One thing among many that I have learned from delivering Decaturish is that Decatur is full of uncommon but pleasant surprises: friendly, helpful good samaritans, beautiful pollinator gardens and local inconspicuous restaurants whose owners really believe in giving great value to their customers.
One such place is The Mediterranean Grill, located in a small shopping plaza at 2126 N. Decatur Road. It’s basically a small storefront with cafeteria-style table seating, freshly prepared food, and good old-fashioned counter service. Owned by Said “Sam” Mousa, it is one of four locations in the greater metro area. The other three are in Marietta, Midtown and Athens.
Having lived in this area for many years and having passed this place without even knowing it was there, I was happy to discover it while delivering Decaturish. I usually get there around lunch, and the place has always been packed, so I figured something special must be going on. Turns out I was right. Not only do they serve homestyle meals, but they also provide pleasant, considerate customer service that trickles down from the top. While I was dropping off my papers one day, the owner’s son, Adam, greeted me and offered me a free meal. Unwilling to stray from my routine, I reluctantly declined, but knew I would eventually drag my husband along to sample their offerings. What finally made me take the trip was the huge plate of fried calamari I noticed on a table one day.
If you’ve read any of my past columns, you know I can’t resist calamari and almost always order it if it’s on the menu. It’s often pricey for small servings, but not here. We arrived one Wednesday evening and, after perusing the huge menu hanging on the wall, placed our order at the counter. We started with the calamari. A generous portion of crispy rings and tentacles was served with lemon wedges and an extremely hot pepper dipping sauce that neither of us could take more than a drop of.
A huge serving of rings and tentacles is featured in this $15 calamari appetizer.
The calamari was expertly prepared, tender and flavorful, and a real bargain at $15! It was enough to serve four people as an appetizer, so I knew I had to save room for my entrée, so I reluctantly stopped eating it and saved the rest to take home. In addition to the calamari, they offer a wide variety of traditional Greek appetizers, including hummus, baba ganoush, lentil soup, various salads, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) and seasoned Greek potatoes.
For my entrée, I ordered the Shish plate and my husband ordered the grilled shrimp plate. The meat and shrimp plates all come with a Greek salad, fresh pita bread, large servings of yellow rice, and three dipping sauces: tzatziki, tahini, or the red pepper hot sauce. The Shish plate’s star was the five pieces of marinated chargrilled beef. The grill-marked beef was tender and flavored with Greek seasonings including garlic, oregano and basil. The salad contained lettuce, kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomato and cucumber in a vinegar and oil dressing. The shrimp plate consisted of 10 large shrimp marinated and lightly grilled. The shrimp was fresh, moist and lightly charred. Each plate was a complete meal in itself and was affordably priced at $17.50 and $20, respectively.
The grilled shrimp plate offers a healthy dinner or lunch option.
Other entree plates include a gyro plate with slices of beef and lamb gyro meat sliced off a spit, a grilled marinated chicken plate, a kufta plate consisting of grilled kabobs made of ground sirloin flavored with various herbs and spices and a combination feast plate that includes a sampling of grilled beef, kufta and gyro meat. A final meat plate consists of a slow-braised lamb shank.
Other plates include a grilled vegetable plate, a vegetarian plate, a spanikopita plate and a falafel plate. They also offer various sandwiches with either meat or vegetarian fillings inside pita slices. A limited children’s menu and dessert menu that includes two types of baklava complete the array of in-house, made-from-scratch quality food. They also offer catering services.
Marinated chargrilled beef is part of a complete meal in the kabob plate.
The flagship Mediterranean Grill location opened in 2001 and will celebrate its 25th anniversary in December. Located within the Emory corridor, many of its loyal patrons are Emory employees of one sort or another. During the early years of the pandemic, when many restaurants struggled to survive, Sam decided to offer half-off specials for two months. Many of the Emory physicians who were regular lunch customers insisted on paying full price to ensure the restaurant would survive, a badge of honor that Sam proudly touts.
Today, the restaurant is packed at lunchtime partly due to its business lunch special: choice of a chicken plate, combination feast plate or vegetarian plate along with a fountain drink for $12.50 Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. on weekends. For an affordable lunch or dinner, Mediterranean Grill, with its friendly service and quality home-cooked meals, is a true Decatur hidden gem.
