Carpe Diem

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TO WRITE REVIEWS.... LOVE THE PLACE AND GARLIC MUSCLES ARE THE BOMB!! PEOPLE TAKE THE RIEVIEWS SO SERIOUS.... POINT IS MOST UNHAPPTY FOLKS WILL ALWAYS BE UNHAPPY SO DO WHAT YOU DO AND DONT LET THE NEG ENERGY BOTHER YOU PEOPLE LIKE THAT SHOULD STAY AT HOME... IF YOU LET EVERY LITTLE THING GET TO YOU ...... HINT HINT IT MIGHT BE YOU more

Over-priced, uninspired food served up by an unconcerned, rock band wannabe wait staff in an atmosphere for what the over forty crowd in Decatur must think passes for hip New York. Still better than a vacant building, I suppose.\r more

visited with my husband for brunch on 4/16/11. food was wonderful; as we received the check, we were chraged $86 for $31 meal for two. as we told our server (petite, caucasian, brunette, young lady)she ran the card AGAIN for the correct amouont, which took away MORE money from us; we asked to speak to the manager, she said she didnt have one on site and proceeded to bring another server, Mark (asian decent, thin, young man) to our table to explain her mistake; he said things like this happen, and there was nothing he could do about it, we asked him for the managers contact information and informed him we were disputing the incorrect unauthorized transaction. mark became hostile and said the manager would say the same thing; we asked that he get the information anyway and my husband said to him, ""there's no reason to additionally provide bad customer service when you have made the mistake""; he slammed down a business card with the managers name written on the back and the number where the manager could be reached that evening. as he continued to tell us the manager would do nothing about it, my husband said ""that is all, we have made our decision as to what we will do"". The young lady offered us a dessert, and i made it clear we werent trying to get a ""freebie"" we just wanted to be charged for ONLY the items we ordered and ate. Mark proceeded to tell us to ""GET THE F#$* OUT"" and he walked away. Stunned, my husband and I sat there for few seconds, like, did this really just happen?! And as my husband and i walked out, I made sure our server was aware of why we were storming out to contact a manager when Mark continued to engage in banter and attack us, following us out the restaurant and beckoning my husband to fight him, taunting him from behind saying ""I'll fight you outside... I don't work here anymore now, etc..."".\r This behavior, service, transaction, and first time experience with the restaurant was completely unacceptable by any server or restauranter. To this date, no one has contacted us back from my message left with the restaurant Saturday evening. I do not know how we will be just compensated for this experience, as we are truly disappointed, publicly humiliated, verbally assaulted, and not to mention robbed. more

None. more

Food was good but our waiter needed serious training on customer service. First, he offered no water to us and seemed irritated when we wanted more time to look at the wine menu. Then, when we did order a bottle, he brought us a completely different bottle than what we ordered. By the time we figured out it was wrong, he came by the table and said ""Oh, I forgot to tell you we are out of the bottle that you ordered so I brought you something comparable"". Then, to top it all off, he added 20% gratuity on our check even though we only had a party of 4. It clearly states on the menu that only tables of 6 or more are charged gratuity but this guy seemed to think this was appropriate. The guy just had a negative, bad attitude the entire time which made our visit to this place a bad experience. I doubt he will be there too long with that type of attitude. Pros: Food Cons: Service more

If you are not familiar with the Decatur area, you might easily overlook Carpe Diem, but it's well worth the search. I've been to dinner as well as a weekend brunch and had an excellent experience both times. The atmosphere, which is romantic and inviting with lots of comfy couches in the bar/lounge area, first caught my attention, but the restaurant occupies a huge and versatile space that would accommodate groups of all sizes. When I came for Sunday brunch recently there was a fantastic jazz band playing live music, and it's attention to details like that that really sets Carpe Diem apart. Service was consistently good as well. \r There is something for everyone on the menu. In addition to a variety of salads and pastas, Carpe Diem has delicious and unique sandwiches and a number of entrees that seem like old favorites perfected with a special twist. You don't find Israeli couscous or bison at too many restaurants these days! I definitely recommend the specials, the chef really has a passion for the food and it shows in the entrees. They have a solid wine list as well. Brunch is spectacular, with omelettes, benedicts, french toast, etc. I had a really unusual andouille sausage and goat cheese omelette that was to die for. The bloody mary and ""bottomless mimosa"" doesn't hurt either.\r Check out the amazing patio when it starts warming up! Pros: Music, ambiance, service, FOOD! Cons: nothing really more

I had two very different experiences here. Came in on a Monday night in the early evening for drinks and appetizers in the restaurant's lounge area. The place seemed pretty slow when we arrived, although by the time we left the place seemed to be filling up. Our server was helpful, friendly, and accomodating. Make sure to try the grapefruit martini and the stuffed squash blossoms. However, a few days later I returned with a party of 6 for Sunday brunch and had quite another experience. Our party was seated promptly, without a reservation, and the service was equally great. However, after we ordered our food took more than forty minutes (this is too long to wait for brunch, even though it was fairly busy) to arrive and when it did, half our food was cold/room temperature. We were forced to send some of the food back. I also noticed a table next to us complaining that their food was also too cold. In short, brunch was disappointed after the great experience I'd had the first time. Pros: Great drinks, service, beautiful interior Cons: Brunch more

I just had dinner at Carpe Diem for the first time and I thought it was excellent. The food was delicious and very flavorful (especially the mussels) and the ambiance was great. There are comfortable couches for coffee or an informal meal and a more traditional restaurant (plus outdoor seating). We had absolutely no complaints about the service...our waitress was helpful, attentive, and very friendly. Pros: Great food, excellent ambience, very good service Cons: Honestly, there weren't any. more

I ate lunch here and it was delicious. I ordered the salmon ciabatta with the soup of the day (coconut crab) and they were both very good. Our server was very personable, and she gave us directions to some cute shops. more

I've been here a few times. The building / atmosphere has potential, but when you factor in poor and slow service, and mediocre at best food, why would you waste your time and money at a place like this? Decatur is in dire need of a nice mid-price place to eat, and this place doesn't even come close. You're better off going to Fellini's next door. Much better food and friendlier service there, which is a joke considering Fellini's is a by the slice pizza joint. Pros: they have a nice space Cons: they spoil it with their poor service and mediocre food more

The new Chef Rocks! He came from Apres Diem their sister restaurant. The Food was great! I love the mussels! Pros: nice atmoshere, parking, service, food more

We should have known that the place was slightly chaotic when the hostess seated a couple who had arrived after us first. Once seated we had long island iced teas. They were mediocre at best. The french onion soup was simply concentrated beef stock with a little cheese on top. We sent it back. The tapas arrived about 30 minutes later, all at the same time. Some of it had clearly been sitting for quite some time. Following comments relate to the tapas only. The tuna (sushi grade we're told) was more supermarket than anything else, the pork rolled in bacon, very average. The chicken dish was probably the best.\r \r While eating the appetizers, I was bitten by an ant. Uncanny, I thought, but carried on regardless. A little while later, a kitchen hand (possibly) came to the table and told us that they had an ant problem and that we could move if we wanted. He then disappeared like in a scene from a Harry Potter movie (""pouff""). We then found another table and expecting our food was to be transferred over to the new table, were left for a few minutes in a state of limbo, looking at our food (which by this time was likely being eaten by ants).\r \r It was difficult to get the attention of the waitress too. She didn't know the menu (referring to a scribble pad for the evening specials). The venue has a pleasant ecclectic modern feel, but nonetheless it's the last $84 they'll see from me. Pros: Nice venue Cons: No parking/amateurish service/TERRIBLE tapas and ANTS! more

We return again and again for lunch! It's a favorite of ours! Wonderful salmon sandwich on ciabatta bread. Great lamb sandwich, delish crab cakes when they have them, and desserts are wonderful! Took my brother and his SO when they were here from CA and they loved it too! Pros: Great food, easy parking, nice patio Cons: Service can be a little lacking occasionally more

This restaurant is a complete #*@$&@#$ and their manager is even worst. I went last december there for the first time for a company dinner. The waitress dump the food on my Jacket, shirt and pants. The manager, Tim Shaw, gave me his card and offered to pay for dry cleaning. I sent everything to the cleaners, but my pants did not survive. I called and talked to the manager and the moron told me, oh yeah , I remember, it was ""such a drama"", can you believe that, the stupid waitress puts all the stake and sauce all over me and the moron dares saying ""it was such a drama"" so ironically over the phone. Then I told him my pants were ruined and that I demanded that the restaurant paid for them and the dry cleaning bill. I said they were dockers and usually were about $90, unless there was a discount to which he replied, I have never seen those pants cost more than $40 dollars, a complete idiot if you ask me. I sent the original tag for the pants with the $90 MSRP. He had me write a letter, send him the receipts, etc. I did this and up to now I have not received a dime from this place. AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!!!. The food they served me, afterwards was cold and did not taste good to justify their expensive prices. Pros: NONE, unless you like to wear your food... Cons: Terrible services, cold food, manager is a complete moron more

Some friends told us to try out Carpe Diem in Decatur. I didn't even realize it was there. I had always enjoyed Apres Diem and Carroll Street Cafe and was delighted to hear that there was another in Decatur. We had brunch there the other day, taking advantage of the unusually mild temperatures we sat out on the beautiful Carpe Diem patio. The service was prompt and friendly . The brunch menu had many unique and interesting choices and everything we tasted was delicious. It is a liittle tough to find but I highly reccomend seeking it out. Pros: Beautiful patio, great sevice, great food. Cons: A little tough to find. more

We met at Carpe Diem for dinner the other night. We were seated promptly and served drinks just as fast. We started with the Calamari which was cooked perfectly and served with two delicous sauces. I had a filet which was the exact temperature I ordered and melted in my mouth. My friends entrees were also cooked to perfection. After dinner we enjoyed dessert and coffee drinks. Overall a fantastic experience. Pros: Fantastic atmoshere, great service. more

We chose this place to meet up with some old friends. The food came out and it was not good!!! at least 4 of us had some sort of problem, either with the drinks or food but the bad thing about it is that no one tried to make it better, instead of coming out to see what it was they could do to make it better, they kept coming up with excuses!!!! I don't want to hear excuses, just make it better, I'm paying my money, but instead of trying to make it better so that I would at least consider patronizing this place again, no one offered any apology and had the nerve to get smart about it. I will never patronize this place again!! Instead I will try the other 1 million restaurants in Atlanta where my money will be appreciated......you want people to come back, not leave and hate your place!!!! Duh!!! Get a customer service class Tim! more

Carpe Diem does have a fabulous and unique atmosphere esp. compared to the rest of the eateries in Decatur but I'm not sure if a stop is worth your time. I have been to Carpe Diem about 10 times as it's down the street from where I live and every time I went the service was slow. Too slow. Once we waited a long time only to have my frittata arrive uncooked on the inside but I let it go. After this past Sunday when it took 40 minutes to get a simple brunch I finally had to cross it off my list of brunch destinations. A table which sat down before us got there food a good half-hour before we did. I finally spoke to the manager (which I meant to do on previous occasions) and she said the issue was a large party that they had downstairs. Not a good excuse...restaurants should be prepared to handle a large party and the rest of its guests at the same time. Combine that with repeated requests for simple things, such as lemon and a box and it's off the list for good. Pros: Ambience Cons: Service is horrivle! more

The food was good, but the sauce on the fish was supposed to be a meuniere (spelling?) and it really wasn't. I was surprised that the snapper was lightly battered, and delighted by the risotto, asparagus, and haricots verts that were served with it. The orange cake was delicious! The service was a little spotty, but overall, I would go back for another round. Pros: nice seating on patio, parking easily available, not at all crowded Cons: spotty service more