Craftbar

I went through an interesting «rut» in Atlanta. I was being continually disappointed with the restaurants that I was visiting. Time after time, they were coming up short.
I took a date to Craftbar during restaurant week in Buckhead. It’s always nice when a good date matches a fantastic restaurant.
Craftbar is nothing short of amazing. Impressive from start to finish, Craftbar’s parking lot is like nothing that you have seen in Atlanta. It sort of looks like the drive way for of a superstar, its circular with nice cars that seem to fill it up on a nightly basis.
The interior is very dark, very opulent and and very sophisticated. I think the wood panels that surround the place give it a very mature vibe.
We were greeted by a cast of very friendly hostesses who I later realized might have been so «friendly» because I actually knew one of them from another restaurant.
Service was pretty impressive also. Our server efficient, but he also was chatty. This is cool when you have a guy on a date that doesn’t know how to converse with young woman, but ummmm, well I am me, so thats not really a factor. Aside from his constant interjection, and timing that seemed to put him at the table providing random stories, he was a good server.
The food was fantastic. We had a pre fixe menu that offered me Hangar steak as my entrée. Cooked to perfection, Unfortunately, after requesting things be boxed up, my server was so busy being chatty cathy, that he threw the steak away.
Fortunately, they brought out a filet for the kid… I was pleased.
I like everything about Craftbar… if its true that they are shutting down their doors, that is super unfortunate.

As soon as the news broke that Craft and craftbar would be shuttering their doors (tentatively 2÷14÷2011) — I felt like I had to at least make «a» trip over to see what it is all about. I’m a huge fan of ‘Top Chef’ and subsequently Tom Colicchio. All-​in-​all we had a great experience, beautiful space downstairs, and tasty food. The –1 star resulted from a seemingly aloof waitress, while her intentions were good (i.e. do not want to rush you)…the execution of said thoughtfulness didn’t quite work the way she planned.
If you haven’t been to either, I’d say give craftbar a shot before ²⁄₁₄ — based on my experience downstairs, I’d say Craft is equally as good, albeit on the pricier side.
Deets about the food we consumed (between three people, mind you!):
Appetizer/​Salads
** Grilled Romaine w/​Bluecheese Salad — bits of Benton’s Bacon; holy crap this was so good.
** Marinated Beet Salad — I’m up and down on beets, so I didn’t try this… the earthiness sometimes bothers me, if I wanted that taste I’d go dig up some dirt and nom on a big handful.
** Brussel Sprouts, bacon and hot pepper vinegar — had a bite of this dish, really tasty
Mains:
** craftbar burger — I like comparing burgers across the many different dining establishments here in Atlanta, and I think this one stood up well to most. Housemade pickles were bangin’!
** Fish Stew — had a bite of this; meh, I probably wouldn’t have ordered it myself but Geoff seemed to like it
** Salmon — looked good, didn’t try it.
Dessert:
** Coconut Tres Leches — served in a half-​sized Mason jar with lemon squares on the side… w-​o-​w is all I can say. I could have consumed this by myself…
As you can see, I liked my experience and as I said before — check it out before it’s too late!

CraftBar is great for a girls lunch, business meeting, or happy hour with friends… the sad news is they’re closing February 14, 2011 :-(
Today, I went for lunch — valet is complimentary, we were seated immediately, and the service was efficient! The vibe is cozy, with a huge cow painting on the wall next to the bar, and firewood lined up on a shelf– city rustic!
For lunch I had the chicken sandwich with carmelized onions, mushrooms, and feta cheese served with fries. The sandwich was great and really juicy — I’m officially a member of the CraftBar «clean plate club» — haha!
I look forward to going back for happy hour– the cocktail list looked amazing! And I want to try their homemade pimento cheese!

What is the fuss about?
I used a Scoutmob deal here and it was a Friday night, though our reservation was at 8:30, the service was slow. We had to flag down a passing by manager to put in our order and then the food came and we were underwhelmed.
The portions are small. Their supposedly delicious sausage appetizer is ONE link. My husband and I like to share everything so we each had a tiny morsel.
There are tons of great places in Atlanta, so what’s the point of going somewhere expensive where the server treats you like dirt and you could eat a hamburger on the way home because their dinner just didn’t cut it?

I’ve had lunch three or four times at Craftbar, so the review covers all the visits. The restaurant is a great place for a quick business lunch, and the menu is broad enough to take care of picky eaters. Craftbar probably isn’t the best place if you have a vegetarian in the group, but they’ve been accomodating in the past.
Meals — The hanger steak and burger were OK… on the bland side but not too bad. A co-​worker had a vegetarian pasta dish that she special ordered — definitely light fare.
Service — The staff is fantastic. On one visit, my friend didn’t eat much of her meal, and the waitress promptly noticed the full plate and offered to comp it.
You can get a solid meal at Craftbar, but you probably won’t be wowed by the food or atmosphere.

If you come here, do yourself a favor and order the Craft Burger. It was by far one of the tastiest, juiciest burgers I’ve ever had. With Tilamook cheddar cheese and tomato jam and applewood bacon, it has a trifecta of flavor to win you over. The french fries were really delicious as well, and they give you plenty to go around. If you’re looking for a delicious wine, try the Belle Vallee Pinot Noir. The dessert list looked absolutely amazing with very unique and original sounding offerings. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to stay and order any of it. Next time I will make sure we don’t have somewhere to be.

This is a great intimate place to come for dinner or lunch. It is «cheaper» than Craft upstairs. Because the food changes from time to time, it’s best just to say from observation, the food here is very rich and will leave you feeling more than satiated. This may be a good or bad thing depending on how you usually like to feel leaving a dinner — full but healthy, or dripping with the heaviness of a lot of good cheese and meat.
Some great options we have had here:
+ Lamb ravioli [dinner]: very rich and gooey, comes out in a cast iron serving tray; did I mention they only use a woodfired stove here?
+ Lamb burger [lunch]: a tremendously juicy, rich lamb burger with pickled peppers and goat cheese
Since the menu changes often, I would say that this place is better for dinner, but it does afford some options for lunchtime. Keep in mind that the portions may seem deceivingly small or simple, but they pack a big satiety punch. The setting is simple, cozy, and fun, and is well worth a date or group meal.

You should order a double espresso martini, since the ordinary one doesn’t have much coffee flavor. I actually don’t even know if they offer a double espresso martini, but you should definitely ask.
It was a great experience and I would highly recommend going there, or taking clients if you want to impress without looking like you want to impress.

I’ve been to Craftbar on two separate occasions thus far: Saturday brunch and mid-​week dinner. Despite the close proximitiy to my condo, I doubt I will go back again.
Not to say I had a horrible experience. The food is good, décor nice (loved the naked lightbulbs), and staff friendly enough. However, the cons outweigh the pros.
This is clearly a place for dinner, not brunch. The restaurant is too dim and despite it being Saturday at 11:30am, it was dead. There were perhaps 3 or 4 other parties in the dining area (despite a Scoutmob coupon having come out a couple of days prior). When you think of brunch, you think, light, airy, fun, and laid-​back. The food was light, yes, and my quiche and side fruit quite tasty, but the the place was too trendy for so «early» on a Saturday.
Dinner would have fared better if our waiter wasn’t so pushy. We had a rather large party and he kept pressuring us to get more drinks. A few members of our party did order wine and cocktails, but the other half that didn’t, got mediocre service. To top it off, the portions were TINY. I don’t think I emphasized that enough. TINY. If I’m paying $ 30 for a steak, I want something more substantial than the piece that I was able to finish in 4 bites. If you want something worth your money, you might want to try the two burgers they have on the menu. Those were actually quite filling and also the cheapest entrée on the menu.

Knowing Craft from elsewhere, when I saw the groupon or scout promotion, I grabbed the opportunity to enjoy a quality dinner at even a slight reduction in price. My wife & I were not disappointed. Craft Bar is the downstairs casual dining in an open kitchen and bar. The more established restaurant Craft is upstairs. However, the diversity and quality of offerings on the downstairs menu did not diminish from the quality in all respects that one would expect from a high quality restaurant.
The wine offerings are quite extensive, though a little pricey, to be expected. Glasses of wine are $ 6 – 12, and top shelf liquor is $ 13. The appetizers are wonderful: Grilled romaine @ $ 8, Fig App @ $ 9, Arugula salad @ $ 6. The two mains we enjoyed were Cioppino @ $ 20 & one of the house specialties, the Meatball pasta @ $ 18. A single portion of the Deep Dish pie for dessert @ $ 9 finished the meal, and we waddled out.
Service was extremely attentive and not intrusive at all. I will look to return both to the Bar restaurant downstairs again, and to try the upstairs dining room.

To summarize:
–stale bread
–appetizers were good but predictable
–entrees were small, boring, expensive, and served on cold plates
— blueberry pie yummy, but no way on the soggy and tasteless mystery item they called peach fritters
–server was unattentive and a complete space cadet– hello, anyone home???
–bill-​YIKES!!!
–company-​the best part of the meal!

My colleagues and I went to craftbar when traveling on business. We had high expectations for this place based on the reviews and it did not disappoint.
I have to start with the space. It’s gorgeoous. You’re welcomed by a floor to ceiling shelf of chopped wood they use for the woodfire grill. It’s functional and decorative and definitely sets the scene very well. Just on the other side of that is the open kitchen. This brings new meaning to the term open kitchen. It’s like two professional chefs have come into your house to prepare your meal for you. The only thing I thought was incongruent with the space was the uniform of the waitstaff. They’re dressed a little too stuffy for the vibe the space exudes.
Onto the food. Most of us started with an arugula and walnut salad. Everyone was a fan. It was dressed a bit too much, but manageable. For the main course, I had the pork chop, roasted fingerlings and sugar snap peas. The pork was excellent. Well seasoned, prepared perfectly and nicely proportioned. One colleague ordered the Duck Confit and loved that, as well. Two others got veal meatballs and gave it a solid three stars. Another colleague is vegetarian and though there wasn’t an option on the menu, they made him a vegetable pasta that arrived in a mini cast iron skillet. He said it rivaled anypasta he’s gotten from an Italian place.
We ordered three desserts. Devil’s Food Chocolate & Peanut Butter cake, blueberry caramel cake and dark chocolate and mint sandwiches. The choc and peanut butter stole the dessert show by far. The cake was moist, the peanut butter was nice and fluffy and it was served on chocolate drizzle and toasted peanuts. T.D.F.
Overall, a great experience from start to finish. Only thing that kept me from 5 stars is the feedback on the Veal Meatball dish. Do yourself a favor and go to craftbar.

I don’t think I realized that when I ordered the «pork belly & fried egg», I’d also be getting bacon jam on my bread and crumbled bacon in my salad — really, the perfect brunch choice for any pork lover. I’d also have to say I probably ordered the best dish at my table of 4. Ha — except I probably don’t want to know my cholesterol level :)
We came here for Easter brunch today. Honestly, it was like the conditions were perfect for picking this place — my church is located next door, I’d been wanting to try Tom Colicchio’s restaurant for a while, the brunch menu looked good, and prices seemed very reasonable for a place like this. Brunch items are mostly $ 12 or $ 14.
My «pork belly & fried egg» dish was $ 12, and had 3 nice size and delicious tasting pork belly that was slightly sweet and had a nice smoky flavor. I love sweet & salty! One of the best «surprise & delights» though was the bacon jam on the grilled bread sitting underneath the fried egg. It reminded me of what your bacon tastes like when the syrup on your pancakes accidentally spills over to your bacon. Ingenious! Did I tell you I love sweet & salty?!! My dish also had a small serving of arugula w/​crumbled bacon — wish I had more arugula to help kill the guilt factor :)
Also sampled a bite of my friend’s «Brioche French Toast» ($ 11) which came with bourbon cream & maple syrup, and sliced pears. Good choice if you’re wanting something sweet for brunch. The friend who ordered «Biscuits & Gravy» ($ 12) wasn’t all that thrilled w/​her dish but honestly the menu description wasn’t all that enticing either. The gravy was tasty though, and the sausage link was spicier than expected. Emily R got the «Craftbar Burger» ($ 10) which I thought had the best presentation — it really looked like the «best value» just b/​c the burger had several different toppings, the side pickles looked yummy, and the dish also came w/​a huge serving of fries. But guess looks aren’t everything — Emily R thought the burger was just ok and their «medium rare» was more like «very rare».
Service was good & friendly. Separate checks weren’t a problem. All the servers were dressed well and looked very professional. Good-​looking staff. Although Craftbar is considered «casual» compared to the main restaurant, it still felt like a very nice restaurant. I’d definitely like to try the dinner menu next time, and I’ll definitely come back for brunch … esp. if I have a pork belly craving :)
FYI — the only parking option is valet.

So I have always had caviar taste on a spam budget so when Craftbar was added to the Buckhead Restaurant Week lineup, it was my first choice on the list since I have been eyeing Craft/​Craftbar forever. I know Craftbar is not Craft but please… let me indulge my opportunity to feel high class for 2 seconds.
The first thing I appreciated about Craftbar’s restaurant week menu is that it was chockful of choices. A lot of the other restaurants offered a choice between only two items for each course which makes me feel like they want me to be sure that I know I’m there for a special and not that I’m special =(
For my app, I had risotto fritters. Rice + Cheese + Fried = Heavenly! They were so good. The portion was small but hey, I still had a main course and dessert to get through (not to mention tasting every dish of my party as well). For the main course, I had lamb with kale and grits! It was amazing. First, the lamb was cooked very well and it wasn’t too «lamby» if that makes sense and it was a good portion size. Second, the kale was braised in something that completely took out the bitterness of the veggie and went perfectly with the grits.
For dessert I believe I had a chocolate cake but I can’t promise that is true. I’m not a huge dessert fan and whatever I had clearly wasn’t memorable enough to make me one.
The service was awesome. Our waiter was super nice and very accommodating. I would recommend this place and would love to go again (wallet permitting).

I have been here twice now, the latest was for the recent restaurant week.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the pork plates listed on the menu that were absent from the one they had posted for the restaurant week online. The pork was so good the first time I had come I had to get it again.
They also had a few bottles of wine specially priced as well. I decided not to go with the one from Baja California much to my dining companion’s approval. Wine was very good unlike my companion’s first drink which I had to finish.
Pork was excellent and I thought I was going to cry when they said they were out of the pork appetizer but then luckily they said they had replaced it with even more pork. The main entrée of pork was awesome too and had a wonderful bacon jam and some potatoes.
I also indulged in the dessert which for me is a very rare thing. Was a chocolate cake with a side of ice cream though I gave the ice cream away to a very appreciative recipient. Overall it was definitely a four star meal.
When we were about done eating, we noticed the large amount of females at the bar. There was one guy on the end of the bar that resembled the Death Star who was either attracting girls over with money or gravity. We went over to the bar to have a final drink and people watch. The guy ended up sitting at a table with like seven girls. To be fair it was a pretty close guy to girl ratio weight wise.
Overall a great time with great company, but I do have to remove a star for any place that has mandatory valet. Super lame.

Keep in mind that Craftbar and Craft are two separate restaurants meaning two different menus. I thought Craftbar was the bar section of the restaurant… not. For the restrooms, you have to go down the stairs (where you go for fire escapes) and around the corner. It’s kind of hidden so go with a girl friend!
FOOD: We got complimentary skinny break sticks with salt and cheese baked on top. I started with the marinated shrimp with mixed greens which is light and refreshing. Very good start to a meal. Although, I wasn’t too happy with the salmon in braised lentils since it was such a small portion and not very filling. The fish was cooked nicely, but tasted bland. Everybody else’s entrée was small too. The dessert was ok too and I can’t even remember what it was. Not too memorable.

Buckhead restaurant week provided the ideal opportunity to check out craftbar and not break the bank. In a happy coincidence, my Top Chef fanatic sister decided to visit from Charlotte for her birthday. Having read mixed reviews on Tom Colicchio’s Atlanta outpost, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the wonderful folks at craftbar certainly delivered the goods.
The exceptional service begins when you drive into the valet parking circle craftbar shares with the Mansion on Peachtree. We were warmly greeted on arrival and promptly seated by the hostess. Our server, Lisa, was attentive and helpful, expertly steering us through the prix fixe menu and suggesting wines for the table. The restaurant space is airy and open, and the noise level is suitable for conversations — no shouting necessary.
But it’s the food that will get me back to craftbar once Buckhead restaurant week is over. Start with an appetizer of the crispy risotto fritters, served over goat ricotta. We ordered them a la carte for our party of five, and they were quickly gobbled up with gusto. I can highly recommend the arugula salad, which comes dressed with parmesan, pine nuts, and lemon. Simple, yes, but oh so delicious. Other first courses that got high marks from our table were the pork belly, served with spicy jalapeño grits, and the Georgia shrimp, accompanied by Old Bay aioli. My sister wanted a whole tub of that aioli to go — it was that tasty!
Entrees were also good. I enjoyed the lamb tenderloin, served with creamy grits and local braised kale. Ordered medium rare, it was cooked to temperature and absolutely delicious. Other standouts: redfish, hangar steak, and the short rib panini.
For dessert, I had the blood orange panna cotta. If anyone reading this is a Top Chef fan, you may recall one guest judge, Nigella Lawson, decrying the consistency of one contestant’s panna cotta. I’m not exactly sure what a 17^th century courtesan’s inner thigh looks like, but mine certainly had the quiver of something. Light and lovely, it was a fine end to an elegant meal.

We checked out CraftBar this week during Buckhead Restaurant week. Several spots in Buckhead put together three course meals featuring some of their best dishes and treats for only $ 25 per person. Getting a 3-​course meal at Craftbar (plus $ 10 gift certificates for each diner) was well worth the $ 25 cost.
For those of you who don’t know — Craftbar is the creation of Tom Colicchio — a renowned chef as well as judge on reality show Top Chef. Tom is very particular about the way the contestants season their dishes so we were excited to see what kind of flavors and seasoning they would have in store at this restaurant. Craftbar is in the lower level of the restaurant Craft. It is the more casual version of the upstairs restaurant, but is still very nice — its definitely not somewhere you would go in anything less than dress jeans and a nice top.
We started off the meal with appetizers. I’m not sure if they are normally individually portioned or not, but the sizes for restaurant week were individual. I had the risotto fritters with goat cheese which were fantastic. The cheese was actually in the middle of the fritters which was a great surprise when you bit into them. Jeremy had the best grits I’ve ever (mind you I usually detest grits — I am from the North, heh) had with pork belly. The grits were jallepeno flavored — not very spicy at all, you could actually taste the flavor of the pepper! the meat was also fabulous — it practically melted in your mouth — it was cooked perfectly.
On to the main course. I tried the pork loin with bacon jelly (who knew such thing existed!) and red cabbage. Jeremy tried the lamb tenderloin with grits (again!). The pork loin was fntastic — I would definitely suggest it for anyone who likes pork or bacon. The bacon jelly on top formed a declicous crunchy almost crust on the pork. It was sweet and bacony — a combination I never knew would be so wonderful, I’m drooling just thinking about it now! Jeremy’s lamb tenderloin was good, but not as good. The meat was fresh and very flavorful. It was cooked a little longer than he would have liked — he asked for medium rare and it was more well done (but not in a bad way). The grits they serve there are almost like risotto — more solid than your average grits for sure.
Lastly, for dessert we tried the apple tart and the chocolate cake. Being as though I have a huge sweet/​chocolate tooth, I figured I’d love the chocolate cake — it was alright, but nothing extra special. The apple tart however was very good — it was served with some sort of sauce — almost like caramel and vanilla ice cream. It was very good. Overall we decided the dessert was the least interesting part of the meal. I’m not sure what their regular dessert menu is like, but I would definitely suggest getting appetizers and wine over either of the desserts we tried.
Overall it was a good experience. The staff was very friendly, the restaurant was cozy, and we had a really great time. We definitely will be going back to use our gift certificates — Jeremy and I really want to try the burgers — they have a house burger and a lamb burger that both sounded awesome! This is definitely a place to check out. Some of the things on the menu are very unique. They use a lot of local and organic products so its also helping our city/​state! I’d definitely suggest this for a date night or for a night out with friends!

My first pick for BRW, was Craftbar and I was not disappointed! I have gone by Craftbar, so many times, and know it would cost me a pretty nickle to have dinner there. At $ 25, it was a steal.
My date and I dined on the grilled oysters, and the beet (salad), both were excellent for the first course. Although portion size was small, it was very good.
For our entrees, we decided on the Amberack and the braised short rib panini. The amberjack came with a small but nice salad and the panini came with fries. Fish portion was small but it was one great tasting piece of fish. The panini was large enough to share. Both entrees are worth ordering again.
For dessert the we had the bloodstone orange flan with lemon wafers and a triple chocolate cake with ice-​cream. If they sound wonderful to you, they were even better tasting. The ice-​cream is made in house.
The wine pairing for an additional $ 25 was a great deal on a French Red.
Here is the 5^th star… at the conclusion of the dinner, we were both given a $ 10 gift letter thanking us coming and inviting us lunch and dinner.
Hats off to Craftbar for making our dinner excellent, but also giving us another reason to come back besides great food.
Also, free valet parking.

Craftbar lives up to the high standards of Craft Restaurant.
I had a great dinner with my friends the other night without prior reservations.
Craftbar has an extensive wine list from $ — $$$$. There’s a bottle for any occassion.
The menu wasn’t as elaborate as Craft (their main dining area upstairs) but certainly tasteful dishes.
Appetizers
Fried Chicken Liver– Superb, combination of sweet, salty, and savory.
Old age Steak Skewer– steak was a under seasoned but nicely cooked. The pickled Habaneros substituted for the lack of flavor.
Entrée
Maui Maui– Charred outside, little dry on the inside
Dessert (sampled of each)
Huckleberry tort with sorbet– my favorite! the tort was amazing.
S’mores– pretty decedent
Chocolate Cake w/​ice cream– absolute chocolatiers dream
Butterscotch Pudding– mediocre, wish it was served warm and not cold.