La Madeleine - Dunwoody Atlanta Georgia

You can find this location of La Madeleine at 1165 Perimeter Ctr W, Atlanta, GA 30338 in a small strip shopping center in front of REI in Dunwoody - there are other eating options nearby including a Honey Baked Ham location and Zoe's kitchen. Parking is along the front of the strip mall or in the large lot to one side. This place can turn into a zoo during lunch so you may want to adjust your times to come a bit early ore after 1:00 PM. The building is on the corner and is easy to see from the street (when traveling on Perimeter Center W - the street that turns into Abernathy on the other side of 400).

I've had occasion to eat at La Madeleine several times as it's close to my work - the decor is supposed to be French provencal I think - woody on the interior and a bit dark. This is more of a fast-casual concept although it has existed long before the term has come into common use. You wait in line and order at a counter from several options for lunch - they include soups, salads, quiche, pasta and croissants for the most part with some accompanying sides. They also have a few classic "French" dishes, your basic meat-and-two. Most items are made-to-order. La Madeleine is also a bakery with several bread and dessert options.

I usually end up here for a quick lunch - you queue up in a continually flowing line and end up at a table somewhere - it's a little confusing as you proceed about what you are supposed to do but it's a bit like being in a cafeteria where you tell the people on the other side what you want as you proceed. At the end it's tallied up, you pay and then you grab a cup for your water, soft drink or tea. You can also grab from a container of bread, but it's very often empty so you may have to come back for some. Some items will have to be heated so they will eventually be brought to your table.

I'm not much of a sandwich guy so I don't remember if I've had any of the sandwiches. I usually go for the salads and add a bit of chicken, or I order the soup and half-salad. I like the Cranberry-Pecan Wild Field or the Strawberry and Bacon Spinach - when you add chicken it comes out to be about $10 or so. I've tried a couple of the chicken dishes (with rice and veg - broccoli or asparagus and they were both very passable. The gravies I've tasted have been just a bit heavy-handed but rather that than flaccid.

In all the service is good - the people behind the counters are responsive and friendly. They respond best if you are nice to them so be nice, this type of work is much harder than it looks and they're on their feet all day. Delivery to the table of any food ordered that has to be prepared is fairly slow so allow for that - it's also why I usually order the salad which is given to you before you leave the line. In all the restaurant to me is best for the salad options due to speed and marginally good for anything else.

-- John

(also published to Yelp)

Mimi's Cafe - Perimeter Center

Mimi's Cafe is located at 1221 Ashford Crossing, Atlanta GA 30346 in the same live/dine complex anchored by Target. Also available are Taco Mac and Outback nearby or a string of smaller restaurants a block over. This area is one of my favorites due to the proximity to my old office and now to my new.

I've had several dinners and lunches at Mimi's and in general the experience has been mediocre to good. The servers here, when they care, can be exceptional. While the food isn't spectacular, it's filling and you can generally find something on the menu to make your own. Well, that's if you're visiting on a regular week-day or evening.

Now for Mimi's Cafe's darker side. This past Mother's Day we called two weeks in advance to acquire a reservation, knowing that the day would be busy - this was for a party of 8 at 1:00 PM. We thought that this would be a good compromise time after the initial brunch. The entire party arrived about a quarter to 1:00 and we were told that there was a wait of about 30 minutes. While this seemed a little excessive, we figured that the restaurant got a bit more of a crowd than usual and it still seemed worthwhile to wait. We added a couple of Bloody Marys from the bar and of course that made things a bit better - also someone came out with some spice cake for us to munch on while we waited.

After about an hour, we were both getting impatient and very hungry, but we figured that by now everyplace nearby was probably just as packed - and indeed the sea of humanity had hardly subsided. There were still parties standing around everywhere, bleeding outside waiting for tables. We were informed that the previous group are sitting longer than usual. The staff were running around not knowing what to do about the crowds still waiting to be seated. We were told that we had the next table. 30 minutes later we were finally seated and greeted by a server, who started off very well until she found out it was the wrong table. 10 minutes later we finally got a server who managed to get our drink order to the table (pretty much all water). By now, approaching 3:00 PM we finally got our food order into the kitchen and the crowd had started to diminish.

A bread basket hit the table and disappeared before anyone could blink. The empty water glasses should have been a clue, but I think we became resigned to whatever would happen at this point. When the food started to arrive, about half the table was served and then the food runners seemed lost. 10 more minutes before the rest of the table was served - we ate quickly and asked for our check. Of course the muffins that came with the meal were never served - once this was pointed out we were given two boxes to take with us.

Surprisingly, our waiter was both charming, well informed and for the most part, very good. I think during a regular day and shift, he would be exceptional. I felt bad for the staff, but really felt worse for my family (most in-laws) as what should have been an exceptional day was made craptastic. Having had days like this in the past (I worked 10 years in restaurants), I know that some things are beyond your control - I certainly don't blame any of the staff. However, let an exceptionally low rating be a warning to this company for future, similar events. I think Mimi's would have been better served with a first-come, first-served policy on Mother's Day - I doubt if we were the only customers entirely dissatisfied with the experience. No one in our party will be coming back.

-- John

(shorter version published on Yelp)