316 CARIBBEAN CUISINE (3700 Atlanta Highway, 404-904-3574, @316caribbeancuisine): In a time when what’s left of the Georgia Square Mall calls to mind Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, it’s nice to find a bright spot: an entrepreneurial setup serving tasty Jamaican food out of the nearly abandoned food court. Sure, the lights seem to be off in the cavernous space, and the only other eatery around is Jack’s Cheesecake. Even the pretzel stand is closed. 316 Caribbean Cuisine works hard to promote itself, dressed with bright decor and a large flag advertising its wares flapping outside by the road. And it seems to be working. Dead or not, the mall still has people in it, and they’re happy to find a nice place to eat.
Surely no one is complaining that there are too many options for this kind of food in town, especially given how spread out they are. 316’s offerings are familiar: jerk meats, curry meats, patties, rice and peas, cabbage. But the surprise is finding fresh-made food in a mall food court. It’s not exactly health food, but it’s got plenty of vegetables and vegetarian offerings, like the Rasta pasta, available with or without chicken, dressed with plentiful amounts of coconut milk and full of greens and sweet peppers. Pescatarians will be happy with the escovitch snapper, fried fillets that are ordinary on their own but topped with a lovely vinegary mix of bright peppers and onions. For my money, the curry goat is the best meat on the menu, incredibly tender and not too spicy. The jerk ribs are good, but a little dry and need more oomph. The jerk pork benefits from a light touch with the provided (blisteringly) hot sauce. The oxtail is nice stuff, too. Among the sides, the cabbage is less sweet and less spicy than at Kelly’s Jamaican Food, but the macaroni and cheese is an unexpected highlight: baked, with three cheeses and plenty of crispy browned bits. Plantains are thick and sweet. With little homey holiday touches around the stand and a consistently friendly attitude, the place feels as family run as it promises it is. And if everything in your order isn’t ready at the same time, that just proves they’re making it à la minute. Don’t skip the fresh juices. The soursop is too sweet and intense for me, but both the pineapple-ginger and the cucumber-lime taste fresh.
316 Caribbean Cuisine is open 12–6 p.m. Sundays and 11 a.m.–7 p.m. all other days, and does plenty of take-out.
LA PARRILLA MEXICAN RESTAURANT (196 Alps Road, 678-403-3838, laparrilla.com): From the moment you step into this La Parrilla—a regional chain owned by a different group of folks than Athens’ Taqueria La Parrilla—it’s clear that the two places are not the same. Just across the parking lot from T.J. Maxx, it promotes a similar aesthetic: patio maximalism, with blue-and-white-patterned tile, big light fixtures and a lot of “bring the outside in.” That’s not a bad thing. It just feels a bit swankier than the typical neighborhood Americanized Mexican restaurant where you go with your family to blow off some steam. It’s got the vibes of the new Beechwood, in other words.
Kids get a free balloon, inflated from helium tanks at the hostess stand. The food’s been surprisingly good. Honestly, any time someone asks me how I want my steak cooked, I prepare for disappointment, but when I asked for medium rare for the starring ingredient for my steak tacos, medium rare is exactly what I got, with a salsa that was plenty hot, and plenty of red onion and cilantro on top. I order chiles rellenos all the time in the hope that someone, somewhere will be able to touch Taqueria del Sol’s rendering. No dice. The version here is serviceable, but still a long way from that gold standard. The aguas frescas are thick and close to smoothies, and the serving size is enormous. They’re tasty, but they’re practically a meal by themselves. The menu isn’t super out there in any direction, but even standards like a burrito covered in cheese dip, served with rice and beans on the side, are well executed, less gloopy than they often are and well seasoned. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but the prices aren’t bad, it seats plenty of people, and there seems to be a virtually endless market for this kind of thing.
La Parrilla is open 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with a large menu that includes plenty of weekday lunch specials and both alcoholic and alcohol-free cocktails.
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