Colbeh Persian Kitchen Taking Zucca’s Space on Decatur Square
Decatur Metro | February 6, 2012We’ve been hearing rumors from residents that Zucca Pizza – neighbor to the Brick Store Pub on East Court Square – would be closing sometime this month. We hadn’t confirmed it, so we remained hush.
But now, after a brief sojourn into the meeting materials for tonight’s city commission meeting (see page 17) I noticed a new establishment called “Colbeh Persian Kitchen” was applying for an alcoholic beverage license at 123 East Court Square. Wouldn’t you know that’s Zucca’s current address?
What could we find out about Colbeh? Nothing yet on the internets, so if you know more, please shout out in the comments section!
Latest from Decaturish
Persian? Excellent! Will they have doogh?
There is a small chain of Persian restaurants based in the New York City area called Colbeh – possibly they are opening another here in Decatur?
Oh no…not another chain restaurant!
Oh, that’s terrible news. Zucca was/is the most affordable lunch spot in downtown.
Rob: Not to worry, You’ll find better food and good pricing with Colbeh A Persian Food joint….This is going to be such a PLUS for our neighborhood…. We’re very happy for this news. MN
Had some decent meals at Zucca, but the competition in the DEC for Pizza is brutal. Really happy something unusual and different is heading in to that space.
Holy Shi’ite! The most welcome restaurant news I could imagine.
+1
+1
+1
I like Zucca and I’m sorry to see them go.
But, I am so very excited that I will no longer have to drive to Sandy Springs to get my kashke bademjan fix!
We will need a Persian food primer before they open. Hint, hint.
I hope some one takes you up on that! All I know about Persian is they have cool cats.
Awesome news — Persian is my favorite cuisine. Between Sufi in Midtown and this new place, I’ll never need to take a trip to the Persian Restaurant Zone in Sandy Springs again. Bring on the Khoresht.
I’m so excited about having Persian food in Decatur I can hardly stand it. Zucca always smelled like a pet store.
Just tried Zuccas for the first time 2 weeks ago and loved it so much I used them to cater my Super Bowl party. Just my luck they are now closed
Is Seinfeld going to help with the menu?
Abu was Pakistani, wasn’t he?
I knew it began with a “P” and a minute after I posted I thought…”Ahhhh Pakistani…shoot!”
Adas Polow, please? Vegetarian, please? Dreams of rice and lentils dance in my head.
Oh YES! I too make the trek up to Sandy Springs to Mirage and Rumis for Persian food….please please please have the Wedding Rice like they have at Mirage…I think crack may be less addictive than that stuff!
This is great news!
Zucca was so great! Good for kids, not too expensive. It will be missed.
How come it’s still called Persian food?
Not speaking for an entire culture here, but… according to a Persian friend, its common usage goes back to the Iranian hostage crisis in the 70s, when immigrants and people of Iranian descent wanted to distance themselves from the anger Americans were focusing in that particular direction. Since then, it’s remained in use to avoid affiliation with the region’s ever changing politics and scapegoat status.
Anyone know further, please chime in.
Kinda like Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast some years back.
I think Scott is right. I also understand that a lot of “Greek” or “Mediterranean” food we eat is being made and sold to us that way because people from neighboring countries think that using their actual country, and associated regime, is not good marketing here.
Scott – You’re correct about the name “Persian” being a subtle, helpful way of distinguishing between people and culture from a political entity, but the origin of the distinction isn’t entirely calculated or defensive. The place was called Persia for a few thousand years. The people were therefore Persian long before they were Iranian. The name of the country only changed to Iran in the 1930s.
It’s not a rule, but in my experience, among Iranian-Americans, “Persian” is typically the cultural designation and “Iranian” is the typically national/nationality designation. But again, it’s not a rule. I probably say “My family is Iranian” more than I say “Persian,” but I don’t think I’ve ever said, “Iranian food.”
Because the idea of an Iranian cat stomping around is just too scary.
Well, Persian is a culture and Iran is a country… there are Persians in and outside Iran, and there are people in Iran who are not Persian.
What terrible news to start the day! Zucca is my favorite spot in town; they will be missed, especially their Victory Pie.
This is great news! We could use more ethnic diversity in our Decatur restaurants.
Oh great. 20 televisions all tuned in to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera is an Arabic language station. Persians don’t speak Arabic.
Thank you -
Thank you for saying that, Andisheh… I have to say, that was one of the most ignorant, bigoted comments I’ve ever seen on DM.
I don’t think that’s fair to reach that conclusion. It seemed more like a mis-aimed “Middle East” joke about Zucca’s epic collection TVs rather than a jab at Persians.
Perhaps I’m the wrong person to comment though. After all, I posted “Holy Shi’ite” above and my avatar is my face Photoshopped into the infamous Danish Mohammad cartoon. My offense meter is probably calibrated a little differently than some.
Maybe, and Al Jazeera is simply a news network… hey, if you didn’t feel like it was an “OMG, people with turbans are invading Decatur” kind of comment, I will defer to you!
That’s how I took it as well, for whatever that’s worth – more about the number of TVs in there than anything else.
And having just come back from lunch at Zucca, their last day is going to be February 19th, and the Ayatollah will be invading (KIDDING!!!) in late March, according to our waitress.
Well, I’ve never been to Zucca and was therefore unaware they have (had) a lot of TVs. So I reacted the same as magpie. Knowing about Zucca’s TVs sheds more light on things.
My first thought was, “What a weird and off-putting thing to say.” My second thought was, “As if 20 TVs all tuned in to ESPN is everybody’s idea of heaven,” (because most commercial establishments that have a bunch of TVs seem to all be tuned in to sports. I love Six Feet Under, but have to steel myself to enjoy a meal in the bar.).
This is a good example of how tricky insider humor can be. (Sometimes there are whole sections of threads here that I don’t understand, because it all keys on an inside reference.)
BOO! for Zucca’s closing (their pizza was actually tasty), but WOO-HOOOO! for a Persian food restaurant opening– looooooves me some bademjun (can’t spell it, but I sure can eat it)!