Manuel's Tavern — Restaurant in Atlanta

Telling a true story, no matter how deep or personal, takes a lot of courage. It makes sense that a monthly raconteur event held at Manuel's Tavern would be called "Carapace," like the hard upper shell of a turtle. That's what we all are, essentially: turtles. We carry the equivalent of hard shells on our backs that we can shrink into and hide in those moments when making connections and bearing our souls seem like the most horrifying things we could possibly do. And Carapace Stories encourages amateur to skilled storytellers of all ages to come out of their shells and share with friends, strangers, and strangers who quickly become friends their stories.

No notes, a good hook, and finishing in roughly seven minutes are the rules of Carapace. The Golden Rule, of course, is to be respectful of those storytellers brave enough to put their names in the hat. At any time over the course of the evening, a person can write her name on a slip of paper and drop it into the hat. Whether or not someone gets to tell their story is really up to chance and how many people turn out to share. The size of the crowd varies depending on the night's theme: a theme like "love," for instance, draws a large crowd because pretty much everyone has a love story. But those volunteers who aren't selected from the hat are invited up at the end to share either the first, last, or best line from the story that could have been.

What seems to set Carapace apart from other storytelling events in Atlanta is its setting and the variety of people it attracts. In the back room of Manuel's on North Highland Avenue, people sit down to talk and eat and drink at tables or the bar with both friends and people they've never met before. "Were you saving this seat for someone?" "Nope, it's all yours," is often how new friendships are started. And stories are not just told when some brave soul steps up to the microphone--they are passed between people sitting at the tables, waiting for the name of the next raconteur to be chosen from the hat.

The last Carapace I went to, I sat next to a woman with a faded tattoo of an eye on her left shoulder. I told her I thought it was cool, and she immediately began telling me the story behind it because every tattoo has a story. "You used to be able to see more detail on the tattoo--every eyelash," she said. "I used to call my son 'Rocky' when he was five, and so, you can't really see it now, but I had Rocky tattooed inside the eye, with the 'c' as the pupil." Do tattoos really fade that much? "This tattoo is more than 20-years-old, so yeah, they do. I had it done in Little Five Points by a guy who was jumped and had his throat cut with a broken bottle. He had thick stitches going around his neck like Frankenstein's monster." I felt I had learned something meaningful about this woman, because instead of the trivial chit chat and small talk strangers usually make when they first meet this woman told me a story, and I absorbed it like the eager listener events like Carapace have taught me to be.

And that's the real beauty of Carapace: you learn something about the people who choose to share their stories that is unexpected, something you never would have guessed about a person just by looking at them. When a woman with long gray hair and a sweet quiet voice tells a story about how she came to realize that nude beaches separate the men from the boys or a father who was just clutching his young daughter gets up to tell of his experience with experimental drugs, you come to realize that people aren't who you expected them to be when they come out of...

One of the main reasons that my partner and I come here is because we are pinheads!! There are a few awesome pinball machines in here that we love to frequent, but we found that the food is also incredible. It’s been a few weeks of us frequenting the place, mostly to play pinball but usually we get drinks and a meal while we are there And I have never had issues in doing so as it is a very casual laid-back place where you walk in and seat yourself. I want to continue to come here but yesterday the lady working there was so rude to us. We walked in and started to play pinball right away because she was occupied serving other people and then when I went to grab a table, she told me that we were being confusing and that we need to decide where we want to be after I had already told her we were coming in to play pinball and also eat some brunch. When we were finally ready to order, we walked up to the bar to let her know where she then again gave my partner an attitude and told him that we needed to decide where we wanted to be, even though we had already chosen a table and had been in the same spot the entire time we were there, including playing pinball mind you I had already sat and waited to order for over 10 minutes without her, coming back to my table or even looking in my direction at all. It’s very disheartening to feel like you’re doing something wrong in an establishment that you go to only to play pinball but end up buying things to support their business anyways. I understand everyone has bad days and it can get overwhelming if you’re serving by yourself, but to have two overly accommodating guests that are more than happy to follow instructions and our met with rude interactions multiple times is not great service. I was really looking forward to trying some pancakes, but we ended up leaving without...

First let me say that I've been a faithful customer for over 25 years. Although I don't live in the immediate area, I do live about 8 miles away and have lived further away, at some point or time. Prior to the reopening, Manuel's was a great bar to frequent when my friends and I was hungry & parched. Fast forward to the closing & reopening of the new and improved Manuel's. Well, after months of promoting the reopening date, we must have drove to Manuel's at least 5 time during the newly advertised hours, only to find each time that the place wasn't open and wouldn't be open until around dinner. Notes were posted on the door & the constantly changing hours of operation were not listed on their web site nor on their FB page. After all of this, I still tried to give the new Manuel's a chance. Only to be disappointed with the service, food & drinks. I've given Manuel's Tavern 4 times to get it right since the reopening and that just seems to be an impossible feat. On my last visit, the drinks/cocktails were subpar, the food was cold and I had to send it back, and the cheese appetizer dip had no flavor although it was advertised as being "homemade. I've had jar cheese dip that was 100% better. I do think that all good things eventually come to an end. Manuel's and I have come to the end if the road. With so many bars and restaurants in Atlanta, Manuel's had better step up their game. If they keep up these poor practices, people like me won't waste their time and gas driving to get to their establishment. For those locals that live in the area and walk to Manuel's or drive around the block, it's a convenience, but for other's it's frustrating and annoying. Obviously, new doesn't always mean better or improved. One thing I will give them credit for is, it does smell fresher and not so...