East Side Athens Cali-n-Tito’s restaurant

East Athens has many choices for good restaurants. We live in the area and our favorite restaurant for lunch is the East side Athens Cali-n-Tito’s restaurant across from Cedar Shoals High School.

We’ve been patrons since they opened in the mid-1990’s in a small place (maybe a trailer?) with a covered outdoor pavilion in west Athens on Tallassee Road. Our kids loved it for the food as well as the unique atmosphere. Many years ago, they closed that location and opened on Lumpkin Street, in an old gas station. That location is still open but without a beer/wine license, so they charge a small fee to BYOB.

In our opinion, the east side location is better than either of the other locations, even though Lumpkin is certainly more convenient for the younger crowd. The east side Cali n Tito’s is in the old garden center location, across from Cedar Shoals High School. It’s a beautiful building and the owner has certainly added his own character to it.  One review on Yelp says “it’s like an island retreat”. They provide tricycles for kids to ride inside, as well as coin-operated car or pony rides, and a brand new ice-cream shop. It’s a very festive atmosphere and a great place for families and friends to meet.

This location has a bar with several options for beer and in-house made margaritas with fresh-squeezed lime and orange juice. Since we primarily go at lunch, I haven’t tried the margaritas but we like sitting at the bar and watching the kitchen and bar staffers work. We’ve watched them making the daily batch of margaritas.

East Side Athens Cali-n-Tito’s

Our favorite meals are the Cuban sandwiches (chicken or steak), pork tacos and fried plantains. I heard that the fish tacos are delicious, but haven’t tried them yet.

This restaurant is still our son’s favorite place to eat when he visits Athens. He’s been known to stop by Cali n’ Tito’s to pick up a Cuban sandwich before he gets to our house.

If you want to live near Cali n Tito’s in east Athens, here’s an up-to-date list of homes for sale. This list is updated continuously as new listings are available.

Homes for sale in East Athens