Abattoir

Abattoir was one of Anne Quatrano’s restaurants — now closed. My friend and I wanted to try them out before they shut their doors. Parking is available in the nearby deck. It was amazingly not busy on a weekend evening. We ate early — around 6/​630pm so perhaps folks just eat later here. Ordered steak with potatoes and mixed greens. The steak and potatoes were good, loved the butter that came with the steak. Mmmm. Pass on the mixed greens though; it wasn’t my thing.

Thanks Nathan for the wonderful recommendations.
We arrived here for an early dinner. We sat a 2 top but asked for a 4 top due to the amount of food I was about to order. They accommodated our request without hesitation.
Everything is great delicious and leaves you wanted for more
Cheers and happy eats!

Overrated!!! The food was salty. Someone had a heavy hand that day. Our server was like death walking around. She wouldn’t crack a smile for shit. We ordered most of the appetizers and two entrees. We barely ate anything. $ 200+ wasted. Honestly, I think that if we had a better server… Our experience could have been a little better. We were envious of the couple next to us laughing with their server. Not only did she not laugh… But we were left confused as she was, like I said, dead.

Abbatoir! Oh, Abbatoir! What an awesome experience. Abbatoir is a noun that means slaughterhouse. Sounds pretty gruesome and dark! But the ambience was excellent. The lighting was kind of dim and the walls are definitely reminiscent of a slaughterhouse, especially because it use to actually be a old manufacturing slaughterhouse. The menu is very creative-​meat-​centered, but also includes other things such as cheeses and cooked vegetables. Located on the Westside, off Howell Mill, it is French-​inspired from the executive chef Hector Santiago. This restaurant is in the same group as Bacchanalia, owned and operated by Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison. All the meat here at the chophouse is said to be locally-​raised. Justin thought it would be a good introduction to their restaurant group called Star Provisions.
We got to celebrate our 7 month here. We started off with a couple drinks and appetizers. I tried the «Early Bloom» which was strawberry-​infused vodka with mint. It was actually too simple for me, but it wasn’t the worst drink. Justin got the Maple Perfect Manhattan, which was awesome! The bourbon wasn’t too strong and it was a sweet drink. We later tried my favorite drink there, the «Orange Ginger Blossom». They make their ginger drinks in-​house so it was definitely awesome! It was like a dark and stormy with a citrus zest.
For appetizers, we got the Gourges and the Rillon. The gourges were light, fluffy, airy, cheesy pastries. I imagined them cheesier when Justin had told me about them, but they were very traditional and well executed. I enjoyed the light start and it was a good complement to the rillon which were awesome! They were greasy and crispy and everything I needed in that moment. It wasn’t too salty. They came with onion rings which tasted lighter than most onion rings that I have had. I’m not such what the batter was made of and it was slightly oily, but it wasn’t overbearing.
Next, we had a cheese and meat plate. I’m new to cheeses and different types of meats so this was a great experience. The cheese plate contained bucheron (goat’s milk) from France with honey, comte (raw cow’s milk) from France with pear compote, condor’s ruin (from sheep’s milk) from Georgia with pickled peppers, and roquefort (blue cheese from cow’s milk) from France with dried cranberries. The charcuterie contained prosciutto di parma, chicken liver mousse (favorite), lonzino, saucisson sec, pepperoni, with mustard and pickles. All of it was awesome! We got some bread with our cheese and meats, but I didn’t really like their bread compared to other breads I have had. I guess it was a little tougher instead of softer that I like.
For entrees, we decided to share one since we usually over-​order food. We shared the Bavette steak with this torn potatoes that I didn’t really like. The steak itself was amazing though. We got it medium. It was juicy and flavorful and it had a bone marrow butter that added an extra flavor to the steak. It was easy to eat and very filling. We also tried a mushroom bread pudding which was interesting. It was creamy and soft and mushy in a good way. I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite dish.
All the staff were extremely kind and caring. A few of them came to our table just to say Happy Anniversary to us. Our server was really sweet, gave great recommendations, and always checked on us. They even brought us an «anniversary cupcake» to share at the end which had a vanilla cupcake with «burned merengue» on top. It was a very light finish to the meal and a thoughtful touch to the meal.

Oh no! Abbatoir set to close its doors permanently on March 28.
Check it out:
I need to make a reservation quick!

Just read on their website that the owners of Abbatoir have decided to shutter their restaurant at the end of March 2015. Given the fact that I live in LA, I guess it was more dumb luck than planning that caused me to get one last in with Abbatoir, and in the end, I’m glad that we made it to one of their last dinner servings for our monthly date nights.
Although this review is probably going to fade away like proverbial dust in the wind, I guess it’s nice to get things down for posterity. Ordering exclusively off the small plates list, what we experienced were fantastic hits and misses that weren’t all that bad. And in the big scheme of things, that’s basically as much as you can hope to accomplish when you want to be a restaurateur, no? Can’t please everyone all the time, right? To wit:
Hits:
— Charcuterie plate — leading off with their ridiculously good chicken liver mousse (the server mentioned off-​handedly that they mix a bit of pork fat in to smooth over the metallic taste of the liver), the board was also punctuated with other types of salumi and the very interesting pork terrine with pastrami inside. Cured meat and animal spreads are almost always priced at a premium in the US, but for $ 22, I thought the cost/​value allocation was justified.
(Author’s note: for cheap charcuterie, you have to visit Buenos Aires… ridiculously good/​cheap)
— Crispy rillons — A sexxxafied way of saying deep fried pork belly and onion rings. By far, our favorite dish of the night, and at only $ 7 for a decent portion for the «small plates» menu, I would feel absolutely no shame in ordering 2, 3, even four orders of this dish.
— Manchego cheese — When is manchego ever a bad idea? Props to my girl Vivi Smalls for selecting one of the finest representations of sheep’s milk I’ve ever had.
— Service — Spot on with the recommendations, our server was on point with water refills, special requests and wine service. More on that last part in a bit. Deserved every bit of the 30% gratuity that we left.
(Relative) Misses:
— Pommes macaire — Fancy ass cubes of potato somewhat reminiscent of polenta but not tasting as good as French fries… definitely, not bad, but nowhere near as transcendent as the hits above.
— Whey glazed salsify — Subscribing to Tyler Cowen’s culinary theory of the benefit of trying the weirdest thing on the menu, I decided to give this dish a shot. Again, much like the pommes macaire, it wasn’t bad… sort of like a less pungent cross of hearts of palm and carrot with some tasty cippoline onions.
— Lamb’s tongue/​Beef marrow bourginon — Again, very passable dishes, just not as impressive as the hits. I just got the same impression from both of these plates, I wanted to get that real gamey sensation from the lamb and unbridled richness from the bone marrow, but they each seemed strangely… subdued. Perhaps, this is my natural inclination towards strong flavors, but allow me to play in my sandbox for just a bit longer.
What I’m going to sorely miss:
— Unbelievably fantastic value on wine — Dear readers, if you’ve read any type of cross-​section of my reviews, you can probably gauge that I am value-​oriented person by nature. So when I saw how reasonably priced the wine bottles were… well, I sorta lost control.
We started with the $ 60 Archery Summit Pinot ($ 50 in the stores!) and finished with the Lindstrom Pinot (Celia Welch, FTW!) that was almost half of the $ 150 I’ve seen it priced at other restaurants. The owners either sell a ridiculous volume of wine, or they’re not about gouging their customers with customary «sell the glass for what you buy the bottle» pricing. I’m guessing this also has to do with the bosses being the proprietors of Star Provision. This I’m sure adds to volume discounting which was drunkenly appreciated.
TLDR Summary: Fantastic meat dishes, a couple of pretty good veggies, and just ridiculously good pricing on wine made this a great meal. Having had a similar meal at Los Angeles’ Animal — a restaurant with a very similar concept — I remember the bill came out to $ 370, mostly due to the wine. Abattoir was $ 225, and I think the food, service and ambiance (minus the less than flattering lighting) was way better.
Real TLDR Summary: If you like fancy meat and good deals on quality wines, make a booking before the end of the month.

The entire Abattoir team was locked in late last night when we dropped by without reservations for dinner. The hostess was engaging and welcoming. Our server was knowledgable without being high brow about it. And the runner was friendly and courteous.
We started with Creole Boiled Peanuts ($ 3) and the Jamison Lamb Tongue ($ 11) and Roasted Bone Marrow ($ 12) from the Butcher’s Menu.
For entrees, we enjoyed the Leg of Lamb ($ 26) and Ribeye ($ 38). Everything was cooked perfectly and the portions were generous without being gluttonous.
For dessert: Butterscotch Pot de Crème, Pistachio, Shortbread ($ 7) and Poached Pear, Brie Ice Cream, Cookie Crumble ($ 8).
If you ever have the chance to check out Abattoir, I highly recommend it.

I’ve been here before numerous times, but after a year of being gone — something has changed. Food is awesome — don’t get me wrong, service is decent, but it lacks the friendly welcoming feeling of the past. Perhaps it was because I was with a larger group and they were busy — not much interaction with the service crew… I may have to give it another try again…

Three words… Brie ice cream!!! It doesn’t sound like that would work, but it sooo does! My friends came here just before Christmas and a month later we are still talking about it.
The rest of the food doesn’t disappoint either. Everything we ordered was absolutely fantastic. I ended up with the trout, which I’ve added to the list of my all-​time favorite dishes. So fantastic. I just hope they keep that on the menu!
The service was stellar. We ended up staying there a very long time and we never felt like we were being pushed out. I think we ended up being the last people to leave.
I loved the décor, which is the rustic industrial look that is so popular in restaurants now.
I absolutely loved it here and can’t wait to come back. I fully understand why this is always on the Eater 38 list! An absolute MUST!

I recently ate here with a few friends, Ana M. being one of them. We pretty much shared all of our dishes, so I apologize if this review is repetitive.
Everything was very hit or miss.
HIT: Root vegetables. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was well flavored and makes a great side.
HIT: Bone marrow. I love bone barrow. I have long said that more white people need to learn of the wonders of bone marrow. How could it not taste good? It’s pretty much pure fat. Spread it on crispy toast, and it’s decadent.
MISS: Steak tartare. I liked the yolky garnish, but the meat left me cold. It was rather bland, and I only ate it because it was in front of me.
HIT: Mushroom bread pudding. People always say mushrooms soak up the flavor of whatever they are in, but they also have their own umami taste. The mushrooms were cooked in a heavy cream sauce and mixed with bread pudding to give it a very rich flavor. It reminded me of the filling in a savory dinner crêpe, poured over bread pudding. Really good!
HIT: Steak. How can you go wrong with rare meat? Not quite melt-​in-​your-​mouth, but succulent nonetheless. It was our favorite, and also happened to be the cheapest of the entrees.
HIT: Lamb. Again, it’s hard to go wrong with rare meat. The crispy potatoes on the side left a lot to be desired, though.
MISS: Swordfish. This was my pick, because I think of swordfish as the meatiest of the underwater dwellers. And it usually produces this delicious oil. The last time I had swordfish was over five years ago, so I may be idealizing it in my head, but I was sorely disappointed with the swordfish here. It was dried out, possibly overcooked.
MISS: Pork chop. Again, this cut of meat was overcooked to dryness. It took a lot of effort and little pleasure to chew through it. A large portion of the cut was also fat, which contrary to popular belief, doesn’t taste good by itself.
MISS: In general, the entrees came with small garnishes, but not a proper side. Would it really kill them to just increase the portion of the garnish, so that a side dish is appropriate paired with each piece of meat?
MISS: Drinks. Basically, order off of their cocktail menu to get a good drink. The hibiscus bourbon drink was tasty, as was the pisco one. Neither was overbearingly strong and a good portion. Order classics like a martini or an old fashioned, though, and you will be sorely disappointed. First of all, the portions will be tiny. Secondly, they will just be the base alcohol with none of the trimmings your drink standardly comes with. It’s unclear whether this was the bartender’s first night on the job, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
MISS: Service. Also unclear is whether it was our waiter’s first night on the job. He would disappear for 20 minutes at a time. I don’t think we ordered our entrees until 45 minutes after we were seated. He wasn’t rude or anything, just absent.
MISS: Parking. The five-​story garage filled up, and it took us 20 minutes to find parking. The valet was nowhere to be found.
I’ll come back if someone who hasn’t been here wants to try it out, but it would not be my first choice.

Maybe it was an off night, maybe it was our server, maybe I’ve officially become the bitch with too high of standards, but I didn’t love my time here. Yall, service was slooooow. Like we were there for 3 hours because there would be 30+ minutes between courses. The server was nice and eager, but took his time to show up, never coming in to check on us post drinks or food. For drinks, we waited 15 minutes after they arrived to ask for the martini to be dirtier (it was just gin and ice) and the old fashioned to be garnished with an orange peel and cherry. Drinks were ok, but not as great as expected for a place of this caliber.
Food–
Our table of four ordered:
Steak tartare– I’m kinda obsessed with steak tartare, but this wasn’t really a winner with me or anyone else at the table.
Bone marrow– tiny but delicious. You imagine it will come on the bone but it comes served on a thin sliver of toast. But it’s awesome.
Root vegetables– pretty tasty. The apples were a good addition.
Mushroom bread pudding– order this. It’s delicious. It’s earthy, it’s creamy, it has a hint of sweetness, just enough for you to realize it is a bread pudding after all.
Steak Bavette– everyone’s favorite. Perfectly grilled steak with a hint of smokiness. So good.
Lamb– second best dish. Also perfectly cooked, and the dill was an unexpected move addition.
Swordfish– it was fine. A little dry, ok flavor but underwhelming.
Pork chop– would not recommend. I mean it’s the bigger portion out of those ordered, but this beans and pork does not shine in this southern capital, where pork is revered so much. It was a little too fatty, too bland, and the beans had no life. Also underwhelming.
Figgy pudding– that was good! It’s like sticky pudding with figs. It was rich abd satisfying but the fig added a nice levity to the cake. We devoured this.
Check came out to $ 50 pp, but we only got one drink each. Portions were generally small. Service was slow but friendly. Food was underwhelming to great, depending on what was ordered. We had a nice time but with so many great restaurants nearby, I’m unsure I’ll return.

Caveat: I am a vegetarian, so this place isn’t necessarily catering to me — and I don’t think it should have to. I came with a larger group for a friend’s birthday. Generally, everyone else seemed to love it. So for non-​veggies, this place may deserve more than 4 stars. But if you’re vegetarian, it might be worth only 3 stars — but I think it would be unfair for me to rate it so low for something it shouldn’t have to be good at.
First, this place has a great atmosphere. The walls are exposed brick painted white, there are large windows at the back and overall it feels very open. Pretty classy place.
For drinks, I ordered a Dogfish Head 90-​minute IPA (obviously good), a bourbon/​maple cocktail (excellent), and a tequila/​grapefruit cocktail (decent, but I ended up trading it to someone else for a second bourbon/​maple).
For the food, I cobbled together a dinner out of most of the veggie sides available. I had a really good broccoli soup — this was the best thing I ate. I also ordered three sides: roasted root vegetables, wilted greens with lemon, and pommes frites.
The roasted root vegetables were unfortunately not good at all. One-​dimensional flavor, bland, etc. The wilted greens were very nice and light. The pommes frites were just above average.
*Side note: the waiter did offer to adjust some veggie meals that contained meat, so that was nice.
Overall, very cool place. Vegetarians probably won’t be too excited, though.

Our table of six had a commitment to be brave. And we were. We pass/​shared the following.
Ox heart entrée. — excellent, like a good med-​rare steak.
Lamb tongue was too lamby for me.
Beef tongue empanadas — didn’t like.
Lamb sweetbreads — really good. Already sliced up and in a yummy sauce with chunks of chestnut.
Blood sausage. Ok. Good flavor but a bit soft in texture for me. Also, when you cut it, red liquid comes out — not blood, I think — for theatrical purposes?
Octopus entrée — loved the charred tentacles on top, but not the potato thing on bottom.
Octopus ceviche — one of the stars of the evening. So tender and a nice acidic bite.
On the less adventurous side –
Ceci peas. Really crispy and curry– y.
Crab fritter. Dull.
Another sausage thing on fennel, I can’t remember the name, but it tasted like German sausages.
Charcuterie. The chicken liver pâté was unbelievably smooth, and had the right touch of cognac flavor. The rest of the cured meats were delicious too, but what cured meat isn’t?
Sun chokes — interesting but meh
Frites — flavorful and good for nibbling between the scary bites.
Roast potatoes — a little undercooked but nice crisp outside.
A delightful and fun evening for sure.

There is nothing bad that I can write about this place. First the décor is great for the steakhouse. A rustic and vintage tribute to the farm house.
We ordered the shishito peppers, charcuterie, and cheese plate to start out experience and all of them were exceptional! The shishito peppers I would recommend for anyone who is going there for the first time. We also split the rib-​eye, which was the best steak that I have eaten in the Atlanta-​area. The cinnamon monkey bread is a great dish to split for dessert as well and I would highly recommend trying any of the specialty cocktails because that are done masterfully.
The service was top notch. I will clearly place Abattoir as one of my top 5 restaurants in ATL.

Abattoir means «slaughterhouse» in French. I don’t know about you but when I think slaughterhouse, I think cows and pigs squealing/​puking/​bleeding/​dying everywhere a la Upton Sinclair/​The Jungle style.
I guess everything does sound better in French…
Anyway, Abattoir’s atmosphere is actually very lovely. Rustic, modern, trendy, blah blah blah. Notice the light fixture above the bar. It looks like an upside-​down rubbish bin!
Food-​wise, here’s what we got:
1. Octopus Ceviche: Wow delicious! I didn’t know the texture of octopus can be so tender! This was a very refreshing dish.
2. Beef Tartare: I love a good beef tartare. And this was good.
3. Cheshire crispy pork chop: Good but can be crispier. It paired nicely with the side of kale + apples.
4. Charred okra with bacon: I used to hate okra (we called it ladies’ fingers growing up). The texture was like soggy flesh. But then we moved to the States and I found out you can FRY it and it’s delicious!!! (as all fried things are). Anyway, I misread & thought this okra dish was going to be fried? False. Nonetheless, I actually thought the charred okra was really good so my taste buds must be maturing…
5. Potato with rosemary aioli: Meh boring.
Verdict: I’ll be back.

This was an amazing dinner experience. We went for my boyfriends birthday. We had fabulous service. Our server knew her menu backwards and forwards, offered suggestions and explained in-​depth what the menu items were.
The menu is very foodie driven and I have a pretty good culinary knowledge base and I was excited there were things on the menu that I didn’t know what they were. Our server explained them to us without any prejudice.
My most favorite dish was the grilled octopus. So amazingly tender!
We also had the stuffed jalapeños, which were yummy, the game hen and the spinalis. All expertly prepared. This place is great for trying lots of new things and the portions are great for ordering multiple items.

This is definitely my new favorite place to eat. The wait staff is friendly and knowledgeable, the décor and atmosphere are a nice blend of rustic and modern, and the food… oh the food is absolutely amazing!
The menu is a little different than most restaurants, but the wait staff will explain it to you. Long story short, they have a lot of smaller plates that you pair with others and split with people at your table (top of the menu), but they also have more traditional entrée plates towards the bottom of the menu. The plates get larger as you move down the menu.
My husband and I got the Characuterie first, then the Grilled Lamb Sweetbreads and Bone Marrow coupled with the corn esquites and the charred okra. We had had bone Marrow before, but this was the by far the best! I would highly recommend this fantastic restaurant, and I am eagerly waiting to go back!

boy, howdy! welcome to my new favorite spot in ATL. this was perhaps the finest meal i’ve had in quite some time, start to finish. aside from the food, the setting and service are top notch — nothing over the top, nice big bar, and an airy atmosphere.
my buddy and i had six courses that were all phenomenal. the beef tartare is a must. they seem to change ingredients up regularly, but this plate must be ordered. i cannot emphasize more.
the heirloom tomatoes with basil and mint were fresh, beautifully colored, and spot on.
the chorizo seasoned octopus might have been the best i’ve had since i was in spain (2000). tender and tasty — very fresh and not rubbery at all.
the oxtail poutine was excellent. at the same time, it was pretty filling. i laid low on it because of the next two dishes, but the poutine could certainly serve as a full meal. the fries were really good.
the lamb sweetbreads and lamb heart were pan seared with a sweet/​hot thai chile sauce. this was my first time to have lamb sweetbreads and heart. if you like parts — get this plate. if you’re not adventurous, taste someone else’s. its a unique flavor and a totally different richness, but you get that essence that lamb carries with it. very interesting.
and then the veal sweetbreads. right up there with Bayona’s sweetbreads. cooked to absolute perfection and were delightful to consume.
i ate half the meal with my eyes closed because everything was so damn good. i eagerly look forward to getting back to abattoir as soon as i can get back to ATL.

Rarely do you find a restaurant that is worthy of five stars on Unilocal but this place should. Fresh ingredients. Seasonal vegetables. Local produce. Best of all, it all tastes good!
Came here hoping to try their bone marrow and pork belly. Heard great things about this place. Got so side tracked with their charcuterie board and tapas menu that I said screw it! Totally disregarded the reason why I came which is to try literally odd cuts of meat and eating things most people wouldn’t think to eat, i.e., the bones and its marrow.
So many decisions to be made but doesn’t seem like you can go wrong with any of them. We ordered a bunch of different dishes and they all were amazing. My favorite dish was a toss up between the beef tartarre and the chorizo crusted octopus. The heirloom tomatoes were delicious with the fresh mint leaves. Crispy eggplant… actually crispy and not soggy. The cheese platter was amazing. They paired cheeses with different dips and sauces. Never would have thought to eat cheese with mint honey or pickled carrots.
Desserts…mmmm. Monkey bread. Still dreaming of all the food…
If you are not an adventurous eater (or even a meat eater for that matter), there is something for everyone.

Located at a great spot.
After dinner, you can hop to Ormsby’s for some drinks and fun with your group.
But you go to a restaurant for its food…
Presentation is great, but the food itself was lacking in salt and flavor and was way overpriced. Probably would not go back~