The cuisine of Morocco is far more enticing than the cuisine of maracas, which teases diners with delicious dried beans stuck inside an impenetrable, yet percussive, coconut shell. Get access to exotic eats without a hammer with today's Groupon: for $50, you get $100 worth of Moroccan food and drink from Imperial Fez.
Born and raised in Morocco, Imperial Fez executive chef Rafih Benjelloun has been serving authentic Moroccan cuisine to Atlantans since 1991. Sample freshly made fare from the land of Casablanca with Imperial Fez's five-course dinner ($45). Each dinner begins with traditional Moroccan lentil soup, harrira, and Moroccan bread, followed by a salad with garden-fresh vegetables and a side of housemade, eyelash-incinerating harissa sauce. After an appetizer of the Moroccan pastry b'stella comes the main entree—choose from several favorites, including a roasted lamb shank bedecked in herbs and spices, sautéed shrimp with fresh vegetable sidekicks, or a Cornish hen stew simmered in a succulent spa of saffron, lemons, and olives. End the meal with a dessert, accompanied by hot mint tea. A variety of drinks are also available for alcoholic intake. In a reflection of authentic Moroccan eating traditions, Imperial Fez's edibles are meant to be eaten sans silverware, allowing diners to test out their newly attached cyborg fingers before this summer's rock, paper, cyborg-fingers tournament.
Imperial Fez's exotic interiors add further authenticity to the palate-pleasing proceedings. Guests leave laced foot-armor at the entrance and enjoy their meals from plush pillows lining the floor. Imperial Fez hosts professional belly dancers nightly, while every Wednesday is a "Night of Fire," when the belly dancer adds Prometheus-approved, pyrotechnic twirling to her usual repertoire of midriff movement. Dock your culinary camel at Imperial Fez for the dining experience that earned the restaurant honors as one of Atlanta's top "Off-the-Wall Date Spots" from CitySearch in 2008.
This Groupon is not valid for use on Christmas, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, or Mother's Day. Imperial Fez is closed on Mondays.
Reviews
In addition to being named Best Off-the-Wall Date Spot in Atlanta in 2008, Imperial Fez received a nearly perfect 4.5 stars from Citysearchers. TripAdvisors give it 3.5 stars, and Gayot gives it 13/20:
- The fire dance is fantastic!! The food is great. We had a great time, and I'm definitely coming back again with some more friends. – atldinne, Citysearch
- The staff was very friendly and accomodating [sic] and made me feel more like I was an honored guest being entertained in their home rather than a patron at a commercial establishment. – myronsgirl1, Citysearch
Groupon Says
Play It Again, Steve
Morocco was also the setting of the beloved 1942 film Casablanca, a movie so revered that people are forced to misquote it constantly. The oft-referenced "Play it again, Sam" line, attributed to Humphrey Bogart, was actually spoken by Ingrid Bergman as the somewhat wordier, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.'" We tracked down some other misquotations that continue to persist.
- "To be, or not to be: that is some quicksand."
- "I'll make him an otter he can't refuse."
- "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask who ate all the SnackWells when I was giving Bruno his heartworm medicine."
- "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I passed quietly in my sleep, and was not sheared in half vertically with a chainsaw by a lumbering maniac with a paper bag over his head."
- "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool anyone at your new school into believing that your dad is really Scottie Pippen."
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