A wonderfully eccentric Poncey-Highland stalwart since 1994, Java Jive serves a side of droll irony with its eggs and coffee. The decor may be pure midcentury-modern kitsch—Formica dinette sets, vintage signs, and lamps with DayGlo shades—but the clientele are mostly Gen Xers and Gen Yers whose parents likely hadn’t met when Eisenhower was in office. Husband-and-wife team Steven Horwitz and Shira Levetan originally opened Java Jive as a showcase for Levetan’s desserts, but
the popularity of their weekend brunch soon stretched to weekday breakfasts
and usurped the sweets. You can still
savor her baking skills in the restaurant’s pillowy, misshapen biscuits. (And you
can still custom-order desserts from Levetan; her coconut cake and raspberry cream pie are ethereal.) The restaurant is cash only, but there’s an ATM on
the premises.
ORDER THIS: Santa Fe scramble with chorizo and roasted potatoes; matzo brei (matzo dipped in egg batter and fried); gingerbread waffle with lemon curd, available only on weekends.
790 Ponce de Leon Avenue, 404-876-6161
