bacchanalia

fantanniversary. we celebrated the first wedding anniversary of our son last night at bacchanaia. we experienced very tasty five plus course meals and fantastic services. with a bottle of camus 2008 cost $120 and tips, we spent $600 for 4 which is about the same prices as any top rated steak houses. most of all, "this is best meal i ever had a far as i remember" our 36 years old son said. we will be back!

a food show ! feel like a king . the only place that comes close is joel robochon in vegas

server stuffy. custard fluffy.. we had the hamachi, oysters, lonzino, loup, crab fritter, lamb, duck, ny strip, cheeses, custard, and, pecan pie, and choc. cake. only thing not liked was by me and the custard. my fault for ordering it. can't remember the extra courses brought to the table. best hot chocolate i've had. lamb belly was best piece of any dish.

i thought the server was stuffy with su being four 20-somethings. all the other staff were fine. server warmed to us by the ned of the meal. we're polite people.

pricy and worth every penny. gorgeous dining room with amazing food.

only complaint - the room tends to be a bit warm.

food 10/10
ambiance 10/10
service 9/10

overrated ! the food is good but not great & certainly not worth the price.

a layman's nitty gritty guide to bacchanalia. price: $85 prix fixe. decide upon your five courses at the outset of the evening.

wine: world renowned list, with few choices under $50/bottle but..... you can do as we did and bring your own, with a $25 corkage fee. (previously unaware of this option, people at neighboring tables said, "we're doing that the next time!')

service: impeccable, and contrary to other posters' comments, friendly and helpful. allow two hours for your meal.

dress: business casual. (a suit and tie is fine, but not necessary)

reservations: a must on weekends. despite being rainy and cold saturday evening, the restaurant was filled to capacity.

parking: no valet. free parking in the lot outside the restaurant.

now for the amazing food:

course 1 -- the confit foie gras torchon with subtle hints of peanut and cocoa, is melt-in-your-mouth wonderful.

course 2 -- nantucket bay scallops with cauliflower watercress and truffle vinaigrette is indescribably succulent and delicious. the gulf crab fritter -- my original choice -- couldn't hold a candle to t's scallops. when our server suggested i change selections after my initial taste, i didn't hesitate to do so.

course 3 -- you can't go wrong with the local berkshire pork, prepared three ways. each bite is a burst of flavor and texture. t thought the same of his jamison farm lamb.

course 4 - omg, if you like the combination of salty and sweet, buffalo milk ricotta 'ice cream' with toasted oats, pears, cranberry and lemon mint is absolutely perfect. i wanted more, more, more. t had the bucheron celles-sur-belle which was very good, but the accompanying spaghetti squash was bland and lacking.

course 5 - we ordered both versions of bacchanalia's signature valrhona chocolate. t's with hazelnut, cornmeal and frozen orange custard was more interesting and tastier than mine. if requested, your server will bring excellent french press coffee -- a good way to cap off one's meal.

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if you're a hearty steak-and-potatoes kinda person, bacchanalia will not be for you. but if you relish a food experience with innovative flavors and textures, by all means try this #1 zagat rated restaurant. courses are small, but combined with chef's amuse-bouche and other little 'gifts' ( as the wait staff say), you will be satisfied, happy and actually full when you leave.

i can't wait to return!

did i go to the right place??. i feel as if i dined somewhere completely different than every review i've read everywhere!! my husband and i dined there (party of 4) for new years; they must have has a rough night because this restaurant was terrible!!!
we know about good food, how to cook it as well as when it is prepared properly... this place was indescribably bad.
my first course was the hamachi which was not scales properly and i was fishing them out of my mouth. yuck. then i had the snapper which was really overdone and flavorless. my third course was a beef tenderloin which yes was cooked properly but you could tell it was a cheap end piece and not quality tenderloin... the cheese course was blue cheese in which i think catered to people who do not know much about cheese because they had so much stuff on the plate that you couldn't appreciate the pungent cheese at all. finally my one true treat was a goat cheese cheesecake which was pretty good; however not able to change my feeling towards this place. definitely dissapointed and ripped off!!!! if i'm in atl area again i am not going back.

for the last three or four years, every list i’ve read relating to atlanta’s restaurants has listed bacchanalia as the top restaurant in the city. about once a year, we have a “big night out”. this year, bacchanalia was the destination.

great spot for a special night!. love this place. food is outstanding and service is an experience. their cheese cart is a real treat.

as a vegetarian, it's not always fun to go out to dinner. while your tablemates choose from numerous options, you get....a salad. or, if you're lucky, a pasta that's not seasoned well (vegetarians rely on more interesting seasoning since there are no meat/salty flavors to season). bacchanalia's chef has never let me down, i'm always delighted by whatever they put together, which is pretty much what i tell the waiter ("whatever they want to put together. i trust you.")
dessert is scrumptious and the wine list is impressive. i've had several celebratory business dinners here and they never fail to wow us. definitely worth making them a fave.
b is pricey but, for the cost, a great experience.


-----11 apr, 2010-----

excellent dining. worth every penny. wonderful food - creative, delicious and delightful - and excellent service. while rich in meat dishes, the chef always turns out enviable vegetarian fare for me. the cheese offering is not to be missed - rafael, the server, offers it in the spirit of the best wine sommelier and the choices are always good.
expensive but worth it.

a bit disappointed. so i ate at bacchanalia for a second time (the first time was years ago when they first opened and were at the old location). i decided to give it a try with a party of 4 and see what we thought of the "best" restaurant. i was initially irritated as it was raining that night and the entrance to the restaurant was not clear. although the name is outside we were not aware that we had to walk through a market to get there. when we came into the market and asked the staff working there just pointed at the restaurant and didn't speak to us. i had arrived with one guest earlier than the rest of our party and we wanted to sit at the bar for a cocktail; we were told we could not since there were "walk-ins" dining there. we waited for our party and sat down. the food was mediocre to say the least and the best part of the meals was for sure the accompanyments which were fabulous. the entree choices were not of the caliber that a restaurant such as this should have offered. the portions were small but exactly what you should get when dining this way so no complaints there. i left a bit disappointed unfortunately and have dined in far better in atl. one last note is the decor was quite cold and the bathrooms were old and dingy reminiscent of a 1973 school house bathroom. i expected a lot more. not sure how the rating is deserved.

excellent food and exceptional staff! every dish was very good with my favorites being the foie gras, crab fritter, pheasant breast and lamb. you can't go wrong with any of the selections, though. it's a bit pricey, but definitely worth it.

a sumptuous feast (to forget?). live vicariously through my companion and me by viewing the attached photos. although we enjoyed the dinner immensely no one part of it bedazzled the senses. money can't always buy you the perfect dinner and the perfect dinner will not be found here.

the pheasant breast with confit leg creamed farro, parsnip black trumpet mushrooms, and black cherries was the major highlight. the bird was perfectly prepared, juicy, tender, and flavorful: nary a hint of gaminess.

antipidol to the succulence of the pheasant was the dreadful foie gras. admittedly, i am not a fan of torchon style foie gras, but this preparation was more akin to spam. it was an awful mouthfeel with a tangy saltiness that lingered well into the third course.

the new york strip was the third course and was consummately cooked and seasoned. i loved every bite, all four bites to be exact.

my fourth course, the selection of cheeses, was a crap shoot. the attached menu photo shows a variety of cheeses among 4 major categories: sheep, goat, cow, and blue. i chose a range of flavors from mild and nutty (hawes wensleydale from the cow's milk selection) to tart and peppery (monte enebro from the goat's cheese selection). nothing prepossesing about the flavors here, the selections change nightly so thankfully you can't reproduce this average arrangement.

jealousy was palpable on the fifth course. my companion generously allowed me to order the chocolate doughnuts (her first choice) while she ordered the sweet potato tart. the doughnuts and chocolate espresso were divine and despite green eyes of envy, my companion managed to muddle through her other selection.

overall, it was a great experience, but not perfect and not worth the price. i will not be back, but with so much variety to be had, your experience may be entirely different.

awesome. food is superb and service is cool and crisp. ambience though odd still exudes a certain warmth.

i went here for my sweet 16 and i have to say that i was a bit disappointed. with the meal costing a little over $100 per person, the service was excellent but i'm not sure the food deserves the best in atlanta title. in total, there was about 13 dishes served (which is a lot of food!). the food was really just okay. nothing was horrible (except for the goat cheesecake. that tasted more like clorox cheescake) but nothing was good enough for me to want to eat it again. it was a great night, no doubt, but i think it's just due to the fact that i was eating at such an upscale restaurant. i think i would go here again just for its special feeling rather than for the food.

i'm enjoying my evening at bacchanalia very much. i showed up early for my res and ended up enjoying my meal at the bar. my server was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the dinner and i opted for the 5 course tasting menu. delish kumomoto oysters, gulf crab fritters and so forth. i also enjoyed the selections of boutique kentucky bourbons.