A while back, before migrating and overhauling this site got in the way there was this little thing called BuHi. Well we’re back, baby. The last place we went was La Rumba Mexican Restaurant. Fantastico bar y grill, proclaims the sign. It certainly looks like a nightclub on the outside – see below – but we saw many families going in and out each time we were in the shopping center. And people in (stereo?)typical indigenous mexican attire urging passbys to an all-you-can-eat buffet. So we took the plunge.
The best we can tell, La Rumba (or Rumba II as it’s sometimes called) is a nightclub by night, and a family buffet by day. Everyone was very nice, and the manager even sent our waitress after us to show us the extensive variety of food available and to make sure we knew what it all was.
A quick snap of the salsa bar part of the buffet.
There were many buffet tables, some manned and some unmanned. At the manned stations, ladies in said mexican-style outfits make food from scratch, including the actual tortillas for the quesadillas that they will make for you on the spot.
My first plate. So surprisingly delicious! Especially the diablo shrimp and ceviche. Okay, and carnitas.
Adam’s first plate. Mmmm.
There were two types of ceviche available, at least four types of soup, a half-dozen salsas, and on and on. In short, there was a lot of stuff to choose from and most of it was quite delicious. Especially the carnitas – both the hubs and I agree on that one. He also loved the enchiladas, and I loved the diablo shrimp.
Agua fresca. There’s an aguas frescas table with a nice lady to give them to you.
Sopa. I was almost too busy wolfing it down to take a pic.
My two big regrets about Rumba are letting the cultural divide get to me, and underestimating the joint (isn’t not underestimating these little places what BHFE is all about?!). Everyone was very nice, but it was crowded enough for me to feel like my photo-snapping would go unnoticed. In retrospect, who would really have cared anyway, but at the time, I felt weird and let it stop me from really showing you this place. (Sorry.) The second thing was how delicious it was – the club exterior was off-putting (blacked out windows and the club flyers), so it was hard to imagine that we would love the food as much as we did. We didn’t really bring our buffet A-game and regretted it.
So this is a terrible photo because I was embarrassed and took it under the table with my phone. But you can see a stage, A/V equipment on the ceiling, people making balloon animals for kids, and the buffets from far away, including the backs of the ladies making quesadillas and the like.
Adam’s second plate. Enchilada, chile relleno, and refried beans, yum.
My second plate. Nopales, carnitas, diablo shrimp.
With so many people on the floor, and such a large amount of food, it shouldn’t be surprising that the buffet was $15 each. While we didn’t quite get the value we would have wanted for that price, it was our fault for not realizing that we would want to stuff every damn thing into our gullets because it was made with some kind of amazing mexican-flavored crack. The place really took us by surprise and we look forward to going back again. Give it a try if you don’t care about atmosphere, but just want to shove-face with tasty all-you-can-eat mexican food.
La Rumba Mexican Restaurant
4300 Buford Highway NE
Atlanta, GA 30345
emily
Nerd. Foodie. Gamer. Homecook. Perpetual planner. Gardener. Aspiring homesteader. Direct response graphic designer. I use too many damn commas.
Honestamente nunca e ido a este lugar pero lo cierto es que se me antoja todos sus platillos yo viv oven Gainesville y vivo a 40 min. de allí y planeo festejar su bautizo de mis gemelos en este lugar , me gustaron los platillos me pondré en contacto cuanto antes…