murphy's

a very classic south atlanta icon that has been around many years servinggoodsouthern comfort food and american favorites. stop in next door to them and you can shop at their wine bar. a perfect virginia highlands location, with lots of shopping and eateries nearer to emory.

you can find murphy's at 997 virginia avenue ne, atlanta, ga 30306 in the heart of virginia highland (literally at the corner of virginia ave and north highland ave ne). parking is rather limited to side-streets so you may as well valet with the guys across the street - they'll takegoodcare of your car.

cool spot in a hipster part of town, delicious mango chicken salad and huge wine selection. verygoodbartender and an excellent vodka martini.

overrated. for a place that is not cheap the food is lackluster at best. go across the street to la tavola for a trulygoodbrunch

monday's are meatless. the meat is still on the menu but the beautiful bountiful produce available to atlanta is showcased on a meatless option menu. brunch is popular here and you will find some brunch like items on the lunch menu if you happen to have a hankering for it on a weekday. omlettes are always agoodidea.

food is good, but they consistently under estimate their wait times. by quite a bit. not worth it unless you can get seated immediately.


-----10 jun, 2011-----

a solid virginia highland go to place. murphy's has been around for a while, at the current location as well as previously around the corner. over the years the food has been consistently well above what you would expect for the area. the restaurant has a feeling of competence and order that is very rarely seen, the kitchen always producesgoodfood, and the service works well.

murphy's has a regular lunch and dinner service as well as a very popular weekend brunch that is very reasonably priced. while keeping the customer favorite dishes stay on the menu, they do manage to keep the menu fresh and seasonal.

the wine list is extensive, and the markups are not that bad. the wine shop in the bar area has quite a few surprises, wines you normally would expect to find.

eating here = best decision ever!. me and a party of about 8 went here for dinner, to celebrate my friend's birthday. after researching tons of nice restaurants in atlanta, we decided on murphy's, because the menu seemed to have something for everyone. we couldn't have picked a more perfect place! the hostesses were polite and approachable. our reservation was honored with no wait, except for us waiting for the rest of our party to arrive. they were even nice enough to seat us before our entire party was there.

for small plates, we ordered the cheese plate, mussels, and calamari (one of their specialties). everything was simply delectable! the mussels were cooked perfectly and were juicy and succulent; the cheese was delicious and flavorful (the goat cheese is to die for); and the calamari definitely lived up to its reputation! one of our friends had never had calamari, and she definitely became a fan of it that night!

our server, jodi was very knowledgeable about the menu, and had a very energetic, lighthearted, and accommodating personality. she was able to suggest the perfect wines, based on the taste profiles that we described to her. i really appreciated her expertise and thorough, accurate descriptions of the menu items. she made all of our mouths water, by the way she explained the wines and dishes. so many things on the menu soundedgoodthat, at times, we had a hard time deciding, but jodi made it really easy for us to choose, with personalized suggestions, based on what we wanted.

per wine, we wanted something bright and flavorful (but not overly sweet) to complement our small plates, and she suggested a bottle of the kuentz bas pinot gris. she was spot-on to a tee! everyone loved it, and it went very well with what we ordered. i would definitely recommend it. i wanted a glass of something bold and red to go with my entree, so jodi recommended one of the argentinean malbecs. i'm almost certain that it was the achaval ferrer, but i can't be 100% sure. whatever it was, it packed just the punch that i was going for. the south african shiraz was also very nice.

for the entree, i ordered the sausage and spinach meatloaf. i know meatloaf may not sound that exciting, and i was semi-reluctant about getting it because it seemed kind of boring, but again, jodi stepped in and described it in a way that made me feel like i needed it in my life! and i did not regret my decision. it was a very hearty, homey entree that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside (in the best way possible). a fulfilling portion of two perfectly-cooked, moist, melt-in-your-mouth slices of meatloaf, stacked atop each other, smothered in zesty marinara sauce; with smooth, creamy mashed potatoes, and crisp-but-juicy green beans on the side. call me dramatic, but after almost every bite, i just closed my eyes and reveled in the splendor that is this dish. so, so good. heavenly, even! i tasted some of my friend's trout, and that was also very tasty, and i'm not even a huge fan of fish. i was really excited to try the truffle mac n' cheese, but surprisingly, it was probably my least favorite thing of the night. it was just okay... definitely not the party-in-my-mouth that i was expecting.

service was prompt, friendly, and 100% on-point. everything was appropriately-priced, worth every penny, and actually a great value. i don't think anyone had any complaints. at one point, a manager came over to our table to converse and see how our experience was going. i couldn't quite hear the conversation, as i was at the other end of the table, but she seemed to be very personable and engaging, and our friends were smiling and laughing with her.

at the end of the meal, jodi got a little confused with splitting the tickets. that is the only issue that we had the entire night. she explained to us that it was her last night (unfortunately!), so we're just going to blame it on that. to avoid the issue though, i would simply suggest explaining what you will be paying for, as you order it. it makes it whole lot easier, once you get to the end and people are trying to take responsibility for what appetizer to take care of, etc. besides that everything was 5-star all across the board... epic win!! i will definitely be back!

great food awesome special &goodservice. however, if you get here after 12 for brunch be prepared to wait.?

my wife and i went to murphy's for dinner last friday night and, as usual, it was excellent. the crispy pork shank was so good. alwaysgoodservice and great atmosphere.

generous portions. murphy's has always been know forgoodfood and generous portions - a classic neighborhood place. last night's special proved the false. while thegoodfood part still applies, the generous does not. the shrimp special consisted of 4 average-sized (like 21-25/pound) shrimp. come on - 2 or 3 more would not have broken the bank and sure would have made for a more satisfying dinner.

what's happened!?. use to love murphy's but ate there last night and it was terrible! had the half chicken. it was tasteless almost like it had been poached not roasted and served on top of some crunchy chick peas that had no taste and then they poured a little tomato sauce over the chick peas it was awful! the others at our table had the lobster salad and they did not like it at all. one person had the meatloaf and he did like his(how can you mess up meatloaf?). the mussels and the bread were also tasty and the server could not have been nicer. but it will take a lot more than a nice server andgoodmussels to get me back to murphy's.

this will be a short report since i didn't actually eat at murphy's, but i did enjoy my experience there. it's located right behind the virginia highlands sign---pretty much the definition of centrally located in virginia highlands. the atmosphere is wood-oriented but very sunny, unlike the typical bar experience. they get baked goods from bakeshop, which is agoodsign. (i hope to be able to review bakeshop soon.) leslie, of course, suggested this place, and i'll make it back some time to try out the food and give a fuller report. 0 comments: post a comment newer post older post home subscribe

we went here for brunch after the virginia highlands festival. no wait at all. great atmosphere and service. i had the chilaquiles which was basically breakfast enchiladas. fantastic. actually everything was top notch. a bottle of tohu sauvignon blanc complemented nicely. i finished with the desert trio which was actually a huge sample of three different deserts. all which weregoodbeyond description. great experience.

noisy, busy, food hit or miss. we went to dinner here one friday evening. thankfully, we got there a little early (6:30) because when we left the place was packed. parking is a problem. we had to valet park in the lot next to them.

we ate in the front overlooking the street. it was pleasant except it was very noisy, so noisy that it was hard to hear our waitress. as far as the food goes, some of it was verygoodand some was lousy. stay away from the fried green tomatoes. they were disgusting. the aioli fries weregoodalthough it was more of a cream sauce and not true aioli, the salads are decent, and we had a mushroom soup that was excellent. they brought warm crusty bread to the table after we ordered and gave us olive oil to dip it in. the bread was good. according to the waitress, if you email the chef, he'll send you the recipe. we're emailing for the mushroom soup.

chicken burger??? yeah awesome chicken burger. so glad i was with my wife and family today at murphy's. that way , i get to sample everyone's dish!! allison had the best amongst some reallygoodthings ordered!! the spinach chicken burger and it was tasty!! i gave her half of my murphy burger which was cooked to med rare, the way i asked and was great too! i prefered my white bean soup to her sweet potato but they were both good! i hope to be back soon!! enjoy!