Octopus Bar

The weather was a tad dreary, but not dreary enough to explore. The air had a sense of mystery to it..and I had to find out why...
It also could of been that I have had the flu for the past few days, been cooped up in the house and had to GET. OUT!
But as crazy as it sounds, the fog and rain called to me. The commonality of sunlight annoys me at times.
David and I were cruising down I-85 when he said the loaded statement. "Im so hungry". Followed by the loaded question "What do you want to eat?" I could feel my eyes sparkle

I.LOVE.FOOD

No no no you don't get me . I love it! I don't have a favorite type per se because I love to try all types. There's so many different dishes so many different taste...its a mild obsession.
Its a medium obsession...
Okay, its a full blown obsession. And trust, I thank god everyday that I haven't woken up to being one of the family members from the Klumps.
I take pride in my sickness of the norm and it goes hand in hand with my food endeavors and even though being a foodie seems like a full time job sometimes ,one of the qualifications is having an open palette. Trying something you've never heard of, in a place you would never go to, and meeting people who you would of never seen. Its not just the food for us self proclaimed foodies, its the experience.

Atlanta and I have a love/ hate relationship. To me, Atlanta is a bittersweet city. For all of Atlanta's great events, tasty restaurants, and beautiful walking trails, most are very hidden. Around 15% of events in Atlanta are broadcasted, the rest seems to be word of mouth. But who do you blame? Atlanta is so diverse that every part of atlanta is not only different, but every part has their own  itinerary. People who are accustomed to their areas rarely leave. ESPICALLY if theyr'e  ITP(in the perimeter) which means inside the city. Then theyr'e people who are OTP(outside the perimeter) like me....who are not in the city but want to be....but have no idea where to start. So you then you have to ask yourself, how do I find out about these events? Do I stand on a corner along with the crackheads gone wild asking people who walk by "wheres the party at?" That won't blow over well..it will actually get you in more of a hole then you were beforehand.

To get past this you have to submerge your way into the crowd. Go to festivals and events that you in fact do know about, meet people and make friends, and soon enough you will be getting emails and text messages for things you have never seen in magazines or online before. Submerging yourself in an area you have no idea about is indeed scary but finding something you enjoy doing in a different area is alot easier than doing something totally different with people you totally don't know. I started to submerge myself in Atlanta's art scene. "Atlanta art scene?...." Yes believe it or not there is one. And it not just the High art museum which is a good start, but submerge to me is getting my hands dirty, helping out with the artwork, meeting artists, and meeting like minded people. Not just going somewhere to look at art and nod my head only to leave with my head just as empty as it was when I walked in. Since art itself is something new to me, I wanted to see not only its ending but beginning and middle. What was the artists inspiration, what are the tools they used, how long did it take them, or what is the canvas. Questions that are vaguely answered but not really explored, and I am a explorer.

Close enough...

My curiosity brought me to Wonderoot, a non profit community art center on memorial drive that seems like one of the beacons of new and seasoned artists, filmmakers, photographers, and musicians to come to perform, rehearse, sell their artwork, have classes, or work in the community garden. Wonderoot has everything an artist of any kind would need and want to perfect their craft. 

A few things they have:

A digital media lab that is equipped with 5 iMacs, Final Cut pro, and Adobe Creative Suite

A ceramics studio with pottery wheels, clay(Free recycled but for new its only $15), and glazes

A darkroom

A recording studio(Studio engineers are sometimes available to come help you with your session if you call and give a heads up)

A performance space(For shows)

A gallery

And this is all for 10/a month or 60/ annually. Its a steal and the reason I love it here. There mission is to empower and bring people together through art and with that enstilled, change will be created.

I love it at Wonderoot. There mission is working because there are all kinds of people from all over who come to either perform or work on their crafts. Since I meet most of them being at one of the front desk, I find out about different places and events(like I wanted)and that is how I found out about Octopus Bar. I was giving my first tour of Wonderoot to a guy who worked for Creative loafing when we started talking about restaurants. I told him I was looking for a different experience but not just that...hidden gems that only known by people around them. He told me a few places , one being Octopus bar which stuck out in me head. He said it was real low key, small, dim lit, and some of the most amazing food you will ever eat.

Octopus bar is attached to Soba, a Vietnamese restaurant.

At first glance, it looks like a house with a bar in it. Which made me venture into it. (David and I waited in the car and watched some people go in so we were sure it was an actual restaurant. Its right by a niehborhood so we didn't want to walk in someone's house). A blast of heat and a warm smile from the waitress greeted us as soon as we walked in. Confused where the heat was coming from I looked around the covered patio and noticed a small fireplace in the corner. As we sat down we were immediately greeted by the waitress who was in the front earlier. She described the sakes. We chose the "star filled sky". As we were waiting for our sake I took in the restaurant.

Graffiti covered the walls and  candles lit the whole restaurant. The reggae they were playing puts you in a trance and after a few sips of sake I felt myself mouthing the songs and swaying in my seat....A few more sips after that I was actually singing. Most of the patrons walking in went straight to the bar which was on the other side. The bar itself had an fiery octopus picture wrapped around it!

 Looking at the menu I saw something that made me realize I will be coming back at least a couple of times a year. The menu says it changes daily. I love that! But i also hate it. Because after the sake, i forgot to write the menu items down that we ate....but I can remember some!

The first thing we tried was the Lobster roll.





. The roll the lobster pieces were in was sooooo buttery and sooooo soft, it melt in your mouth. 

The second thing we tried was an egg and steak brioche. The steak was cooked a perfect medium well and I had never had eggs that fluffy before. It went perfect with the sake.

We also tried the fried shrimp that was....um....an acquired meal.

 The shrimp itself was great, its just...it was a whole shrimp, eyes and all. It freaked David out, which soon freaked me out because how hard is it to eat something when the person across the table is making gag noises and screwing up their face. So I took it home and fed it to the stray kittens by my apartment dumpster. 

The finale of the meal was an orange butterscotch pie.(No picture. It was that good.) The pie crust tasted as if it was homemade. It was crunchy and went hand and hand with the orange whipped filling. 

The place, the meal, the ambiance was just...bad ass. Everything from the smiley waitress dancing with the bartender. It is definitely a cozy comfortable spot to either hang out with friends or have a nice quiet night out. Either way I will be returning and can hardly wait.

Octopus Bar

561 Gresham Ave
Atlanta, GA 30316
OctopusBarAtl

(404) 627-9911