Café Circa

You can get in with a hat if you slip the bouncer a $ 20. There was more hair on my plate than there was weave at the hair show. I’m bald, how could a 9″ piece of hair been mine Mr manager? I couldn’t believe the treatment we received. Of you’re looking for bad service, hairy food and disrespect, you should definitely try this place. Don’t let the other reviews fool you. They were written by employees. STAY AWAY FROM THIS ESTABLISHMENT!!!

I am so happy that I can now say that Café Circa is back to the class that it started with. Apparently since my last visit they changed ownership and what a difference it made. My most recent visit was on a Saturday, an associate of mine told me about Wine and Dine Saturday, a event held here every Saturday night from 8pm till 1200 midnight. I was apprehensive due to my last experience 8 months ago but decided to make my way down to Edgewood Avenue.
They have a strict dress code that is enforced. Grown and sexy all the way. No baseball caps, stylish sneakers are allowed but I saw few with tennis shoes on. There was a live band from 9pm till 11pm. The night I went the band that performed was «Exclusive» one of my favorite bands located in Atlanta. Exclusive performs every first and third Saturday. The singer in the band Erica always knows how to get the party started with her soulful voice and her amazing energy.
Wine & Dine Saturday has a special for $ 50 you get 1 appetizer, 2 entrées, and 2 drinks. Who can beat $ 50 for 2 people to dine and be entertained all at the same time. The drinks are amazing my bartender Joshua kept the drinks coming my favorite is not on the menu but his Kettle One Lemon Drop was yummy. The food was tasty, I had the jerk wings and loved them and I also tried the Jerk egg rolls which were very flavorful but not too spicy. If you enjoy hookah they have that available as well.
I can’t say that any other night is decent since this is my first time coming to Café Circa in almost a year but Saturday nights gets 2 thumbs up. If you really want to impress someone or just have a girls (or fellas) night out I would suggest coming to Café Circa on a Saturday night and don’t forget to make reservations in advance because seating is limited and they fill up fast.

I thoroughly enjoyed my New Year celebration here. My friends and I made a last minute decision to celebrate New Year’s together. We searched and searched for a comfortable low key lounge. Café Circa was our choice.
First of all, we called Marquis in the middle of the night (lol) hoping to just leave a message and for him to return our call when he could. Behold! This angel answered and was extremely generous and nice. He answered all of our questions and was extremely patient. I’m sure he thought we were crazy for calling but hey we needed a booth as soon as possible.
We arrived the next evening (New Year’s Eve) and he was there as promised and he also gave us the best booth in the house upstairs. Now, I’ll admit it was COLD at first but it warmed up later on. In the beginning the music was killing my chocolate congenial soul but that changed in the course of the night as well when the crowd began to trickle in.
Our Bartender was ‘T’. Big T! T was simply amazing. Very attentive and patient as well. He made our night. Anything we needed he made possible with no questions. If and when I return to Café Circa, I only want to see T and Marquis. We were a party of 6 and I promise you all, they made our night.
I have been to Café Circa before and listen… The service was terrible. But I’ll return with the experience we had recently.
Food: The food was very scrumptious. The Calamari and Sweet Potato Fries are my absolute favorite.
Hookah: We purchased an unlimited hookah. The hookah was not my favorite but hey, we forgot about it because we were really enjoying ourselves with the other tables around us. But the hookah could have been way better.
Parking: Parking is free on the side of the establishment.

Check your credit card statements after leaving here. I went here this past weekend and paid my tab with my credit card (which I hardly use). The waitress brought me the bill and then disappeared for 15 minutes with my credit card. When she came back she gave me my bill again but «forgot» to run my credit card. Really? So what have you been doing for the past 15 minutes? Needless to say, that same night I had fraudulent online charges on my credit card statement. In talking to other people I have heard they have had similar experiences here. So beware. And if you do go here make sure to pay with cash!!!

Cool people! Good music on a Friday! Poor service guess cuz it can get extremely packed. This place is extremely over priced! I only had one drink and it was 15 $ in a little ass sippy cup with tasting like straight syrup! Wtf! 15 $ for syrup! Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice spot and the music is the best thing about this spot and the people but they know they wrong for these prices! R
This is why people come to places already drunk. I was ready to spend but I can’t spend on bullshit. I’d rather go across the street and get fucked up on pbr and spend 30 $. Oh and I bought a hookah for 32.79 lol that was cool but I had to flag down for like 45 for another coal. Food was cool too still too damn much

Sorry service from the waiters. One shouldn’t wait 10 – 15 mins for someone to greet you on a Thursday evening when there isn’t really amyone in there
The wings were good but thats the only positive thing i have to say. No wonder gratuity is already added… wish i could remember my waiters name.

READ BEFORE MAKING RESERVATIONS!!!
I made reservations for 4 at 9pm and arrived on time. The waiter stated we have the table for only ONE HOUR!!! and have to move. Why would I make reservations if I will have a table for one hour. Why didn’t anyone tell me before driving all the way to sit for one hour. Who makes such ?. I will never go there. The food and music was great. Management needs to inform people before making reservations. Very disappointed on my first visit. Beware!!!

Went for a night out in Friday before the fourth! Had a great time listening to music and smoking hookah! Only needed one drink, the bartender had a heavy hand! Awesome! We didn’t order food so no review for that.

I don’t know what happened to this place but it has gone all the way down. It used to be the spot. Now, not so much. You can’t even order a basic drink. I have more bottles at home. The menu is a joke. Just about anything that you order they don’t have. Not worth going. Much rather go to BQE.

Can someone say ghetto. This place was extremely classy when It first opened years ago back in 2008 if i can recall correctly and probably until recently it was a awesome spot to go to if you were interested in good food, drinks, and nice atmosphere along with a mature professional crowd. Let’s not forget the experience of a amazing live band every Friday night. .
Now, let’s forward to current day. I arrived on a Friday night around 1200 midnight after making my way through what looked like every 18 – 25 year old in Atlanta. There was a long line standing outside of Café Circa which I have never experienced I think the people I went with paid a premium to skip the line of teens (they might have been 21 but looked like teens) so we could walk inside. Once we walked inside chairs were everywhere the dress code seemed to be sneakers, tank tops, hats, sunglasses and basically everything you would wear if you didn’t plan on going anywhere nice that night. There was a aroma in the air upstairs outside on the roof top someone was smoking something and it was not cigars nor cigarettes. This place has been reduced to a young ghetto club. I can’t really say more other than I will never come back. Not sure what happened to this once small gem on Edgewood. It is a shame that Café Circa has been reduced to a ghetto young club.

Been here a few times and its a pretty cool spot. Food is decent and DJ is great. Reservations are good to have if you want a table for a group. The rooftop area is nice however, they will still seat you up even when its cold and there is no cover or heaters. Service is typically good for lounge atmosphere but this time our server sucked. I waited for silverware over 1 hour! Our server was very inattentive and very forgetful.

This was my second visit to Café Circa. I still find it to be unnecessarily snobbish. The best part was Eddie — the upstairs bartender. He was friendly, fun and attentive!
The issue I have most with the establishment is their false reservation system. Tables were reserved, used and then cleared. We were moved after a couple of hours and were told it was because the table was reserved. Unsure how we got the table in the first place, if it was reserved.
We ordered food that was never delivered. It’s a very young place full of women. The drinks and music were good.

So, about Saturday night…
Café Circa is literally a restaurant that is kind of like a club. Kinda.
Per usual I went online to book a reservation for a table, however, they appeared to be all full (according to the online app)! Showed up anyway around 12ish only to see several wide open tables. Don’t get me wrong the place was jumping people were standing around and the music was EVERYTHING but there WERE vacant tables.
Anyway, we inquired with the «hostess» about having a seat and we were told without hesitation that it would be $ 25 to sit down… sureeee no problem. But really café circa, you charge people just to sit down and order drinks and food? Why not just change entry to everyone coming in? You card and search bags.
So, we paid, then sit down, ordered a round of shots, and some finger food. We were not greeted by a server, there was no formal service, drinks took forever, we never got utensils, water came when the food was gone, and the food was just mediocre this night. The speaker downstairs kept going in and out which was a huge buzz kill. Imagine jamming to your jam and the speaker going in and out! Blah! So we decided to check out the rooftop scene upstairs.
Now the rooftop was were the party was at. The music was much louder. The bar upstairs was packed, service was SLOW, but the music was on point. Ratchet dot com and I mean that in the most professional way. It was 94.5 with curse words. People were dancing, we were dancing, and completely forgot about the horrible service. We knew it was time to go when the DJ kept saying 10 more minutes and started playing baby making music. R Kelly, Silkk, Keith Sweat, and those kind of jams.
All in all, it was a good night. Would have preferred better service at the fee based table. Saturday night is a good night to go if you like a crowd and good hip hop.
5 stars for music
1 star for service
To extremes so I’m going with a 3 due value & service.

This is obviously not the same Café Circa as before. This used to be the place to come after work, unwind, and enjoy the company of others. Today it was like going to a completely different place. I walked into an empty, dark restaurant With absolutely no customers. Most of the employees were sitting at the bar chatting away. When I walked in, I had to ask if they are open. When seated at the bar, someone handed me a menu and I was greeted by the friendly bartender. She took my drink order, made my drink and ran down the happy hour specials. I ordered and she took my order to the kitchen. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any wings… or shrimp… or calamari… or peach cobbler. I stopped asking after that! Just a plain shame. After a long hard day of work, all I wanted was some vodka, wings, peach cobbler and some sports on TV. Well at least I got my vodka. This place has gone way down, which explains why I was the only customer in there the whole time. It’s been a while since I’ve been here because of inconsistent food, hours, etc. I wanted to give it one last try before I completely write them off. Unfortunately, this will be my last visit.

This place right here!!! It brings something special to Edgewood. I’ve been here a couple of times now and look forward to making this one of my regular stops for Girls Night Out.
Ambiance: This is a hip hop/​RnB establishment. I love the vibe when I come here. It’s not upscale but it’s not low class either. Come as you are (although I did see something about having selective entry in regards to dress code) and just have a good time! The music on Friday nights is absolutely amazing! They play all of the old school jams where you can’t help but Bob your head a bit. There’s also a rooftop bar that will be great once the weather is better.
Food: I have only had the gumbo here and holy Sh!% I think I died and went to food heaven. It was spicy and flavorful and just everything you could ever want in a gumbo! It was pretty fairly priced as well ($ 9). The fact they don’t have curbside delivery is the only thing that would stop me from eating this 5 nights a week.
The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is because the music was too loud. It was nearly impossible to hold a conversation. I wish they would wait until later to crank the sound up.

I went back and fourth deciding between 2 stars or 3 several times.
There’s a small parking lot next to the restaurant. A guy was standing near the entrance and told me he thought the lot was full but I could double check. Welp, after 10 on a Thurs night yes it was full. So, I backed up into the street instead of going around. The back of the lot has some huge rocks and I didn’t want to scratch my car. The guy was still standing there, he seemed to be «on something»…he didn’t appear to be homeless. Either way he was acting like the parking attendant even though there really was no parking attendant. If you go to this area, it’s normal for the homeless to act like parking attendants or help you park in a parallel space for a few dollars. The guy told me where a space was, so I could avoid paying I think $ 20 to park. I parked in the secret space. I gave him $ 6 for his assistance, and he was also supposed to be watching my car while I was inside LOL to make sure no one broke in. This isn’t the best area in my opinion.
We were able to sit down right away. I was kind of surprised because I read several reviews about how small it is, and also reservations. It was around 10 pm on a Thurs night. We came here because they had a flyer for $ 5 drinks and appetizers, all night long. Well, when we asked the server about it she said it ended at 8pm. We only came because of the special and if it ended at 8 we’d have went somewhere else. We showed her online and Instagram that it said the promotion was all night. She said she could do it– but not for the seafood appetizers. That was fine for me because I don’t eat seafood but my friends were disappointed. I attempted to order the lemon pepper wings but they were out of every single kind except Jerk. I ordered those and they were good.
I ordered a whiskey sour, my friends ordered a gin and tonic. The first one was made correctly but when we ordered the second round they were super weak. Not to mention it took the server a long while to come back and ask us if we wanted another round… I’d been sipping on the melted ice in my cup.
They have hookah here for $ 30. My friend ordered one well 15 – 20 min had gone by and no hookah. At this point it was getting late. We were tired and had to work the next day. We found the server and asked how much longer it would be… she said maybe 20 min. Idk if it’s just me but if there is a 40 – 45 min wait for something I’d let the table know. We cancelled the hookah. You can also buy cigars here.
The music was loud but it was fine. I really liked the DJ. He played a bunch of 2000’s music which is old school for me lol. Most of the music came out when I was in HS and it took me back.
It took a while to get the check. When we got it we noticed we were auto-​grated 20%. I’m wondering if that’s why the service is so bad– the servers know they’re getting an automatic 20%.
I really can’t handle bad service so I’m not sure I’ll be back. There are too many other restaurants in Atlanta for me to deal with this. The only reason I gave it a 3 and not 2 is because the ambiance was cool, great music, and my wings were good. If I do come back I may sit at the bar– maybe they are more attentive.
When we left the guy was still around – he did watch the cars!

Great music, sophisticated and attractively dressed crowd, nice ambiance but the service is slow, slow, slow. I left angry because the place wasn’t crowded at all and it took much to long for our drinks to come. Then we ordered a hookah and we waited so long we decided to just ask for our checks and leave. There’s way to many options in Atlanta for you guys to not to have better customer service !

The DJ was awesome! Played a lot of old school r&b. I didn’t have food, only drinks. No complaints there. The server seemed to be completely swamped and we had to flag him down a few times… They seem to need more staffing? Apparently, there is a «hookah girl» who our server had trouble locating. By the time she came over, I was over the whole idea. I will think twice before returning on a Friday. Maybe this place is better on other days of the week?
I added another star since the overall experience wasn’t THAT bad and the DJ was on point!

This is my second time being here I really feeling the vibe. The georgia peach drink gives me life!!!

Café Circa has huge potential, but it currently is coming across as a little too much DIY, — and not HGTV DIY. They were still wrapping up renovations when I was there on the rooftop patio, so the exposed plywood and tables uneven and missing their new tops didn’t particularly help.
For a new renovation, it was also a bummer that the new furniture looked rather cheap (maybe a Target run), one toilet didn’t flush, we were served the wrong food and were given two menus with two different items on them (typos).
I did overlook some of it, as to be honest, there are few rooftop bars in Atlanta, and the location is killer and they have DJs and music up there in the evenings — two thumbs up. But it really made me wish some investment could go into making it a really quality space where you don’t have to worry about bathroom issues and my cocktail glass falling over because my table didn’t have a top.
I would perhaps go back for the music/​dancing, but not to eat, and hope they fixed that toilet.

We were there May 24^th for a party for my cousin’s graduation. Since it was early on a Saturday (5:30 p.m.), there was no problem parking in the adjacent lot, and the restaurant was pretty empty with the exception of the staff. We were on the rooftop, which has a pretty good view of… everything else on Edgewood. The bar was cool. The only thing I had a problem with was, since we were the only people there, why was the waitress taking her sweet time?
The lounge area itself is pretty great. Comfortable seating and low tables. The drinks were great. Not too boozy (which for me is perfect, I prefer more chaser than alcohol, blame the woman in me.) The food was pretty decent, well seasoned, and since we were a party, a very large portion. We had the sliders (think Caribbean influence), the wings, and the sweet plantain.
The music itself was pretty cool, a mix of older music and «r&b» from today. There are also tables outside of the booths if you want a more intimate vibe. All around, I had a good time. I’d probably go back with a few friends.

Came here with two of my homegirls on a Friday evening. There was no line and no cover. Sat down and our server was a curly haired white guy who’s name I can’t recall but he was so kind.
Ordered plantains, wings and spring rolls for food. All was SO GOOD!
At midnight on Fridays they have live music. The local band was really good. There was an upstairs area but I didn’t go there.
Check it out. It gets packed so try to get there before 12 midnight on a weekend night.

If you want to fight all night long with bones in your mouth, don’t get the the fried whole snapper. Not worth it and not seasoned especially for $ 22.00. I’ve been to restaurants that deboned the entire snapper. But this was the worst snapper I’ve ever had in my life, I only ate 5% of the fish because I fought the entire meal with bones. With my meal I had grits, now moving to Atlanta I’ve experienced good grits and bad grits. Lets just say the amount of butter that was in my grits I could oil my big curly hair with and grease down my body.
And that’s all folks.