Straits

The décor here is nice and has a trendy look. The food & drinks of course is overpriced. I’ve generally gone to Sraits with a group of friends for birthday events etc and have always had a good time. I can’t remember the night (probably Saturday) but the DJ was on point most of those times.

I’m giving this place 4 stars because it has potential – my experience there was more like 2 stars, but I’m hoping it was a bit of a fluke. Here’s the short version: the waiter was new and although nice, he took WAY too long to check in on us throughout the entire dinner. He had no idea about their wine selection either. There was a party going on in the restaurant and all the focus seemed to be on them. Having said that, the food was delicious. Really good. If the service level improved, this place would be pretty good. Another small thing: clean the windows! Up near the ceiling where the lights brightly hit the window, I could see layers and layers of dust and dirt – that is not supposed to occur at semi-​fancy restaurants.
It’s definitely worth checking out, just be aware you may not get the service you should get, so let the food make up for the difference.

I was REALLY surprised by this place. Usually celebrity-​owned establishments, well, suck, but Strait’s was delicious. The boyfriend and I ended up here on a whim for his birthday. He lives like 3 blocks from this place, so location was a key factor.
We stuck to the small plates options and ordered the kungo pao chicken, the shrimp wontons and the calamari. I HATE seafood, but the stuff was pretty damn tasty.
The service was superb and we were taken care of from the moment we walked in the door to the time we left.
The drinks are strong!
I like it! Good job Ludacris!

A friend of mine held her birthday dinner at Straits on a Friday night. Because of the size of our party we were given a private room, versus them shoving a bunch of tables together. Plus!
I was surprised by how good the food was. We started with the appetizer sampler. I enjoyed everything on the plate. For my main course, I ordered the basil chicken and jasmine rice. It was a good choice. Not only did I enjoy my meal, I liked what others ordered as well. What are friends for if not for sharing good food… and good drinks. Wonderful mango margaritas.
Dessert was very disappointing. Disgusting actually. I’m not one to send food back just because I didn’t like it, but the French Kiss was unacceptable.
Our waiter was very personable, but service was slow. We all received our food at varying times. Not 2 – 3 minutes apart, like 10 – 15 minutes apart. And sadly, the head of the table received her meal last.
I would recommend a meal here. Just don’t get dessert.

Went to the Straits on a Sunday nite. It was *VERY* quiet. There were only people at 4 tables, so nice and easy. We had a very inexperienced server, so a few faux pars happened.
We had the sampler for appetizer. It has spring rolls, lollipops (chicken), wontons (shrimps), and indian bread. The bread and the spring rolls were great, the other two dishes were seriously overcooked.
We had the tamarind beef and beef ribs as entrees. The tamarind beefs is very tasty and well prepared. The beef ribs is a serious piece of meat, but was over cooked and lacking salt. Not really a great dish.
We had a bottle of Penfold Shiraz with the meal. The bottle was not uncorked at the table (was it from yesterday?) and we were not offered a taste before it was served. Not really the standard I expected. An OK wine, but not great — still wondering about wine from yesterday.
Great place in midtown at the intersection of juniper and 5^th street. Quiet on a Sunday and the dishes were OK but not great. Several of the dishes were overcooked. Given the selection in midtown, I am not surprised that it there were few people here on a Sunday night.

I was pleasantly surprised!!! This place has some of the BEST food I’ve had in Atlanta. It’s right across the street from home. So the Mister and I decided to go there for my birthday dinner. GREAT CHOICE!!!
EVERYTHING was good… food, drinks, ambiance, music, and staff.
Would definitely recommend and return!!!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect because although the menu looked great online Unilocalers weren’t consistent in their reviews. I ended up going on a Saturday night and it wasn’t very busy.
The ambiance was very nice. Music consisted of Maxwell, Michael Jackson, and other good mood music. Also, it wasn’t too loud, which I appreciate.
On to the cocktails. I had a Mai Thai and wasn’t pleased with it. However that was my second time trying a Mai Thai in general and I’m no longer giving those a shot. My date had a Lemongrass Mojito and hated it. But the server (Ashley) was extremely gracious and recommended the «Undress.» That was excellent and we were pleased.
Appetizers/​Small Plates
These are big portions. We ordered only one because we didn’t want to get full. We decided on the Chicken «Lollipops» because Unilocal was consistently praising it. It was excellent! Flavorful, well seasoned, peppery, hot (not spicy), and moist. We were given 5, which again, itsn’t exactly appetizer size.
On to the entrees
My date ordered the Tamarind Beef with Hush Puppies. It’s filet mignon marinated in tamarind. This was fantastically done. The hush puppies were crunchy on the outside and moist in the middle. Also, they were sweet potatoes, a nice change on an old formula.
I ordered the Shrimp and Scallops in Black Pepper Sauce. I told them to hold the scallops and double up on the shrimp because I’m not a fan of scallops. I ended up getting about 14 shrimp. A huge number. And the sauce was amazing.
I recommend Strait’s wholeheartedly. I’ll definitely be going back.

this gets 5 stars for several reasons.
1. i heart ludacris. so that probably made the trip here start off on a better foot.
2. we were greeted and had the table we reserved ready for us.
3. we went the night before my birthday, and in my reservation on
, i had left a message stating that if Ludacris was in town that night it would be fabulous to meet him if the opportunity was there. unfortunately, he was not there. crap.
4. our server: Kevin. Hart’s.BROTHER. seriously. as cute as Kevin, as short as Kevin, mm mm mm! He was THE.SWEETEST.GUY, too. We chatted with him and another server, Regina (super sweet, too!). They told us about the happenings during the week and what days are good for what…
5. the lollipops were nom nom nommy. i wanted to order 10 plates of them, they were so dang good. hehe.
6. I asked Kevin (our server) what he recommended, and he said the garlic noodles. I liked them, but was surprised when they had a little kick!
7. LYCHEE TINI!!! I HEART LYCHEE TINIS! I have only found one other place in ATL that serves them, and Straits — A+. Just how I liked them, and Kevin made sure of it. Now I want one as I type this review. …
8. After dinner, Kevin said, «I’m gonna bring you something special, because you are very special.» I know it was one of their ‘runnathemill” lines, but still — I thought the endearment was sweet. He brought out a little brownie cupcake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a sugar cookie. I was too full to completely enjoy it, but the sentiment was adorable. Of course it had a candle as well.
We were there on a Sunday night, which is pretty chill. I like chill.
So here is what the line up is, in case you’re interested and wondering which night to go.
Sunday — chill, quiet.
Monday — closed.
Tuesday — Industry night — I guess there’s a DJ and people handing out CDs. He also said Ludacris comes in frequently on these evenings.
Wednesday — Wine Wednesday (or something of that nature) — $ 16.99 all the wine you can drink. YIKES. probably a good thing I don’t drink wine.
Thursday — they have salsa dancing
Friday/​Saturday — clubb-​ish atmostphere; DJ, dancing, etc.
I plan to return on a Tuesday. I decided this is the year I will hopefully meet ludacris :)
Food was great, although next time I would order another small plates (as someone else mentioned) instead of a regular plate. Then I could fully enjoy the dessert!
Fabulous place, Ludacris — you’ve done well!

I went here last nite with some great company and I must say I am very impressed. The location is downtown off in the cut off of Juniper and 5^th. It is in the middle of somewhat of a residential area. Anyway, as soon as we walked in I was greeted with bright décor and a smiling greeter at the door who showed us to our seats.
The meal: so we started out with wine, which was a great crisp pino grigio which is my favorite. big glass with a little bit of wine, but hey. lol i pour heavier at home. The calamari was fried to perfection, and it was a very good size to share for two. I had the pepper shrip and scallops, YUMMY! The scallops werent cooked to hell and the shrimp were plump and juicy, it was all presented very tastefully and great for the eyes. I cant remember the actual meal my date had, although his was a chicken dish that was very tasty.
The only reason i did not give 5 stars because they had a live band there, which was great for the ambiance, however the area was too small for live music, as we had to try and talk much louder so that we could maintain our conversation. It probably would have been a good idea for the band to be upstairs so that patrons would be able to enjoy the music, without having to struggle to hear each other talk.
I will definately be coming again!

Four star food at four/​five star price. Which makes it a three-​four stars in my book. Make sense? I’m a «value» guy — the meal has to be in-​line with the cost. (And I’ve eaten in some expensive places that were worth it.)
In all seriousness, it’s somewhere between three to four stars. And I’m still willing to give it another shot as it was good food.
I could go into the food details but I think I’ve summed it up well.
On the nice side, Ludacris did stop by to ask about our meal.

The food was amazing,
but the ambiance– well, um–
On my best-​dressed day
I still feel like a bum.
But the bartender was hot
giving the bottles a spin.
It’s for that one reason
I would ever come here again.

The «small plates» are much better than the full sized entrees. I think if I went back there again I’d skip the entrée and get 1 – 2 small plates and a salad (the ginger salad was yummy). The dishes could be a little more spicy and a little less salty but in general it was nice to have something a little different from the usual.
Our waitress didn’t seem happy to be there (as far as waiting on us goes) but the other waitstaff seemed much more engaged.

FOOD: REAL GOOD! DRINKS: REAL GOOD! Everything: REAL GOOD! People are unfairly judgemental to this place!!! Seriously, I just saw 2 stars??? COME ON, SON! COME ON, SON! Seriously, those are the type of people that complain about any and everything.
The restaurant is decorated with hardwood everywhere. Makes for a slippery floor in 5 inch heels. But, that’s okay, Luda. I immediately made a beeline for the bar. The lychee martini is SO DAMN GOOD!!! Please order one, your palette with thank you.
I did not expect the food to be as good as it is. Based off what I read here. I tasted everything that everyone had and IT WAS ALLLLL GOOD!!! EVERY LAST SINGLE ENTREE’. We even tried the lollipop chicken thing a majigs and those were SOOO GOOD! As I said, everything is good. Go here to eat, if given the chance to do so.

Came in here not expecting too much, but enjoyed a really great meal. I was throughly impressed with the food, and although I didn’t get to meet Ludacris this time around, I’m hoping that with repeated trips back here this summer I’ll be able to spot him. Anyways, here were some of my favorites:
1) Kung Pao Lollipops — though this was just going to be chicken breast on a stick, but ended up being real drum sticks, deep fried, and coated with kung pao sauce. Pretty genius, if you ask me.
2) Ox-​tail with short ribs — you don’t find many restaurants who make ox-​tail because its difficult to make, and expensive. Price at $ 26 bucks, it was a hefty amount of food, and done really well. Kudos.
3) Beef spare ribs — off the bone, coated with a sweet glaze. Tender, definitely fell off the bone. Good stuff — and huge portions.
My one negative is that I hate it when places charge for white rice. It’s like, 3 or 4 bucks for a small/​medium bowl. Come on now, rice is so cheap — just give a small bowl with each entrée. Otherwise, try this place out — it’s solid.

It’s going to be that time of the year again where I travel to Atlanta — once every February and August – , and suddenly I’m remembering the names of places I went the last time I went to the ATL.
Ludacris’s restaurant. Hmm, he’s won my award for Least Favorite Artist. That’s for sure. But how does his restaurant fare? Apparently not too well either.
A bit of a small disclaimer: I’m not fond of Thai food. But I came here with my boss and so ok, I’ll give it another swirl.
At first glance, the restaurant is gorgeous! Beautiful décor — bamboo-​like design, huge windows, etc. Elegant. Friendly servers.
We’ll start with the appetizers… And let me tell you, the meatballs are humongous! Imagine regular-​sized meatballs… Multiply that size by three! Seriously! The taste? Meh… Go to your local Italian restaurant for meatballs. They’re better.
I wasn’t feeling very hungry that day so I skipped appetizers (my co-​workers offered me the meatballs), and I went straight for the main dish. I got the chow kway teow — fried thick rice noodles. Did you know that if you try to put a spin on the Thai language, that it may actually sound like Chinese? Well, I didn’t know this at the time, but that’s how I should have figured it out back then. I didn’t get what I thought I wanted. I wanted thin vermicelli-​like noodles. This dish was not what I expected, and even then, it was just okay. I could have gotten this dish at a local Chinese restaurant for cheaper AND better taste!
Let me explain: Usually when I dine with my boss and co-​workers, we dine at fine restaurants… At fine restaurants, I’m going to expect the food to be phenomenal with an exclamation mark (or two) at the end!
As an Asian, I also really don’t like Asian fusion type restaurants. So if we go to a fancy-​schmancy Asian fusion restaurant, it had better be way above par. I came to the conclusion that I could have gotten excellent Thai food for a cheaper price.
Oh, and it didn’t help my appetite when my boss discovered a HUGE (think at least .5-​inch long) insect in her dinner, and she was sitting right next to me. UGH. I mean, I can forgive this at a cheap, dingy restaurant but not a fine dining type of restaurant. The manager apologized profusely for the insect and even offered to comp our dinner and offer complimentary desserts, but needless to say, we are never going back there again. In fact, we still talk about this incident even to this day. Gross.

Loved it. In a few words:
— Great music.
— Great décor.
— OUTSTANDING service. Our watier must’ve overheard our conversation about cilantro, and after our food came out he plopped a little dish of fresh cilantro on the table without a word.
— Great bar service, drinks are strong and tasty.
— Food was great… not sure what others are talking about. Tuna Tower with mild wasabi was great.
— We met Ludacris! He was really cool, down to earth, and just normal.
Overall, loved it. Looking forward to hanging with Luda again if I go, too.

I’ve been here twice, once with a big group of friends and once for my anniversary.
When I went with the big group of friends, the good part was they had a nice ittle room tucked away behind a curtain so we felt like it was just us in there. The food was awesome and we loved the décor. Music was good too. The bad part was this happened when they had barely opened up to the public so it was not very crowded yet the service staff had a tough time handling our table of 12 or so people. One friend didnt receive his dish until we were to leave so he got it boxed!
For the anniversary, this was more recent and just two of us so we had to sit in a table with the rest of the floor and that didnt make for a very intimate experience. Plus they had these focus lights up on the ceiling hitting right down at us so that was uncomfortable. The food was good though I felt the portions had reduced since the first time I visited. I would suggest the murtabak and the lollipop chicken for a first timer here. Some of their specialities like the Oxtail had been taken off the menu! Our waiter was definitely courteous and helpful and we found ample street parking as well.
I would suggest this place for a big group of friends out for a good time and no hurry to head anywhere else. Its definitely not a spot for a more personal dinner.

This restaurant is very lowkey! I go to Mu Lan Chinese all the time which is right across the street and never even noticed Strait. Luckily a friend told me about it today so we decided to check it out.
Parking was ok seeing as it was Sunday. We parked on 6^th street. But as others have stated there is a parking lot directly across from the restaurant where you can pay $ 3.
We walked in and there were only about 3 couples in there. It was really empty. The place has a nice ambiance though. We chose to sit by the window overlooking Juniper street. There were nice plush pillows on the seats and dimly lit candles at the tables.
I opted for the fresh lemonade which was 3.50 but boy was it worth every penny. Lets just say it was amazingly «fresh»! I ordered the crispy wontons and the thai meatballs. My friend ordered the spicy basil chicken. Lets just say the portions are extremely small. Our initial thought was that we were going to share everything, but after I saw how small the dishes were… I tried to keep my food to myself because I knew I would be hungry still. The wontons were wonderful. I will be going back to get those again. The meatballs were okay nothing too special. The spicy basil chicken was ugh… I didn’t like it at all. I’d rather go to Spoons anyday.
I think the place is overrated and way overpriced! I will go back however and sit at the bar, have a few drinks, and eat some crispy shrimp wontons. YUM!

I’ve been curious about this place since I got to Atlanta. I read about it in a magazine from the hotel, and it told me that Ludiaris owns this place. Yes, Ludacris, the rapper. But the restaurant is asian fusion.
I can’t remember the names of the dishes for the life of me, but I know we got 3 dishes: the eggplant, the prawns with coconut rice, and the malaysian noodles with prawns.
All were good, but the coconut rice with prawns were the best. I recommend getting the dishes as a family style dinner. They are big, and if you don’t share, you’ll get sick of it. As we were taught in my house, Share Your Food!!!

In summary, this place is overpriced, overhyped, and the food, underwhelming.
Coming from that region, I can definitely say the food isn’t authentic. (But I didn’t expect it to be) However, even for fusion cuisine and being a high-​end interpretation of South East Asian street food, the quality of food leaves way more to be desired.
For the ikan panggang, the choice of fish (salmon) clashed with the sambal spice paste. The fish didn’t really appear charcoal grilled as the name suggests. The mee goreng noodles were soggy and chewy, and the sayur lodeh was actually a thai green vegetable curry, so why not just call it that? (It was nothing a real sayur lodeh was supposed to be) Also, I’ve had better pratas from the freezer section of an indian market in decatur. The only vaguely decent dish was the kari ayam (chicken curry). Did I come on an off day?
I guess the only thing this place has going for it is the mood lighting and ambiance… Sorry, unless they improve the cooking, I won’t be coming back.