Eating at Café Alsace could put just about anyone in a good mood. The French menu is great, and the atmosphere at this Decatur Square restaurant is lively. The noisy dining room is packed with tables, and there are white tablecloths, but not the stuffy kind—the kind that feel a little homey and a little cluttered. Everywhere you look, there’s some kind of knick-knack the owner has brought back from her trips to France, from an old bicycle hanging on the wall to a delicate blue and white tea set. You can (and should) bring just about anyone here: your parents, a date who’ll go for buttery escargots, or a few friends who want to sip on wine and dive into an excellent ratatouille with a light and airy puff pastry on top. The menu features Alsatian specialties like a creamy spaetzle with ham and onion or tangy choucroute garnie with three kinds of sausage, and while the dishes are hearty, the last bite tends to leave you with a pleasantly satisfied feeling rather than a food-coma haze. Because of the comfortingly rustic food and the general busyness of the room, there’s just something ridiculously cheery about eating here. Even making a reservation (which you can only do by phone) is fun, from the moment you hear the cheerful, sing-song “Bonjour!” on the other end. We once watched a man spill an entire glass of wine into his lap, and he still smiled through his whole dinner. By the end of the meal, you’ll be so charmed you might want to take that handwritten receipt home as a keepsake.