RESTAURANT REVIEW
Graduation Dinner Parties
Janet Fashinasi
Justice Café by The Manely Firm, PC
[email protected]
Graduating from law school is a
tremendous accomplishment, but
the stress of final exams and the
upcoming bar exam can easily rel-
egate graduation excitement to the
back burner until the day the cap
and gown are liberated from the
closet. I will not speak for everyone,
but many of many peers (myself
included) operated with this tun-
nel vision focus. Graduation plans
were not on my radar until family
and friends called asking about my
plans…and voicing their expecta-
tions. I finally realized how much
my soon to be accomplishment
meant to my loved ones as well.
After accepting how thick I was to
delude myself into thinking my
Nigerian parents would allow me to
graduate from law school without
a celebration, I compromised with
a graduation dinner. If you are a
3L in need of graduation plans or
know one who is, below are a few
restaurant suggestions.
Atlanta Fish Market
For seafood lovers, I recommend
choosing the Atlanta Fish Market for
your graduation festivities. Located
at the current space since 1993, this
Buckhead restaurant is consistently
recognized for its seafood. The gi-
gantic fish statue outside is cheesy
but useful when finding the place.
On that note, keep traffic in mind
in a world that is post 1-85 bridge
collapse. The interior features the
18 April 2017
cliché nautical theme found in most
seafood restaurants, but it is the
food that sets this place apart. buckheadrestaurants.com/restau-
rant/atlanta-fish-market/
I came for my first visit during
lunch. Anthony, my server, was
the best. He was patient and ex-
plained the menu in detail. I chose
the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, which
is available as an entrée or appe-
tizer. It was fantastic! The appe-
tizer version arrived accompanied
with thinly sliced potato chips and a
tartar-mustard sauce. After chatting
Anthony up, I learned that the crab
cake is one of the restaurant’s most
popular dishes. Other favorites are
the South African Rock Lobster Tail
and the Seafood Platter, which can
be ordered broiled or fried. Fresh
fish is flown in daily, and the res-
taurant has a sushi bar. As soon as you step foot into Mag-
giano’s, the warm and inviting at-
mosphere immediately feels like
home. The decor gives the vibe
of a family dining room during a
special gathering. After waking up
from my 3L stress coma, needing
to make graduation plans quickly,
Maggiano’s became my savior. My
family loves well-seasoned food and
large portions so I had faith that this
Italian eatery would work for us.
There are two separate spaces for
private dining, which is available
for groups of 15 guests or more.
Valet parking is the only option
available. Valet parking for lunch
was $2, but the price may vary. The
website features photos of many
celebrity guests from Denzel Wash-
ington to Ryan Gosling. As proof
that you never know who you will
come across here, I ran into Atlanta
Eats host, Steak Shapiro.
Atlanta Fish Market
265 Pharr Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
404.262.3165
Maggiano’s Little Italy
We opted for private dinning which
required us to preselect our food
choices days before dinner. If you
chose this option, be mindful of
your guests’ dietary restrictions and
allergies. Maggiano’s menu features
gluten free options and lighter takes
on their classic dishes.
We began with the Spinach Salad,
which was absolutely divine. Packed
with blue cheese, pine nuts, red on-
ions, and Applewood-Bacon topped
with a white vinaigrette, this salad
was an explosion of flavors. The
salad and appetizers were followed
by an array of pastas, chicken, and
salmon which were all delicious.
This was all done family-style din-
ing which created a cozy atmo-
sphere. Menu highlights are the
Four-Cheese Ravioli and Chicken
Marsala. You also must have their