Haven caters to community needs

Service: friendly and comfortable

Best dishes: quail, pork croquette, trout

Vegetarian selections: soups, salads, ricotta tortellini

Price range: $$$-$$$$

Credit cards: all major credit cards

Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Sundays, 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 5-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays.

Children: OK if well behaved

Parking: street parking or valet lot in the back

Reservations: yes

Wheelchair access: yes

Smoking: no

Noise level: moderate to high

Patio: yes

Takeout: yes

Address, phone: 1441 Dresden Drive, Atlanta. 404-969-0700.

Website: www.havenrestaurant.com

More options for neighborhood restaurants:

Wisteria

Open since 2001, Wisteria is a fixture in Inman Park. It serves twists on Southern favorites, including versions of pimento-cheese deviled eggs, iron-skillet fried chicken, fried catfish and shrimp and grits. Wisteria chef Jason Hill is featured in Melissa Libby's cookbook, "Atlanta Cooks at Home." Wisteria earned three stars in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review in 2011. 5:30-9 p.m. Sundays, 5:30-10:00 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 5:30-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 471 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta. 404-525-3363, www.wisteria-atlanta.com. $$-$$$.

Food 101

With house-made preserves, pickled vegetables and smoked meats, Food 101 serves reinvented Southern and American classics. Offering a menu drastically different from the one it opened with 13 years ago, Food 101's options include chicken-fried Georgia quail, brisket burritos and roasted-pumpkin ravioli. The restaurant also is known for its Sunday brunch. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5:30-10 p.m. Sundays, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5:30-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5:30-11 p.m. Fridays, 5:30-11 p.m. Saturdays. 4969 Roswell Road, Atlanta. 404-497-9700, www.food101Atlanta.com. $$-$$$.

Babette’s Cafe

Chef Marla Adams opened Babette's Cafe in 1992 in a remodeled bungalow near Inman Park. The cafe serves rustic European fare with items like veal piccata, cassoulet and Basque-style grilled Block Island swordfish. Adams freely shares recipes and sells the restaurant's popular sauces, dressings, beer cheese soup and a number of other specialties in bulk. 10:30-2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Sundays, 5:30-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 573 N. Highland Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-523-9121, www.babettescafe.com. $$$.

When we started this restaurant revisit feature, I began touring long-standing metro area restaurants that are no longer new or the subject of trendy buzz. Like a trusty handkerchief, some of these places have worn better than others. It’s with regret that I must occasionally report that some of our beloved restaurants are no longer the dining pinnacles of yesteryear. On the other hand, I’m proud to find spots that have maintained both their quality and original appeal while keeping current.

And that’s how I found Haven, a 10-year-old eatery that watched the Brookhaven neighborhood grow up around it. While its price point may be slightly higher than most local hangouts, Haven has molded itself to the needs of the community. Couples and singles spanning multiple generations fill the enticing space, which has amber lighting and warm wooden tables facing an open white subway-tiled kitchen. Atmosphere plus solid cooking make this restaurant a success.

Haven knows its audience and makes it a top priority to give the neighborhood what it wants. Chef Stephen Herman may not want to cook the off-menu steak quesadillas locals seem to love. But you want it? You’ve got it. It takes some coordination to cart food from sister restaurant Valenza to Haven diners who want the best of both, but Herman’s got it covered. You want him to continue serving the old-school (but downright tasty) tower of truffle-laced potato hay ($6) from the original menu? Done.

Maybe you want an evening to hang out with neighbors over a juicy burger gussied up with snaps of applewood-smoked bacon and a buttery fluff of a bun? That’s Tuesday night at Haven, when folks pile in for the burger and wine/beer special. For $15, you’ll get the stand-up patty and a nest of hand-cut fries with a glass of wine like the Norton Malbec, which on another night would cost $12 a glass on its own.

The value of burger night might bring you in the door, but it also will make you want to explore the menu further to see what else Herman has up his sleeve. Let me suggest you try the andouille-stuffed quail ($10), but keep it for yourself — no sharing this one. The gloriously browned bird, tunnel-boned for easy eating, comes filled with a fluffy stuffing, spicy Spotted Trotter sausage, sticks of pickled okra and a crock of firm red field peas cooked baked bean-style. I challenge you to find a better quail.

Also, try the pork croquette ($9), a sophisticated take on North Carolina barbecue. Crack open the cake’s crisp exterior to reveal Big Green Egg-smoked pork dressed with vinegary pepperoncini. My only whine here would be that the accompanying sweet potato puree and stewed apples mute the smoke and tang of the croquette.

Those apples hit closer to the mark when paired with the thick Heritage pork chop ($27). The pork’s meaty jus mixes with the apples, soft roasted cippolinis and a custardy grits soufflé for a comfort meal to fortify you on those cold winter nights.

The gumbo ($21) also will warm your belly and your soul. Linger over a steamy bowl of the thick, egg-smoked chicken, andouille and shrimp stew piled high in the middle with creamy Anson Mills rice grits. Pickled okra adds little pops of brightness to counter the rich gumbo gravy.

I was most smitten with the bacon-wrapped trout ($23), but because I’m over bacon-wrapped anything, I didn’t order it. My husband did, and found it stolen by me. Instead of the flabby layers I expected, the Spotted Trotter sorghum bacon was crisped so that it formed a crackling shell over a roulade of sage-and-parsley-scented trout. Paired with brown butter and toasted pecans, how can you go wrong?

I wasn’t drawn to any of the desserts, yet I went with the fried sweet potato hand pie ($7) because it was paired with Nutella. The pie was good enough, if slightly greasy — and didn’t necessarily pair well with the chocolate-hazelnut spread — but at least I got my Nutella fix.

So many restaurants try to be everything for everybody and end up stretching themselves too thin. Not Haven. It knows the community and has successfully tailored itself accordingly. This is one restaurant that I’ll keep in my back pocket.