Bacchanalia

Best restaurant in Atlanta! Hands down, first class all the way.

Disappointing doesn't even begin to describe my experience at Bacchanalia. I was left feeling confused. Since Michilin came through Atlanta, my girlfriend and I have set out to try every recommended restaurant on the list. Bacchanalia was our first one star experience, and also the first one star restaurant I have ever gone to. Expectations were extremely high, as they should be when you attend such an esteemed restaurant. The biggest problem, of course, was the food. It was a mixed bag. Some dishes, like the Crab Fritter or Nantucket Scallops or Oysters, were excellent. Other dishes, like the Souffle or Smoked Ricotta or NY Strip or Meyer Lemon, ranged from mediocre to just kinda bad. I'm not sure grapefruit belongs in a Souffle, and the ice cream that came with it was equally as bitter. The bread service was just plain bread, butter, and a decent hummus that almost saved it. The supplemental potatoes were... just roasted potatoes with the most insignificant pinch of salt. The atmosphere was great but the service was kind of strange. I felt like everyone working there was literally instructed to talk as quietly as possible. I had to lean way in to the waiter to even hear a word he was saying. It sort of felt like we didn't belong there, and that feeling was exacerbated when we started laughing at just how bad the experience was compared to what we were expecting. It was a bit torturous to wait for our final dishes. With Bacchanalia, I think we have a failure of concept. In a youtube video from 8 years ago, (probably former?) Head Chef Ivan Brehm says "we've always been very particular about treating products without much prejudice" and "when you do that, you're able to make really quality food without adding too much stuff, too much powders, too much gimmicks." It's not a surprise to me then to see negative reviews lamenting the lacking nature of the food. Turns out, treating different foods with prejudice is a good idea. I wish they had a bit more prejudice against the potato enough to add some extra salt or any other "powder" that would add to the flavor of the potato. Maybe other people go to restaurants like these to get the very best version of the most basic and organic flavors, but I found out last night that that's just not my thing. And of course there's the Michilin star earned last year. Any complaint can be brushed off with a "you just don't get it" or worse, "you don't understand what fine dining is about." Obviously these are imagined but I don't think the experience I had yesterday was unintentional. I've become even more curious to try the other starred restaurants in Atlanta to compare. I have a feeling, and it's just a feeling, that they will be far superior and much closer to what I expected when I walked through the door at Bacchanalia. Other reviewers say as much. At the end of the night, we were brought a small piece of cake with "Happy Anniversary" written in I think like a chocolate drizzle across the plate. The cake was mediocre and it wasn't our anniversary. I'm pretty sure I didn't tick that box on the Resy, so they either just assumed it was, got confused, or were playing a joke. A dumb final touch to a dumb meal. Pretentious as pretentious can be. It's supposed to taste bitter, don't you get it?

It was a wonderful experience. The food, the service, the drinks everything was perfect. Definitely one Michelin star deserving.

The portion sizes are a joke. Even the second course, the “entree”, is laughably small. I got the duck, and it was maybe four pieces of finger-sized meat. The food tasted fine, no better or worse than a typical New American restaurant, but even after three courses I was still hungry until they brought the bread out. That SHOULDN’T be the case. If I’m spending $125 on prix fixe, do not give me courses of food that are smaller than my palm. It also didn’t help that they took a lot of time to bring out each course— we were at the restaurant for 3 hours when it took less than 5 minutes to finish each course. The hospitality was ok. I’ve had better at Olive Garden. Wait staff were hardly personable. The only “Michelin star” ish thing they did was explain each course of food with pretentious language, but they weren’t very friendly. No pulling out our chairs, no asking about our night in the city, no food or drink recommendations, just “here’s the menu, brb”. Both our waiter and the guy who gave us the drink menu seemed like they wanted to go home. Ultimately, it didn’t live up to the hype. If this is the typical Michelin star experience, y’all can keep it.

Amazing food, amazing service! A great option for a special occasion!

Amazing Meal. Fantastic Service. Must try the Chocolate Silk dessert.

My wife took me to Bacchanalia for my birthday. A really incredible experience. The scallops were amazing, as was silky chocolate. My wife really enjoyed her ravioli as well. To be clear, every course was excellent but these really stood out. I appreciated the slice of cake (although I was entirely to full to each much of it). Overall a fantastic meal with exceptional service. I would definitely recommend.