Atlas Bistro BYOB

My husband brought me here for Valentine’s Day dinner, and I am beyond glad that he did. It’s one of those places that only the hip locals know about. It’s off the beaten path, and is literally a hole in the wall, conjoined with a wine bar, which is the coolest thing ever because you can purchase your wine from this massive selection and then step right in to this little bistro, where your dining is the experience. Every, single course was absolutely amazing. The service was superb, my wine glass was never empty. Todd was very knowledgable, charming and obviously takes great pride in his restaurant. I’ve had the pleasure of eating at various establishments, but in all of my years of dining experiences, this was by far the best. I honestly cannot emphasis the beautiful and skillfully prepared culinary masterpieces that I had the ultimate pleasure of consuming, and just how delectable each plate, each bite truly was. I am taking my parents here when they come to visit. It has got to be Arizona’s best kept secret. Definitely a must!

I hate to review a place after only one visit, but for the price I don’t feel that bad. The service and the presentation of the food was excellent. Except I did show up before someone else who seemed like a regular and got sat after, but minor issue. The problem was the food. It was just so salty! I felt like I was eating a Mountain House freeze dried meal. Those things are pretty good after spending the whole day hiking, but didn’t expect it from a fancy restaurant. Everything we ate we couldn’t really taste because of all the salt. It did seem like a lot of regulars there who loved the place, but I do not plan on going back anytime soon. I did overhear it was a new chef so maybe that was the issue. Luckily the free Unilocal corkage coupon is accepted!

I kick myself in the butt for not coming here sooner.
My hubby took me here for my birthday dinner since I love BYOB restaurants. This place is small (about 10 tables) and have a three course meal for $ 60! I ordered the foie gras for the first course and it was melt in your mouth good. For the 2^nd course I had the hand made tortellini. I could have licked my plate clean. For the third and final course I ordered the Grouper and my husband had the Wagu Hanger steak with Peruvian purple potatoes. Everything was so fresh and decadent! We have decided to come here more often and try new things they offer. Their menu changes weekly so it keeps it very exciting.
Reservations are a must!

The food was delicious and presentation was just amazing. Plus it’s a BYOB restaurant connected to an amazing wine store. If you check in on Unilocal they even waive the corkage fee.

Always amazing. Started with the fois gras, unbelievable. Then the lamb tortellini, amazing. Finally, the steelhead, wonderful.

Probably the best meal in Arizona. The pre fix menu is amazing, every course worth the experience.

Atlas Bistro provides everything you could want in an establishment and is truly a hidden gem!
Atlas is BYOB and like Stacy M. has mentioned you get free corkage with a Unilocal Check-​In. Don’t have a stock of wines to bring in? They have local wines within the same building of the small restaurant and the staff is greatly knowledgeable on pairings. (Wine glass emojis x 10). I love the usage of local ingredients. Not only does it ensure freshness, it promotes the community, local farmers and showcases the best produce from Arizona. The restaurant itself is small, intimate and unpretentious. The noise level is perfect, adequate lighting for dinner and felt cozy. Definitely something you would not expect based on it’s outside appearance and location.
This review is for Arizona’s Fall Restaurant Week with Atlas providing a Three Course Prix– Fixe Dinner Menu. Red Wine was brought from home to accompany this meal.
First Course: Hudson Valley Foie Gras Pâté, Oregon Blueberries, Candied Walnuts, Shaved Grapes, Celery Leaf, Granola, Balsamic, Blueberry Coulis
While Foie Gras is rich and buttery, this course is offset with refreshing and light flavors from the fruit, the balsamic’s acidity and the walnuts and granola for texture. I thought this dish was good, but probably would have enjoyed the pâté if it was lightly seared as it was served as a shaped disk or with a more substantial textural aspect like a wafer or cracker.
Second Course: Braised Niman Ranch Pork Shoulder, Northern White Beans, Carmelized Sauerkraut, Cippolinis, Celery Root, Pork Rinds, Ham Hock Consommé
I’m a big fan of Niman Ranch, so I had to get this course. This was literally a fancier take on Pork and Beans. The Consommé is poured table side and was clear, light but flavorful. I found the Pork Shoulder was a good portion, but found it a tad bit too salty and slightly tough. I believe the seasoned pork shoulder combined with the ham hock consommé was just a touch too salty together.
Third Course: Australian Wagyu Hanger Steak, Citrus Cured Yolk, Red Lentils, Tempura Mushrooms, Broccoli, Curry Cauliflower, Black Mustard Demi-​Glacé
How the hell can you pass up on Wagyu? Obviously, a rhetorical question. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare. The pieces were tender and had that lovely, gamey distinct flavor of Wagyu. I thought the Tempura and Demi-​Glacé paired well with the Wagyu and loved the Citrus Cured Yolk that was microplaned over as a garnish, it added texture and gave the dish a little lift. The Curry Cauliflower I could have done without as it was way too overpowering in regards to the rest of the dish.
All in all the staff was so genuine, knowledgeable and sweet. Food came out in a timely manner and was explained perfectly. Honestly, one of the best places I’ve had here in Arizona and I’m so glad to have made it out here for Restaurant Week. Here’s to more foodie finds such as this!

I had heard about Atlas a few years ago and couldn’t believe that such a fancy restaurant existed in this strip mall location. We finally went to Atlas for the first time during restaurant week.
The atmosphere was quaint, cozy, and sophisticated with only 11 tables. There were also at least four waiters/​waitresses for those 11 tables which allowed them to provide spectacular service. Everyone was extremely attentive and knowledgable about the food they were serving.
The food was creative, fresh and local, and excellently plated. It was exciting to see and taste each dish that we ordered.
Definitely worth checking out!

Atlas Bistro hires the very best upcoming chefs. The past chefs have moved on and opened some of the best restaurants in the metro Phoenix area. Atlas Bistro is a very tiny upscale ten table restaurant that’s B.Y.O.B. It’s adjacent to a very good wine shop next door. This restaurant serves up organic, local, wild line caught exotic dishes. All the dishes I had were painstakingly detailed and masterfully prepared.
We started with an amuse bouche of House Smoked Hawaiian Opah Fish with a caper and Lemon Aioli. It was so darn tasty I wish I could have purchased some to bring home.
My first course was a combination of crisp cucumber, sweet watermelon, creamy Israeli Feta, jicama, pickled honeydew, pistachio, fresh mint tied together with watermelon/​lime vinaigrette. This was so light but bursted with bright flavors. Just delicious!
My second course was a very detailed beet salad. What stood out were the beets. You can taste how different a just picked beet taste. It has a totally different texture. The whole salad was earthy and bright from the fennel and tangy from the blue cheese. The crisp rye berries added some texture.
Dinner was Wild Hawaiian Hebi Spear Fish. The fish was mild sweet, meaty, moist with a nice tasty crust. This dish had many components but the one that stood out was the beet infused cous cous topped with harissa. It was so darn delicious it was the star of the plate. It had great flavors. I had to fight off my husband from taking too much of it.
Unfortunately I was to full to try one of the interesting sounding desserts.
Being that this is a B.Y.O.B. place I do note your bottle of wine you bring might not pair with the plates you order but if you drink wine between plates it doesn’t matter. As of the time of this review the corkage fee is $ 15.00

Incredible dinner and presentation! We hadn’t been here in years and went for a friend’s bday. The staff were wonderful and very attentive. The presentation of the food outstanding. I’d never had fois gras and so yummy. Thx for a very special evening !

How did it take us so long to find this amazing hidden gem? Truly one of the best restaurants the Phoenix area has to offer. Absolutely stunning meal. We can’t wait to go back! Highly recommend to anyone who appreciates the art of food. Plus you can’t beat a place where you can bring your own wine or choose from their expansive inventory at the wine shop it’s connected to.

AMAZING!!!
Dined at this hidden gem on Thursday.
From seeing the pictures of the cuisine from time to time, I thought that the food was created by artists using a microscope and tweezers-​the kind of place where the food is beautiful but complicated and you leave starving–
Besides the beautiful part, I couldn’t have been more wrong!!!
The menu:
First course
We all shared the pork belly, the big eye tuna and the circulated egg with potato mousse and lardons.
Second course
Avocado soup with chorizo
Roasted heirloom tomatoes
Fava bean falafel
Main course
I ordered the wagyu hanger steak and had zero intention of sharing because it was easily one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, but that would have been mean.
Friends had the Hawaiian Ono and the duck, which were both equally fantastic!!!
We all declared that we were too full to order desert, but ordered 3 just to «try»…
I’m pretty sure I found a shovel to eat with because there was nothing left on any of the plates.
Coffee cake, chocolate tart, and «eat dirt» with dolce de leche and powdered peanut butter were the perfect end to a unbelievable meal.
Our server was the owner Todd (when was the last time you saw the owner of a restaurant touch a plate, let alone serve?)
Also got to meet his beautiful wife Natasha and the holy trinity of chefs, Cory, Juan and Joe– it blows my mind that a restaurant of this caliber has only 3 chefs!!!
I have been fortunate to have been able to dine at several of the best restaurants in America (French Laundry, the Inn at Little Washington, etc…)
Atlas bistro is as good as it gets…

Before you read this review I suggest you scroll down and read my original review on July 6, 2013. I raved about Atlas Bistro, gave it five stars and wrote, «This is a little-​known jewel of a restaurant. Highly recommended for special occasions.» It was my favorite restaurant in all of Phoenix. How sad that now, after enjoying three superlative dinners there, I am forced to give it a mere two stars.
A new chef took over the kitchen at Atlas Bistro several months ago, and it is no longer the restaurant it once was. Each time when I went there earlier they had a sublime appetizer, large beef marrow bones with crumbled lamb bacon — the kind of dish you could find nowhere else in Phoenix. Heavenly. Well, now with the new chef they don’t offer it anymore, our waitress told us. Earlier I had heavenly entrees like an unequaled duck confit and melt-​in-​your-​mouth short ribs. All banished from the menu. The portions were not large, but there was plenty to enjoy. I realize their menu changes from day to day based on available local foods, but it is now devoid of dishes of substance, like a duck leg or a short rib.
Now they offer a prix fixe menu that is so shi-​shi, so devoid of substantive dishes, and with portions so infinitesimal that you could cry. I had the hangar steak as my entrée and there were two tiny pieces of beef, each about the size of a half dollar. They were incredibly delicious. First rate. But why do I need to use a tweezers to find the meat on my plate? For the money, the portion was preposterously small. My friend ordered the halibut, again a very small portion, and nothing to get excited about. One of the sides was supposed to be a lentil dish — there was only about a tablespoonful of lentils. Delicious, but gone in one forkful. The entire dinner was like that. The focus was on presentation, not on providing a real meal.
Our waitress was very knowledgeable about the food and very pleasant. But alas, even here the restaurant I loved the most was sorely disappointing. Before the meal began I showed the waitress my Unilocal coupon for a free corkage. But when we got the bill we were still charged a $ 10 corkage fee. Plus, we had ordered the octopus appetizer which was $ 5 extra, but the waitress billed it for $ 25 extra! She corrected that, and we asked her to also remove the $ 10 corkage fee, and showed her the coupon again. Idiotically, I didn’t look over the revised bill when she brought it out and it was only after I got home that I saw she never removed the $ 10 fee! For a restaurant where we spent more than $ 200 for two people, not including the wine, this was totally unacceptable. But what can I do? They got my extra $ 10.
It is truly heartbreaking for me to write this review. A once great restaurant has become so full of itself that I cannot go there again. And this was for a very special occasion. For a fraction of the cost I could have gone to Christo’s or Tarbells’ and had a real plate of food at a fair price. Alas, I have to bid farewell to what was once my favorite restaurant. What a disappointment. What a shame.

Do you watch cooking shows? Do you take photos of your food? Do you have long discussions about your meals? If the answer is yes, this place is for you.
These are food people, seemingly trapped in a strip mall, only doing their thing four days a week.
But they do it well, and everyone from the waitstaff to the chef clearly take pride in the meals.
So forget that it’s strangely connected to a wine store with a run down bar. And forget that you have to bring your own bottle. Deal with it. It’s about the food. It’s about fresh ingredients and beautiful preparation. It’s about artistic plating brought by knowledgable service.
Plan ahead and make a reservation for a special occasion. This place is on our short list for showing out-​of-​towners that we’re developing some culinary cred here in Phoenix.
In case you care– the cold asparagus soup, the pork belly, and the wagyu beef were the highlights of our meal.

What a suprised from a block lettered restaurant in a strip mall.
The food is art. Thoughtful, well prepared, and perfectly prepared.

A remarkable dining experience.
Atlas puts their best foot forward to ensure you have an ultimate dining experience focused on your food & wine while allowing you to be in control. As you navigate your way thru their prix fixe courses that you’ve likely selected to pair with the wine that you have brought for the evening, the Atlas staff accommodates & guides you intelligently for the entire evening without distraction.
Their service is impeccably professional.
It’s been a couple weeks since i dined there but the flavors of many of their dishes still pleasantly haunt me. The butter poached lobster claw bisque was so rich, yet balanced and still retaining the characteristic traits of the dish.
The duck confit was one of, if not the best duck dish I’ve ever had. Subtley spicy, mildly gamey, and flavorful in each bite.
The Niman Ranch Pork Chop with maple glaze was simple yet executed with great craft. Warm textures while contrasting sweet & salty.
All around a wonderful success, I truly look forward to my next dining experience at Atlas.

Cool concept — high end restaurant attached to an impressive wine warehouse. You can buy wine from next door and drink in the restaurant with $ 10 corkage fee (free if you check in on Unilocal). $ 55 for three course prix fixe — no a lar carte option.
That said I have a mixed feeling about this place. Good service, sociable staff, the wine recommendation was great (they suggested a moderately priced bottle of wine over expensive one and it was delicious). Tasty beautifully decorated food. The sweet potato lobster soup ($ 15 up charge) was to die for, so was the pork belly… Yumm…
Here’s the but… Most dishes were not hot enough as if they spent too much time decorating the plates. And too much waited time between each courses and the tiny portion leave us pretty hungry still toward the end.
All in all it was a pretty good dinning experience. Not too bad for something in this price range but not spectacular.

A Christmas gift shared with great friends a 1982 Mouton Rothschild, the best part of BYOB is the opportunity to pair your amazing wine with the talented chef’s pairing. Atlas Bistro is designed for those who truly want to enjoy an amazing meal and that special bottle of wine. Our meal was lobster, gnocchi, ragout mushrooms, superb duck, plus cheese plate for dessert at very affordable prices. You know its great when you see a local chef enjoying a meal too.

Wow! What an amazing find. While I’m not a huge fan of the fixed price menu, it does wonders here. The selections are basically what is available today from local sources.
The lobster, bisque and risotto appetizer is amazing and could easily be the best in town. It makes Capitol Grill’s seem like it came from a tin.
Scallops were dynamite as well. Just order them if available.
BYOB works wonders with Ridell glasswear.
It’s simply one of the best places in town.

Reservations are a necessity.
This ranks as one of the best, if not the best restaurant I’ve been to. The food was EXCELLENT. I spent time with my best buds and enjoyed some excellent wine and food.
Food and service of unparalleled quality and flavor included the bone marrow, peachy tomato salad, wagyu steak.
Enjoy!

I love coming here. The cuisine is second to none and the great part is that I can bring my own wine. Every time I come here I know they’ll have something that I like, as the menu is laid out in 4 course style with several options for each.
The menu is always sophisticated and food is cooked to perfection. The place is small enough that if you want your dish cooked just a certain way they have no problem.
Last visit I had bone marrow that I’ll now add to my last meal dishes.

I don’t quite know how to describe Atlas… it’s part wine shop/​wine bar and part high-​end intimate BYO restaurant (so you can buy your wine and then uncork it and chow down!) I’ll start out by saying that the guys in the wine shop know their shit and they have a good selection of wines at all price points.
On to the restaurant. It’s a tiny place with just a few tables and it’s all about the farm to table experience. You can expect a small but artfully prepared menu with fresh local ingredients.
On my particular visit had had a delicious beef tenderloin that was served up a sumptuous medium rare and topped with chimichurri and accompanied with fingerling potatoes, broccolini and roasted onions. A dripping of other delicious sauces. And it was so beautifully arranged it was almost too pretty too eat… ALMOST.
Our server was Todd who is the owner he was gracious, hospitable, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. This place is definitely worth a go. The menu is constantly changing so rest assured you will have a different experience each time. Sure, it’s pricier than most places and you’re not going to leave stuffed but the experience and incredible preparation the experience you’ll want to treat yourself to!
A Tip: Unilocalers get a break on the corkage fee with check-​in.