All posts by Jung Hwa Suh

Alexis Suh is a junior at Emory majoring in international studies and journalism. She has interned at Korea Daily, where she wrote articles in both English and Korean. Her interests lie in exploring the Asian-American identity and its political, legal and cultural implications.

Falafel King: accessible location, delicious food, affordable price

As a freshman without a car, Emory Village is the most accessible location to grab a bite to eat off campus. Located next to Yogli Mogli, Falafel King is a tiny restaurant, with the tallest roof. The signs seem outdated, and you may question if the yellow roof had actually started off white.

But don’t let the visual fool you! Since 2006, Nicholas and Jane Nam have successfully served both Mediterranean and Japanese food here to a steady stream of customers.

Easily the favorite on the menu is the falafel sandwich. Priced at $4.50, it has won recognition from various local publications over the years. Atlanta Magazine named it best falafel in 2007 and Atlanta Journal Constitution readers picked it as second best falafel in Atlanta in 2011. Emory University alumni and staff writer at Creative Loafing, Max Blau claims the falafel sandwich is “the vegetarian equivalent of a medium-rare porterhouse cooked to perfection.”

Vegetarian not your thing? How about a shawarma plate! Every plate comes with two sides of your choice.

Not craving Mediterranean? No problem. Nicholas can serve up a variety of sushi dishes for you.

They even have dessert for those craving something sweet!

Below are pictures of Falafel King’s main menu and special sushi menu.

It is a small establishment, with less than twenty seats available inside. So even at an awkward hour like 4:00 p.m., it may be difficult finding a seat. Luckily, there’s eight more seats outside.

There’s more to the establishment than the food. Jane’s eyes brighten up when speaking of the customers, especially those who come back years after graduating. She says she appreciates those that take the time to say a warm hello every time they’re in town. She even keeps in touch with a few former Emory students through email, sending them Thanksgiving and Christmas messages.
Good food and warm service leads to satisfied customers. Or as an Emory freshman put it, “falafel makes me happy!”

When asked what bothers her most about customers, Jane first says most customers are extremely pleasant. Then, after a bit of probing, she shyly mentioned that from time to time, a spicy mayo bottle (pictured right) disappears…

Although I’ve never taken one, I understand the desire of the spicy mayo bottle stealers. Falafel King’s spicy mayo sauce is delicious! I’m sure I could find a number of other uses for the sauce at home. Jane proudly gives credit to her husband for creating the sauce, which apparently includes six different kinds of mayo.

However tempting it may be, stealing is never a good idea. Students, please leave the bottles alone.

Here is a virtual tour of the establishment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BHxju9jfX8

 

 

Falafel King
1405 Oxford Road NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
Emory Village
404.377.1716

Story from: https://storify.com/alexisjsuh/falafel-king

Artists breathe life into the walls of Decatur

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Scattered across Atlanta you can find beautiful paintings on walls of buildings. These murals are part of the the Living Walls Atlanta Conference, a collective effort between local and international artist to use street art “to promote, educate and change perspectives about public space,” according to the organization’s mission statement. Started in 2010, Living Walls has created public art in various corners of metro-Atlanta. You can currently find six living Walls murals on Decatur’s walls. Here they are!

1. 430 West Trinity Place
(Beacon Hill Complex)
by Michi and Adrian Barzaga 

Pumped up to see the first wall, I followed the GPS on my phone. When the GPS announced that I had arrived, I looked up to see this:

Suh_Decatur_Blog_2The construction workers at the site could not remember tearing down a mural on one of the walls, but numerous residents could confirm the construction site was formerly the Beacon Hill Recreation Center, where the mural had been previously. Living Walls creations have a history of being torn down or painted over for different reasons. As seen in the photo below, this wall seemed to have been demolished as a part of a larger remodeling project for the whole block.
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Disheartened, I continued my search for the murals.

2. 113 East Court Square
(Squash Blossom Building)
by Gaia and Nanook

Located in the middle of the courtyard, the second wall was the easiest to find.

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The first picture didn’t capture the intricacy of the mural, so I tried to capture some of the details in a close-up picture.

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3. 133 Sycamore Street
(Dancer’s Core Alley)
by Sam Parker

The third location was the most difficult to find. Although you can see the alley from the courtyard, a bolted gate blocks that entrance.

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The second entrance is through a parking lot. it’s definitely not a location you’ll stumble across.

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Then the narrow alley made it impossible to capture a single picture with the entire mural. Here is a portion of the mural.

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4. 211 East Trinity Place 
(Back wall of Twain’s) 
by Doodles, Gaia and Clown Soldier 

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There was another mural on the adjacent wall of the Living Walls mural. Twain’s garbage small deterred me from getting closer to the second mural (pictured right).

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The last two murals can be found on opposing sides of a seemingly abandoned building right down the road from Twain’s.

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5. 302 East Howard Avenue 
by Freddy Sam and Ever 

The larger of the two murals faces the west.

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6. 308 East Howard Avenue 
by Jason Kofke

The final mural in Downtown Decatur can be found on the opposing side of the larger mural.

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There is an additional wall in south Decatur, located at East Lake Drive in Oakhurst.

The highlight of my trip was that although I got lost numerous times, every single person I stumbled across went out of their way to answer my questions. Thank you residents of Decatur!