DECATUR, Ga. — If you're thinking of the best place to eat in Georgia, what immediately springs to mind? Barbecue? Wings? Soul food?
Try Cuban.
Yelp has released its list of top 100 places around the country to eat for 2023, and only one Georgia restaurant cracked the list - Decatur's Buena Gente Cuban Bakery.
The eatery opened in 2016 at 1365 Clairmont Road in Decatur, offering a simple menu of pastelitos, empanadas, Cubano coffees, milkshakes - and, of course, Cubano sandwiches.
The popular spot is noted in the Yelp list for “'life-changing' pastelitos ... 'heavenly' meat empanadas; and croquetas that are like 'my great grandmother used to make,'" as one Yelp reviewer wrote.
Another user review highlighted in the write-up called the Cubano the "best Cuban sandwich she's ever had."
And, before you get angry on behalf of the many, many other restaurants around Atlanta and the rest of Georgia snubbed by this list - keep in mind it's a product strictly of Yelp user reviews and ratings.
That winds up meaning that where Yelp use is heavily skewed, you get more restaurants on this list. The list is mostly concentrated in California, Texas and Florida - missing out on a vast range of Georgia's best offerings.
It's also geared toward more accessible community eateries - lunch spots, food counters, holes in the wall and such. So if you're more of a Gunshow kind of diner, this list may not be for you.