Casa Vieja Restaurant

I’m never too thrilled about going to Colombian restaurants because my mom can make anything I like and she usually does it better (well, to my taste) and for free, but seeing as how she’s a thousand miles away, I haven’t really had any Colombian food in a while. My boyfriend suggested going to Casa Vieja last Sunday since we had just been to H Mart and it was close, so I just said yes because I didn’t have a better suggestion.
I ordered the chuleta vallecaucana and it was pretty good. I like how they give you options for your side; I got the patacones this time. The portion was huge, and considering the price, it’s a pretty good deal. I’d recommend getting one of our sodas if you’re into that because they’re all good. I always get the manzana (apple soda). If you’re more into juices, you can’t really go wrong with a mango one with milk though I haven’t tried it here.
The waitress was perfect, and she made me realize how homesick I am. She was just so typical Colombian, i.e. super sweet and kind and she called me a queen which didn’t hurt. Service could’ve been a bit faster, but hey, you can’t win them all.
TL;DR decent service, good food, great prices. I’m glad my boyfriend picked it.

Super friendly people and great food. Huge portions great prices. The fresh mango juice is super awesomeness.

Love this place, I do a lot of traveling for work so it’s become a tradition when I’m in Atlanta to stop by casa vieja for lunch to have the bandeja paisa, great service + great food= 5 stars!

I came here a few times with my Colombian coworker. She introduced me to Colombian food. This place is a hole in the wall, located in shabby parking lot. Probably not a great location. But their staff and food is great. I love to get their thin steak with rice and beans. Always well cooked and I never had a disappointing experience :)

Yes, it’s in a sort of dumpy mini strip mall. Don’t let that fool you. Wonderful Columbian food. Bandeja is huge, I recommend the mini bandeja unless you are starving. All of the grilled meat plates are also large portions. Perfectly cooked plantains on the side. Ask for the hot sauce. Aji sauce on the table is pure heaven. On everything. Service is super sweet and a bit slow. Be patient and enjoy the super cool interior.

Very good food. When I eat Colombian food I always ask for «pescado », and today I had fish soup and the special which was rice, beans, fried fish and salad. Not a lot of food but enough. Very tasteful and remind me my home country. The decoration is also very interesting, very typical ! My husband and I paid $ 15 for both (2 specials). Great price!

Ordered the Sobre Barriga a la Plancha o a la Criolla con papa y yuca in the soup style. If you order it without the soup, I don’t think you’d enjoy it as much because the meat would end up being too dry. The soup is tomato based and was delicious. My issue with this is that it was a bit pricy, $ 11.95. Little did I know how huge this dish is, you could share with at least two people. So, maybe that’s why it was a bit pricy? I really loved the tiny potatoes in the dish. From what I’ve been told, it’s a native potato from Columbia. The little potatoes were just so yummy! I also tried the Columbian apple soda and it was really good! I enjoyed the overall authenticity of the place, just not so much the price. Maybe I ordered the wrong dish due to size. Let’s just say I ate it for two more meals. So 3 meals can make the price worth it if you’re willing to eat it that many times in a row.

Great food. The Ajiaco is great. The juices, Lulo, Maracuya, made to perfection. The Picada tastes as if it was cooked in one of the best restaurants in Colombia.

This is by far my favorite place to eat at lunch time. When you drive up it diff looks like a whole in the wall. Nothing special on the outside but when you go in they have a pretty decent setup. All Colombian themed. I go for the lunch special so with the meal drink and tip I walk out spending $ 9 – 10 for myself. I get so tired of eating fast food this food taste like home made food like my grandmother or mom just finish making it. Its fast cheap and yummy. Oh and they play good salsa music! Service is good. Haven’t had any issues with that they pretty much take your and order bring your food.

You can find Casa Vieja on Shallowford Rd in Doraville on one of those cut-​through streets. It’s in the middle of a small strip mall that looks like if fell off the face of the earth, with almost all ethnic shops and restaurants. Parking is fairly cramped so you may have to walk a bit but the food is worth it.
I hit Casa Vieja on a Friday when I didn’t have much going on and was just looking for something different for lunch, preferably in an area I don’t usually visit but not too far from the house (I had taken the day off). It popped up on Unilocal as I was driving near Doraville so I decided to give it a try. The shopping center reminded me of being in a border town, very ethnic with an interestate bus pick-​up going on nearby and tons of people with luggage. Don’t let the shanty-​like appearance fool you though as the food at Casa Vieja is very solid Colombian-​style cuisine.
The interior is very bright and the place was packed. I was taken to the only open table and there were several groups, mostly of Latinos but I spotted an occasional American, probably from local businesses. The menu has 4 pages that was broken up into Entradas (Appetizers), Carnes (Meats), Comida de Mar (Seafood), Especiales (Daily Specials for both Saturday and Sunday), Botanas Mexicanas (a few Mexican items), Postres (Desserts) and Bebidas (Beverages.
The servers were very attentive and even with broken English were able to describe the contents of the various meals and the lunch specials — there were two, a fish that I didn’t pay too much attention to and the Bandeja Paisa (lunch portion so smaller than the regular platter, plus it came with a juice drink — I chose the raspberry, all for $ 7.99). I really like the Paisa’s that you usually find in Colombian restaurants — they have a variety of meats (carne asada and chicharones), a fried egg, rice, beans, maduros style plantains and an arepa in this example. I liked everything except the arepa (but in general I don’t care for them much — in some Columbian restaurants you get tostones instead).
I found the food very good and the portion perfect for lunch. As with just about all of the Colombian restaurants I’ve visited, the food took a bit longer to make it to the table once ordered, but I’m guessing that this is typical — the flip side is that the food is worth waiting for and so far I haven’t been disappointed.
(also posted to my food blog)

Super great food! Super awesome service. The girls are very attentive and the food comes out really quick. Don’t waste your time at nasty la Casona or la abuela. Come here come here come here!!!

Delicious food and great service. Ask for the special of the day. Excellent price. My Huspand and I ate lunch for $ 12 with drinks included.

Date: Sunday: Lunch
This Colombian restaurant hit the spot.
MINI BANDEJA PAISA W/​CARNE ASADA $ 10.90
Overall the food was good especially for the price. The place is cool and has potential if they choose better quality products. I would choose a better meat cut like Skirt Stake and upgrade the silverware.

Not many Colombian restaurants in the area and being that I live on johns creek I always drive a little distance to get here. Food is totally worth it. I’ve had the chicken soup, bandeja paisa and a few other dishes. All is delicious!

Excelent and authentic Colombian restaurant.
It is a hole in the wall but their food is wonderful.
The attention is great.
I usually order the grilled chicken that comes with salad, excelent well made rice and plantains.
Their portions are huge.

Great warm feeling. Very healthy portions! Waitress was super busy, but still checked on the table and suggested good menus items.

This looks like a very authentic Colombian restaurant. Seriously, when we drove up, I felt like I was in some small town in Latin America.
The staff seemed authentic. They could barely speak English. But they knew enough to communicate. I love going to authentic places. I actually like these type of experiences.
They have lunch specials depending on the day. On Friday, it’s the Bandeja Paisa. On Thursday, the day we went, it was the Tilapia.
I ordered the Mini Bandeja. The mini bandeja had egg, avocado, steak, plantains, chicharron, beans and rice. I think the full version has chorizo. I’m glad I ordered the Mini version because this version was still huge. Bandeja Paisas are usually huge anyway.
The steak tasted okay. It was tough and seemed like a cheap cut of meat.
I’m not a fan of chicharrons. They’re always rock hard at every place I go. Done right, they’re decent at best. I didn’t like Casa Vieja’s that much.
Their egg seemed overdone to me. I wished the yolk was more runny.
The rice and beans were average. At least I enjoyed their plantains.
I also tried their empanada. It was good. They fried it well.
Overall, it’s an okay Colombian Restaurant. It is cheap and authentic; at least they got that going for them.

Food here is definitely a good representation of Colombian food, but isn’t the best I’ve had. I give that honor to La Casona. However, this place also serves delicious food with good service. I ordered the Bandeja Paisa which is my Colombian standard.
I did find there was a bit of a communication breakdown here and pointing was done more than speaking… it was also strange that my in law and I went in and it was two of us and then one table of native speaking men who looked at us very wearily as we were seated.
I’d go back, but as long as La Casona is around, I’ll probably frequent there.

Good Colombian food that is within 15 minutes of downtown ATL. I always get the bandeja piasa and a blackberry shake here. Great flavors and good prices always have me coming back to this place.

Here is affirmation in 2013 that this place is still awesome. I came here with two of my co-​workers for lunch on Friday and we all got the mini bandeja paisa. The plaza in which this restaurant is just as others describe; kind of sketchy and is not the best prelude to what you will experience inside.
This is a hole-​in-​the-​wall kind of place, which are probably my favorite types of establishments. First of all, I am all about supporting small businesses; they bring so much color and flavor to our neighborhoods. Second, I loooooooove cheap eats. Maybe it’s my background (literally grew up in poverty – which I am thankful for as it shaped me immensely) but there is something comforting to me when I can eat with no pretense.
So my booth benchmate got the same thing as me, the bandeja with carne asada (thin steak) while our lunch companion got carne molida (ground beef). It was a nice portion, just what I wanted for lunch and I had made a point to skip my mid-​morning snack for this feast. On the plate, we had rice, beans, sweet plantains (can I start the trend of having people pronounce this word correctly, please? The word rhymes with «mountains.» Just sayin’, folks.), a small arepa, the aforementioned meat, a piece of chicharón and a fried egg. Perfectly fried. I first just stared at the plate and when I finally came to my senses, I took a picture (this must annoy all my eating partners, as I go out with mostly non-​Yelpers). When I dug in, I immediately thanked myself for not consuming unneeded calories earlier, as I was probably going to eat all of this food.
Amazingly, drinking water and having good company will force you to pace yourself as you grub. So my belly felt full before I finished and at the end, I made valiant efforts to keep pushing on. But alas, I failed anyway to go all the way.
Service was fast and friendly. I wish someone would have told us that we had to go up to the counter to pay, as we spent extra time talking, thinking the bill was on its (slow) way. We are all Spanish-​speaking, so we had no communication barriers. Totally recommended for lunch, as this plate came out less than $ 7 with tax. Can you really beat that?