Taking over the stall formerly occupied by Biltong Bar in Ponce City Market’s Central Food Hall, chef-owner Hector Santiago wanted his new Spanish restaurant La Metro to be like the watering holes found on the bustling streets of Madrid.
Open seven days a week, La Metro does indeed evoke the all-day cafes of Europe. The menu offers a handful of breakfast items, including an excellent Spanish tortilla, as well as coffee throughout the day. The tortilla Española, more like a quiche layered with sliced potatoes, is richly seasoned but surprisingly delicate.
La Metro also offers a counter of grab-and-go dishes and a large collection of tinned seafood for sale, aimed at office workers who need a quick coffee break or lunch.
Credit: The Imprints
Credit: The Imprints
As the workday winds down, La Metro comes into its own, and the drinks of choice turn from cafe con leche to cocktails, wine and sherry. The restaurant was inspired by Spanish bars where people congregate for drinks and light bites after work and then the happy hour melts seamlessly into a rollicking night out.
Although there’s a margarita on the drinks menu, most of La Metro’s cocktails are Spanish, rather than Latin American. You’ll find gin, vermouth and sherry in greater amounts than tequila or mezcal. Most of the cocktails are sophisticated and dry, and some truly stand out, including the golden martini, made with gin, dry curaçao, sweet vermouth and lime.
La Metro does a beautiful job of capturing the conviviality of the Spanish tapas experience, but the vibe comes with a trade-off in terms of creature comforts. The tiny space is not the most comfortable place to spend several hours.
Still, time flies when there is such an array of menu items to try; Santiago’s staff produces a dizzying number of dishes in the minuscule kitchen. Some items take advantage of the stock of tinned fish, such as the coca de sardinas (sardine sandwich) or the option to add tuna, anchovies or sardines to the salads.
Tinned fish also appear in the pintxos, the traditional bar snacks that usually involve some salty morsel speared onto a bit of bread with a toothpick. La Metro’s montadito de la casa stood out for its fusion of cuisines: a savory anchovy over a Southern-style biscuit with sweet sherry sorghum.
Credit: The Imprints
Credit: The Imprints
La Metro also serves classic tapas, such as patatas bravas, pan con tomate and croquetas de jamon, but there’s no lack of creative options. Coliflor bravas verdes enlivened roasted cauliflower with a spicy green sauce, while grilled bok choy with spicy chile crisp nodded toward Madrid’s Asian food scene. A fried sunchoke dish with anchovy aioli and smoked, dried tuna was surprisingly addictive.
The crowning achievement of La Metro’s menu is the chuleton, a Basque-style steak served with fried potatoes. The American wagyu-capped rib-eye — from beef raised in Georgia — is large and meant to be eaten rare. Priced at $6 per ounce, each chuleton is cooked to order on a 650-degree plancha and served so it easily can be shared. As an individual dish, it’s a massive indulgence that costs more than $100, but when shared with others, it’s a minor luxury worth the splurge.
There were no obvious duds at La Metro, but the kitchen can have a heavy hand with salt, occasionally overpowering some dishes. On the short dessert menu, the churros disappointed with a slightly gummy texture, but the Basque cheesecake and Spanish custard were delightful.
The biggest problem with La Metro is that you’ll want to spend more time there than the restaurant’s tall barstools can support comfortably. The restaurant feeds off the energy and foot traffic of Ponce City Market, but it also pulls off an amazing trick: While you’re there, the crowds and commercial surroundings fade away, and you only wonder what you might order next.
LA METRO
2 out of 4 stars (very good)
Food: Spanish
Service: quick, friendly, professional
Noise level: moderate to loud, depending on how busy Ponce City Market is
Recommended dishes: tortilla Española, ensalada la metro, gilda og pintxo, montadito de la casa pintxo, croqueta de jamon, coliflor bravas verdes, bok choy a la plancha, buñuelo de sunchoke, wagyu albondigas, chuleton, crema catalana espuma, Basque cheesecake
Vegetarian dishes: ensalada la metro, asadillo salad, cheese board, patatas bravas, pan con tomate, maix (corn ribs), coliflor bravas verdes, pinchos de hongos
Alcohol: full bar, including a heavily Spanish cocktail menu and mostly Spanish wines
Price range: $25-$75 or more per person, excluding drinks
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays
Accessibility: ADA-compliant with level entrance on ground floor, although most tables are bar height
Parking: paid at Ponce City Market
Nearest MARTA station: none
Reservations: no
Outdoor dining: no, but there is a patio area inside the main food hall
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 675 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta. 404-748-4494
Website: lametroatl.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s dining critics conduct reviews anonymously. Reservations are not made in their name, nor do they provide restaurants with advance notice about their visits. Our critics always make multiple visits, sample the full range of the menu and pay for all of their meals. AJC dining critics wait at least one month after a new restaurant has opened before visiting.
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