something beautiful on cascade road
this monday my gf took me somewhere to eat i never would have found on my own. deep in the heart of southwest atlanta, just about equidistant to i-20, i-285 and the langford freeway is a little unassuming restaurant that sits on the south side of cascade road called very simply – the beautiful restaurant.
the place serves ‘soul food’ if that’s what you want to call it; chopped steak, ribs, fried fish, chicken, cornbread, turnip greens, mac and cheese; and the like. and it is some of the best of that style of food i have ever had.
the food is served from a cafeteria-style line and there is no relationship to what is on the menu and what is in the warming pans; you just wait your turn and then tell the man behind the line what you want. for my dinner i got chopped steak, mac and cheese and turnip greens.
after paying you sit down and a waiter comes over and gives you napkins and hot sauce or steak sauce or whatever you want.
and then you eat. oh, do you eat.
the food is out of this world. my steak was perfect and the gravy just full of flavor. the mac and cheese was so creamy i felt like i didn’t even want to swallow it; and the turnip greens were out of the world. so fresh and flavorful i didn’t quite no what to do with them.
what i loved about the place is how unassuming it is. there are no marketing gimmicks – they don’t even have a web site (and i think that some marketing geniuses would work very hard to recreate the atmosphere), no high-brow chef creations (not that i don’t love that too) but just good food done the way it’s been done for decades.
and cheap – a meat and three is about $6.00.
on a final note, the service is a friendly as anywhere i have ever been. we were greeted with nothing but smiles and ‘ya’ll come on back’s’ everywhere we turned.
and that is an invitation i plan to keep.
details –
the beautiful restaraunt
2260 cascade road sw
around $6.00 per person
some of the best soul food around
I’ve never been there but I’ve wanted to go since Goodie Mob rapped about it on “Soul Food.” Next time you go hit me up. Sounds like a fun experience.
you got it. most likely a week from monday….
The Busy Bee Café and Big Daddy’s are some great soul food restaurants in the SWATs also. Big Daddy’s is especially good, since it’s a Muslim soul food joint that serves great food with no pork.
sweet, karsh. thanks for the tips, i will check them out…
Another good soul food restaurant is Big Daddy’s near the Airport. (No relation to the Big Daddy’s on Cascade) http://www.bigdaddyssoulfood.com/
SW Atlanta has a few hidden gems. Hidden not from the locals, but from the General Metro population. West End has the original Soul Vegetarian (Same ownership as Va-Hi location), and Chantarelle (French-Country-Soul). I saw Chantarelle’s Chef on PBS preparing a meal on some cooking show. This dude prepares Curry Lamb, Breadbudding, and a Ricotta Mac-n-Cheese. Not your standard Meat and 3, but my personal favorite. Funny story… My first time to Chantarelle I ordered a Beef Tips type dish. I felt something in my mouth and was about to freak out, but when I looked at it it was a twig of rosemary! The Chef also uses real butter and real cream, and the Cornbread is moist and sweet. Bon Appetit!
And everyone should visit Busy Bee on MLK. It has some of the freshest tasting Soul Food to me. I consider Busy Bee an Atlanta Institution.
BTW I think Beautiful is nice too. It is open 24hrs starting Thursday – Sunday and serves breakfast. Sometimes I’ll go there if I have the munchies at 2am.
wow, thanks to everyone for the suggestions….nice to see this post generate this kind of response…
i will be checking them all out.
I may venture into the wilds of Chamblee tonight for something called “Chinese” food. Supposedly, they eat this with sticks instead of forks. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
Some friends who I worked with at H&R Block recommended the Beautiful Restuarant to me awhile back. I had forgotten all about it until now!
Another great place is in East Point, on White Way (a little side street off of Main, across from the MARTA station). It is called Q’s Restuarant. Info is below. The sweet tea is great and this place is always packed for lunch and also serves dinner.
1599 White Way
Atlanta, GA 30344
404-767-9894