Alma Cocina - Restaurant Review

Dining in Downtown Atlanta hasn't always been an easy thing to do.  Typically when we someone at work who wants to take us out to lunch we end up driving to the Highlands or into Midtown where we have more options and, honestly, better food.  (We do have our favorite 2 or 3 places we can pick from within walking distance of the office, but they get old if those are your only options.)

This is starting to change and in just my two years working smack in the middle of Downtown Atlanta I've seen new dining options come in and take over some of the vacant spaces that dot the streets.  I'm 100% supportive of new restaurants opening downtown.  I'm supportive of anything new coming into our downtown area with the hopes that it becomes much more of a destination.

Logo from Alma Cocina website

A Fifth Group restaurant (love me some South City Kitchen) and my new favorite Mexican restaurant, Alma Cocina, opened earlier in 2012 in the One Ninety One Peachtree Tower, right on Peachtree Street.  It's just a few blocks from the office and the Peachtree Center MARTA station and food court, a great location for foot traffic.  There are also about 5 giant hotels in a 3 block radius so that should help them, too.

We had lunch at Alma Cocina yesterday right in the middle of lunch hour.  It wasn't super packed and our table of 7 didn't have trouble getting seated.  We were also out of there in exactly one hour, a huge bonus, with time spent chatting after the check came.  For those two reasons alone, this will be added to my short list of Downtown Atlanta lunch restaurants.

The staff was very friendly and helped us with a few odd requests on the menu.  There website says they are introducing "Atlanta to a refreshing new approach to contemporary Mexican cuisine" and I couldn't agree more.  The atmosphere isn't your typical Mexican restaurant and you shouldn't expect the menu to have numbered combo meals for $6.  Those restaurants server their purpose, but I always seem to head home with a tummy ache.

Alma Cocina is definitely different - check out the menu.  We started with two orders of the Salsas & Chips Samplers and devoured them.  The salsas were obviously not from a can and the plantain chips with the tortillas were delicious.  For lunch I ordered the Fried Avocado Taquitos which came with two taquitos and black beans and poblano chile rice.  I may have finished my meal before anyone else at the table.  The tortillas was thick and light so they didn't overpower the flavors inside.  I could have eaten the crispy cotija cheese that was between the fried avocado and the tortilla without anything else on the plate.  Everything worked so well together, I've been thinking about the taquitos for about 24 hours now.  I wish I had taken a picture to share, but that's not really appropriate at a business lunch.

Overall, all 7 of us enjoyed our meal, which is a difficult thing to do, especially at a fancy Mexican place, without margaritas (you know, we had to go back to the office and be productive...)

I've stopped in for a cocktail after work a few months back, but never had their food.  I'm sad I waited this long to make it there.

*Alma Cocina did not provide any compensation for this review.