Mary Mac's Tea Room

This is the place that all walks of life collide! Great service, great food and great atmosphere! I just wanted to walk the restaurant and read all the great reviews from locals to celebreties posted everywhere. Great value for the amount of food too! Pros: better fried chicken than my grandmother's (shhhh...) Cons: I couldn't eat all the food without bursting more

I have to echo the last review. I don't know what has changed from the time previous reviewers have eaten here, but tonight was my first and last night at mary macs. I think the ambience is drab and unkempt trying to pass itself off as ""nostalgic"". But most importantly I was not pleased with the food at all. My shrimp was so bland and tasteless. The mac n cheese was luke warm and too ""cottage cheesy"". The cornbread, and yeast rolls were stale at best, blunt weapons at worst. They offered us complimentary ""pott likker"" which tasted like salty chicken broth with some greens in it. The only really good part of the meal was the diet coke and the speedy service. Maybe it was an off night? I don't know but I can't recommend this place, sorry Pros: fast service Cons: bland tasteless stale food more

sorry, this place is not the best. the food was awful! the university of georgia's food services offers the same items as mary mac's and UGA's kicks mary mac's food out of the park!!!!!!!! and UGA is cheaper! UGA has the best southern food. i have had better southern food at UGA, new jersey and new york, sadly not from mary mac's. i won't be back. it was just not at all good. the fried chicken was cold and not tender and juicy. i felt like i was cheated. this restaurant must have a great PR person for the gazillions of people who come here every sunday afternoon to eat this average, tastless, nonsense southern food. btw, the wait is slow. for a restaurant that prides itself on southern food, they should aslo have southern hospitality and quick service. to the cook who cooked my food last sunday, cooking, especially southern food, is not your forte. i had great expectations, and was terribly let down. i'll remind myself never to choose a restaurant on hype again! i was with my family members and brought them here for brunch so we could try real southern food, and we were very disappointed. i had to apologize to them! let me tell you, southern food is not what it is cracked up to be. atlanta in general has the worst food in the country and this restaurant made me come to that conclusion. the wait staff was standoffish. furthermore, i felt scared for my life walking from my car to the restaurant because of the rundown neighborhood its in. i also feel bad for those president's that have eaten there and i'm sure they were thinking the same thing as me! Cons: dirty/unclean, uninviting and run down decor, long wait more

I went to Mary Mac's 2 days in a row. It's a great place to get some hearty southern cooking. The price is reasonable considering the portions. The collards are flavorful, although a bit salty. Love their sweet potato souflee and fried green tomatoes! And their sweet tea is just perfect. Definitely a worthy place to visit if you have a craving for some good ol' southern cooking. Pros: Great food, good service, big restaurant Cons: limited free parking more

Visited Atlanta from NY and wanted to try some southern cuisine.\r Read the reviews on CitySearch and found this place.\r It was a fantastic experience. \r The ambience is very homely and cozy.. the service is extremely friendly. Seating was prompt.\r Tried the fried green tomatoes and they were interesting.\r I ordered Fried chicken and corn and peas for sides. The chicken was really really BAD. I couldn't eat a single piece. I dont know if it was just my taste.\r But the corn was the creamiest i have tasted, and I tasted the Turkey and grilled liver from friend's plates and they were fantastic. and i also tasted their sweet potatoe and that was heavenly. for desert i tried the banana pudding, and that was fantastic too.\r So, i will go there everytime i visit Atlanta from now on, but just wont order the fried chicken more

Forget about all the negative yankee reviews, and take it from an Atlanta native, this is the real deal. When I was a kid, Maraget Lupo, always greeted my family with a smile. Now forty years later, Mrs. Lupo has passsed, but Mary Mac's lives on. The old servers have long gone also, and maybe the servers are a little green. I go for the old fashioned southern food. The greenpot likker(juice from greens) with a homemade corn muffin, is a wonderful place to start. Fried chicken livers, pork chops, and the seafood platter are the standouts. Veggies---fried green tomatoes, creamed-style corn, fried okra, yeast rolls, and the darn best sweet tea in the south. Not expensive, check out the old photo collections on the walls. Put some south in your mouth. Amen! Pros: Authentic Southern Food, Very Nostalgic! Cons: Some Green Servers! more

THe hospitality was awful and we were not greeted by our waitress for over fifteen minutes. When rolls arrived, she slammed them on thetable as she passed by us...on to other customers. The evening continued when one of the absolute worst meals I have ever had was placed in front of my face. I dug in quickly to my 'whipped potatoes.' Imagine my surprise when this homestyle treat turned out to be made from a box. Fake potatoes?! Are you kidding me? Ditto for the lukewarm green beans from a can. My macaroni and cheese was cold and appeared to be somewhat curdled. The only thing I could manage to choke down, aside from the rolls, was my steamed spinach. I'm sorry, but in Texas, when we say homestyle, we mean real food and a friendly smile. This restaurant gives Southern Style a bad name. Pros: Yeast Rolls. Cons: Service, Food, Unclean more

I love eating here. Service is always with a smile and if you're as lucky as a couple of folks in our party were, it even includes a back rub from the hostess. If you are in Atlanta, you have to check this place out for its southern cooking and hospitality. Pros: location, service Cons: occasional panhandler more

As the title states, I love Mary Macs. From the time you walk through the doors, you are treated like family. I often go with a group of co-workers and we NEVER wait to be seated; (and believe me, that's not due to a shortage of customers). The last time we were there, my friend and I (along with ALL other customers), received a pleasant rub on the back to go along with their wonderful comfort food. Everything's fantastic; from the sweet yeast rolls to the golden chicken to the delicious sweet tea. Some say ""there's no place like home"", we say ""there's no place like Mary Macs""! Pros: Fantastic Food, Excellent Staff, Spacious Dining Area more

As a native Atlantan who now makes her home in Chicago, there is nothing like coming home to Mary Mac's. I know I will always get the best sweet tea, fried green tomatos, fried chicken, mashed 'taters, and green beans. I had my 40th birthday dinner here, and no one went home hungry! I was also able to pull together a quick lady's lunch for 15 within a few days of another trip back 'home'. It's just not a trip back to Atlanta without a meal (or two!) at Mary Mac's! The only drawback is that the sloping parking lot is getting a little treacherous for my elderly friends. Pros: Southern Standards, Traditional Decor, No Smoking Cons: Parking more

I was taken as a guest. The food is prepared as it was decades ago -- wonderful!!! They bake their own breads, shuck the corn, snap the beans -- this is not a place where you get frozen Jolly Green Giant veggies. Lots of history here. You will want to read the little sketch about Mary Mac on the menu. Take time to look at some of the photos of famous patrons. I had the fried fish and my wife had fried chicken. For both of us, we were very, very satisfied! Well located for the Fox Theater. Pros: food is great, sense of history, well located more

Real southern cooking. The make everything here from scratch and that (just like momma's home cookin') just makes everything taste better. Don't forget to ask for your complementary cup of Pot Licker if you're a first timer. All of the food is real good and the staff is nice. The servers are a little slow to refill the drinks but besides that a very pleasant dining experience. I highly recommend! Pros: Food, Unique, Made from Scratch Cons: service little slow more

Stick with the old stand bys and you'll be very pleased. Fried chicken, chicken livers and okra were hits. Homemade yeast rolls and corn bread muffins are worth going off the diet. Country fried steak tasted more like salsbury steak and bake chicken was just okay. I didn't like the mac n cheese but others at our table thought it was good. Fried green tomates and cornbread stuffing were great side items. Pros: value more

A great place to bring your out-of-town friends. Great home-cooking but prices have gotten too high. I'll make my fried chicken and collard greens at home. Cons: expensive more

I've been going to Mary Mac's for probably 15 years and it's always been a great place for some home cookin. It's a family favorite. more

This is an excellent place to dine. The atmosphere is comfortable and the service is great. Pros: great food Cons: crowded parking more

My fiancee (now husband) and I were trying to come up with a place to go for our rehearsal dinner - we were having a pretty formal wedding so wanted to find something casual and fun. I am a native Atlantan and my husband is from the Jersey Shore so we decided on a taste of the south - ""Mary Mac's""... We rented their back room and had everything served family style - IT WAS AWESOME... Even Uncle Vinny loved it... THANKS MARY MAC'S... GREAT SERVICE & GREAT FOOD... more

Affordable fresh homeade food. A great place to get some of Mom's cooking. Completely non smoking environment. Vegetables are marked for vegetarian friendly. Great place to eat regularly. For bigger parties you can be served family style. more

It's a blast from the past -- pick your ""meat"" and your sides. Get the greens and be a little healthy -- or stick with pudding and mac and cheese. Plenty of food and it's the good, honest kind. No trendy stuff going on here. Pros: Good honest meals more