UPDATE: Scott F sends in this PDF of the HOLA! menu.
As mentioned on their Facebook page, HOLA! Mexican Cantina opens up in the old Atlanta Bread/Decatur Diner space on the corner of Church Street and Commerce Drive. As Scott mentions in his jump-the-gun/post FFAF comment “Maybe they were just waiting for perfect outdoor margarita drinking weather.”
Latest from Decaturish
Danielle
Wacky Sitcom Neighbo…
Saniel
Avondalian
Decatur Metro
Frankly
TinMan
DawgFan
DawgFan
Kat
Rod T
Rival
AMB
Daydreamer
theron wasson
They really need some greenery on their patio…
Hola has beautiful flower boxes all around their patio.
Buena Suerte, Hola!
Let me be the first to say ¡Hola, “Hola!”! (It’s just a matter of time before a mischievous CSD IB scholar adds a multicolor “¡” to the sign!)
Is the menu top-secret or something?
There’s now a link to a PDF of the menu in the original post.
Metal seats, concrete, and no shade. Should be a great place for lunch in July.
That’s an awesome criticism to make in May!
I wish they would put up a green awning.
Or if they had just kept the blue faux marble for its cooling effect…
A friend of mine made the same comment yesterday without any prompting.
Really, now. Lunch outside, in JULY? In Georgia?? It’s usually sweltering by then!
Wow, do all the landscape architects have the day off and all decided to post their opinions here?
We’re posting from work.
Good Grief…..It is a wonder ANYONE would wish to open a restaurant in Decatur!!! Cut them a little slack folks….have the doors even unlocked yet???
This is why I hope that Guy Wong and Jenny Levison don’t read Decatur Metro before they open their new places.
Yes, because business owners HATE community/customer feedback…
This is not feedback. It’s feedforward.
Better to prevent a mistake than deal with the aftermath of one.
Oh, I’d say post mortems are pretty popular around here too…
Someone needs to report back with first thoughts/review.
I would like to sit on that patio, but until the umbrellas or those cool triangular sun shades make an appearance, the very pale Arriba clan will have to wait to try it out.
Lunch may be sunny and painful, but the trees along Church Street should shade the patio nicely in the late afternoon.
Give them credit for getting rid of that ghastly faux-stone veneer the Diner left behind…
Love their Cinco restaurant up near my office and am sure this one will be just as good. Welcome!!
Fried chicken and wings? At a Mexican cantina?
Those Damn Mexicans. First they come take our jobs and now they’re co-opting good old ‘Merican food!
[Note to HOLA: I joke. I realize that there are indeed deep fryers south of the border and I look forward to a dinner of chicken and tacos!]
OK, now seriously, I do have one small gripe about the menu, if this is indeed the actual final menu. Tacos a la carte! Why do so many Americanized Mexican places only sell tacos by the plate? Don’t make me buy 3 tacos with rice and beans. Let me buy one or two singly. If I want three, I’ll still buy three but I’ll mix-and-match them. Now once we get straightened out, we can talk about the importance of having a good pastor and lengua on the menu…
Ain’t Mexican if it doesn’t have lengua. Corazon would also be good.
They took our jobs?
Hmmm, I thought this was supposed to be a more traditional kind of place, I was really hoping for regular old ground beef tacos and some churros. but shrimp tacos and refritos will be worth a visit. As for the patio, I’m just going to make up that the crayola furniture is merely a place holder for the nice wood tables and umbrellas which are on their way…right?
Traditional for whom? Ground beef (or soft flour, or hard corn) tacos ain’t traditional for anybody but gringos.
Love that they call the cheese dip “queso blanco Americano.” Calling a spade a spade. Though kind of weird given that most of the menu seems unconcerned with authenticity.
Sounds delicious though. Look forward to trying it.
Traditional Gringo Mexican.
I miss Chi Chi’s, too…
Chi Chi’s always gave me the cha chas.
Or as John Kessler has coined it, taquerrhea.
Until I see cabeza, lengua, and/or menudo (no boy band jokes, please) on the menu, I’m calling it Mexican-American.
Hard to beliee all of teh naysayers without even giving the place a chance to open.
By the looks of todays lunch crowd they were slammed.
Hopefully we will get several reviews.
By the way the colors are festive.
For now the weather is quite pleasant and I am sure as needed the owners will provide shade.
AS for the taqco plate, this is what they offer and if you do not desire to order that way I imagine they will accomodate you, if not you can visit that not so friendly place at the other end of Ponce.
Hard to believe all of the naysayers without even giving the place a chance to open.
By the looks of todays lunch crowd they were slammed.
Hopefully we will get several reviews.
By the way the colors are festive.
For now the weather is quite pleasant and I am sure as needed the owners will provide shade.
AS for the taco plate, this is what they offer and if you do not desire to order that way I imagine they will accomodate you, if not you can visit that not so friendly place at the other end of Ponce.
Shush yo mouth about “that not so friendly place at the other end of Ponce.” That place is why I’m dying for a place where I can get my tacos a la carte without the unnecessary attitude! Calle Latina, you best be listening to me, too!
And don’t just lump me in with the naysayers. I love the colors and I can eat inside when it gets too hot
Matador Cantina in Oakhurst has awesome tacos! You can pick and choose whichever ones you want. Not looking to thread-jack though so I’ll say I’m also looking forward to trying Hola!
Sorry for the double post. I tried to correct my typos.
I would never lump you in with anyone J_T since you are one of a kind.
Went to check it out, but they’re only open today for bar drinks and chips/salsa…tomorrow is actually opening day.
I’m confused – what’s with this concept of table service and patio dining? Where is the hot asphalt parking lot where the customers will have to wait in line? Can people just show up, grab a table, and THEN order?
Just doesn’t seem like the authentic Taqueria Del Hole cuisine we’ve come to expect.
Ugh, another typical kids’ menu. I don’t understand why we have to train kids to only eat chicken tenders and mac & cheese even when they’re at a Mexican–or Chinese, or Greek, or whatever–restaurant. Why can’t restaurants just serve smaller portions of their regular menu for kids? Irks me to no end.
And yes, we can make our kids order off the regular menu–that’s not my point. My point is, almost every restaurant you would take your kids to does this, so we’ve been training an entire generation that they don’t have to try anything new and that regular menu food is too scary and they can have chicken tenders and mac & cheese (and mac & cheese PIZZA?) everywhere they go. Sad.
Well said. It’s frustrating when you don’t want anything on the kids’ menu and have to order off the regular menu, resulting in too much food and higher cost.
One thing that works well for us is to ask them to replace the fried chicken with grilled chicken breast. Most places are happy to do that.
Huge pet peeve of mine! My son, from an early age, ate pretty much everything I made. This was partly due to the fact that I made him eat what I made… He likes most foods now, but more importantly, will try anything put in front of him without question. Kids aren’t born only liking chicken nuggets and hot dogs. We have conditioned them that way. It drives me crazy when I see parents making separate dinners for their children (but it is their business). It was frustrating when my son was younger, to only have those same ole kids menu options. He wanted the salmon. He wanted the fish tacos. He wanted the pork loin. He wanted the lamb. It was pricey for the 7-11 years old to get a full sized adult entree. It would be great to have just smaller portions of the the “adult” food. But you know, I guess if most people agreed, we would have started to see it by now.
Some places have waded into the waters. Chai Pani has a pretty good kids’ menu even though they still have chicken tenders on it. I wish more Decatur restaurants, at the very least, would follow suit.
I agree. I do have one picky eater and I think it’s partially because the cool, fun menus with crayons had limited options on them. If small portions of the regular menu were listed there, they would have become desirable too. I don’t even know where to buy chicken strips/tenders/nuggets for home use but they quickly became a favorite once exposed to them in restaurants. Ditto for hot dog exposure. I never buy them unless cooking them on a grill. But school lunches and restaurants made sure that my children learned to love them. Occasionally we end up in an eatery with gourmet hot dogs. The picky eater isn’t happy–wants the cheap, small boiled variety.
It’s pretty bizarre that hot dogs are pushed on kids, considering that hot dogs are one of the most common causes of choking.
I also have an adventurous eater – and kid’s menus drive me nuts. We were on a cruise and he had 2 options – spaghetti or chicken tenders, both served with fries, every night. We finally started ordering him an additional entree like ours and a side of veggies – he was so much happier.
I was happy to go to Ted’s over the weekend (was craving a baked potato), to see salmon, mashed potatoes, and green beans as an option for kids. Of course, that is what my kid ate – and he loved it.
Leon’s, Brick Store – and lots of the other local places have been more than willing to accommodate by kid-eater wanting non-kid’s menu style food.
There is a downside to all this: My son is 13 now so he does need the adult entrees, but since he is such an adventurous eater, he usually picks things he hasn’t tried and they tend to be very expensive menu items! “Yes, I will have the lobster and pork belly with the black truffle sauce, please.” What are you gonna do…
That’s actually comforting – I am afraid he might wake up one morning and only want chicken tenders and hot dogs. I was frustrated at a party last weekend – he ate multiple servings of fruit and veggies, but did not touch the pizza. Had to have a reality check – it is OK for him not to love pizza (it is all I ate when I was pregnant with him) – and I needed to be proud that he ate so many fruits and veggies.
I need to introduce him to my curry-loving two year old and my goat meat adoring six year old
When we were in Brooklyn last year, we stopped by a Caribbean restaurant (The Islands – FANTASTIC, btw) and he ordered the curry goat. He loved it, but he might have loved my oxtails a bit more…
I am sure our 2 year olds would get along and could have some talks about the challenges of being a toddler foodie in a chicken nugget world.
Agreed Jeff: I just saw that a young woman in her 20’s died last week at a sports game choking on a hotdog. Shocking.
Agree on the hotdogs. You can cut them into safe triangular pieces but hard to get them back in the cheap hot dog roll. Ditto on grapes. Kids love grapes. But they are round and the size of their air passageways. I miss cute little ones but so glad I’m beyond the days of having to cut up the grapes.
At least one of my kids would greatly prefer individually priced tacos (a la carte) over that kids menu. Not to mention me.
Taqueria del Sol and even Taco Mac will sell individual tacos.
Another line of dual reasoning: parents should treat their kids to all sorts of food, but damn these restaurants have shallow kids’ menus. Who’s in charge? Split a plate of beef tongue tacos. The weak kids’ menus are clearly for other parents and kids.
The beef tongue tacos are not on the cool, fun, coloring menu/placemat. Enough said.
Didn’t read it…Was thinking about taking my son to Mi Barrio and both of us thoroughly enjoying tongue tacos.
Mr. Bijoux ate lunch there with a client yesterday — the day of the soft opening. He blundered into it and was told to go ahead and eat, and that it was free that day. Service was very understandably chaotic (first day, not actually open). He asked to mix/match tacos and the waiter said sure, but the kitchen sent out 3 plates of tacos — 3 veggie, 3 fish, 3 shrimp — instead of one plate of 3 tacos.
We enjoyed the bountiful left overs. Tacos were flour (I prefer corn), but the fillings were all very good even as left overs. We will go back.
Who knew that there were so many 3-taco-plate horror stories within our 4 square miles? I can’t believe we’ve been able to achieve what we have, given the mental angst and stress that these 3-taco-plates seem to have caused over the years. And now Hola rolls up and and is not helping – and it sound like even exacerbating the problem. I can’t believe the city issued them a certificate of occupancy. Clearly the new zoning procedures are not working. Everyone wants to see new restaurants on the square, but we must insist that they are executed to each and everyone’s idea of perfection, or we should just not have them. When is the next public meeting? I will stay past midnight to make sure we get this right.
And I’m not sure “if they were smart they’d do the same thing that some other place in town is doing” constitutes sound advice…
Let me know when that meeting is. I want to discuss how we need to ban opinions from being posted on blogs. It used to be what blogs were about, but after reading your post, you have made me realize that community opinions are indeed pointless unless they concern the absolute most pressing issues of our time. Keep me posted!
You must be aware that isn’t the problem here. The problem is a lack of perspective and a willingness to armchair quarterback a situation before actually experiencing it!
If you think it’s “par for the course” for people pull up a .pdf menu of a new Decatur restaurant and start bitching about what it doesn’t offer, WITHOUT TRYING WHAT IT DOES OFFER FIRST, I’m not sure what to tell you.
It’s not about whether people should or shouldn’t offer their opinion. It’s about maintaining a sense of community and, dare I say, I “glass half empty” mentality!
What ever happened to giving something the benefit of the doubt and experiencing it first before offering your opinion?
Well, my friend Walrus, first we thought blogs were to share opinions about things happening. But today I woke up and decided that blogs are actually to share opinions about ridiculous opinions on things happening. Since they are free and open to the public I’m going with that. And also trying to keep a sense of humor about things. And also not sweating the small stuff- like if there was this guy (or girl) who lives in my town (or halfway across the world) who’s harshing on me for harshing on the 3-taco-plate, small stuff like that – I’m trying not to sweat it. You?
I try not to sweat the small stuff either. I didn’t make a complaint about the restaurant (outside of talking about a general pet peeve concerning kid’s menus). It just doesn’t bother me when others express opinions/wants/desires about things. I agree that it is usually best to give a place the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time I think these people have lived long enough to have a learned opinion on whether or not the would like to mix and match their taco order.
But it does bother you when others express opinions about expressing opinions. This all so very post-modern.
There are opinions. And then there are people just being stupid and obstinate in refusing to admit the necessity for a la carte tacos.
coocoocachoo
Just came back from my three-taco lunch. Was able to try the fish taco (fried talapia + cole slaw) and a pork taco. (mix and match with a friend)
It’s close to $10 for three tacos plus rice and small bowl of beans.
Verdict, serviceable food but zero flavor compared to Taqueria or Raging. I will be curious if any of the more adventurous items hit the “foodie mark”because these items did not.
They have a giant TV screen on the patio — presumably for TV sports at night. This will likely enhance or detract from the evening ambiance of decatur depending on your POV.
maybe they could balance out sports coverage with outdoor play of other popular Decatur fare like Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones…:)
Or John Mayer concert DVDs.
I had lunch there today, actually i disagree with Bruce I had a rib enchilada plate with some very good sides fresh corn cut off the cobb and a house frozen margarita, my wife had the vegge plate, all were great. Also saw the owner who was very watchfull. He did say that they are going to get some umbrellas as well as some shading items to help. For only open 2 days they did a good job the food was quite good and clearly this owner is trying hard to get into a very cynical and judmental Decatur (GOD I WOULD NOT WANT TO BE AN OWNER OF A BUSINESS IN THIS TOWN) WOW people give this new team a shot before you plunk them down the river!
Maybe we’re not so much cynical and judgmental as we really just want something like this to happen closer to home:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/this-is-the-most-epic-brand-meltdown-on-facebook-ever
DM: Idea for thread, which local restaurant/business is most likely to have an epic facebook meltdown? Pretty please?
Uh no.
That link is hilarious. Now I have to figure out how to watch the show, thanks for that.
Comedy gold in the comments, but the best has to be:
‘CAPS LOCK IS LIKE CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL’
Thank you, that was pretty funny. If you have to yell at strangers “I AM NOT A WITCH” to make your case, you might actually be slightly psychotic instead.
This is known as the Christine O’Donnell Rule.
I wish she would come back. She was pretty good entertainment for a minute there.
I should re-phrase my remarks that the “tacos” were on the plain side compared to the other local taco eateries. I like full flavors — not bland.
The other menu items looked very inviting by their descriptions, but I did not try.
The place was packed and they got the food out in a timely fashion which is amazing.
ok that was awsome! really my point is to just give this new place a shot, they are going to make some mistakes but i hope that it goes well for them. All said i still think that many people in the city and much of this crowd have become too centered around bad comments as the standard.
We ate there last night and what follows is a review from an average non-epicurean guy (is that the right word?).
Good crunchy tortilla chips (free refills) with a nice mild smoky flavored salsa.
Ordered four entrees and I made sure to sample them all:
Shrimp and grits – odd offering for an Hispanic-themed restaurant. Very dense, not bad overall. Unusual combination of flavors. It had a thin salsa on top, which was unnecessary. And the toast was uninteresting.
3 taco plate (chipotle chicken) – messy due to lots of liquid spilling out while eating. Average flavor, very small pieces of avocado. Included Mexican rice (much like what you get at a Los Bravos) and charro beans (watery, sort of bland).
Fried chicken burrito – very disappointing fried chicken. It was very bland and completely overwhelmed by the spicy red sauce on the flour tortilla.
Kids chicken taco plate (added refried beans, which were actually black beans) – see mention of Los Bravos above. But at least it wasn’t chicken tenders or mac and cheese.
Service – very enthusiastic, with the expected first-day glitches. Our waitress was sincere and attentive. There seemed to be lots of aimless wandering around of the support staff, but they are still getting their feet under them.
Final grade – C+. I was sad the food was really no better than your average run-of-the-mill Mexican restaurant, especially since the prices were a bit steep considering the quality. Will we try them again? Probably, as things smooth out and they get past the hiccups that are inevitable for a new eatery. I really want them to succeed, so we’ll go back in a few weeks and try some of the other menu items.
Ate there last night.
Service: enthusiastic and a bit chaotic. Opening night jitters.
Texas Margarita: good, a little sweet, not too strong, not too watery.
Chips: decent.
Salsa: quite good, kind of smokey, savory.
Shrimp and grits: grits were good, a little saucy. Toast was garlic but good. Shrimp texture was good, didn’t seem frozen, but little flavor. Why oh why do restaurants prefer to serve big white flavorless shrimp over the often more tasty small pink ones?
Chicken enchiladas: chicken was well cooked, tomatillos tasty, sauce was unsusual, with more lime flavor than is usual. Quite good all in all.
Corn on the side was very good, fresh, with some jalepeno added.
Beans were too watery, not bad but nothing special.
All in all a good variant on Mexican-based food. The 80s soundtrack was a bit loud, the service very friendly and ready to please, and it’s an alternative to Taqueria Del Sol (all in all a bit BETTER but usually crowded) and El Matador (very variable quality, more of a filling, greasy watering hole though their plantain tacos rule.)
You know, this is a week when some of us could do with a little less yippity-yapping about who has the most refined standards and discriminating taste for taco restaurant food and decor, and a lot more warning innocent drivers about ONE-LANE TRAFFIC ON COLLEGE AVENUE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON. In TWO separate spots. Combined with forgetting to avoid the mess on Dekalb Industrial = one solid hour for what was conceived as a quick errand.
BTW, the threadjack was originally invented as a way of vaulting over dead horses.
We thought the food was good, especially the calamari. It could have been spicier for my So Cal taste but I think the big difference was that the salt level was not too high. The flavors were subtle, if you are used to a lot of salt would probably seem bland. The staff was super friendly.
Ate there last night. Complimentary chips and salsa very good with free refills. Had short rib enchiladas and my partner had the carne asada. I thought my meal was very tasty but she thought hers was only “okay”. Her’s came with French fries and mine with the corn and beans. Asked about the 3 taco meals and was told that I could get them ala carte even though it’s currently not on the menu that way. We sat out on the lovely patio and I agree that the music was a bit loud… it was top 40 last night.
My main complaint was our server. He did not seem trained at all and didn’t know anything about the menu. He could not answer any questions and actually put in the wrong entree for my partner. He then brought us the credit card bill and only gave me the guest copy to sign. When I called him back over to say that the restaurant copy was missing, he dug into his pocket and pulled it out…very strange…
There were what looked like high school students keeping our water filled and they were very nice.
I will definitely try it again soon.
Just came back. I give it a C+
Service: Nice but unprofessional. There were at least 6 servers talking to each other and walking around but NOT paying attention to the customers’ raised hands asking for something.
Food: OK. Not necessarily what we expected… I guess it is Mexican/Southern? My Ahi Tuna was over cooked and it would have been much better as an open sandwich with the Fennel Tomato salad on the side (instead of all mixed up with the tuna and avocado – It doesn’t look pretty!)
TV: I thought it was very smart that they were showing cartoons on the TV instead of sports. Kids were entertained and parents get to talk.
MAY try it again