During Inman Park’s recent restaurant week, Mario and I visited Wisteria for some “new South” fare. I was really hoping to be able to visit again before writing this (especially because they’re now on Scoutmob), but the start of my wedding diet has delayed many of my must-trys for a while. Restaurant week is not always the best time to judge a restaurant on service, but I thought the service at Wisteria was outstanding for a regular night, and the fact that it was a Friday evening during restaurant week just made it that much better. Although not typically the case for Inman Park, many restaurant week menus are so boring to me–steak, chicken, fish. So I LOVED that Wisteria’s menu had an array of non-boring appetizers and entrees (rack of lamb, shrimp and grits, 3 meat bolognese) at two different price points. We started with the crawfish and corn fritters and fried oyster toast:

Crawfish and Corn Fritters

Fried Oyster Toast

The fritters were a good combination of creamy and crunchy and had a nice “Cajun” taste (from the seasoning) but weren’t distinctly crawfish-tasting. I loved the oyster toast (but then I just love oysters) and the creamy sherry sauce drizzled over the whole arrangement. Honestly these would have been just as good minus the toast, since fried oysters on top of a baguette isn’t the easiest thing to eat (we went in with fork and knife). For the main course, after deliberating over the 10+ menu options, I settled on the Pan Roasted Nantucket Sea Scallops over orzo with sweet corn with roasted tomatoes, Grana Padano and arugula almond pesto, and Mario had the skillet fried chicken with mushroom-herb broth, subbing the included side for whipped sweet potatoes.

Scallops & Risotto

Pan-Fried Chicken

You may not be able to tell from the photos, but these are some huge portions. I certainly didn’t mind, as restaurant week is supposed to be about bang for your buck and Wisteria definitely delivered. That said, I was very disappointed that I couldn’t manage to finish the whole delicious plate. The nicely cooked scallops, which there at first seemed to be a lot of on the plate, were actually cut in half–a smart move for the restaurant, I think. It felt like I had double the usual 3-4 scallops on an entree plate. Mario also couldn’t finish his entree, which was probably a half chicken + sides. He enjoyed the crisp skin and gave a thumbs up to the juicy meat.

For dessert, we were both given the dessert sampler: Sweet Potato and Praline Cheesecake with Whipped Cream, Granny’s Carrot Cake with Bourbon Sauce, Warm Fudge Tart with Swiss Chocolate Orange Ice Cream:

Dessert Sampler

My favorite was definitely the carrot cake…so moist and delicious! The fudge tart was too rich for both me and Mario, but if you’re a chocolate fiend it’s the way to go. The crust of the sweet potato praline cheesecake was great (and was the praline component), but I thought the filling was pretty bland.

I loved the atmosphere at Wisteria–the restaurant was smallish, but very open, and really felt like a neighborhood place. There were groups coming in just for wine at the bar, a small birthday party, and of course a number of restaurant week diners. As I mentioned, service was fast and friendly. This is the kind of place I wish I could walk to from my house.

www.wisteria-atlanta.com