Sweet Melissa's is located on the Square in the City of Decatur which many locals call Downtown Decatur. I've gone to Sweet Melissa's a few times over the years. The food is consistently good. It usually isn't on my radar during the weekends because the place can be so doggone crowded. That is great for them but not for me. Then there is the challenge of parking. If you are a local, you know where to find parking but for those not familiar with the area, you may find it a little challenging.
On this particular day, I had no concerns about parking. It was late Monday morning and I had taken the day off from work so I wasn't in any particular rush. I was hanging out with a new friend whom I'll refer to as Mr. C. Mr. C is from Dallas and has been in the ATL less than a year. He knows nothing about the ATL. Mr. C. knows how to get from Kennesaw to downtown Atlanta which is his route from home to work. And I, being so gracious and kind, will gladly introduce Mr. C to Atlanta. I told him that he needed to know the City of Decatur (Downtown Decatur) because it may come up in conversation and you don't want to be like....uhhhhhh....duhhhhhhh....hmmmnnnnn....where's dat? There are many great restaurants in the City of Decatur but I just selected Sweet Melissa's because I hadn't been there in awhile.
I selected the New Orleans Omelet with wheat toast and cheese grits. All of it was very good and tasty. The cheese grits were very tasty and creamy. The omelet had Andouille sausage, shrimp, onion, green peppers and smoked gouda cheese with cajun remoulade. You can't go wrong with this combination and they didn't. What I really liked about this omelet was that it was nice and firm and the ingredients were more prominent than the eggs. I think restaurants go wrong when there is too much egg in the omelet. If I had made this at home, I probably would have added more cajun seasoning or Old Bay seasoning to the shrimp.
Mr. C had a create your own omelet. I forgot what he had added to it. I think a lot of meat and no veggies...you know how a lot of guys do. Chefs say that we eat with our eyes first. If this is true, Sweet Melissa's should rethink how this lonely omelet was presented to Mr. C who already believes that there is no good food in Atlanta. Since he elected not to have the traditional sides, it left his plate looking rather forlorn.
Mr. C ordered one of the additional breakfast sides - Shrimp and Grits with Roasted Red Peppers. Now, this was the real star of the morning! I hate that this picture wasn't very clear. The seasoning of the shrimp was perfect. In fact, next time I go back to Sweet Melissa's I will order this.
Mr. C raved and raved some more about the food at Sweet Melissa's. He asked the waitress where the cook was from because they can't be from Atlanta. I told him that he just might be offending some people. The waitress said that the chef did go to chef school. Mr. C...yeah...but where he from? The waitress was very pleased that Mr. C was so very pleased with the food. I think it made her day. I thought the food was really good but my head wasn't spinning and about to pop off. The coffee was good and hot and the waitress kept it flowing. I will look at a restaurant sideways if they have good food but can't serve good and hot coffee.
The service was really good and it should have been since there may have only been 4 other people in the restaurant. But still, the waitress was very friendly and talked to us about the history of the restaurant and the menu in general. She also encouraged us to try the pancakes next time which she said were outstanding. She also said we should come back for the live music on Sundays. You can call ahead of time to find out who is playing and the type of music. A few years ago, I was there when there was live music and it was very crowded. Because of the acoustics of the place and all of the people, it just seemed really noisy to me. This took away from my dining experience. For me, it was too much stimulation for a Sunday brunch.
About the parking: If you have good parking karma, you just might find a spot right on the city square which will put you just outside the doors of Sweet Melissa's. If not, you can park along Ponce de Leon and get a little exercise. Sometimes there is parking along Clairemont Avenue. There is a parking deck that can be accessed from either Church Street or Clairemont Avenue. It isn't obvious but it is directly behind Parker's on Ponce Steakhouse.
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