50 Black Atlantan Restaurants Series: the BQE

 

So my friend and I have separately stumbled across this blog post written by Genese Jamilah: 50 Black Owned Restaurant and Bars in Atlanta.  Intriguing to say the least, the content immediatley captured the attention of two boozy bar hoppers like us.  "We should do it. lets do it. We've already been to a good bit of these already." And so we have.  But what if we chose to experience all 50 again, whether we'd been there before or not and drag some different personalities along for shits, giggles and a different take? What happens is the group 'I don't do clubs but lets do dinner once a month'. And so it begins, the experiencing of these places for the pure enjoyment of experiencing them and talking about them and sharing with you, helping you make up your mind about a new place that might be worth checking out this weekend, or not.

 

So we made reservations on Open Table for December 11th, alerted the squad and commenced to descending on the BQE Restaurant and Lounge to see what we could see. Located under the 75/85N overpass off the Jesse Hill Drive Exit, it took some time to find this night spot.  Well let me rephrase that, we found the restaurant smack on the right as soon as we turned left off the exit but getting to the $5 valet was a bit of an expedition.  It took a frustrating 7 extra minutes and 2 loops in medium traffic to navigate the map of one way streets to find the one with the valet but I tell you what, leaving is a cinch; it's a straight shot back onto 75/85 South.

 

 

It was a groovy mood that night, a Friday night sweet spot.  Ambience high, guys present but completely enamored with their phones as usual. The mood music was 80's, 90's and nostalgic, perfect time for a drink.  I thought I was grown so I had what the grown folks were having: dirty martinis.  Apparently I'm not that grown yet so after I struggled to finish the olive juice and vodka, I only had palate left for an apple martini. Black russians, more martinis and a couple glasses of moscato to the rest of the table.

 

 

We ordered and ate while waiting for the entertainment. Thoughts? Get the chicken. Always get the chicken. "Seafood is to be eaten at seafood places", is a good rule to live by and this was NOT a seafood place.  What you don't want to do is waste your money on the shrimp and grits. Don't do it. They do it badly. Do Not Do It.  You can never go wrong with the red velvet waffle, trust us.

 



Terrible Shrimp and Grits, in presentation and taste... blek!
In the distance yonder is the small plate cocktail shrimp. 
Its basic shrimp cocktail. No taste notes needed.

Yummy in your tummy Red Velvet Waffles: The signature dish. 
And yes, her wings fell onto the table: 5 second rule applied

Blackened Salmon with Mac-and-cheese, and spinach that got send back
Oh yeah, there is a random piece of fried chicken skin, like I said the chicken was delish :)

My substitute small plate meal of crab cake sliders and warm house chips

The Black russian and replacement sweet tater tots for the
returned spinach: delish! totally worth it

My first attempt at alcoholic adulthood :(

 

 There is a growing trend of restaurants giving a two hour seating time limit to maximize on reservation space and the customers' dollar, and I was curious to see how they would execute these restrictions or if they even would.  We made reservations for 7:30pm, all 7 of us got there by 8 and enjoyed Khemistry Live who went on at 9:17pm.  He perfomed his cute, narrow toosh off till 10pm, at which point we were inconspicuously brought our bills and pleasantly asked to vacate the table.  You ain't got to go home but you sure as hell got to get up from there. Another group sits down and another show goes on at 10:30pm.  If we may have been a younger crowd we maybe could have booked for 10:30pm but its simple, we're just not.

 

Let's talk about Khemstry though, that man Rico Suave-d the house. 

He did the customary birthday shout outs and grown and sexy shout outs and big girl shout outs (which I didn't feel was necessary) and proceeded to charm the ladies with the the footwork and the body work and the eyes and the charm. Yes indeed.

 

How did BQE stack up?

 Let's Yelp it on a scale of 1 to 10, 3 girls from our group weigh in: Drea, Mina and Moi in that order

Ambiance: 6, 7, 9

Drinks: 9, 7, 9

Service: For a busy friday night, that waitress moved smooth as butter for me but Mina thought she coulda been quicker, she's the middle Yelper and gave her a 5, 10, 5, 9

Location: That jaunt to find valet took them down a couple pegs, 6, 7, 7

Parking: It was on a one way street and appraently we still

salty 'bout that loop-de-loop, 2, 6, 7

Food: 8, 8, 5, that 5 was from me.  Like I said, the shrimp and grits were bad, initially the score was a 2 for effort but it was saved by me picking off everybody else's plate

Prices: Reasonable for a night spot, 8, 6, 8

Entertainment: Khemsitry did his thing though 8, 7, 9

Cleanliness: They had one bathroom, I repeat: one public bathroom for the whole joint, 

but that thing was spotless. 8, 8, 9

Seating/Reservations: Easy to reserve, but do it early, prime seats, good pick 8, 9, 9

 

Overall Night Spot Ratings: 8, 8, 7 = 7 and 2/3 out of 10.  Not bad for the first one.

 

Wanna see the prices? I got some receipts.

 

 

Oh yeah and one of us may or may not have kissed Khemistry on the lips thanking him for his lovely singing, dancing and banter. Might you wanna check out BQE on a Friday night?

 

Tell us what you think!