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OPEN SINCE 1945, Mary Mac's Tea Room on Ponce is a bona fide institution. The neatly framed, autographed photos that run up and down nearly every wall attest to that. Johnny Mercer, James Brown, Jimmy Carter and Jesse Ventura have all eaten here. And each praises the goodness of Mary Mac's classic Southern food. Even if nowadays the cooking can be wildly unpredictable, anyone who lives in Atlanta should probably make the pilgrimage at least once just to soak up the nostalgic atmosphere.

ATLANTA PEOPLE: Weekdays at lunch time, the parking lot is jammed with cars with license plates from all over the metro area, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Fayette. Inside, businessmen, tourists and families crowd the tidy, time-honored dining rooms, with names like "Ponce," "Myrtle" and "Skyline." You order Mary Mac's-style, jotting down your selections on a slip of paper with a pencil and handing it to one of the snappy servers, many of whom have been working here as long as the older regulars have been coming round.

Elissa Eubanks/Staff (ENLARGE)
People from all over have caught wind of Mary Mac's flair for Southern fare, including the meatloaf and sweet potato souffle.
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OLD-FASHIONED FOOD: The history on the back of the menu brags that "it's still 1945 in the kitchen at Mary Mac's." The old-fashioned entrees come with two sides and include everything from meatloaf and chicken and dumplings to pork barbecue and salmon croquettes. What can be maddening, though, is that one day you might get dry fried chicken, tepid collard greens and cold corn muffins hard as buckshot. Another day, the fried trout is golden and flaky-fresh, the mac-n-cheese creamy as custard and perfectly browned on top, and the hot yeast rolls melt in your mouth. When in doubt, fried green tomatoes are always a good bet. And roast meats, such as turkey and pork, with dressing and gravy are fairly foolproof.

DRINKS AND DESSERTS: Mary Mac's features a full bar, which makes it one of the few places in town where you can get a highball with your comfort food fix. There are several wines by the glass or bottle, and bottled beers include Sweetwater 420 and Sweet Georgia Brown. The dessert menu has an array of sweet Southern favorites — peach cobbler, banana pudding, bread pudding with wine sauce, and peanut butter pie.