"Today, Mary Mac’s is the last of sixteen tea rooms that once dotted intown Atlanta in the 1940s. The food is undeniably comforting, the atmosphere feels as familiar as your grandmother’s kitchen, and our staff treats every customer as if they were serving their long-lost cousin a holiday meal. We welcome you to come enjoy Atlanta’s Dining Room, where we have proudly served classic Southern cooking and hospitality since 1945! If it’s your first visit to Mary Mac’s, be sure to ask for your complimentary cup of pot likker and cornbread!" reads the website.
Back in 1945, Mary MacKenzie opened Mary Mac’s Tea Room near Peachtree Street on Ponce de Leon Avenue. In those tough days right after the end of World War II, enterprising women in search of a living, some of them mothers widowed by the war, were establishing restaurants all over Atlanta. At the time, a woman couldn’t just open up a restaurant, so many female proprietors used the more refined Southern name of “Tea Room.” Mary Mac’s Tea Room was one of 16 tearooms in Atlanta and seated 75 guests. Today, Mary Mac’s is the only original tearoom that remains.
Mary Mac’s originally opened with one dining room; today, we have 6 bustling dining rooms and a full service bar. The restaurant has expanded to 13,000 square feet, occupying several storefronts, and is one of the city’s five-largest restaurants. Though our restaurant has grown over the years, it’s still 1945 in the kitchen. We still do things the way Mary MacKenzie and her successor, renowned owner, Margaret Lupo (1962-1994), did things. Every morning, we shuck bushels of corn, hand wash our carefully selected greens, and snap fresh green beans by hand. We bake our own scrumptious breads and desserts, like old fashioned banana pudding, coconut cake, and fresh Georgia peach cobbler, and brew up the best sweet tea - “Table Wine of the South”.
I was served homemade cinmamon rolls to start. These were small and thin - and actually gave it some texture, which is usually my chief complaint with cinnamon rolls.
Then, it was potlikker and cornbread, which is complimentary for first-timers. Potlikker is the rich, flavorful liquid that's left over from slowly cooking greens or beans in a pot. It's a staple of Southern cuisine and is often seasoned with salt and pepper, smoked pork, or smoked turkey. Potlikker can be eaten as a meal on its own, or used as a base for soups, stews, and gravies.
Then, some of my favorite dishes: shrimp & cheese grits, macaroni & cheese, and sweet potato souffle. Hot, comforting and flavorful. It doesn't get much better.
Grade: A
