Therese's Profile
Help with Dinner/Drinks/Dancing in Atlanta
Last week of March is pretty much upon us, but if you're still looking for a place to dance/drink then about the only place that fits your demographic is Johnny's Hideaway. They do serve food but it's bar food. I'd eat elsewhere. You can (and should) call to book a table.
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Johnny's Hideaway
3771 Roswell Rd, Atlanta, GA 30342
Downtown Atlanta Fine-Dining Recs. Please
I'm going to respectfully disagree here and suggest some alternatives:
Nikolai's Roof is expensive and it's got nice views, but it's otherwise not even remotely worth your time. Have a drink at the Sundial for the view and then head for either Miller Union or Restaurant Eugene.
Pittypat's Porch is where tourists and only tourists eat. The real deal is Mary Mac's Tea Room. Plenty of local color and the food's very good.
Bacchanalia is great, so good choice there.
VVV is okay, but Sotto Sotto is better.
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Mary Mac's Tea Room
Atlanta, GA, Atlanta, GA
Restaurant Eugene
2277 Peachtree Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Mary Mac's Tea Room
224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
Nikolai's Roof
255 Courtland Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
Miller Union
999 Brady Ave Suite 106, Atlanta, GA 30318
anything new in decatur, ga?
Another vote for Cakes & Ale. Chef used to be at Watershed, and there's a bit of southern influence, but also a nice mix of other things. Nice space (nice enough to entertain for casual work dinner), and well-executed food.
Need help w/ 2 dinners in Atlanta
I like The Globe a lot, and use it for work entertaining.
And I'd bring Repast, which didn't make it past your first cut, to the very top of the list: locally owned, great food, great drinks, very pleasant vibe.
I would very specifically recommend against Ray's in the City, FAB, and South City. One Midtown Kitchen and Two Urban Licks are okay, and Rathbun's is very good (though he tends to have heavy hand with the salt).
Tapas at Pura Vida are great, but if you're there on a weekend you'll need to reserve.
Silver Grill in Atlanta is closed - ISO good chicken fried steak
I don't know for sure if either offers chicken fried steak, but you might want to consider the Majestic (on Ponce) and Evan's Fine Foods (at N. Decatur and Clairmont).
South: local concord grapes source?
Super H Mart had huge boxes of concord grapes for sale last weekend. Dekalb Farmers Market (where I usually shop) has had them, but I don't buy them myself (preferring local muscadines and scuppernongs) so can't comment on the quality, or whether they may be local or not.
Seeger's in Atlanta is Closing - Again
Yes, the main branch of the Varsity is downtown. It is not, however, any better than the local branches, as the original is so poor that it wouldn't really be possible to be any worse.
Seeger's in Atlanta is Closing - Again
As per my check of OpenTable, Seeger's is not listed. That space is now occupied by Posh. I've not heard that Seeger is presently cooking anywhere in Atlanta.
Watershed in Decatur is very close to Atlanta, well within what most people would consider the Atlanta metro area, and very close to official city limits of Atlanta proper (which is actually a very small part of the Atlanta area. Very, very in-town, and actually reachable by MARTA train if you're staying downtown (as most visitors to the area are). If you are downtown, avoid eating there: Atlanta's got a lot to offer, but just about none of it is downtown.
Atlanta - 3 Days to Chow. Help?
From your list, Bacchanalia, Restaurant Eugene, Pura Vida, and Element all places I'd go. I'd very specifically skip Chops, Bluepointe, and Atlanta Fish Market. And Cafe Intermezzo---bleah.
Wisteria in Atlanta?
Yes, Wisteria would be very nice, and it's close by so very convenient. Other restaurants in the area that would suit include Floataway Cafe, Babette's, Shaun's, Rathbun's, Sotto Sotto, Ecco, Repast, and Watershed. Lots of others, but don't delay pondering the question: make reservations and make reservations NOW, as restaurants will fill up for this weekend.
Tamales for take-home in Atlanta
Buford Highway Farmers Market, located on BuHi just outside I-285 (on the west side of the road) features a stand that sells tamales that's right outside the checkouts. Very good.
Sala....12 thumbs up!! (Atlanta)
If you like Sala, Susan, I'd suggest that you also try the following restaurants on your next visit to Atlanta:
1. Pura Vida (on Highland Ave, just south of Ponce de Leon): Chef Hector Santiago is originally from Puerto Rico, but his small dishes come from all over Latin America: Peruvian, Mexican, Spanish (not technically Latin American but you know what I mean). Very inventive cooking style, nice wine list and mixed drinks (best mojito in town, excellent caiparinhas and pisco sours), great desserts (with the daily ice cream special generally being amazing).
2. Taqueria del Sol: this a small local chain, but since you were dining at Sala I'll recommend the closest location, in Decatur on Ponce de Leon (where we normally go). It's housed in a renovated gas station (which may seem odd, but lots of cool Atlanta restaurants are similarly housed) and you order at the counter, first standing in a line which looks long but moves quickly, and moves even more quickly if you run up to the bar and order margaritas (which are excellent) to drink while you're on line. The menu is comprised of soft tacos (all of them excellent), enchiladas, some sides and appetizers, and three nightly specials. Huge turnover, so everything's very fresh. No desserts, but they put out bowls of oranges if you'd like one afterwards. If somebody in your party needs to be seated during the wait and you don't see an available chair or bench, let the staff know and they'll accomodate you. Otherwise you wait for a seat until you've ordered (and note that your food will arrive literally seconds after you've found a table---occasionally the server's gotten the food out to the dining room before you've figured out where you'd like to sit).
If you're alone or in a couple you can bypass the line and sit (and order) at the bar, but not if it's at dinner and one of you is under age.
3. Tierra: located on Piedmont Rd just north of the Botanical Gardens, this restaurant is run by an owner couple who switch off cooking duties and management. Nice dining room with a small deck in back if it's good weather. Not Mexican so much as pan-Latin. The owners travel to a different part of Latin America ever year to source ideas and foodstuffs, and the result's impressive. Traditional three course service.
4. Since I'm talking about this general sort of restaurant in this part of town, I'll go ahead and point out that Noche (also in VaHi) is nowhere near the quality of any of these restaurants (and Sala).
As for Sala re-decorating, why? It's an attractive space, well-lit, and no noisier than just about every other restaurant in Atlanta.
Sala....12 thumbs up!! (Atlanta)
We've eaten at Sala three times since the new chef (whom I've not met---so far as I can tell he doesn't make a habit of chatting up the diners) arrived, and like it. Not perhaps with quite the OP's enthusiasm, but it's a nice addition to the neighborhood.
Please Help Boston Hound In ATL
Zonolite Cafe? Do you mean Floataway Cafe, which is on Zonolite Rd? Very good, and as you point out reservations are usually needed.
Rathbun's has been quite consistent in my experience.
Please Help Boston Hound In ATL
I've not tried Pacific Rim Bistro, but have dined at its sister restaurant, Silk. The latter was, well, not very good. I'm unlikely to try Pacific Rim Bistro unless dragged there.
ATLANTA - one night - three choices? your vote!
Buckhead Diner is still around, still part of the Buckhead Life group of restaurants. Fine, but far from the best or most interesting food in town (though it is pretty expensive). If you wanted to go out to dinner wearing a sequined hoody and too-tight sweat pants, this would be the place.
La Fonda is a downmarket local chain that also includes Fellini's pizza. Several locations (including one on Ponce de Leon with a patio in front and a second story open area that's nice in pleasant weather). Sandwiches, paella, sangria.
ATLANTA - one night - three choices? your vote!
An easy decision: Restaurant Eugene.
South City Kitchen is a distant second, and Emeril's isn't even on the radar. Emeril's
4 Day Survey of Atlanta Restaurants
Agree with rcburli that Bluepointed is nothing special food-wise. Reasonably competent execution of expense account food, and not innovative by Atlanta standards. It's fine it you entertaining for business, or are compelled to eat there, but does not meet any of the OP's criteria for this particular visit.
Hound gal pals gathering in Atlanta
Apart from the sandwich place mentioned upthread, yes, you'll need reservations at most of the places listed, particularly on a weekend. You can, of course, just show up, but plan on a wait most places.
4 Day Survey of Atlanta Restaurants
A couple more options for the (3) category: The Globe in Midtown and Shawn's in Inman Park (which is adjacent to L5P).
4 Day Survey of Atlanta Restaurants
An additional restaurant in the (3) category: Watershed in Decatur.
You'll notice that a lot of us are including Decatur in your catchment area, as it's got a lot of good restaurants.
Also, if you're wanting to do a culinary tour of Atlanta you should really make a point (if you can) of visiting some of the markets. Your Dekalb Farmers Market (which is not a farmers market) is a great example, but there are also lots of ethnic markets. Also lots of great ethnic restaurants, but very few of them in your original catchment area (rents too high).
4 Day Survey of Atlanta Restaurants
1) Alon's in VaHi
2) Silver Skillet in Midtown or Rea's Bluebird in Grant Park (strongly disagree with recommendation of Flying Biscuit---it used to be good, but hasn't been in a long time, and in any case isn't particularly southern)
3) Taqueria del Sol in Decatur, Pura Vida in Poncey-Highland, Sala in VaHi (again, strong disagreement on Noche), Babette's in Poncey-Highland
4) Any of the restaurants in the Concentrics Group (Trois, Two Urban Licks, One Midtown Kitchen), Rathbun's, Quinones (if you've lots of cash to drop)
must-eats in Atlanta?
I like both Rathbun's and Woodfire Grill.
Note that Seeger's is closed.
Heads up on new chef at Sala in Atlanta....
We ate at Sala on Monday night and liked it a lot (not having been in a while as we found the food a little, well, boring).
We were delighted to find mostly small plates, and like everything we tried, including:
elote
ceviche
tacos with carnitas
plaintains
orange and jicama salad
tamales (my least favorited dish, but I think that's because I've been eating way too many tamales lately)
We shared a cake made with corn. All of it was excellent. We'll be back.
Vortex in ATL
Yes, the Vortex in L5P is still open. There's a second location in Midtown as well.
Sushi Buffet (All you can eat) in Atlanta?
My family and I tried the Badayori on Roswell Rd several months ago and were thoroughly underwhelmed. Sushi just okay, other foods mostly okay, desserts not worth the calories.
In the end not worth the money unless maybe you're feeding some very hungry, not very discriminating teenagers. We figured that we'd have spent less just ordering the dishes a la carte elsewhere (either Sushi Avenue or Sushi Yoko being our points of reference for casual Japanese).
Mapleview Farms buttermilk
Do you mean this Maple View Farms?
http://www.mapleviewfarm.com/pages/dairyplantops.html
If so, it's possible that they're selling real buttermilk, as they do make cultured butter. Their butter manufacturing process makes no mention of recovering the buttermilk during processing, though.
One possibility is that they are culturing non-skim milk instead of skim milk. Many people prefer non-skim buttermilk, as it's of course richer, but it's not real buttermilk at all, and in fact is less like the real thing than cultured skim milk.
is the dining room at the buckhead ritzcarlton worth it?
joni mae, I mentioned $300 per person precisely so that you'd understand just how expensive this sort of dining can be. As HaagenDazs points out it's actually feasible to dine at The Dining Room for less than $300 per person (when we go it's generally some sort of celebration dinner, and we typically ge the most expensive tasting menu with wine pairings, etc.), but $100 per person is simply not going to cover it. And if you're suffering from sticker shock during the meal you're not going to enjoy the fantastic food and service. If you go in assuming that you'll spend $300 per person you'll be delighted to find that you've only spent $220 in the end.
Restaurant Eugene, Joel, and Bacchanalia are all very nice, upmarket options. Not in the immediate neighborhood of the Ritz Carlton, but all reasonable drives.
is the dining room at the buckhead ritzcarlton worth it?
You've heard mixed reviews of The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead? About the only possible objection might be the expense, and I'd certainly agree that anybody who'd be uncomfortable dropping about $300 per person on dinner (including wine, tax, and service) might do better to wait until such time that $300 per person doesn't sound so bad for a big night out.
But if you are okay with the expense then you'll be delighted with the food and the service.
