Caramba Cafe Reopened

I think I was out of the country last June, when there was a message on one of the neighborhood message boards that Caramba Cafe had closed.  The word was they had lost their lease. 

Caramba Cafe had been a neighborhood destination for at least 20 years.  When I first moved to Atlanta, I think there was a rotisserie chicken place in the location on North Highland (I remember eating there with the real estate agent who helped me find my house), but they moved into that space not long after that.  It was child-friendly and popular early in the evening with families with young children, but there was a lively neighborhood bar and great Margaritas and the child-free crowd later in the evening.  We often took friends or relatives from out of town there, and one December the Wessyngton women had our Winter Solstice celebration at the big round table in the corner.  We had to pull up extra chairs, that night.

But mostly I remember being at Caramba with my family.  Tom and I celebrated our first anniversary there, with Caroline - two weeks old - beside us, outside on the breezeway (that was before it got enclosed and turned into retail space).  We were new at being parents, and terrified, and the pediatrician had told us to not have the baby around other people if we could avoid it until she was at least six weeks old, so we did - and had we not been able to eat outside at Caramba, we probably would have had take out from somewhere for that anniversary dinner.

And there was the night that something caught on fire on the roof of the building.  There didn't seem to be any imminent danger, but they told us all to leave, so I took the kids and we waited across the street for Tom, who stayed behind to pay the check.  But he didn't come out for what seemed to be a very long time, and the kids got frightened.  (I suspect he was just finishing his drink.)  Fortunately, whatever damage there was seemed to be confined to the roof, and the next night they were back open.

There were postcards to Tom and me on our birthdays, and sometimes a cupcake with a candle when the kids chose Caramba for a birthday celebration.  We celebrated report cards and making it to the weekend and sometimes we went there when we just didn't feel like cooking.

So it was wrenching for us when Caramba closed.  We were glad to get the news that they were going to re-open elsewhere, but it took a long time.  But now they are open again, in a new building at 349 Decatur Street, and last night we went there to celebrate my birthday.  George and Rachel and Mia hugged all of us when we walked in (3 x 5, 15 hugs total), and we were glad to be back.

We can't walk there anymore, but it's not so far.  You can park in the deck behind the building for free, or there's also some parking on the street.  If you go, say hello for me.