Saturday, February 7, 2009
Restaurants Cheap Eats: Cafe at Pharr
Posted by Jennifer Zyman on Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 4:02 PM
The Cafe At Pharr (316 Pharr Road. 404-238-9288, and other metro Atlanta locations) was started in back 1992 by Shirley and Mike Liu, who retired in 1998 and handed the business over to their enthusiastic son, Johnny. You can't miss him when you arrive; just look for the guy with the permanent smile on his face.
What sets this tiny lunch spot apart is its simplicity, consistency and commitment to healthy eating. Almost everything on the menu is made from scratch daily and surprisingly low in fat. The Café bakes its own bread every morning and uses no preservatives. Ask any regular and they'll tell you they come for the assortment of chicken salads, available as a sandwich ($7.50) on your choice of white, wheat, multigrain, baguette and croissant or as a salad plate ($9) with romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, sliced tomatoes, two pieces of soft baguette and the café's special ginger dressing that has no oil or fat. Both the sandwich and the salad plate come with a handful of chilled seedless red grapes and the café's signature and strangely addictive "Yogurt rolls," a fluke turned staple using leftover croissant scraps that are baked off, filled with a semi-sweet German gelatin mixed with yogurt and sliced.
One of the most popular salads is the celery chicken, a minimalist approach to chicken salad with chicken, celery, spices and mayo. I always go for the curry chicken salad made with a secret curry sauce, a touch of mayo and chopped chicken. The celery-laced tuna salad is another simply made favorite that actually tastes like old-fashioned tuna salad—not an abundance of overcomplicated ingredients for show. Liu says he only adds enough to hold the base together because health is paramount. One diner actually lost 40 pounds by eating every meal at the Café except for breakfast on what they called the "Café Pharr diet." Who needs Subway?
(photo by Jennifer Zyman)
Comments (15)
Showing 1-15 of 15
Man i wish Creative Loafing would hire someone to do cheap eats that lives or eats in the city. I swear every review Ms. Zyman does is in Marietta or Buckhead. I understand i am being very selfish by wanting reviews done where i live but i think most creative loafing readers are in the city and not the burbs or the burbs 1st cousin Buckhead.
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I agree with the above poster, not only does Ms. Zyman review mostlty non intown places, her reviews are boring drivel. I love reading Cliff and Besha but this CL newb is a snoozer.
I disagree completely. Zyman's reviews really seem to span the whole city -- I get the sense that she seeks out good food finds wherever they may be, inside or outside 285. You can tell by the way that she writes that she is not just a restaurant foodie but also a trained chef, which is rare among restaurant reviewers.
I really do not want to go to Duluth for cheap eats. Keep it ghetto burger or else.
And to top it all off they took the Mayor of Ponce off of Bar reviews. I need a fellow drunk reviewing bars, not a chef or food critic.
I agree, please, please, send her back to atlanta intown besha. in fact i'm gonna give blissfil glutton's reviews *. yep 1 star. that's it. please make this problem go away
These attacks against Zyman are petty and vindictive. Just more anonymous ugliness by people (maybe the same person) with bad motives and an apparent axe to grind. Sounds like jealousy to me. Or maybe someone affiliated with a restaurant she gave a bad review to? Zyman has reviewed countless gems all over the metro Atlanta area and obviously knows her ethnic food. Her knowledge is valuable. Her reviews are not supposed to entertain they are supposed to inform the public of good finds and good dishes. How much do you expect her to squeeze into her short pieces? Edgewood Adam is a fool. If he really cared about food he would gladly drive 20 minutes for excellent Korean, or Japanese, or Chinese. I live intown and there are just not that many options that could qualify for her columns. Plus, there have been many good intown discoveries and reviews anyway. If your goal is to make a personal attack against someone who is just doing her job, and doing it very well, then I hope you feel good about yourselves. The truly pathetic are the kings and Queens of the anonymous internet. Keep up the great work Ms. Zyman! ps I love your blog too.
We don't mean to personally attack Jennifer Zyman, just her choices of restaurants to review. People in Duluth don't read the CL, they read the Christian Science Monitor. You're kidding yourself "Playa Hater" if you think there are not good cheap eats inside the city limits of Atlanta.
I in no way shape or form criticized her actual reviews. I just suggested reviewing actual intown eateries. I work in norcross and eat ethnic foods almost exclusively for lunch. I probably would feel diferently if she made it out to Norcross so i did not go blindly into another Vietnamese place. But to say that there are not enough places intown is just ridiculous. Its not like every review has to be of culinary excellence. Do a wing joint on Boulevard. The opportunities are limitless. As far as the bar reviews, i stand by that comment. The Mayor of Ponce gave the sort of reviews i enjoy for a bar. I want to know what its like at 2am or what kind of people hang out there etc etc. Lastly, insulting me anonymously on the internet for stating an oppinion that was not rude in any way is ecactly what you are supposed to be rallying against you daft hypocrite.
Huh? The Blissful Glutton lived pretty much downtown for a while and reviewed plenty of places down here. If she's gotten burb-centric more recently--which is not something I've noticed--give her a break. She knows Atlanta, she's had some culinary training, she writes well, and she's got the time and motivation to do it. What's wrong with that?
Just checked out the blog. It is great. Her blog has tons of intown stuff. I guess it's the editor wanting the burb stuff.
Hey y'all, Thanks for the feedback. I agree that we need to cover intown more. In fact, Jennifer and I were just discussing that last week. We promise to do better on that front. I'd also like to say that Jennifer is one of the most knowledgeable, conscientious writers I've come across. We value her contributions immensely.
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