Our busy travel schedule seems to be getting in the way of our food blog. Way back in August, we took in The Canteen, the mini-food court concept next to the Georgia Tech Campus that we really enjoyed when it was The Spence.. Evidently, not enough Georgia Tech students could get their parents to pay for meals at The Spence, and celebrity chef Richard Blais closed the place up. Now, the people behind The General Muir have remodeled the space into a much smaller version of Krog Street Market.

In the two months since our visit, our local fish wrapper has come out with its review of The Canteen. Looks like they get the scoop on us this time, but I didn’t read their article so that this review would be untainted by their opinions. Besides, our pictures are better and there are a lot more of them.

Anyway, not many restaurants give you this much choice when you walk in. There’s Yalla…

Fred’s Meat and Bread…

The Square Bar…

And TGM (as in The General Muir) Bagel, which is not open at night…

The beer selection at Square Bar is almost nonexistent. If you want beer, do what we did, which is pre-dinner drinks at Cyprus Street Pint and Plate, only a block away. We are joined tonight by “East Cobb Dinner Society” members Bill and Stephanie.  We are nowhere near East Cobb obviously, and have ventured inside the perimeter to see “An American in Paris” at The Fox after our meal. Let’s get in line at The Canteen and see what winds up on our plates.

Here’s a hot mess from Fred’s, the pastrami Reuben:

I didn’t get a bite of this one, but Fred makes his own pastrami and I bet he does a great job of it.  This sandwich does not last long.

The rest of tonight’s food comes from Yalla. When you order from Yalla, you can get your food in a pita, on a plate, or in a laffa, which is like a middle eastern burrito. We happen to get one of each. Here’s the Israeli Salad:

Eve gets a falafel pita and is not disappointed.

This is o very photogenic sandwich, full of falafel, hummus and that Israeli salad. Yes, it tastes as good as it looks.

Finally, the Sabich, which is hummus, fried eggplant, and egg inside of the laffa. Here’s what it looks like when it’s delivered…

And after you bite into it…

There’s a lot going on in there. It’s really good, but there are a lot of hidden onions that I have to pick out because I’m not an onion guy. Despite the onions, I really enjoy the very filling sandwich.

After this heavy food, you need something sweet. This cake got our attention.

Who wouldn’t want a nice slice of halavah cake? We order some to share, but it comes out looking like this:

It was tasty, but the presentation is very disappointing. It looks better in the case than in the container.

The bottom line on The Canteen: It’s the junior version of Krog Street Market. It’s probably a better lunch spot than a dinner date spot, but the food is good and the staff is friendly. Just be prepared to stand in line if they are busy.  Since you are on the Georgia Tech campus, you can brush up on your physics and geometry as you share a communal table with some engineering majors.