Cheap Eats - Our Way hits the highway

Movin’ on up at the mashed-potato palace

Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, my friends and I roamed Decatur, often ending up at the seedy Pizza by Candlelight — or as we called it, P. by C. Despite cardboard pizza, nasty beer and unsavory characters, it was a welcome change from the social stratification of the women’s college just across the street.

Today’s Scotties (women who attend Agnes Scott College) have better hangout options. Several years ago, the space formerly occupied by P. by C. was turned into Our Way Cafe, a popular and inexpensive spot offering home-style lunch and dinner.

Our Way Cafe’s current space retains some of the decrepit feel of the old P. by C., but they’ve made the most of it. Daylight floods two sides of cafe through uncurtained windows. Walls are an optimistic green, and artwork and country-ish kitsch add mellow character. The unisex restroom opens directly into the counter area: Step out of the loo and you’re looking at a pan of cornbread. People come here for the food, not the ambiance.

Our Way is an egalitarian joint, judging from its customers: from the Scotties to mechanics to lawyer-types to spiky-haired, leather pants-clad mommies. Springtime will bring a relocation for the cafe, when it moves a mile down the road to Twin Oaks Shopping Center in Avondale Estates. Though it will no longer be within walking distance for some, it will have more space and a vastly improved parking lot.

Instead of a printed menu, the staff lists daily features on a white board. Usually, they offer three meats, three or four casseroles, numerous vegetables, three breads and three desserts. Their most popular combination, a meat with two vegetables and bread, costs $5.25. I’ve recently sampled a decent baked chicken breast, nice if a tad dry, a very good pork roast, tender and swimming in gravy that had just the right combination of meaty-saltiness. Other offerings can include old-fashioned meatloaf and thick, cheesy lasagna.

Vegetable plates here are $5.25 for four and $4.50 for three, and Our Way treats vegetables with respect. Turnip greens have a subtle, smoked-meat flavor without greasiness. Mashed potatoes with brown gravy are a treat, chunky with potato skin and not at all glutinous. Green beans and cabbage retain their flavor and consistency. I’m a fan of the cafe’s black-eyed peas, cooked so they keep their body without going mushy, and with seasoning to compliment their character rather than overpower it.

The cafe’s casseroles are happily comforting, made just the way you expect. Green bean casserole features French-cut strips of bean, caramelized onion rings and crunchy water chestnuts. Corn pudding is hearty and agreeably sweet. Squash casserole is cheesy and buttery, with fresh yellow squash and slivers of carrot.

The cafe’s corn breads taste the way they should: The plain is heavy, moist and a bit salty, without sweetness. The spicy is dense with cheese and jalapeños worth every calorie. Among the desserts, there are often two cobblers and a cheesecake, all of which offer your basic sugar and fat fix without being terribly special — but for $2, no one’s complaining. You can sit happily at a window table contemplating the Dairy Queen sign just across the railroad tracks with its ominous claim of “Cake and Log” and be glad you’re at Our Way.??