Savor Sandy Springs

Artemis “Arte” Antoniades and Nikitas “Nik” Panagopoulos, the brother and sister team who first brought fresh, delicious seafood to Atlanta through the critically acclaimed Fishmonger Restaurant, deliver exquisite, inexpensive Mexican cuisine with a global twist at Teela Taqueria, located in the heart of Sandy Springs at the City Walk Shopping Center.

Arte and Nik have created a menu with strong, bold tastes such as the Southern BLT Tacos with fried green tomatoes and the Crab and Shrimp taco, while offering traditional samplers like roasted chicken enchiladas and fajita steak nachos. The strength of Teela Taqueria comes in choice. Entire meals may be created by mixing and matching from the specialty tacos, traditional favorites, enchiladas, nachos, quesadillas, soups and salads.

227 Sandy Springs Place NE www.teelataqueria.com

There are more than 100 full-service fine dining restaurants in Sandy Springs. Reserve a table and enjoy a delicious meal in our community!

For more information about dining in Sandy Springs, please visit: http://www.visitsandysprings.org forgiving atmosphere of a Café/Bistro. e Boeuf au Poivre, ordered by two at our table, was a ne piece of beef but both servings were undercooked, medium rare being rare and medium being medium rare. e accompanying cognac peppercorn sauce added a peppery heat but otherwise had little avor. e Lyonnaise potatoes, roasted portabello mushrooms and sweet onions were a nice accompaniment but a meager portion for a dinner entree. e Poulet Roti, thyme roasted freerange chicken, was moist but needed seasoning and lacked a nicely browned and well-rendered skin. e kitchen actually prepares “poisson” quite well and it was the highlight of our meal. e Truite Meuniere, a pan roasted trout with wilted greens, marinated artichokes and capers in a lemon brown butter was perfectly done, the sh akey and rm. e Loup de Mer, the literal translation being “Wolf of the Sea”, but really a European version of sea bass, was nicely cooked and perched atop a concoction of leeks, potatoes and a sa ron nage, a poaching liquid thickened with our and butter. It was a comforting dish but light enough to still enjoy in the warmer weather. e dessert o erings were the usual French suspects. We opted for the pro teroles and the crème brulee; both were faithful “exemples” of each. Several of our diner’s preferences would have been that the caramel on the brulee be torchred just prior to serving so that it was not only crispy but warm as well.

Several of the dishes we tried were underdone and under seasoned not be tting of a kitchen whose dinner menu “Plats Principaux” range from $21-$33 an entrée. e service, while also suited for a casual environ, stumbled with the ner points. Orders were served in “roll call” style fashion; “Alright who had the chicken and who had the sh?” and additional glasses of wine, re lls on water and additional utensils took repeated queries.

A quick check of a favorite local airline produced round-trip ticket prices from Atlanta to France of over $2000. So save your Euros and visit Anis Café and Bistro. You’ll have a “bon moment” if you let it show you its more casual roots.

Anis Café and Bistro is located at 2974 Grandview Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30305, (404) 2339889 It can be found online at anisbistro. com.

Art Huckabee is one of Yelp’s Elite Reviewers, as well as a pilot, gourmet cook and food lover. Send feedback to tastingintown@atlantaintownpaper.com.