"Do you want to go to the locally-owned small cafe or the national chain?" I ask as we stand on the corner. The executives in the group look at each other, but say nothing, so Scrunch and I just start walking to The Atlantic, choosing the cafe. I'm happy knowing that my comfort food is just ahead of us.
As we enter, I spy the large table for our group of five and grab it. There are a lot of tables for four, but this is the last for more.
Our friendly waitress asks about Joe and Jared and takes our orders. Mary goes for a chicken gyro, Brady opts for the beef gyro with fries, our server chooses vegetable lasagna for me and Jon goes for the chicken pita sandwich. Following my recommendation Chuck orders one of the house specialties - Cevap (lamb and beef sausage) on panini with rice and salad.
As an afterthought, Chuck decides to get some dolmas for an appetizer which are served almost immediately to rave reviews. I wait patiently, watching the grape-leaf wrapped morsels disappear, as I think "dolmas might be one of those foods worth giving up vegetarian" -- but only for a second. They do look and smell great!
Over a single Diet Coke (Chuck) which has a fizz factor of 8 (maybe a bit high for a European-style cafe) excellent iced tea (surprising our waitress, who usually brings me coffee "weird!" she says) and "very watery" water, Brady tells his story of the being accosted by a panhandler while pumping gas, Mary tells of an encounter with another unsavory character, and I relate my (latest) drunk on the train story. Jon's got nothin'.
It's time for the out-of-context-quote-of-the-day: "If any of you guys need Viagra, I've got sources."
The plates arrive two at a time, just a little past the time we were expecting, and Chuck's arrives last. He marvels at the similarity to food he ate while in Bosnia.
After eating my balsamic vinagrette dressed salad, I enjoy the perfectly portioned vegetable lasagna (served with four slices of excellent bread) which is delicious as usual. Mary, Brady and Jon seem to like their meals, and Chuck raves about the cevap.
Walking back to the office our thoughts turn to ballet dancing attire and acorns and we all agree it is worth the walk, and wonder why we don't visit The Atlantic more often.
Sound clip of the week
Anna, Nadja and the rest always make sure the service is great: 9/10.
Vegetarian options: 9/10
Overall: I give The Atlantic a 9/10 if only to allow for room for improvement.
There were actually several choices on The Atlantic's menu that appealed to me, since I generally like Greek-ish Mediterranean cuisine, but I decided to play it safe and go with the beef gyro. I thought it was kind of odd that they didn't have lamb gyros, but the beef was plenty good.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the place's pita. It was softer and more pliable than what I'm used to and I kind of liked that. The gyro itself wasn't nearly as packed as what you'd get at the Greek Souvlaki, but the flavor was fine. I'd order it again. The fries were very good, mostly crispy but really thin (kind of like the ones you'd get at Acme Burger, but not as salty and held their crunch better).
Finally, the water was indeed watery and had no funny aftertaste.
Man-up possibilities: 8
Food quality: 8
Service: 7 (Food took quite a while to get to us.)
Overall: 8
first: you are killing me. are you kidding? you went to the atlantic? while i was on vacation?!? ok, you get a pass, because you intro'd fresh air to a good group of peeps.
ReplyDeleteb) chuck: i want to hear your take on the cevap. best.lunch.choice.ever. IMHO.
3: gmac and the heart attacks needs to review more. he's got mad writin skillz.
IV. OMG it is hot down here. see you all in a few.
ttfn,
-BIG RED.
Sounds like a delightful meal in delightful company. I would say I'm sorry I missed it, but that wouldn't be entirely true, because I'm on vacation and NOT at work! That said, I do miss the Crew. Y'all take care, and I'll see you soon!
ReplyDeleteLoved the play-by-play you gave us gmac. Need some more of that from time to time.
ReplyDeleteAs for my first trip to the Atlantic. It didn't disappoint. Friendly confines followed by tasty food. I concur with Brady in that it was tough to make a decision. Guess that means a return visit definitely awaits us.
My sandwich didn't disappoint as Paninis with me rarely do. Chased it with two glasses of water and left satisfied but not stuffed. My kind of meal.
Man-up possibilities: 8
Food quality: 8.5
Service: 7.5 (friendliness was awesome)
Overall: 8.25
One last thing though... where's the love for the photo montage that took me way to long to create. I tried to go all Wingnut on you all and I get nothing?
You know, I saw the montage and for some reason didn't even think about the fact that Chuck hadn't done it. Nice work Scrunch! You are super capable.
ReplyDelete