Kosher Food and Drink

Continuing on my series of Atlanta kosher restaurant reviews, I’ll now be telling you about Toco Grill. Toco Grill (1658 Lavista Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30329; phone (404) 996-2279; tocogrill.com; under Atlanta Kosher Commission (AKC) supervision; meat) is located in the same Briar Vista Shopping Center as Formaggio Mio, just around the corner. The parking situation at Toco Grill is slightly better since you don’t have to park on that giant hill… it is about as easy to find.

It is probably fair to class this place as a bit of a hole in the wall. The exterior is not bad, but the inside is a mess. There are boxes everywhere in the store, and there’s very little seating, albeit there is a substantial outdoor seating area with ceiling fans. Since it was in the upper 80’s, lower 90’s when we visited, we opted for the indoor seating.

Customer service was at the counter, and very friendly. We were on our way to the airport, and ordered lunch to tide us over until we reached home later that evening. We ordered the Mendel, Meat Candy (ordered rare), a shwarma in pita, the cowboy pita, and some waffle fries.

Everything came out reasonably quickly, which was great. We really liked that the menu was creative and had some flair. The waffle fries were cooked well, and just the right crunchy and spicy.

The Mendel, which is a potato knish filled with pastrami and a bit of mustard, was a huge hit with my son. Check this thing out:

I might legitimately make some of these at home, perhaps with a couple tweaks. It’s a great idea for a menu item with a lot of appeal.

I didn’t have a chance to try the cowboy pita, which was a pita filled with barbecued brisket, as my daughter devoured it. That would seem to indicate it’s at least pretty good. I did try the shwarma, and found it “mid” (as the kids would say). It wasn’t bad by any means, but I didn’t find it a revelation, either. I suspect no lamb fat (or not enough) was used, which tends to be the secret to making an excellent shwarma.

My hamburger, though… I want to stress this was a $26 hamburger I ordered rare. Here is what I got:

It wasn’t even medium-well. It was just on the far end of well-done. In a proper sit-down place, I would have sent it back. I didn’t really have time to argue about it, so I just switched food with my wife. Due to some surgery I had way back when, I simply cannot eat well-done hamburgers anymore without some severe consequences later on. The glazed pastrami part was certainly tasty enough, but if you’re going to sell a $26 hamburger and nod when I say rare, you cannot screw it up like this.

Pricing was about the norm for fast casual kosher fleishigs. The days when you could get a shwarma in pita with fries for twelve bucks are long past us, and you’ll be probably be spending closer to $25-$35 per person here depending drinks and appetizers.

Except for the hamburger disaster, Toco Grill made some pretty good and creative food. I’d visit there again, but would get take-out/delivery and lean away from menu items that required finesse (like hamburgers). If you’re staying nearby and want some fleishigs delivered, Toco Grill is a restaurant you should check out.