Taiwan On: If you’ve been down the section of Broad between downtown and Milledge in the past few months, you may have noticed a bright and cheerful sign in the ugly strip building that houses an adult video shop. There was a banner promising “grand opening” for some time, and vinyl on the windows advertises “boba tea” and “amazing burgers,” but dark blinds prevent one from seeing much of what the space actually contains. It is worth the effort to find out.

Quickly (650 W. Broad St.) is a Taiwan-based chain of eateries that primarily focus on beverages and has more than 2,000 locations around the world, including three, soon to be four, in Georgia. Mostly, what it does is bubble tea, a cold beverage that can be fruit or otherwise flavored, with little nuggets of gelatin or tapioca in cube or sphere form resting at the bottom, served with a wide straw that enables one to suck up the chewy bits along with the drink. Far less weird and more widespread than it used to be, bubble tea was already available in Athens, at SunO, Just Pho and More and Cozy Yum Yum, but Quickly has a very large array of options. You can choose from milk tea or green tea in flavors including peppermint, coffee, jasmine, plum and green apple, then select up to three kinds of jelly (itself available in flavors including lychee, “rainbow,” “mixed fruits” and coffee). The guy behind the counter mixes it up with appropriate speed, then applies a nontoxic plastic seal to the top rather than snapping on a lid. The straws, when forcefully directed, can penetrate the seal, but before you open the cups it’s easy to throw a bunch of them in a plastic bag for transport. It’s a good system.

Quickly

Quickly also does surprisingly good burgers and an array of snacks, mostly fried, that it prepares to order. For $6.95, you can get a double steak burger that strongly resembles the one at Five Guys, down to its being wrapped in red-and-white-checked paper, but also comes with crisp, tasty crinkle fries and a weird little cup of something that resembles very smooth mashed potatoes prepared without salt and studded with kernels of sweet corn. For a little more, you can get a salmon burger that is flavorful and moist, not the sad hockey puck received many places. Snacks from fish balls and octopus balls to dumplings and sweetish sausages are served on or with thin, pointy skewers, in cute paper pouches, blazing hot. If you are asked a question about making any of them “special” and you are not looking for something extremely spicy, say “no.”

Apart from the spicy and/or hot food, the possibility of putting someone’s eye out with a stick, the caffeine and the general weirdness, Quickly seems like an excellent place to take your kids as an introduction to gourmet life. Its concept is thoroughly cute, plus everything tastes good and is kind of fun to eat in some way or another. The store is open from noon to 10 p.m., theoretically, although it seems to unlock the doors slightly earlier. It takes credit cards and also has slushes, milkshakes and more to delight you.

Walker's Coffee and Pub

Bar Food: Bar food is almost always depressing and below par, delivered straight from Sam’s Club or the Sysco truck, which is why the lunch offerings at Walker’s Coffee and Pub (128 College Ave.) have been such a nice surprise. The menu is small and focused: bacon cheeseburger, ham and cheese sandwich, BLT, hummus and cheese, grilled cheese, PB&J, turkey club, veggie quesadilla. I’m not saying the cheeseburger ranks with the best in town or is artisanal in any way, but it is pleasant enough and the bun is good. The ham and cheese sandwich, run under the broiler to brown the provolone slightly and nicely toasted, is good enough to finish every bite. The prices are excellent. Nothing is more than $6, and although they don’t come with accoutrements, are fries or chips really necessary? Walker’s also serves a few breakfast options until 2 p.m. with a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and burritos made veggie or non. The latter is tasty, too, tightly rolled and not overly large but full of eggs, chorizo, black beans, hash browns, cheese and salsa, every one of the four food groups in a nice, neat package. Eating at the bar is quiet and comfortable, with staff available to meet your needs without bugging you, and faint kitchen noises drifting out from a back space. If you can’t wait the five or 10 minutes it takes for the cooks to prepare your food (clearly not just popped in a microwave but assembled and cooked to order), Walker’s also has bagels from Athens Bagel Co., ham and cheese croissants, scones, muffins and cookies, but I recommend patience. Walker’s is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. It has a full bar, including at least one good single-malt scotch, and takes credit cards.