Restaurant, tipping and food

Restaurants

There are a wide variety of places to eat in the Atlanta area. Several ethnic cuisines are represented: Indian, Greek, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Russian, Mexican, French, Ethiopian, Cuban, Moroccan, and many others. In addition, there are different types of restaurants: fast food places, where the food is quickly prepared (usually in advance of your order) and you can take the food and leave; coffee shops, where you can order coffee drinks and a pastry; lunch counters, where you watch the cooks as they prepare your meal; cafeterias and salad bars, where you select what you want to eat from a range of foods on display; and "sit-down" style restaurants, where you are served by a waiter or waitress at your table.

The fast food places are the least expensive; as the level of service increases, generally so does the price you pay for the meal. If you want to find out more about places to eat, you can look in the "Restaurant" section of the Yellow Pages or ask friends to recommend places to you. The Journal Constitution, as well as Creative Loafing, regularly review restaurants on how well food items are prepared and served.

Tipping

Tipping may appear to be giving away extra money for what a person is already paid to do. In many service professions, however, the person who serves you is paid a small wage and depends on customers' tips to make up the difference; this is meant to be an incentive for your server to give you good service. It is not mandatory to give a tip, but it is customary to do so unless you feel that you received extremely poor service. In restaurants and taxicabs, it is normal to give a tip of 15% to 20% of the total; barbers, hair stylists, and coatroom attendants in theaters usually receive $1.00 tip; bellhops (people hired to carry your luggage in hotels) and airport skycaps (luggage handlers) usually receive 50 cents for each bag. Of course, the amount of a tip depends on you and whether you feel that you have received good service.

Groceries

If your living arrangements include kitchen facilities, you may want to prepare your own meals. You can purchase much of your food at supermarkets (such as Publix, Kroger, Save-Rite, etc.), since they stock the widest variety of foods in one central location, as well as some non-food items. Many supermarkets also have a pharmacy, where you can have prescriptions for medicine filled as you shop for your groceries. In supermarkets, you select the items you want to buy and take them to the cashier as you leave the store. Smaller neighborhood grocery stores, as well as convenience stores that are part of gasoline stations, often have a smaller selection of food items and are usually more expensive. Other markets and stores specialize in certain types of food (like fish markets, cheese stores, and bakeries) or in certain cuisines (Asian grocery, Jewish kosher bakery, etc.). If you are looking for fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, and bread, a good place to go is the DeKalb Farmers' Market at 3000 East Ponce de Leon Avenue in Decatur. You can reach it on MARTA by taking buses #8 or #120 east from Avondale Station. It is open every day (except for holiday closings), and it has a good cafeteria where you can eat lunch before you shop.