Hating Decatur
Decatur Metro | March 30, 2009 | 9:51 am…for being so awesome.
Creative Loafing’s Besha Rodell does a full review of Leon’s Full Service and determines that “Decatur gets what it deserves.”
…for being so awesome.
Creative Loafing’s Besha Rodell does a full review of Leon’s Full Service and determines that “Decatur gets what it deserves.”
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“Don’t you just hate Decatur sometimes for being so … awesome?”
I think we’ve a new entry for the town slogan.
Can we add Carl to all the signs around town?
I don’t even drink beer, and that review makes me want to run right out and order a fancy brew at Leon’s.
Make no mistake about it. The most consistent top clicked links off this site are restaurant-related, hands down.
This post has been up for about 2 1/2 hours and already 100 people have jumped over to CL.
You people sure like your food! 😉
We visited Leon’s for the third time on Friday with my parents in tow. It’s my new favorite place, perhaps tied with Watershed. My wife and I never drank beer before, but we drink it here (and by extension, Brick Store), because they have stuff we like (the St. Bernardus is my current fave). They had a great french cider on draft that I loved, but it was gone Friday. And the food is excellent, especially given the very reasonable pricing.
More than that is the great atmosphere they’ve managed to create. Besha’s comments about the service are absolutely true. They go out of their way to strike up conversation and love to converse about the food and drink. And two of the three times we’ve been there, Mike the owner stopped by to say hello and chat for a good while (despite the place being packed). This last time we commented on how much we liked the faded blue paint color and mentioned that we were looking for something similar for a room in our house. He not only knew what the color was, he wrote it down and gave it to us before we left. My folks mentioned they really liked the grits that come with the roast chicken, and he actually ran a plastic container of them out to us as we were heading out the door (and offered to run up to the Brick Store to get a bottle of the aforementioned cider). You just don’t see that at most places anymore.
Well, any place that serves a cup full of bacon with a side of peanut butter is alright in my book.
My two cents: was just at Leon’s for the first time. It was a packed Saturday night. I thought I’d hate it (because honestly, I’m just too old for crowded bars). The food was great. The service was great. They let us linger in a much-coveted booth without feeling rushed. Everyone was friendly, and the staff was very attentive, despite the crowd. Like it or hate it, Leon’s is definitely helping to make Decatur the awesome town that it is.
I had dinner at Leon’s on Saturday night with my husband and a friend. They said it would be a 20 – 30 minute wait. We probably only waited 15 minutes. We were seated in a huge booth where they also seated another couple at the end. I thought it would be weird, but it was totally fine. It is pretty loud in there, so you couldn’t hear anyone elses conversation but your own. We started with the frites and they were yummy. We got the bbq sauce and curry ketchup to dip them in. The curry ketchup was really tasty. I had the flat iron steak, my husband had the bass and my friend had the chicken with grits. They were all very very good, but the chicken with grits were the best. Next time we go I will get that for sure. The waitress was so friendly and she reccommended a really lovely wine for my husband. We even wrote the name down so we could order it again next time. We had coffee and the fuji apple cobbler which was delicious. And the coffee came in your own individual french press! Very impressive. Overall, 3 thumbs up from the 3 of us and we will go back there for sure, very soon! I am glad that we were there early though. After we arrived it really started to fill up fast. I would want to try it on a weeknight as I bet it will be a little quieter than a Saturday night. Also we saw that they have a sand court of some kind outside. It was raining that day so no one was out there, but it looks like you can play horse shoes or bacci ball??
SJRS: It’s a bocce court, and it seems to be quite popular, especially since they added benches and little tables around the perimeter. There must have been 20 people out there when I drove by last night.
As of yesterday, the gravel area on the other side has been converted into fully functional patio eating space with tables and chairs. Good thing too, because they are packing them in.
At this rate, they just need to build a bridge over Church St. and open a third property in the ABC space. 😉
I wish I could like Leon’s. Unfortunately, I live across from it. Not that long ago, I enjoyed sipping tea on my balcony as the sun set over downtown, and falling asleep with cool breeze in from the open windows. Then Leon’s.
Now, I listen to drunk and exceptionally loud people whistle, scream, and cheer every time they throw a ball at that outside game. I’m sure it’s fun, and it looks like a hip, interesting place. But it is SOOOO loud, and it’s open until 1am every single weeknight. I try and try to just ignore it, and tell myself I should just get used to the sounds of people having a good time. But while loud conversation from an outside-seating restaurant can fade into background noise, the sudden screams and hoots from the game played outside are too sporadic. It’s like having a sporting event with drunk college kids going on outside your bedroom window every single night until 1. I had to buy earplugs, and I am not exaggerating when I say it might just cause me to move.
That is tough, I can well imagine. Sorry you have to deal with that, but you seem to be realistic about and not just complaining. Hope it gets better.
Maybe one of those machines with all the different sounds…ocean, rain, etc. might help?
Maybe Leon’s could limit bocce to only 10p or so. That doesn’t seem like an unreasonable a request from neighbors. Its not like bocce is Leon’s bread and butter.
I can’t imagine that the city wouldn’t be concerned with an issue like this Sab. Especially if its making you think about moving. If things don’t improve in the next week or so, I’d suggest giving Lyn Menne a call and explaining the situation.
LOL! Guilty! (Except I had to be a link-leaper & read about Varasano’s, too…)
It would be a marked improvement over “Your MALLternative.”
Ehhhhh…It’s okay when auslanders say it, but coming from the home folks it just sounds snobbish.
There’s strategy behind that tired phrase.
Malls replaced downtowns. This is how downtowns fought back.
And I don’t think its the town slogan…its the economic development dept’s slogan to get people to come shop.
There could be a simple instruction to wait long enough at the sign and Carl will appear.
Go to the owners before you go to the city. You’ll get a better response.