whether you’re craving cheesy or spicy this week, we’ve got you covered! Try your hand at a hash brown and cabbage casserole, or spice it up with a vegetable pasta. Check out both recipes here.
🫶 The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has fueled every major IBD breakthrough. Think of someone you love living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Honor them by giving today and supporting our Torch Gala on Sat., Feb. 7. SPONSOR MESSAGE
That Slaps!
🥖 Do you ever have a run of days where just about everything you eat is so good it’s memorable? That was my experience this past weekend. On Friday, I decided to spend my dollars on Buford Highway, starting with lunch at Lee’s Bakery. I ordered a grilled pork banh mi, fresh summer rolls with hoisin instead of peanut sauce, and two lovely glasses of tea. Next time it’s below freezing and I’m at Lee’s, I’m getting a giant bowl of pho. Afterwards, I made a grocery run to Talpa Supermercado, which offers very good deals on chicken, by the way.
☕ On Saturday morning, I took my sister to San Francisco Coffee on the corner of Highland and Amsterdam. She got a ham and cheese croissant and an Arden’s Garden juice, while I enjoyed a forager’s burrito made with spinach, mushrooms, and goat cheese.
🌮 That night, I had dinner at Casa Balam in Decatur with family and friends, where I encountered the “Casa Select” menu. It features an unlimited soup or salad, appetizer, entree, and dessert deal for $45. I cannot speak for the soup, but I loved the Caesar salad topped with crunchy, baked parmesan and the appropriate amount of anchovies. The salmon made a great entree, and the dulce de leche flan was rich and satisfying enough to pass around the table.
Unlike with other set menus at restaurants, the entire table doesn’t have to order the Casa Select. While $45 per person isn’t exactly cheap, the Casa Select comes with a good bit of food. The portion sizes aren’t reduced, and you can keep ordering soup or salad until the chef tasked with making the dishes leaves for the night.
(If you’re still reading, thank you! I promise we’re in the home stretch!)
🍳 On Sunday, my body was craving protein like crazy after a trip to the gym. I’ve been on an omelet kick recently, and have to say Linda’s omelet (spinach, mushrooms, and white cheddar) at Murphy’s sated exactly what my muscles demanded. Sometimes the best brunch options are the simplest dishes, you know?
We’re always looking for recipes to highlight on Rough Draft. If you have a favorite dish from a restaurant you want the recipe for, please send me an email to sarra@roughdraftatlanta.com.