Two Thursday nights ago, I met my friend Eleanor at
AVRA for a drink and a light dinner before we went to see
Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker.
Eleanor has become my ballet buddy since my husband went to the ballet
the one and only time in his life a few years back...and I don't expect
he'll go again...unless
Bono is the star performer. Both Eleanor and I had never been to
AVRA
on the corner of 5th and Juniper, and I've always heard very nice
things about the restaurant. I arrived first and was warmly greeted by
two lovely ladies and was asked was I there for Ladies Night. Turns
out, every Thursday night ladies get half off drinks and appetizers.
We definitely chose the right place to meet! The bartender, Juston
(with an 'o') was VERY friendly and informative. Knowing that neither
Eleanor nor I had been there before he promptly let us taste a few wines
before making our selection, and then proceeded to explain the menu in
full to us. We had the grilled octopus (highly recommended by Juston
which both Eleanor and I actually enjoyed), a delicious flaming cheese
(Juston cracked a good joke about flaming cheeses and Midtown), some
spanakopita, and a few other delicious appetizers....half off let me
remind you. :) Juston was so nice...very different from the last
experience Eleanor and I had during our previous ballet night. We had
met at
Baraonda which is always busy...especially on a night when there's something at
the Fox.
The food was very good and we expected it to be crowded, but we weren't
expecting our bartender to be so grumpy and unfriendly...completely
opposite of our new bartender friend Juston. Turns out Juston's second job is as
a server at
Baraonda
and confirmed that it's "get 'em in and get 'em out" on a Fox
night. He knows the grumpy bartender I'm referring to, and he assured
us that even though our bartender may have seemed a bit gruff, he had a
big heart. After hearing that, Eleanor and I decided
we'd give the big hearted grumpy bartender another chance sometime in
the future. Once Juston brought our food, he was kind enough to leave
us alone to catch up, checking on us occasionally to see how we were
doing. I definitely recommend to all the ATL ladies out there to check
out Ladies Night at
AVRA on a Thursday night...and make sure you say hi to Juston for me!