Profile Essay

                                                     Ole Thee Place to Eat

Now close your eyes and imagine yourself walking in a place spotless with an ebony interior on the outside and ivory interior on the inside. As you walk your way through in this magical place, you hear soothing music to your ears and see a bright colorful curtain masking the entrance. As you open the curtain, a lovely hostess will greet you and escort you to your seat, give you a menu and a smile.                                                                                                                  

Before I go any further, this place that I am describing to you is called Ole Restaurant and Lounge. I have been to this restaurant of couple times. My mom and I will go there to eat and enjoy some of the top favorite cultural foods. As you noticed, I said cultural foods this is a Haitian restaurant indeed. In my opinion, there’s more to this place then a Haitian restaurant. It is owned by a Haitian family and it doesn’t just have Haitian food items on the menu, but it has a list of other great delicacies and fun events.

 I had the privilege of having a welcoming conversation with the owner of the restaurant Sant-Cyr, which I personally met a few times before. As I explained to him what my motive was, he began to tell me the restaurant’s history starting from 2011. I was shocked on how long this restaurant has been running and it’s still progressing. I began to ask him why do you have this restaurant on this side of town? A Haitian restaurant in particular? He said “There is a lot of Haitian brothers and sisters who live on this side of town but have to drive far away to get a Haitian meal, so bringing the food to them was my way of reuniting the Haitian community”. I agreed with him, because before I found out about this place my mom and I had to drive an hour to Atlanta to find some Haitian food. That’s why I was so shocked when he told me how long it's been here in town.                                                                                                                                             

By Me

As I moved along, I began to ask a couple of customers about how they felt about the food here at Ole. They said how delicious the food was and proceeded to told me their preferred dishes. One of the customers named Ashley said “I always come here every week and I always tend to get the griot with rice and peas”. If you guys do not know, griot is fried pork that has been seasoned for days. I truly agreed with the customer, because the food here is to die for. You will have to come try it for yourself! When I asked the owner how many customers you guys accumulate every day, he said “one hundred on a regular day, it depends on the day of the week.” They only accommodate a huge number of customers during holidays or whenever they have an event. Jazz bands and famous singers always come their every Sunday night to sing and give the customers a great time.

 The place is opened Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 5 pm to 3 o’ clock in the morning. They have a bar where people can buy drinks, smoke hookahs, and relax with the bartenders. The drinks are mixed with alcohol or just regular alcoholic beverages like, vodka and wine. To get these drinks, you must show your identification card and prove that your twenty-one. The hookahs on the other hand, you must be eighteen and they have all type of flavors like mint, cherry and watermelon. You can always refill your hookah and your drinks; you just must pay half price. Don’t get intimidated by the beverage choices, they still have juice, water and soda.

As I was walking towards the back of the restaurant, I ran into one of the staff members that works there. She remembered my face and asked did I need anything, I said no. I approached her and asked “do you have a minute for a few questions? She said ‘’sure why not!!’’. I begin to ask about working at Ole, her feelings and her overall perspective on it. With an abetting face she replied “working here is very demanding. We are very low on staff and cooks, nevertheless I still love this job and it pays good.’’ I looked around and only saw three staff members, one at the bar and two going back and forth from the floor to the kitchen. It will usually take about twenty to thirty minutes for a dish to come out. Me personally, I never complained because the food always comes out fresh and tasty. So, it seems like they need to employ more staff and cooks in order to improve their service.  

 While I was flipping through the menu, what caught my attention, there was only two options of healthy meals on the menu. The healthy food items are a salad and a vegan platter, which consist of green tomatoes, spinach and plantains or okra. The rest of the items on the menu, though they may not be health conscious, they are very tasty in my opinion. I am the type of person to eat delectable meals, I don’t usually go to the nutrition facts side of food, which I know is unhealthy for my body. As I waited for the owner to be available, I asked “when are you guys going to add more healthier plant-based options on your menu?’’ He instantly replied saying “At the moment, I do not know when because we have a lot of things on the menu to worry about. That will be something I will think about in the future though.” By the way he was answering, I could tell he doesn’t have any motive of inserting any plant-based food items on the menu.

As I am a Haitian myself, we know we love putting vegetables and healthy items on our plate. According to Haitian healthy dishes, it states: “The main dishes or main Haitian healthy dishes are: Rice, Plantain, Cassava, Cassava Bread, Potato, Corn, Cornmeal, Oatmeal, Pasta, Bread, Breadfruit. The food that they consist of provide the mainstream of calories in a normal Haitian healthy diet. These items are highly available and it's a high complex of carbohydrates.” Now I think Ole should incorporate these items in their menu options, so it can be healthier, and plant based. Just as nestle quoted “Basic dietary principles are not in dispute: eat less; move more; eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grain; and avoid too much junk food.” On the menu, the food they have consist of fried pork, stew chicken, jerk chicken, wings, deep fried turkey, deep fried tilapia, goat, fried fish and snapper. However, most of these foods that are served here at Ole are greasy and unhealthy, but taste very good, nevertheless.  As I was exiting the restaurant, even though I’m concerned about their unhealthy qualities, I still ordered some griot with rice to go. I couldn’t resist!!

By Me

While I was leaving the restaurant, I seen a customer standing there, so an idea popped in my mind. I asked him “hey bro, how do you feel about ole not having that much healthy stuff on the menu?” He responded saying “Man, it doesn’t matter to me, as long as they have stew chicken or griot every time I come here, I am good.” So, I guess the customers don’t even care about that, they only care about Ole having the food they get every time they come there. Me personally, I know there are people who come to this restaurant, ask for vegan based meals, and gets really mad because they are provided with slim options. Overall, this restaurant is an ideal location for the Haitian community, and you will always come back for more food.                                  

 I took the initiative and went to one of their jazz nights that they have every Sundays to see what it was all about. Sunday night around 9.45 p.m., my mom and I parked besides the restaurant. As, I walked in front of the door, a person was standing by the entrance. I politely walked close and said I'm here for the jazz night, the person said its ten dollars to get in. Now, I didn’t know we had to pay to get in, but we still payed anyways. So, as we payed he gave us a bracelet and we walked in the door with no hesitation. While I walked in, I noticed the lights inside the restaurant were brighter than usual. They were still serving food, so you know I got some griot when the server asked what I wanted. On the stage, they were playing famous Haitian tunes, and mostly everyone was singing along which was really mesmerizing. I had a great time there!!

 Now if you guys want to listen and experience Haitian tunes, and eat great food. Where food tasting is the big priority not the health satisfaction. Come down to Ole located in 5481 Memorial Dr, Stone Mountain, GA you would not regret it. I didn’t!!