Address: 537 W. Howard Ave
Pricing: $5-$10
Phone: (404) 370-1717
Hours: Daily 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m., until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
How To Get There:
Take I-75/I-85 South to North Avenue Exit, and head east. At the fifth intersection, turn
left on Piedmont, then make an immediate right onto Ponce de Leon Avenue. Take Ponce de Leon for several miles, then turn right on East Lake Road NE.
Turn right on Paden Circle, then left on W. Howard Ave. The Tavern will be after the fifth street on the left, next to Atlanta Ave, across from a Citgo station.
Parking:Plentiful and free in front and on side street
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Thinking Man Tavern: Food, books and Vespas
The bookshelf at the Thinking Man Tavern is stocked with books, the TV is turned down low enough to have a conversation and children are apt to be around with their parents.
This low-key Decatur establishment “has a purposefully relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere and we intend to keep it that way for all that seek the same.”
On Wednesday nights, the place is overrun by Vespas or vintage Lambrettas as Scootlanta’s “scooter heads” meet up for dinner and a cold one. Board games are piled high on a shelf near the bar, suitable for families with toddlers looking for distraction to couples looking to break the ice.
The brew selection includes tasty brews from Allagash in Maine, Avery of Colorado, Delaware’s Dogfish Head, North Carolina's DuckRabbit as well as a rotating selection of brews from the “Frank Zappa-worshiping, dog-loving, hop heads” of California’s Lagunitas brewery. The menu quotes Norwegian-Canadian cross country skier Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen: “Stay busy, get plenty of exercise, and don’t drink too much. Then again, don’t drink too little.” Jackrabbit died at the of age 111.
The only thing on the food menu that costs more than $10 is the Salad Nicoise, fresh grilled yellowfin tuna over greens with warm bacon vinaigrette and home-made croutons.
Hot, crisp potato rounds come as a side for a full menu of sandwiches and burgers, including BLT’s with applewood-smoked bacon, a tuna steak burger and a half-pound tavern burger. Appetizers include the usual fare of guacamole and chips and quesadillas to the more exotic Santiago eggrolls -- cilantro chicken wrapped with cheese, black beans and Mexican seasonings—and corn fritters—fried balls of fresh corn, peppers, onions and garlic served with a honey-sour cream sauce.
Enjoy your food inside at a table, booth or at the bar, or sit outside on the patio. Check the tavern schedule for special events such as Trivia night, a darts league, seasonal beer festivals or drink specials, such as Wednesday night pint night.
Thinking Man drink menu
- by Diane Loupe, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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Diane LoupeA resident of Decatur, Ga., Diane has a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri. She has worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Associated Press, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Yale Medical School. A freelance writer and editor, she has contributed to The Sunday Paper, Women's eNews, the Agnes Scott College alumni magazine, eSchool News, and PTO Today. Diane is an instructor of College Composition at the Interactive College of Technology in Chamblee.
