The Optimist

Where do I begin? I left a review under a photo somewhere by accident! Suffice it to say that Topher, our server, and Kenya, our hostess, made our night super special and my birthday memorable. Topher is the man — the go-​to-​guy for all beverage pairings. I’m so glad he was ours for the night! I will return. The building is an understatement of what awaits inside.

Morgan was my waitress and she is awesome! I’d give her 12 stars. Beautiful presentation, great good, outstanding service. Coming back!!!

Started the night off at the oyster bar. Great selection of oysters and other raw/​cooked seafood selections.
Dinner in the main restaurant was fabulous. My daughter ordered the Monkfish Cioppino, fantastic! I ordered the whole Haddock, fantastic as well.
We will be back next time we are in town.

I had she crab soup and the lobster roll. Both items were good but it took about 45 minutes for the lobster roll to be served to me. It took so long that I told the bartender to cancel the order.
The bartender told me the lobster roll would be out shortly and he would not charge me and offered to package it to go. I took him up on his offer.
I would have given a higher review but I have to penalize a fine dining restaurant when the service is sub par. I will give the restaurant another try.
Tips
1. Valet parking only
2. The lobster roll is not on The Optimist menu. The Oyster Bar at The Optimist shares the same space with the Optimist. However the lobster roll and oysters can be ordered from the Oyster Bar at the Optimist.
3. Make reservations.

I’ve heard great things about The Optimist from my friends, and was excited to finally try it out. I came here for lunch during the summer last year and ordered the Maine lobster roll, which came with a side of fries and I also ordered an assortment of the east coast and west coast oysters. The oysters were all fresh and succulent. I preferred the west coast oysters, which were sweeter and creamier, as opposed to the east coast oysters, which were brinier and had a more copper taste. The oysters came with a side of fresh horseradish and mignonette, which added extra flavor to the oysters. The lobster roll tasted very fresh and was very meaty and flavorful, and although the lobster roll was good, it wasn’t the best I’ve had. However, the lobster roll at The Optimist is probably the best you can get in Atlanta. Plus, the lobster roll was fairly priced ($ 18, including the fries). A lot of restaurants that I’ve been to charged as much as $ 28 for a lobster roll, $ 25 usually being the average for a lobster roll.
Overall, The Optimist is a great restaurant! They provide fresh and delicious seafood, with a friendly and knowledge staff.
I would definitely come back for dinner, and try their other menu items!

What do you do when it’s 5pm in Atlanta– well Happy Hour at The Optimist of course. While visiting Atlanta, me and my ladies decided to enjoy a local favorite recommended by our fellow Unilocalers– Richard R & Jonathan T– and what a great place to try out.
Who wouldn’t enjoy $ 1 oysters (probably about 12 different types) & their yummy Daily Punch. We arrived 30 mins right before happy hour ended, so Brian our waiter, who was fantastic, suggested we should order everything before the happy hour specials ended.
We ordered 5 different types of oysters, which were served with homemade saltines, hot sauce, cocktail sauce, mignonette and some grated horseradish. All the oysters were divine and the Daily Punch, well what can I say, we wanted to order more of this punch, but they had run out of the concoction before we could order a 3^rd pitcher. This Daily Punch was my kind of drink-​sweet & strong, making you want more. I will definitely return to The Optimist the next time I’m in Atlanta, just for another taste of those oysters and that darn Daily Addictive Punch!

If only I could give 10 stars. We sat at the cocktail bar. The bar staff Stefano, James, and Kevin were amazing. Knowledgable. Friendly. Suggested great choices for drinks. The food was divine. The octopus was perfection. The oysters blissfully fresh. The fish and chips a perfect rounding out to our meal. We had such a great time. We will be venturing back to Atlanta again and again for the optimist.

Great food and service! Atlanta became one of our favorite food destination! I totally recommend The Optimist!

My husband and I had our NYE dinner at The Optimist. Oh boy, I don’t even know where to start. The one star goes to being seated promptly after checking in for our reservation.
They has a prix fixe menu that night. A three course meal for $ 75 per person and $ 25 if we selected the wine pairing. We were also offered to start off with oysters from the oyster bar. My husband loves oysters and decided to order about half a dozen. We placed our order in for dinner — I picked the wine pairing and my husband opted out.
Well didn’t realize that it took over 30 minutes to shuck 6 oysters! Finally they were brought to our table by another server and she said I don’t know what you ordered but here are your oysters and your server will be around to provide you the list. Are you kidding me? Why bring them to the table? Our server finally came to the table and apologized that we also had to wait for the list of oysters.
She then mentioned why won’t you pick something off the 2^nd course list and it will be on us. I then chose the shellfish platter with the $ 20 up charge since she didn’t provide any limitations. Well guess what, she realized she messed up again and came back to inform us that she would have to charge us the additional fee if we wanted that. We opted out and she said she would bring us something special.
Then first course came out — a Thai coconut soup and a butternut squash soup. The bonus was another Thai coconut soup. Yipee! We were thinking this would be a bowl of soup. Nope this is literally smaller than a shot glass. Next time keep your something special!
Everything was fine until the third course. My husband selected the steak as his entrée. Well I never knew steak could take like fish. We never send food back but it was too terrible to even eat. We sent it back and got the lobster roll. The lobster rolls came and it was ok. She forgot the warm butter and at this point we didn’t even want to bother. On the other hand, my swordfish was fine but didn’t get my wine pairing until I was almost done with my main course.
The bill came and she still charged us for the steak and by this point we were over the whole experience. Our tab was close to $ 300 for two and honestly I wished I would have just eaten at Chickfila!

This year my sister’s birthday celebration was at the Optimist with 26 oysters cake. She is true lover of seafood and oysters especially. This place is definitely getting 5 stars for food. During happy hour there are 5 type of oysters just for $ 1 and that’s what we ordered. All of them were really well cleaned up and tasty. They are served with house made sauces which are outstanding. But the service and parking… First of all our server responded to the plea about creating 26 oysters cake as it is really odd number and not sure it can be made. And it was in front of the birthday girl. So as you can expect no any birthday wishes from the restaurant folks or candle… And there are no options for parking unless you do valet. So definitely try out this place during happy hour but don’t expect be treated like at top restaurant. Hope you will enjoy your sea food at the Optimist.

Happy Hour Review at the Oyster Bar — you can’t go wrong with $ 1 oysters and a pitcher of Daily Punch. While visiting Atlanta, a group of friends and I stopped by The Optimist after getting recommendations from two locals. (Thanks Richard R and Jonathan T!) They were right. You can’t go wrong with anything you order at this place!
Our server, Brian, was terrific! We arrived about 30 minutes before the end of HH, so he encouraged us to order what we could before the computer cut off the specials. He offered great oyster suggestions and was very attentive. (Bless him for smiling and patiently waiting on us after we finished pitcher #2 of the punch.)
The oysters were delicious. We tried 5 types of oysters, which were served with house-​made saltines, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, mignonette (herbed vinegar), and grated horseradish.
Two pitchers of Daily Punch had my 3 friends and I giggling harder than kindergarteners telling poop jokes. It was sweet, smooth and, most importantly, potent. You won’t be disappointed.
I can’t wait to come back for another HH and will make a date to try out the full menu at the restaurant as well.

I had very high expectations going into this meal based on the recommendations I had received. Unfortunately, I left disappointed, which made the steep bill difficult to swallow.
First of all, let me say that the service was great. The wait staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and they even provided a free peel and eat shrimp appetizer to make amends for the delay in our entrees’ preparation. The atmosphere was also nice, although a bit too dark to actually see what I was eating.
The food was nothing special. I would not recommend the gumbo, as it was too much spice and not enough flavor. The peel and eat shrimp was ok. The scallops were good and had a nice flavor, but still not my favorite.

We went there on Friday night because we were able to secure 9.45pm reservation at the last minute. We got there early and ended up ordering appetizer at the seafood bar. Forewarned: there are a couple of appetizers that are only available at the bar, oysters may have been one of them since I couldn’t find them on the dining room menu.
We orders the lobster roll which was DELICIOUS! We ended ordering a bunch of appetizers when we got to our table: she crab, gumbo, eat & peel shrimp, shrimp a la plancha, & charred Spanish octopus.
All was fantastic but we particular loved the Gumbo becaue the she crab was really creamy & heavy. My husband love the shrimp a la plancha over the peel & eat but forewarned that dish is also heavy with buttery cream spicy sauce. The octopus — it was the best I had this far. Prices are fairly reasonable compared to some other comparable fancy restaurants around the area.
The restaurant also has a great décor and vibe. Great place to bring your date if you want to impress.

Made my second visit to the Optimist and it redemmed itself from my first visit. Tonight, we celebrated my birthday and the staff was very attentive. Got my birthday blessings wherever I went and ended the night with delicious chocolate bread pudding with a candle lit.
Valet is $ 3 and is the only option. For those who doesn’t have cash, they provide an option to add to the tab. This is pretty convienent if you didn’t get a chance to go to the atm.
We ordered a bottle of the riesling for starters, which is my favorite and tasted great. As it is known for seafood, we ordered the smoked salmon spread, tuna sashimi, octopus ceviche, and scallop (not pictured due to blurriness). For sides, the hush puppy beignets and brussel sprouts were ordered.
Smoked salmon was one of my favorite but couldn’t be eaten without crackers due to high salt level. Tuna sashimi was fresh and octopus ceviche had a great refreshing taste with cilantro. Scallop was good but felt that the sauce over powered it a bit, which reminded me of Vietnamese inspired fish sauce.
Hush puppies were delicious as always and brussel sprout was okay. Chocolate bread pudding was a bit denser that I would have wanted but the caramel drizzled vanilla ice cream and marshmallow made it up. Next time I would try the cheese cake, which was my back up choice.
Overall, great food, ambiance, and service!
Glad I made another visit~

In Atlanta for a conference, I joined a few friends at the Osyter Bar at the Optimist for a sampling of some oysters on half shell.
We got there with minutes to spare for happy hour and ordered some $ 1 oysters to begin. Then as friends ordered other food, I stayed with other oyster selections. The horseradish, hot sauce, crackers, and other accompanying sides were great. As was the beer menu. But the variety and freshness of the oysters was the main attraction for me.

I’ve been to the Optimist a few times before for lunch and for oysters. On those trips, the food and service have been fairly good.
I have since gone for dinner and overall my experience was a good one:
1. Mussels appetizer: Nice portion and good quality mussels. I wish the broth was a bit more flavorful, however.
2. Swordfish entrée: The accompaniments on the plate were delicious, but the actual piece of fish was disappointingly overcooked, dry, and bland
3. Signature fried rice: I ordered mine sans peanuts, but this by far was my favorite dish of the night. The bold exotic flavors and spices came together perfectly!
I have to go back and get that fried rice again and of course I will continue to be attendance for their yummy oysters.

I am definitely a fan. I came here for my birthday celebration and everything was wonderful.
This started with the friendly valet, the excellent service, the food, the décor. Everything was first-​class. Our waiter recommended the the hush puppies as our side for the entrees and I have to say that while they are supposed to be spectacular, that was probably my least favorite item of the meal. In my opinion, they were just ok. The appetizer — the octopus — was probably my favorite part of the meal. I have never had octopus this tender before.
I would definitely recommend coming here. It’s a little more on the pricey side, but you definitely get your money’s worth!

Trendy eatery nestled in the heart of west midtown area. If food was the only criteria that makes a restaurant top notch then Optimist wouldn’t make it on the best restaurants list in Atl but it’s the whole package that certainly makes it among the best.
Extremely friendly staff, trendy ambiance with a full bar that creates great cocktails. Great for a romantic evening or family/​friends event.

Came here for dinner and loved it even more.
Had the clam roll, mussels, kale salad, oysters, seafood gumbo, and scallops.
Everything was fresh and delicious except the gumbo — it was too fishy and salty.
The atmosphere is definitely trendy, hip, modern, and dining room can get loud as it tends to echo.
Can’t wait to come back here again!

I’ve been here a few times, and yet apparently I never provided a review, until now. It’s been one of our favorites in Atlanta, and we have fond memories of each dining experience.
HOWEVER, regrettably, I must DOWNGRADE the restaurant to FOUR stars. Note that they started out as FIVE stars, years ago, when they first opened.
The food is well presented (see photos), yet the portion size has decreased (I would have preferred a larger portion and higher price — -or waiter to promote another appetizer instead of us getting one to share). We shared the Softshell crab for a starter, $ 16; and our mains were Wreckfish w uni butter, $ 26; Striped Bass, $ 26; side order of Snap Peas, $ 6.50. Dessert to share was the chocolate mousse cake, $ 8.
The flavors are all well balanced and tasty, yet lack that WOW factor.
The service is good, for the most part, but overall the wait staff is a little too relaxed and quick to move on (This was observed at numerous tables).
The environment is average on summation; exceedingly noisy as a result of the tile flooring and high industrial ceiling, even when the restaurant is not full, as on this recent Saturday night. One of the two bars provides the effect of a wall on one side of the dining room. The spacious dining room with open kitchen in distance is a plus.
There is a good selection of wines by the glass, at varying prices ranging from $ 9-​$ 25.