"From the co-owner of El Valle and Oaxaca, Casa Balam is the newest addition to Decatur’s downtown dining scene. Taking over the old Ted’s Montana Grill space, the Mexican restaurant features huge booths—perfect to crowd into with friends and little ones while you dig into family-style platters of tender chicken, duck, and birria, with warm housemade tortillas. Start with an order of creamy guacamole with onions and jalapeños. And we'd also recommend the juicy 10-ounce wagyu, which is shareable but so good you probably won’t want to. For a margarita, try the Bee Word, made with coconut milk and slightly sweet bee pollen—it’s so refreshing you'll consider the merits of starting your own bee colony." - nina reeder, juli horsford, jacinta howard
