Omnivore - Are you yawning yet?

I’ve gotten some mildly annoyed mail about my recent first look at Napoleon’s Grill.

I’ll start with a simple fact that needs to be reported. I implied that the restaurant had a lot of money behind it, compared to its new neighbor, Sprig. That was on the basis of the really impressive interior and the involvement of the people from Front Page News, a popular Midtown pub.

In fact, I’m told, the restaurant was quite a financial stretch to open and that the impressive interior is almost entirely a hands-on labor of the three partners.

More important — and I questioned myself about this, too — is my commentary on Ryan Aiken’s food at the pub. As I said in my “Grazing” column, Aiken has long been one of my favorite chefs for his creative way with inexpensive food at his former venues, Burrito Art, Misto and Saba.

But the truth is those restaurants have not had the vigorous success that Napoleon’s is already exhibiting (500 people on Friday nights). The reason, of course, is that the menu, as I wrote, is inexpensive and almost entirely tried-and-true pub favorites. (And the accent on beer doesn’t hurt, no doubt.)

But that does raise a question that chefs and owners have asked themselves repeatedly in Atlanta and even more often now that the economy is in such ruin: How do you stay afloat without producing a menu that mainly attracts non-foodie types?