Omnivore - Morelli’s resumes late hours

Advice about Repast’s Japanese fried chicken night

I ate soft-shell crabs in panang curry at Spoon in East Atlanta Thursday night and was happy to see that Morelli’s, across the parking lot, has resumed its warm-weather hours: 12 noon-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 12 noon-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. I celebrated with a freshly made waffle cone stuffed with my favorite ginger-lavender ice cream....

How would you react? Last Monday, I went to Repast for the new weekly special of Japanese fried chicken with salad and a dessert for $15. I asked to sit at the bar and waited about 20 minutes to claim a seat. The bartender handed me the menu and I told her I wanted the chicken special.

“Oh,” she said, “we ran out of that 30 or 40 minutes ago.” That means the restaurant ran out of the special less than two hours after opening.

“Why doesn’t the host tell people you’re out of a special like this when they come in?”

She shrugged and seemed surprised when I didn’t choose to order something else from the menu. I got up and left.

I’ll cut Repast a break since this was their first time offering the special. But be warned: Go early. Real early....

SpoonfedAtlanta.com features pictures of Miso Isakaya by Mark Petko. He also visited Saskatoon....Check out Broderick Smylie’s photos of Baconfest, the annual fundraiser for Dad’s Garage last Saturday....