Five Star Day Café
229 E. Broad St.
706-543-8552
By SHANESSA FAKOUR
Walking past Starbucks on Broad Street in downtown Athens, I almost missed the hole in the wall restaurant that is Five Star Day Café. Opening the door, I noticed red and white plaid tablecloths covering wooden tables, half of them taken by people dining in. Patrons placed their orders at the counter before seating themselves at a table. Considering the restaurant’s small size and casual style, the menu prices were higher than I expected. However, the foods’ portion sizes and taste made up for that.
After viewing the day’s specials colorfully written on a chalkboard, I decided to leave the beef stroganoff alone and order the Carolina BBQ with a side of collards, a cornbread muffin and sweet tea. It seemed to be a popular meal choice, as three people in front of me ordered it with different sides – macaroni and cheese and coleslaw. I sampled my friend’s macaroni and cheese and discovered the pale yellow seashells to taste cheesier than I expected. Next time, I will look for a vegetable entrée so I can enjoy those carb-filled sides.
Local artists’ paintings decorated the walls with symbols famous to the University of Georgia, such as the arch, the bulldog Uga and the insignia G. Incoming patrons desiring a late lunch crowded the entrance door and easily overpowered the soft music playing in the background, as they waited to place their orders at the counter.
Opened in 1998, the restaurant aims to serve the highest quality of “gourmet soul food,” according to its menu, with Southern favorites, such as stuffed meatloaf, pot roast, southern fried chicken and trout. The café serves breakfast with classic dishes such as eggs benedict. The lunch menu is boring to look at, however. Combinations of soup and salad along with PB&J, grilled cheese and BLT sandwiches make it easy to skip over to the meals listed under “Gourmet soul.” That is where I found my $8 BBQ sandwich placed on a large sesame seed bun.
The BBQ tasted great because it had a little kick at the end of each bite. The massive amount of pulled pork loaded onto the toasted buns was enough for two meals. In fact, I took about half of it off to set aside for later, and still was left with a full serving of tasty BBQ on the bun. The collards tasted fresh and seasoned. Again, the serving was plentiful, and I brought more than half of it home. While eating my sandwich with a fork - the BBQ was hard to pull apart- I sipped on delicious sweet tea. Other Southerners might find it lacking in sweetness, but I thought it contained just the right amount of sugar. In fact, I tasted more sugar in the cornbread muffin than in my drink. I considered the muffin to be my dessert after a satisfying meal.
With a friendly staff that served meals in less than 10 minutes, Five Star Day Café is definitely a place to go to satisfy a craving for home cooking set in a casual diner. Don’t let the small size of their kitchen or restaurant fool you – the meal easily meets the standards of hungry Southerners looking for quality “gourmet soul food.” For those desiring great tasting BBQ, make sure you don’t pass the restaurant while walking downtown. It’s easy to do, and you’ll be missing out on a delicious meal!
3 comments:
I ate at Five Star Day Cafe for the first time last week. I go to the Starbucks downtown probably three or four times a week, and when a friend suggested the cafe as the location of our Tuesday night dinner date, I said "...where?"
But, like you said, it was great food. I'm not much of a southern food girl, so I had the Garden Club Sandwich on ciabatta bread. It was amazing, but I'm not sure there were too many other entree dishes on the menu that I would have chosen, so people should definitely check out the menu before they eat there.
What I loved about it was that every time the door to the restaurant opened, everyone sort of turned around, looking confused that other diners were able to find the restaurant. It really is tucked away, small and cute. Great for casual relaxing with friends after a long day.
Great review. I enjoyed your detailed description of the restaurant (the tablecloth, the crowd, the decorations). It made the review a "vicarious experience," as AJC food critic John Kessler said food reviews should be. Your description of how the portions of food make up for the relatively high prices is helpful; as a college student the value of a restaurant's menu is very important. I also liked how you had the awareness to point out that some Southerners might not enjoy the sweet tea, even though you find it sweet enough. I am probably one of these people and now I know to either avoid the sweet tea or be ready to add sugar to it. A well-written review that makes me want to eat there.
-Martin Minschwaner
Let me preface this comment with the fact that I LOVE 5 Star. They're one
of my favorites in Athens. With that said, I really enjoyed your review
Shanessa. You captured the environment and atmosphere to a tee. You are
definitely right when you say the portions are huge... if I avoid
stuffing my face until I'm sick, I almost always have leftovers. I've
found 5 Star to be somewhat inconsistent, however, which would be an
interesting angle to take in your review had you had the opportunity to
go multiple times. They have a fabulous brunch, but you have to make
you sure you order the right thing. Sometimes the scrambles are tiny
(and still $8 or more!) but the Benedict is hands down my favorite. It
is delectable. Everyone should try it at least once. I'm glad you added
a good amount of background information about the restaurant so people
will know what they are getting themselves into when they find the hole
in the wall, as you so quaintly (and aptly) put it. And it's funny that
Anna pointed out that everyone turns to look at who comes in when the
door opens ... I've never really thought about it, but that always
happens! Great review! I can't wait to go there again soon.
-Maggie Summers
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