Gimza Polish Restaurant, 3435 Medlock Bridge Road, Norcross, 770-441-2268
☆☆☆★★
Quick: How many Polish restaurants does it take to make it in the Atlanta dining scene?
Answer: One. Only one. Gimza Polish Restaurant in Norcross.
Such a shame we have so little representation of such a hardy (and hearty) cuisine in the entire Atlanta area, nay, the state. It crosses the lines of so many cultures: If you’re Russian, Turkish or Eastern Mediterranean of any degree, you’ll find something familiar about Polish food.
If you’re Southern with hints of Irish, Scottish and Cherokee (what a mutt I am), you’ll find the portly provisions that Polish cuisine has to offer just as welcoming as those who are more familiar do.
That’s in part because this food — pierogi, krokiety (croquettes), kielbasa, and the many salads — is as homespun as any, and so easy to wrap your appetite and heart around. Love chicken and dumplings? Gimza’s crispy, rolled pancakes filled with pork, onions, mushrooms and sauerkraut in a creamy mushroom sauce will seem scrumptiously redolent of even the most strident Southerner’s efforts at that American mainstay. Sausage? Gimza has sweet-yet-spicy kielbasa, served with two mounds of mashed potatoes and white sauerkraut (the red sauerkraut made with red cabbage, apples, carrots and onions is a meal unto itself).
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Start with a salad, which isn’t some green leafy thing tossed around with nuts and citrus in the latest version of Rachael Ray’s vinaigrette du jour. Polish cooks interpret salad as something — usually a vegetable — to mix with sour cream or mayonnaise. If you think your Aunt Ida’s potato salad is the blue-ribbon winner at the family picnic, you haven’t tasted Gimza’s, mixed with a combo of carrots, peas, plus apples and soft Polish farmer’s cheese with both sour cream and mayo.
The best, however, is celery salad — a near other-worldly experience of celery, though the shaved pieces of stalks are hard to find amid the onslaught of white beans, Polish gherkin pickles, tomatoes, mayonnaise, boiled eggs and seasonings that smack of cumin and coriander.
This is not the kind of food to eat if you’re counting carbs, cholesterol or common sense in regard to how many calories should be consumed in one meal.
This is the place to eat if you want to feel the comfort a pierogi can bring. If you go to this adorable restaurant and are silly enough to only order one thing (highly discouraged), this is the one thing — in a few different forms — you should get. Light dough dumplings, pan-seared until golden brown, filled with mashed potatoes, farmer’s cheese and onions await. Or dumplings filled with a minced meat mixture combined with buckwheat (which gives the filling an near-nutty flavor), mushrooms and onions served with a smear of sour cream or a relish of kielbasa and onion (or both).
Gimza’s kitchen is (wo)manned by Maria Mularz and daughter Krystyna Grzesiak, and the dining room — a handsome space sparsely, but lovingly, decorated — is manned by Marek Gimza, who acts as waiter, bartender, host, marketing rep and all-in-one handy man. He sports an English accent, having been born in England to Polish parents who left Poland after World War II. And he sports a fine attitude, offering tastes of Polish beer and imported Polish fruit juices, while always finding room on the table for another plate of pierogi.
There are desserts, such as apple cake drizzled in chocolate syrup, that are worth missing. But fluffy, sugar-coated doughnuts and apple crepes, as well as sweet, boiled pierogi filled with plump blueberries and served with sour cream are not on that list.
In fact, order them first. Then a salad or two.
That way, you won’t miss a thing.
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Pricing code: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 or less; $$$ means $50 or less; $$ means $25 or less; $ means $15 or less. The price code represents a typical full-course meal for one, excluding drinks.
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Gimza Polish Restaurant
3435 Medlock Bridge Road, Norcross
☆☆☆★★
Food: Polish
Service: Wonderfully attentive, informative and hospitable. There is only one server, so be patient.
Price range: $ - $$
Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover
Hours of operation: Open for lunch Tuesday - Friday from 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5:30 - 9 p.m. Friday dinner from 5:30 - 10 p.m. Lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Best dishes: Pierogi, schnitzel, Polish-style salads, kielbasa, croquettes
Vegetarian selections: Cheese pierogi, mashed potatoes, Polish-style salads
Children: Definitely
Parking: Adjacent lot
Reservations: Yes, but rarely needed
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: No
Noise level: Low
Patio: No
Takeout: Yes
Telephone: 770-441-2268
Web site: www.gimza polishrestaurant.com
Key to ajc ratings
☆☆☆☆☆ Outstanding
Sets the standard for fine dining in the region.
☆☆☆☆ Excellent
One of the best in the Atlanta area.
☆☆☆ Very good
Merits a drive if you’re looking for this kind of dining.
☆☆ Good
A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit and miss.
☆ Fair
Food is more miss than hit.
Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Poor.
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