ria's bluebird

used to love this place. enjoyed the vibe and the eclectic menu. food was good, waitstaff although apparently indifferent, were effective. hadbreakfastthere today. heard the counter staff making fun of a customer who'd just left. swapped sliced tomato for baguette with my meal. they charged me $2.25! it wasn't a bushel of tomatoes. and $2.25 for a cup of coffee? this is memorial drive, for goodness sake, not buckhead. almost $18 (with tip) forbreakfastfor one, at the counter at a "dive" place? food and coffee were indeed tasty but seems they're experiencing a bit of an identity crisis!!!! heard the waitress complaining they weren't busy on a recent saturday morning shift. doesn't take a genius .. bye bye ria's. too much great competition without catty waitstaff and exorbitant prices.

vegetarian. had a vegetarian friend treat me tobreakfastat this place this morning. lots of vegetarian items on the menu but also a lot for meat eaters. i've had a bunch of meat on this trip so decided to pass on the brisketbreakfastfor $9. sounded great, a 14-hour slow-roasted angus beef, shredded in its own spicy tomato broth, with 2 eggs poached and toasted baguette. i ended up getting the bluebird burrito, which was 2 eggs scrambled, skillet potatoes, white cheddar, choice of beans, i had black beans, topped with salsa verde & sour cream, and a choice of one side which for me was a fruit cup, although i almost went with the organic grits. good portions for $8. my friend who eats here frequently had some sort of bionic tofu scramble, lol. i would eat here weekly if i lived in atl. just abreakfastand lunch joint, i will eat here again the next time i am in hotlanta.

breakfast so delicious we went two days in a row!. my friend and i shared thebreakfastburrito and pecan pancakes with sides of bacon and skillet potatoes (and of course coffee). it was all so delicious we ordered the samebreakfasttwo days in a row! thebreakfastburrito has an amazing salsa verde served on top and the pecans were baked into the pancakes. yum! the coffee was great, and the atmosphere was charming.

the only thing i could really be miffed about was waiting outside in 30 something degree weather for 15 minutes just to be seated at the booth that was open when we arrived. after that, it was wonderful. service from that point forward was attentive. we got free coffee for standing outside in the cold for a while, and ourbreakfastwas really great. i got country fried tempeh, my husband got the special omelette with bacon and cheese. the coffee was really good and so were our meals. do yourself a favor an get something with their biscuits. few restaurants have biscuits this tasty.

banana pecan pancakes. ria makes delightfully fluffy pancakes but it is hard to understand what the big deal is until you order them with caramelized bananas. get it with the works (pecans, chocolate chips and bananas) and yourbreakfastwill be transformed from ok to something magical.

the pecans add texture, the caramelized bananas add flavor depth and a sugary, buttery goodness that will make you forget what the maple syrup was for and adding chocolate chips on top of that is decadent indulgence.

very good food and plenty for vegetarians and vegans. thebreakfastrush is insane. the restaurant is tiny and the wait times are long. rias deaerves their devoted following buy i hate to wait. save yourself the hassle and hit ria's on a weekday off work mid morning. nothing like a nice relaxed wednesday brunch. everything was good and super fresh here. it was upscale "farm to table" in spirit but not at all pretentious.

soooo good. i was told by several people that this was the bestbreakfastfood you could get in atlanta. despite my very high expectations i was still blown away by how good the food was. the presentation was minimal and attractive. the flavors were complex and just right. the staff was also very nice but not the type to be overly eager and in your face. i'll be going back soon.

just ok...not worth a special trip. gave ria's a shot because of the great reviews, but found the food to be just okay. we had the beef brisket and poached eggs (tender but no punch of flavor), the blackened fish and grits (fish was covered in seasonings rather than blackened) and pancakes, which were the highlight. the atmosphere is cool, especially inside, but in terms of the food, there is nothing that puts this place above other popularbreakfastrestaurants.

happy vegetarian, happy carnivore. being a vegetarian and traveling with a meat eater, i do a lot of compromising and i rarely get to eat a true vegetarian meal. this place was great for us both. the menu is not large, but it is varied and you can getbreakfastanytime. my meat eater got the bbq quesadilla which, although hard to eat because it keep dripping everywhere, was well enjoyed. i got the vegetarian tempeh ruben which was wonderful. it came with a very nice green salad. the waitress, a friendly soul, had tatoos everywhere and a partly shaved head. she fit the whole vibe of the restaurant. there were business guys at the table next to us, a young couple holding hands on the other side, and a bunch of girlfriends behind us. the place is clean and open and friendly. there's a coffee bar at one end of the small restaurant that stays busy and the coffee is good. if i lived in the area, i'd be here all the time.
just fyi, they won't seat you until your whole party has arrived and you have to wait on benches outside until seated.

worth the pilgrimage.. traveled all the way from orlando to visit a friend with only one goal in mind for the trip: eat at ria's. we split three entrees; my friend is vegetarian so we had the bionic breakfast, the pancakes with caramelized bananas, and the fish and grits (fish in my half, without for him).

on a scale of one to ten, where
5 is "i like it"
6 is "i really like it."
7 is "mmmm wow this is good."
8 is "i'm in love."
9 is "i would move to have this every day." and
10 is "i would probably inject this into my uterus with a syringe in hopes that my babies would come out this awesome."

the pancakes were probably a 9-10. the fish and grits were somewhere around an 8-9 and the bionicbreakfastwas a hard 6.5. (the flavorway was great, but the potatoes seemed a little undercooked--dry and grainy, which was odd.)

something special about the pancakes: i tend to eat quickly when excited about food and pancakes in particular tend to be thick and mealy and gum up in my throat, which is extremely uncomfortable (maybe i have a slight gluten allergy?). these were so easy to eat, not only the flavor and the texture were incredible but the sheer ease and comfort was just amazing. these are by far the best pancakes i've ever tasted. i can't think of any that hold a candle.

the fish and grits were also incredibly awesome, but at the risk of waxing poetic again i'll let you discover them for yourself. i would gladly wait in the heat and the rain for another meal here.

bestbreakfastever!. i was so excited about eating here on my visit to atlanta that we happily waited a half hour or more for a table. we visited the nearby historical cemetery while we waited. it was totally worth it. it's the best coffee i have ever had and i got the special- lemon poppy seed pancakes- wow! and real maple syrup! i would love to go back!

huevos!. first time in a while that i've made been through the grant park area early enough to stop in forbreakfastat ria's (though, in truth, i think they servebreakfastall day).

tiny little place, now i understand the stories i've heard of waits... probably a pleasant wait in the summer with the view of oakland cemetery across the street and the really relaxed pace this part of town has on a weekend morning.

in addition to the good coffee, i went with the huevos (grilled blue corn tortillas with black or pinto beans, white cheddar, 2 fried eggs, salsa verde and sour cream). i went with the black beans and it was indeed very tasty. nice mild tangy flavor from the salsa verde. i only wish that this came with some kind of bread to sopp up the juices on the plate when i was done (i know, could have paid a couple bucks for a biscuit on the side, but didn't think about it in time).

ultimately, a nice small menu with some neat things on it (the special omelette this morning, by the way, was mushroom and havarti) with a lot of nice options for vegetarians.

the best ever!. there are tons ofbreakfastoptions in atlanta and ria's is one of the best! i love the tempeh and the bluebird burrito. they always have a pancake and eggs benedict special. it's so good people wait outside in the cold weather just to eat there! don't go during peak weekend hours unless you have the time to wait (again, outside) and the weather is nice.
the wait staff are great. i love to come in plop at the bar and see a familiar face with a hot pot of coffee!

breakfast reinvented. i am not a fan of breakfast, so needless to say i wasn't excited in the least about being dragged to yet another sunday brunch. after much debate, i opted for the brisketbreakfastand oh my god...if i had access to this all the time i would eatbreakfastdaily. my meal was delicious, tender shredded beef, tomato broth, poached eggs...i couldn't believe i was actually enjoying breakfast. kudos! i can't wait for the next time!