Cheap Eats - Corner cafeteria

Fiesta Fresh a new downtown lunch option



Downtown streets in Fairlie-Poplar are cluttered with restaurants that open primarily for lunch. There’s cheap Chinese, gyros, pizza, soup and sandwich shops — just about anything for someone looking to grab and go. The area has become a giant cafeteria for business people and students alike, with GSU kids cramming for school at this restaurant or that. The street life is lively, even if it exists almost exclusively during daylight hours — and Fiesta Fresh is one of the newest hangouts for those looking for a cheap bite between classes or teleconferences.

NEW DIGS: Sandwiched between Peachtree and Broad, the Fiesta Fresh location was most recently home to the quick-serve Japanese restaurant Niji. The place looks mostly the same, and steam trays still hold the grub — only now it’s refried beans, sour cream and nachos instead of sushi. The long space is packed with tables, and it can get a bit claustrophobic. If you don’t like rubbing elbows with someone, there are more tables outside, where street characters mingle with the hodge-podge of lunchers.

SERVICE: Customize your choices as you go. Place your order with a server and follow your tortillas, nachos or tortas down the steam-tray line adding guac, tomatoes and/or hot sauces. Servers are friendly, if brusk — and they keep the lunch line moving. It’s cash only, so don’t bother bringing a credit or debit card. Students get a free iced tea and chips with valid ID.

KNIFE AND FORK: The selections are typical, and ingredients — carne asada, shredded beef or chicken, beans and rice — are repackaged in various ways. The burrito ($3.99-$4.69) is a bulging baby, its tortilla stuffed with fillings to near bursting. If you really want a kick in the pants, order it “wet” so it’s covered with a red enchilada sauce and melted cheese — purely a knife-and-fork pursuit. Along with the tacos ($1.49), tostadas ($1.79-$3.79) and taquitos ($4.99), there’s the chicken salad ($3.99), marinated chicken breast atop a crispy flour shell filled with lettuce, pico de gallo and dressing.

IN HAND: The tortas ($3.99) are served on large buttered and grilled loaves that can be a bit unwieldy, especially with the full accompaniment of ingredients: pico de gallo, salsa, jalapenos, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, beans and rice. My order was slathered with beans on one end of the bread, and a huge portion of the shredded beef was added. I got the sandwich to my mouth only once before the whole thing dissolved into a messy clump, leaving me to figure out a way to eat it with a limited number of napkins. (I eventually got a fork.) Tacos ($1.49) are two corn tortillas filled with your choice of the same selection of ingredients — and they can be just as messy.

LUNCH BREAK: Leave the lunch box at home for a chance to mingle with a mixed slice of Atlanta.

jerry.portwood@creativeloafing.com??