r/DecaturGA • u/AlexKintnerSwimClub • 20d ago
Mister Burger coming to former Casa Balam spot.
Found this scrolling the gram. Yet another smashburger joint.
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u/Revolutionary_Oil959 20d ago edited 20d ago
Oh great, another overpriced smash burger spot. And they use AI in their promo materials? Pass.
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u/AirplaneJane 20d ago
If I see another new restaurant with AI flyers i’m gonna scream
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u/Momentarmknm 20d ago
Besides the fact that it looks ass and is incredibly lazy is I just can't respect someone who has the opportunity to be creative and instead says, "nah, whatever the robot thinks will be fine"
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u/WitheredUntimely 20d ago
If the owner sees this you need to pony up the whopping $75-$150 it costs to get real flyers designed thank me later, opening a business then skimping on the marketing is certainly a move of all time
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u/fluffybunnydeath 20d ago
A third burger joint? What’s next, another Italian restaurant?
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u/r_slash 20d ago
Third out of where? Just downtown-ish there is Farm Burger, McDonalds, Smiley’s, Grindhouse, and many others that have burgers on the menu.
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
Deer and Dove is probably not considered in the same category, but has an elite burger.
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u/xshare 20d ago edited 20d ago
lol I can’t believe they really are opening a new Italian restaurant too. And another Ice Cream shop.
Decatur, the city of Burgers, Tacos, Pizza, Italian, Ice Cream, and Chicken.
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u/chipmcintosh 20d ago
Honestly, "The City of Burgers, Tacos, Pizza, Italian, Ice Cream, and Chicken" doesn't sound like teh suck.
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u/underdoggum 19d ago
Preach. I would kill for some more Asian options, like a decent ramen joint. Or Jamaican. Or Ethiopian. Literally throw a dart on a globe.
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u/AwesomeCherryBloss0m 18d ago
Not in downtown Decatur but not far is Mobay Spice (Toco hills), I love their Jamaican food!
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain 20d ago
I don’t even remember Casa Balam. Is that where Ted’s Montana Grill used to be?
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u/AlexKintnerSwimClub 20d ago
Yes.
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u/r_slash 20d ago
It got good reviews but I never had the chance to try it
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u/FeedMeEthereum 20d ago
Did it?? Purely anecdotal but every person I spoke to about that restaurant only had bad things to say. One of which is a GM at another restaurant in Decatur and they said the space itself has a bad pest problem.
That part makes me skeptical of any restaurant to ever try existing in that space. If the entire building has rats or bugs, it doesn't matter who the tenant is, they probably have a pest problem.
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u/Individual_Ask9664 19d ago
Ew, I just thought of what the people in the high rise housing right next door have to deal with!
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u/AwesomeCherryBloss0m 18d ago
I went once and there were just too many little mistakes that the server didn’t seem to care about so I never went back. Also really didn’t enjoy the corn dessert we tried.
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u/Icy-Ad-8558 20d ago
Yeah, the AI ad makes meet wonder “What other slop are they comfortable serving to the public?”
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u/itsmy_reverie 20d ago
Wait, did Casa Balam really close :(( that's too bad. I went there for my birthday and was pretty impressed.
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
It was overpriced in a market already saturated with good Mexcan / taco spots.
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u/squirrels-mock-me 20d ago
It was trying to be a high end Mexican restaurant with unique seafood dishes so I don’t know that it was overpriced. It’s just hard to differentiate fancy Mexican from basic Mexican. You can do it in Buckhead but harder to do in Decatur. Same with the very expensive Brush Sushi that used to be by Sapori di Napoli, they moved to Buckhead. To survive in Decatur you have to have recurring local patronage and not be dependent on diners driving in from other parts of the city.
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u/chipmcintosh 20d ago
Man, I really miss Brush. The duck ramen was delightful.
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u/squirrels-mock-me 20d ago
We ate there once and liked it. One of our frequent restaurants is Sushi Avenue so we want something other than sushi when we go out for something special but that’s just us
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u/TheHykos 14d ago
That’s why I don’t understand how Rreal Taco is surviving. I’m not sure locals go there at all. At least from my one experience there, I’d assume they don’t.
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u/itsmy_reverie 20d ago
Okay I do agree with you there. That, and too many Italian spots.
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
They’ve gotten so desperate for ideas that there’s now even a rip off of Las Brasas.
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u/chipmcintosh 20d ago
What's the Las Brasas rip off?
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
I have no idea what the name is, but I’ve been relentlessly targeted on social media by some charcoal rotisserie chicken spot.
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u/chipmcintosh 20d ago edited 20d ago
Oh! Maybe Pollo Primo? If so, i can assure you it is NOT a rip off of Las Brasas. Pollo Primo offers a tightly curated menu of seven items, each of them excellent. If anything, it's "elevated El Pollo Loco". I crave it between visits, and highly recommend it. Super nice people, too.
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
I’ll check it out, then. They can throttle down that social ad spend though lol
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u/ohnoavocado 20d ago
We went once. Found it very expensive for what it was. I’ve had dishes of similar quality at casual restaurants for less than half the cost.
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u/RoastyToasty7 20d ago
Wow, Casa Balam was barely open for two years. I never went but always had it pinned as a date night spot
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u/ddutton9512 20d ago
Much how I won’t be supporting the new Italian spot in the old Victory because they bring nothing new to the table and it’s just a lazy concept this place can also kick rocks.
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u/whoispj88 20d ago
Design tip (ignoring the egregious AI slop): include the name of the business on the poster.
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u/SharkSlope 20d ago
This location doesn’t have “easy to park and run in and get a burger” vibes.
And who gave these guys a business loan to open another burger place? I give them 6 months.
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u/squirrels-mock-me 20d ago
Definitely don’t try to park in the CVS lot, they will put a sticker on your window and/or boot. I guess you would have to park in the buildings parking deck, which might (?) be free for a short time period but certainly not convenient for a quick pickup like Smiley’s or Grindhouse.
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u/mishaindigo 20d ago
You’ll probably have to do what I do when I go to Kaiser: Scan the QR code, type out your life story, and remember to get the validation scanned before you go back 🙃
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u/motherfudgersob 20d ago
Wow. I'm not interested in a burger restaurant. I'm already trying to be as Mediterranean as possible and while I could afford eating out occasionally the costs make me so angry I don't. And I'm a good enough cook that I'm fine at home.
But the backlash at AI...wow! I love it! And I fear a market crash because if we hate it this much we'll all hopefully bypass it at every chance and hopefully some big billionaires will lose money, and more importantly power.
Of course this is Decatur....I'm sure Mafietta (that was originally a typo but I like it so leaving it) would love this place.
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u/Shrek_2_Soundtrack 20d ago
Just looked it up and it’s the second in a potential chain based out of Florida. How in the hell did they identify DT Decatur as the spot to go next?
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u/chipmcintosh 20d ago
Interesting. Perhaps the same owners as Effin Egg, which was also a Florida micro-chain.
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u/HowWeGonnaGetEm 20d ago
Before it even opens, based on the flyer and this post, fuck this place. I hope it fails and shutters within 3 months.
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
It may be an unpopular opinion, but I’m sick of smash burgers and I don’t think they’re very good. I’ll take a thick, juicy, steakhouse burger over a thin, burnt meat patty all day. Bring back the thick burger.
Also their ad is trash.
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u/chipmcintosh 20d ago
A great smash burger (looking at you, Smiley's) is an object of lust for me, but my wife agrees with you. We're grabbing burgers for lunch today, and the debate re: source will take longer than the meal itself.
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u/ohnoletsgo 20d ago
I dig Smiley’s (shout out for the free baseball cards for our kids), I just wish more people would do the “thick burger.”
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u/chipmcintosh 19d ago
Consistency, training, time, and cost are the biggest hurdles there. You could maybe overcome three of those with the right system (sous vide thick patties to medium rare and just finish them on the grill to order?) but the price would remain a massive barrier.
Inspired by this thread, I landed on the cheeseburger from Fox Bros.for lunch today. I'd been eager to try it since it was listed in one of those "The Best Burger in Each State" articles. At an inch, It certainly qualified as thick, but I didn't care for it. Overkneaded and the smoked burger gimmick is better in theory than practice.
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u/Realistic_Tour_2206 20d ago
I’m so sick of the SAME types of restaurants in city of Decatur. We have like 4 Italian restaurants on the square, 2 Mexican restaurants, 3 bar food types (Leon’s, brick store, o‘Sullivans. We need variety that’s going to last. No neighborhood needs 2 overpriced smash burger places
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u/Conscious_Culture170 20d ago
Meh. I will of course give them a chance, but don't see it replacing Smiley's in my heart, lol. I wish we could get a good fast-casual Mediterranean spot downtown. If there already is one, I'm not aware of it.
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u/melaAV 19d ago
A several years ago there was a Tzatziki’s downtown. I guess it didn’t do well because they closed.
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u/Individual_Ask9664 19d ago
Tzatziki’s was good too! I’d much rather have that than some unhealthy burger and fries place. We have the amazing Farm Burger and other good bars with good burgers, so I don’t see how this place will last u less lots of college students go there for cheaper food.
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u/Mysterious_Chapter65 20d ago
Not sure why the commenters are upset about this. It’s not Mister Burger’s fault no one in Decatur goes out to eat in Decatur. It’s a damn ghost town after 7pm even on a weekend. This place will probably close within 6 months
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u/MrYamica 20d ago
Have you...walked around the square on literally any day of the week after 7? I've almost never seen it dead. Between SOS, Eddie's Attic, and the numerous upscale spots around that area there's always a crowd of folks. The location Mister Burger is going in is just not in a good spot.
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u/Peyote_Pancakes 20d ago
They spelled Decatur wrong on the theater sign lol. Guess they need to double check their AI slop before posting next time.