I wanted to try a Michelin star restaurant. This place did not disappoint! The parking was free! The staff was so kind. It was not hoity toity either. I didn't need to know the cutlery as they brought out new pieces for each course. It was the most expensive meal I've ever had ($200+/plate) so I don't recommend bringing kids! The attire was more laid back than we expected, which was also nice. S/O took off his tie. ?It was a great experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Duck Breast, Crab Fritter with Thai Essence
Nathan Shelp
This was our first time back since Bacchanalia received their Michelin star. We weren’t expecting anything to have changed between now and then, except for possibly a few minor things. The prix fix menu increased in price (~12%) but the food definitely elevated an equal percentage. Every single dish ordered was a home run, out of the park. My wife and I kept looking at each other and laughing because the food was so good. Not to the discredit of bacchanalia before the star either. Service is phenomenal and consistent. The dining experience length is around 1.5-2 hours divided up with courses and many different sub- items in between. You will definitely leave here stuffed to the brim and smiling.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
jennifer hendricks
Best restaurant in Atlanta! Hands down, first class all the way.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Crab Fritter with Thai Essence, Sourdough Bread
Andrew Ferguson
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?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Allison Berg
Amazing food, amazing service! A great option for a special occasion!
Amazing Meal. Fantastic Service. Must try the Chocolate Silk dessert.
Thumbs Up Cobb
It was a wonderful experience. The food, the service, the drinks everything was perfect. Definitely one Michelin star deserving.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Reginald Pruitt
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.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
William S.
Annie for sure, and her star with her amazing years of service and outstanding cuisine. It had been about six months since I have been to the restaurant and was thinking that after earning the Michelin star things may have changed, and they certainly have not . We have been following her throughout her three locations, and always enjoys special occasions that bacchanalia . Last night the service was outstanding on par with any restaurant in Atlanta, and also on par with any restaurant that is a one star in Europe. Make sure to have this on your special list and you won't be disappointed or go home hungry. She really is making people feel comfortable, not feel, rushed and experience a world-class meal .
Anthony P.
This was a wonderful experience! My first time in ATL and I was lucky enough to get reservations! Place is usually booked up for months. My sister flew into town to surprise me and she had called the restaurant to see if she could get a table and surprise me. They were all booked up. My sister told it was my birthday and they squeezed her in. My wife and I got there first and we were seated. My sister snuck in after and surprised me. The hostess and restaurant knew and they played it off perfect! I was totally surprised, the service and how they went out of their way to make my birthday special was amazing. Now to the food it was an amazing 4-5 course meal! Every palate of my tongue was touched! Some I enjoyed more than others but the Michelin star well deserved! Loved the decor and the staff were very knowledgeable.
I'm going to need to explain a few things: I'm a country bumpkin at heart. I enjoy Bojangles biscuits, Coke zero, and heavily processed snack cakes. In the past few years, I've learned to cook, and I've gotten decent for a novice home cook. My wife is classy, though, and has convinced me that food should be quality over quantity, culminating in me looking forward to a Michelin star restaurant and thoroughly enjoying it! Back story done with, please excuse my lack of knowledge/memory about names of foods. The short version is that it was, hands down, the best meal I've ever had. It's different than the many great meals I've had around the world, but in a separate class for sure! The parking lot was empty when we got there, and we walked right into our reservation not long after opening. Our server and the sommelier were kind but not as engaging as I had assumed they might be, but they got everything we needed and were never in the way - the plus side of not being chatty, I suppose! The menu has enough variety that we found plenty of things we liked in each course, and we shared each dish for added variety. I had a rum old fashioned (mostly because they had no beer selection - major bummer for a bumpkin!), and my wife enjoyed a half bottle of one of her favorite wines. For the first course, we had the crab fritter and the mushrooms. The menu said the mushrooms had tofu, but I certainly didn't notice any (I'm a world-traveled bumpkin who married into a culture that enjoys tofu, so I was sad not to notice the tofu); regardless, the mushrooms were in stiff competition for being the greatest thing I ate all night, and I don't typically like mushrooms. For the second course, my wife ordered the scallops - the most delicious scallops I've ever had in my life, for whatever that's worth! I had the turbot, which was also great, but not nearly as perfect as the scallops. I had thought about doing the steak, but 4 oz? That would just make me hungry for steak! We kind of guessed on the cheeses, and the waitress wasn't particularly helpful in suggestions with the "everything here is good because it's a world-class restaurant" nonsense. I mean, yeah, we know why we came here, but we've not treated any of it, and you should have! Oh well. I didn't care for either cheese dish, in all honesty, but that means new choices next time! Dessert is where it got confusing! My wife got a small piece of yellow cake for her birthday, which was unexpected, but what I didn't expect was that my non-sweet-toothed wife far preferred the coffee dessert to the citrus souffle. She and I rarely fight over dessert because up until tonight the only one she liked enough to fight over was the caramel popcorn sundae at Canoe! I just gave her my dessert because I saw the look on her face after I insisted she try a bite. I'm not sure I'll ever order a different dessert if the coffee one is still on the menu. I also had the coffee at the end of the night, and it was a fantastic experience all around. This is all white noise - it's got a Michelin star, but it also has a bumpkin-turned-devotee, so I think they've got all their bases covered!
James Terry
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.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chocolate Dessert
Clementina H.
The food is amazingly good, well presented and the flavors are wisely combined in a very interesting way and presented with great art. The service is elegant, friendly and timely. The staff is knowledgeable , the ambiance is cozy, refined and appropriate for any type of occasion. If you are the type of person that truly enjoys gastronomy this is the place; however, remember that good quality and presentation is not cheap. The price per person -if you stick to the prefixed price- is not costly considering the variety of options your palate will enjoy in just one dinning experience; but, be careful getting too excited with the drinks and any other option out of the offer. Bottom line I enjoyed it very much and look forward on coming back! No pictures are posted of my dinner as I was too delighted with the food and made the decision to live the experience with all my senses and mind just focusing on my plates!
Jacob John
Not worth the money
Natasha D.
Continuing on in the Michelin quest... next up, Bacchanalia. My bf made a reservation on a Wednesday evening to coincide with our anniversary. As they have continued to rise in prominence, reservations have understandably been harder to come by. From the moment we arrived to leaving, we were congratulated on our special occasion, which is a really nice touch. The Michelin star is certainly warranted. Ingredients, preparation, creativity, flavor profiles, extra items (amuse bouche, snacks sent by chef, etc.), service, all outstanding. That said, nothing that I ate was the best ever. I have a salt sensitivity and felt that the majority of the dishes reached the higher level of what would be considered normal for seasoning. I'm kicking myself for not selecting the egg dish in the first course. The beloved crab cake fritter missed the mark for me. I loved the fresh crab meat, but it was sitting atop a liquid that had a very funky fish sauce flavor that I couldn't get past. There was a farro side dish served with the main/second course that I found delicious. The cold sweet potatoes not so much. The course I enjoyed the most was the third/cheese. I had the BRILLAT-SAVARIN, the creamiest cheese paired with honey/comb and the most insanely good sourdough crouton. The crunch contrasted so well with the salty and sweet flavors. My bf had the baba for the dessert course which was inedible for me. But I'm also not a big fan of prune or bourbon. We were brought a complimentary piece of cake for our anniversary and I found it dry. The chocolate dessert is the winner for that course. We did the wine pairing and also ordered a mezcal cocktail. With all of the extras we didn't find any need to order supplements. We were very full at the end and wished the pacing of the meal had been a bit better and slower. Start to finish we were there for about an hour and a half but it felt like less. The cocktail arrived after the first course was served, for example. We could have used a few more minutes between courses and probably should have said something. Loved the elevated industrial ambiance and noticed how far apart the tables were - kind of like social distancing times, but not mad it! It's nice to feel like you have your own space/privacy and not piled on top of strangers. As we were walking out, the hostess offered us a loaf of bread left over from their store - and it was good! This is the kind of establishment where you're not just directed to the restroom, but accompanied there personally. Every single employee we encountered was kind and professional, and showed pride in the experience they provide. Does Bacchanalia deserve a Michelin star? Absolutely. But if I had to choose between it and Lazy Betty, the latter wins every day of the week. This was great for a one-time experience but not worth the value for a return visit.
I wanted to try a Michelin star restaurant. This place did not disappoint! The parking was free! The staff was so kind. It was not hoity toity either. I didn't need to know the cutlery as they brought out new pieces for each course. It was the most expensive meal I've ever had ($200+/plate) so I don't recommend bringing kids! The attire was more laid back than we expected, which was also nice. S/O took off his tie. ?It was a great experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Duck Breast, Crab Fritter with Thai Essence
This was our first time back since Bacchanalia received their Michelin star. We weren’t expecting anything to have changed between now and then, except for possibly a few minor things. The prix fix menu increased in price (~12%) but the food definitely elevated an equal percentage. Every single dish ordered was a home run, out of the park. My wife and I kept looking at each other and laughing because the food was so good. Not to the discredit of bacchanalia before the star either. Service is phenomenal and consistent. The dining experience length is around 1.5-2 hours divided up with courses and many different sub- items in between. You will definitely leave here stuffed to the brim and smiling.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best restaurant in Atlanta! Hands down, first class all the way.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Crab Fritter with Thai Essence, Sourdough Bread
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?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Amazing food, amazing service! A great option for a special occasion!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Crab Fritter with Thai Essence, Parmesan Cheese Plate, Steak Tartare
Amazing Meal. Fantastic Service. Must try the Chocolate Silk dessert.
It was a wonderful experience. The food, the service, the drinks everything was perfect. Definitely one Michelin star deserving.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Annie for sure, and her star with her amazing years of service and outstanding cuisine. It had been about six months since I have been to the restaurant and was thinking that after earning the Michelin star things may have changed, and they certainly have not . We have been following her throughout her three locations, and always enjoys special occasions that bacchanalia . Last night the service was outstanding on par with any restaurant in Atlanta, and also on par with any restaurant that is a one star in Europe. Make sure to have this on your special list and you won't be disappointed or go home hungry. She really is making people feel comfortable, not feel, rushed and experience a world-class meal .
This was a wonderful experience! My first time in ATL and I was lucky enough to get reservations! Place is usually booked up for months. My sister flew into town to surprise me and she had called the restaurant to see if she could get a table and surprise me. They were all booked up. My sister told it was my birthday and they squeezed her in. My wife and I got there first and we were seated. My sister snuck in after and surprised me. The hostess and restaurant knew and they played it off perfect! I was totally surprised, the service and how they went out of their way to make my birthday special was amazing. Now to the food it was an amazing 4-5 course meal! Every palate of my tongue was touched! Some I enjoyed more than others but the Michelin star well deserved! Loved the decor and the staff were very knowledgeable.
Restaurantji Recommends
I'm going to need to explain a few things: I'm a country bumpkin at heart. I enjoy Bojangles biscuits, Coke zero, and heavily processed snack cakes. In the past few years, I've learned to cook, and I've gotten decent for a novice home cook. My wife is classy, though, and has convinced me that food should be quality over quantity, culminating in me looking forward to a Michelin star restaurant and thoroughly enjoying it! Back story done with, please excuse my lack of knowledge/memory about names of foods. The short version is that it was, hands down, the best meal I've ever had. It's different than the many great meals I've had around the world, but in a separate class for sure! The parking lot was empty when we got there, and we walked right into our reservation not long after opening. Our server and the sommelier were kind but not as engaging as I had assumed they might be, but they got everything we needed and were never in the way - the plus side of not being chatty, I suppose! The menu has enough variety that we found plenty of things we liked in each course, and we shared each dish for added variety. I had a rum old fashioned (mostly because they had no beer selection - major bummer for a bumpkin!), and my wife enjoyed a half bottle of one of her favorite wines. For the first course, we had the crab fritter and the mushrooms. The menu said the mushrooms had tofu, but I certainly didn't notice any (I'm a world-traveled bumpkin who married into a culture that enjoys tofu, so I was sad not to notice the tofu); regardless, the mushrooms were in stiff competition for being the greatest thing I ate all night, and I don't typically like mushrooms. For the second course, my wife ordered the scallops - the most delicious scallops I've ever had in my life, for whatever that's worth! I had the turbot, which was also great, but not nearly as perfect as the scallops. I had thought about doing the steak, but 4 oz? That would just make me hungry for steak! We kind of guessed on the cheeses, and the waitress wasn't particularly helpful in suggestions with the "everything here is good because it's a world-class restaurant" nonsense. I mean, yeah, we know why we came here, but we've not treated any of it, and you should have! Oh well. I didn't care for either cheese dish, in all honesty, but that means new choices next time! Dessert is where it got confusing! My wife got a small piece of yellow cake for her birthday, which was unexpected, but what I didn't expect was that my non-sweet-toothed wife far preferred the coffee dessert to the citrus souffle. She and I rarely fight over dessert because up until tonight the only one she liked enough to fight over was the caramel popcorn sundae at Canoe! I just gave her my dessert because I saw the look on her face after I insisted she try a bite. I'm not sure I'll ever order a different dessert if the coffee one is still on the menu. I also had the coffee at the end of the night, and it was a fantastic experience all around. This is all white noise - it's got a Michelin star, but it also has a bumpkin-turned-devotee, so I think they've got all their bases covered!
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.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chocolate Dessert
The food is amazingly good, well presented and the flavors are wisely combined in a very interesting way and presented with great art. The service is elegant, friendly and timely. The staff is knowledgeable , the ambiance is cozy, refined and appropriate for any type of occasion. If you are the type of person that truly enjoys gastronomy this is the place; however, remember that good quality and presentation is not cheap. The price per person -if you stick to the prefixed price- is not costly considering the variety of options your palate will enjoy in just one dinning experience; but, be careful getting too excited with the drinks and any other option out of the offer. Bottom line I enjoyed it very much and look forward on coming back! No pictures are posted of my dinner as I was too delighted with the food and made the decision to live the experience with all my senses and mind just focusing on my plates!
Not worth the money
Continuing on in the Michelin quest... next up, Bacchanalia. My bf made a reservation on a Wednesday evening to coincide with our anniversary. As they have continued to rise in prominence, reservations have understandably been harder to come by. From the moment we arrived to leaving, we were congratulated on our special occasion, which is a really nice touch. The Michelin star is certainly warranted. Ingredients, preparation, creativity, flavor profiles, extra items (amuse bouche, snacks sent by chef, etc.), service, all outstanding. That said, nothing that I ate was the best ever. I have a salt sensitivity and felt that the majority of the dishes reached the higher level of what would be considered normal for seasoning. I'm kicking myself for not selecting the egg dish in the first course. The beloved crab cake fritter missed the mark for me. I loved the fresh crab meat, but it was sitting atop a liquid that had a very funky fish sauce flavor that I couldn't get past. There was a farro side dish served with the main/second course that I found delicious. The cold sweet potatoes not so much. The course I enjoyed the most was the third/cheese. I had the BRILLAT-SAVARIN, the creamiest cheese paired with honey/comb and the most insanely good sourdough crouton. The crunch contrasted so well with the salty and sweet flavors. My bf had the baba for the dessert course which was inedible for me. But I'm also not a big fan of prune or bourbon. We were brought a complimentary piece of cake for our anniversary and I found it dry. The chocolate dessert is the winner for that course. We did the wine pairing and also ordered a mezcal cocktail. With all of the extras we didn't find any need to order supplements. We were very full at the end and wished the pacing of the meal had been a bit better and slower. Start to finish we were there for about an hour and a half but it felt like less. The cocktail arrived after the first course was served, for example. We could have used a few more minutes between courses and probably should have said something. Loved the elevated industrial ambiance and noticed how far apart the tables were - kind of like social distancing times, but not mad it! It's nice to feel like you have your own space/privacy and not piled on top of strangers. As we were walking out, the hostess offered us a loaf of bread left over from their store - and it was good! This is the kind of establishment where you're not just directed to the restroom, but accompanied there personally. Every single employee we encountered was kind and professional, and showed pride in the experience they provide. Does Bacchanalia deserve a Michelin star? Absolutely. But if I had to choose between it and Lazy Betty, the latter wins every day of the week. This was great for a one-time experience but not worth the value for a return visit.