Jia 家 Szechuan food & bar

Jia was one of the surprises for me and my wife as we toured Ponce City Market. The menu was a nice list of authentic szechuan dishes and snacks, which is what we were looking for. We went with some soup dumplings (always a must when I find them on the menu) which were perfectly done. The broth was delicious and well contained in the dumpling dough, yet the dumpling was not too thick to contain it. Also we had some play on a hamburger that was super finely chopped beef (or pork — you choose!) that was expertly marinated with spices and chopped jalapeño, and it was on a light wheat bun that is reminiscent of a rice bun. it was a real nice little snack and the «burger» with the dumplings were a good holdover to our dinner. I would love to come back to Jia and try the entrees because all of it looked and sounded great! When I do, they may get that 5^th star!

I approached the counter and was promptly seated by the kind young lady at the stand. Taking my seat, I was greeted with a colorful menu and a list of beers and wine. The menu deserves special mention for its detailed graphics, showing you every presentation. I ordered General Tao Chicken, Fried Rice and Sauvignon Blanc. It arrived at my table in less than 10 minutes. The taste… Perfection. Not too crunchy, not too spicy. The fried rice was simply the best I’ve tasted and I’ve tried five star restaurants. The serving size is the most I’ve ever seen for the dish. Though it does lack in addition of other vegetables (broccoli for example was not included). I was surprised to find they also serve an array of non alcoholic drinks including Cock n Bull Ginger Beer and Apple Cider. The food arrives hot and steamy in custom glass dishes lined with jade floral patterns. It’s a great spot for small groups of 3 – 4 and the quiet environment is perfect for millennials or parents looking to wind back. Definitely a restaurant worth checking out.

Jazzmon, our waitress, deserves top billing as a stand-​apart-​from-​the-​rest waitress who truly cares about her clientele and seems to enjoy what she does. Her recommendations were spot on and we were in love with our dishes. It was a busy Friday night, most tables were filled but we were sat right away. Other than unimpressive cocktails we were most impressed with the Tofu Skin and veggi clay pot as well as the modification they were able to fix us as we are vegetarians. Very tasty and had more than enough for lunch leftovers the next day.

So this was my first time visiting the Ponce City Market and I was meeting a friend for lunch. We were hungry and could not decide where we wanted to eat because of the plethora of restaurants located within the market area. The market itself is a renovated former City Hall East for Atlanta Georgia, and the whole idea of the market was an awesome project. Back to my review, we decided upon JIA which is an Asian restaurant and let’s say the menu had my mind bungee jumping all over but we decided to try the lunch menu which was more inclusive of other items we wanted to try. I started out with The hot and sour soup which did not disappoint! In fact it was really very good! The spring roll was just okay, didn’t really care for the texture but the General Tsao Chicken more then made up for it! We enjoy our lunch, the service was timely and adequate. Afterwards we ventured out into the shops which will be another review but let’s just say Ponce City Market was on point!!!

Came in on a quiet Sunday night, so there was no wait at all! Fantastic.
I’ve eaten at many Chinese restaurants around the area, and this place is pricier than most. Ponce rent must be so high.
The food is so good though.
We ordered the Shan City Pork Belly. Definitely one of the best I’ve ever had! High quality pork that was ever-​so-​flavorful, hearty potatoes that were the perfect crispy texture. Came with a lot of peppers, but as characteristic of Szechuan cuisine, they serve mainly as decoration. Tasty– worth a try.
Sour fish soup was also fantastic. A bit on the salty side, but it came with a lot of fish. Well worth the $ 8. Not sure if this is Szechuan traditional food, but it’s still great.
We got this seafood rolled tofu thing. It was basically four measly fish cake coins; surrounded by a thin layer of tofu skin. Average taste, terrible deal. Definitely not traditional Szechuan. Not recommended.
Lastly, we ordered bamboo fish. It doesn’t actually come with bamboo; it was a peppery fried fish dish, served on a bamboo mat! Nevertheless, it was still good, just nothing to write home about.
I would come again for the pork belly and sour fish soup. High quality ingredients really make the difference.

The food:
I came here with 4 other friends so we decided to share the soup dumplings, pork belly with potatoes, scallion chicken, fried rice, and general tso chicken. The soup dumplings were disappointing. The skin of the dumpling was really thick, making it harder to enjoy the soup. The soup itself wasn’t great either. The pork belly tasted alright… there was more fat than meat. But the scallion chicken, fried rice, and general tso chicken were much better. The scallion chicken was spicy but wonderful and the general tso was really sweet. At first glance, it seems like they serve authentic Chinese food but they add a lot of salt or sugar to their dishes. I prefer Chinese restaurants in Buford such as Chef Liu’s.
Seating:
We sat outside and it was SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. The chairs were way too high compared to their height of the table. It was just an uncomfortable eating experience.
Service:
The servers seemed nice but service overall was very slow. Perhaps service is better inside where you’re more visible to servers? Not sure.
I’m not sure if I would return. I think there are better restaurants in Ponce City Market but I do like the attempt to serve more authentic Chinese food in this area.

Four stars for the location, two stars for the service and food.
BTW I am writing this while waiting for a to-​go box.

«Spicy and sour beef“It tastes just as horrible as it looks. (too bad I cannot give a 0 star) This is not Chinese food, not even close. Shame on you. Will NEVER come again

First off, love Ponce City Market. Seated quickly on a Sunday evening. Service was a bit slow but fine bc we were enjoying our company and the atmosphere. Ok so my son (the pickiest eater ever) tagged along this time and really enjoyed his food. For an app, we had like a beef egg roll type thing that was intentionally cold which was surprisingly good. Entrees: fiery shrimp in a sweet n spicy sauce w/​fried rice. Lightly fried chicken in a sweet sauce with a kick. And fried pork belly in some kind of tangy spicy sauce. I believe their specialty are making items with a certain type of «kick» to it. Many options to choose from on the menu. Reasonably priced. Will definitely go back!

This place almost ALWAYS has a wait!
It’s definitely on the pricey side, do yourself a favor and skip a fountain drink. I split a bunch of small plates including steamed pork dumplings, fried bananas, and pork hamburgers. I would definitely go back, and I would definitely order more food and try more things.
That said, the fried bananas were one of the most delicious things I had ever tasted at a Chinese restaurant — it’s hard to describe — it’s like you get this amazing, savory, spicy crunch punctuated by creamy banana — but not TOO banana. The dumplings were ok — not as great as the ones at Joe’s Shanghair that oozed out amazing pork juice upon biting into them (that’s ok though, probably less calories), but I would definitely get them again. The pork hamburgers (more like sliders) were really delicious also. I would want to go back for sure, it’s just a smidge over-​priced and there is always a wait!

This place is the Chinese restaurant inside PCM. I’ve been wanting to try this place out because I’ve heard a lot about their soup dumplings.
This place is a bit pricey… They also do not have lunch specials. It’s nice to come here with a group and basically order family style.
3 of my friends and I came here on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. We’ve never been here. We each ordered an entrée and soup dumplings as an appetizer. Each entrée ranged from about $ 11−15… But it depends on what you order.
One of my friends ordered General Tso (better safe than sorry). I ordered the Hunan Chicken (spicy). My other friend ordered Cripsy fragrant ribs. And my other friend ordered Shan City Chicken. They each came with a bowl of white or fried rice (your choice). The soup dumpling had 6 dumplings come out. The price was ridiculous. It was $ 7 – 8 for them. It was juicy inside the dumpling and pretty good– but i’ve had better.
My entrée was actually really good. Unfortunately the ribs were not so great at all. Wouldn’t recommend it. It was dry, didn’t have any taste to it– very bland, and you just kept chewing… My other friend who ordered the Shan city… Was looking for his chicken… All it had were few pieces of chicken and tons of small hot red chilis. We didn’t have such a great experience here, and probably won’t be returning anytime soon…
There seating inside and outside. If the weather’s nice, sit outside. They also have heaters above you to keep you warm. The interior is very chinese. they have the gold/​red themes with dragons.

Let me start out by saying that the dragon at the entrance is cool!
Next, my spouse is from China, so this review will attempt to capture his satisfaction with the food quality and the cocktails, too.
We shared the Bang Bang chicken, Beef Tendon with Tripe, Pork Ear in Red Chili Oil and the Spicy Fragrant CK Wings (20 pieces). This selection had something for everyone and did remind me of food that my spouse and I had eaten while in China. I personally think that the beef and the wings were the best. The pork ear also gets honorable mention.
The sazerac, dragon lychee martini and Creature Comforts Athena beer were all good.
We dropped a little over $ 100 here for 4 people, and that wasn’t bad considering we had drinks.

The food is pretty good. Based on other reviews, I strongly recommended the braised spicy fish. The large fillets were so tender and wasn’t oily at all. For a vegetable side we got the fried tofu skin which was pretty delicious, and the bang bang shrimp. The shrimp dish was super small and way too sweet, I’d avoid. We also got the spicy chicken wings which were labeled with a ton of red hot chili peppers to indicate spice level… they were meh. There were 4 of us sharing these dishes, but they only brought out 3 bowls of rice because we technically ordered 3 entrees. I dunno, stingy.
Also the reason for the low rating is due to (surprise surprise, read other reviews) the service. It was so incredibly slow. We didn’t even get silverware when our food came out that we had to stand up and get it ourselves! Their waiters/​servers were running around like crazy. Our waiter introduced himself at the beginning, but we didn’t see him for the rest of the night because he was manning all the tables outside and had our table inside. He was super apologetic so it’s not really his fault, but they really need to get their overall service together. I think the portion to price ratio is kind of poor, perhaps inflated due to the trendy location.

Their food is 5-​star quality. But the wait is tooooo long (45+ min), with no reservation accepted, make the whole experience minus one star.
It seems all the good stuff goes to Ponce City Market now, regardless of their ridiculously high parking fee. H&F burgers and chicken sandwich for example. Jia is also a nice addition.
To be honest, I am still not a big fan of Tasty China. Yet Jia is so much better than its sister restaurant. It has better location, better food quality, better décor and better services.
For the first time among lots of Chinese restaurants, I found Jia’s fish was fresh, no weird tastes that’s common in other places. The BOILED FISH was on spot too. The classic HUSBAND AND WIFE LUNG (don’t remember the exact name) provides enough numbness and spiciness. What I would also recommend is the MUSHROOM HOT POT. The portion was smaller compare to last time, but hey, a perfect dish is a perfect dish. If you want something sour, something that makes you hungry, BEEF WITH SOUR BEANS is a good option.
They kinda need more waitors/​waitress since they were always busy. If Jia can keep the good quality, I could keep going to Ponce City Market to ask for more. My favorite Szechuan restaurant so far.

Everything at Ponce City Market is really cool and Jia is no exception!
I had the hot and crispy tender pork belly as an appetizer and the mabo tofu as an entrée. I gotta admit, this was my first time having schezuan peppers and I thought I was fricking dying when my lips started tingling. It hurts so good though!!! That dish has so much flavor. I’m not even a huge tofu fan but I would order it again and again.

Bottom line is that if you liked the old Tasty China (or the location still thriving in Marietta), then you’re probably going to like Jia. Judging based on other reviews, most of the issues are not related to the food, and that fits with what I saw. When we arrived, the host seemed irritated to have to bother with customers. As a host/​hostess, you have 2 basic jobs — 1. direct traffic and 2. Be friendly and make guests feel welcome. If you can’t do both, you’re failing. The host at Jia failed miserably at the latter.
Our server was pretty good and friendly overall, but while going over the menu initially, she expressed her dislike of Szechuan food. Umm… you know that’s your employer’s specialty, right? That’s kind of like walking into Disney World and having an employee tell you they don’t like Mickey Mouse.
I haven’t tried an of the «Americanized» Chinese option (General Tso’s, etc), but if it’s anything like Tasty China, it’s not a reason to come here. I point this out because reviews based on folks only having the Americanized stuff can drag ratings down.
The food was excellent overall.
–Dry Fried Eggplant — just as fantastic as it is at Tasty China. If you’ve never had it, it’s a must-​order if you like spicy foods. Crispy fried exterior and soft interior with a savory, fiery flavor.
–Wuxi (sp?) ribs are quite tasty. Tender ribs with a sweet/​savory sauce. Not quite «must have» but worthwhile.
–Garden Duck is absolutely delicious — my favorite thing I tried. Perfect level of smokiness, great depth of flavor.
–Fried pork belly (I forget the menu name) — This was good, but nothing special — if was going for a dish like this, I’d go with the double cooked pork, which is outstanding at Tasty China.
Oddly, Jia doesn’t seem to have a website — I was trying to find the name of the pork belly dish, and couldn’t find any sort of online menu.

I have been wanting to try this place for awhile now but they always have a wait! This restaurant is a little too small– only has about 6 tables and the bar so you have to catch it at the right time. We waited about 10 minutes on a Monday night at 7:45pm.
Our server was really great– he was friendly, attentive and gave great menu recommendations. Don’t let the back page fool you-​they serve dumplings all night long, not just until 5pm like the menu says. And you should get some! They are prepared fresh and were delicious! These were some of the best dumplings I have ever had and my boyfriend agreed. Be aware that they do take 15 minutes or so to come out due to the fresh prep.(Well worth the wait)
I got the chicken with chili and I would give it 5 stars. It had a beautiful blend of fresh herbs and jalapenos. Had a wonderful heat to it! The dish came out in a little grill which I thought was a nice touch. This gave some of the chicken crispy edges and a nice texture.
My boyfriend got the chicken with garlic sauce. He liked it but liked mine more. The menu items have chili peppers next to them to give you a heads up about the heat of the dish. My boyfriends had 3 chili peppers but it was more like a 1 or 2. However, this is subjective and is difficult to criticize.
Loved the meal, loved the staff– just wish the space was less cramped.
I will definitely be back!

I came here for the Shui Zhu Yu and it definitely had promise to it. First off, I think this place really pales in comparison to some other hot spots along the US, but for this section of Atlanta (being that it’s one of the few options), it does alright.
The Shui Zhu Yu is pretty spicy and definitely delivers on the flavor. Soft, spicy, melt in your mouth fish pieces along with just a small amount of napa cabbage does it fairly well.
The string beans are a little bit too salty. The texture also came out as if it were overcooked.
The seating arrangement is a bit bizarre. They are seats with no backs but they are big seats so it’s kind of difficult to center yourself on the chair. Just be prepared for it.
I think there are some better options for Chinese food along Buford Highway, but since there’s not much Chinese food in this area, it’ll have to do.

Coming from LA, I know good Chinese food, so when I heard all the hype about Tasty China and Jia, I was excited to try this place out.
Hot and numbing beef rolls: I expected a crispy scallion pancake roll with flavorful beef, scallions, cilantro, cucumbers, and sweet, savory, crunchy, delicious goodness. Instead, I got a cold flour tortilla with iceberg lettuce and a few strands of salty beef… not good…
Hot and sour soup: very strong vinegar taste, didn’t enjoy this
Shan city chicken: dry and salty chicken with more peppers than chicken on the plate
Lamb: general consensus of my group was that this dish was incredibly salty…
While the service is very fast, the food was very salty and not flavorful. Won’t be coming back…

The food here is really good! I ordered the numbing fried pork belly, pig ear in chili oil, and general tso’s… Don’t judge me because I ordered general tso’s but I have to try it everywhere because it’s never as good as my dad’s but one can dream…
The hostess really had no direction. She just had people wait in line and didn’t take anyone’s name down… And she didn’t wait until the table we sat at had been wiped down before seating is either. I think they’re still working out the kinks…
The food — don’t get the general tso’s, they’re definitely trying to appeal to the American taste buds but I would suggest getting something you’re not used to, it’ll probably be delicious! The general tso’s chicken wasn’t crunchy enough my and the sauce was more of a sweet and sour which threw me off.
I can’t wait to come back to try the other Szechuan dishes! Definitely will get the pig ears and fried pork belly again! So good!

I debated on whether this place should be a 3 star or 4 star rating. Why? It took SO LONG for us to get seated and get our food.
This place is nicely decorated and looks like a pretty good place to try out so we decided to get in line and wait for a table. It is kind of confusing how they seat people, there is no receptionist to take down your name and tell you how long the wait is (or to acknowledge that you are standing there waiting at the very least). We sort of just stood in this line of people waiting until they had open tables to seat us. At this point, I was wanting to give this place a one star for poor customer service after waiting for almost more than 30 minutes.
We sat down and ended up ordering the fragrant pork, fried smoked duck, and the braised fish fillet for the five of us to share (each dish comes with a bowl of rice — this was enough for the five of us). The food also took quite some time to come out (would be awkwardly long if you were here on a first date), but the five of us just talked and enjoyed each other’s company till the food came. The food was great! The pork was super crispy — and almost tasted like the Asian pork jerky/​pork sum. The duck was also very good, lots of flavor and comes with a lot of fried onions on the side. The fish was my favorite, very flavorful and goes so well with rice. I am really horrible at eating spicy and my friends were kind enough to ask the server to see if they can make all the spicy dishes less spicy so that I would be able to eat them and they did, THANK YOU!
At the end of the meal I was full and satisfied. Delicious Chinese food for about 11 bucks each before tip and the servers were great after we were seated. I guess they are a bit understaffed for greeting and seating people — but the service is good while you’re dining. I am hoping that they figure out a better system for seating people or letting people at least know the estimated wait time. This place will be great once they can get people and the food in and out more efficiently.