6 Overall Rating - Antico Pizza 8/27/11

1093 Hemphill Avenue Northwest
Atlanta, GA 30318-5450
(404) 724-2333
www.anticopizza.it/

Recommended by Janice and Chris & Julie

Ambiance: 8
Antico Pizza offers a cool, casual environment. Fun, classic Italian music fills the open space. The only thing separating the family picnic tables from the kitchen is the 4' high partitions. Three old style brick ovens line the back kitchen wall. The staff's busy at work, with pies flying in the air, servers dressing pizzas w/fresh grated parmesan cheese as soon as their pulled from the oven and slicing and delivering them to the table. Seating is first come, first serve. Strangers sitting side-by-side or across the table from one another. We loved the old fashion soda bottles (pictured below)!

Food Quality: 5
Light tomoto sauce and fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese were scattered atop the pizzas with thin slices of pepperoni. One side of our dough was burned, however. Although I know that many people may like this kind of pizza, I found the pizza itself to be average with its modest flavors.

Service: 3
When you enter the restaurant, you wait in line to place your order at the register and then you find any open seat in the restaurant. They don't serve alcohol, but I've been told that you can bring your own.

Value: 4
$22 for medium pepperoni pizza.

7 Overall Rating - Firefly 11/17/11

3070 Windward Plaza
Alpharetta, GA 30005
(770) 807-3100
http://www.fireflyrestaurant.net/

Dinner with Harkins on first visit.

Ambiance: 9
What a great find! We happened to try out this spot during the first week it was open to the public. The live music was quite a pleasant surprise. The band consisted of three male musicians: an acoustic guitarist & singer, bass guitarist, and a bongo/percussionist & singer. They were quite talented and played a variety of cover songs to suit any crowd.

This place has a lot of potential despite the location's unfortunate history. I hope they can make it because it's a fantastic spot that's conveniently located by the office!

Food Quality: 5
For starters, we had the Maytag Blue Cheese Chip Mountain. The blue cheese was delicious, but I didn't care for the potato chips as much or the tomato garnish.

Rich thought his Salmon Baby Spinach Salad was very good.

My Cedar Plank Salmon BLT was pretty good and the french fries were yummy!

Service: 10
Mary, our bartender & server, was personable calling on each of her guests by first name amd taking care to spend time with each of them. She was a great mixologist too! Michael, one of the managers, also stopped by to check in on things.

Value: 10
Prices are very reasonable.

Since mid-November, I've been back on several occaions. The service has always been exceptional; however, the food quality has been disappointing.

On November 22, I had food & drinks with David at the bar. I dropped my fork and within seconds there were two servers by my side.

On November 23, I had lunch with Nidhi. The she-crab soup was delicious, but the appetizer ribs were completely scorched. They were happy to bring me a plate of freshly grilled ribs and the owner stopped by the table to profusely apologize for the kitchen's poor decision to send out the plate of burnt ribs. Nidhi ordered the half-smoked chicken plate (only $9!)complete with two side dishes, but she found the food to be average (at best). Unfortunately, she found a tiny bug in her cornbread which completely ruined the experience for her. The service manager brought us a complimentary dessert to share. I've never had an issue with their service, but they better get a handle on their back-house operations.

6.5 Overall Rating - Spice Brick Oven Kitchen Tapas & Bar 8/26/11

10800 Haynes Bridge Road
Alpharetta, GA 30022
(770) 777-0778
www.spicebrickovenkitchen.com/

Dinner with the Reagins! Recommended by Whipple Wonders.

Ambiance: 10
Enjoyed the open space. The acoustics were actually pretty good. Great lighting and setting. The restauarant had been opened for nearly two months and was already packing the house. I think this place has a lot of potential if the menu and food can keep pace with the ambiance.

Food Quality: 5
The Tzatziki (eggplant spread) was good, but a little bland. We enjoyed the Crab fritters, but I would say that the sweet and sour sauce is what made the dish. The Tilapia fish tacos were very good. The slaw was sweet and blended perfectly with the dish. Unfortunately, the scallop dish lacked flavor, but it was a clean and healthy dish. The smoked salmon was bad. I took one bite and knew right away that something wasn't right. I also detected a foul odor. The homemade chips were generously covered with blue cheese, but the overall dish was average.

On my second visit there on 11/16/11, I had the Tzatziki (Yogurt, Fresh Dill, Cucumbers, Lemon Juice, And Olive Oil spread) and pepperoni pizza. The food was much better this time around.

Service: 9
Service was great tonight...they did a nice job timing all of our tapas plates!

Value: 7

8 Overall Rating - Ormsby's 8/25/11

1170 Howell Mill Road
Atlanta, GA 30318
(404) 968-2033
www.ormsbysatlanta.com/

Went to Ormsby's with my cousin, Edward. (Recommended by Tema)

Ambiance: 7
Lots of energy...but was way too loud for dinner. Depending on your mood...it's a great spot for happy hour or meeting up with a group for food or drinks. The downstairs space was surprisingly large with the two bocce lanes.

Food Quality: 8
The mussels were salty, but delicious!! The toast was fabulous!
The Shrimp and Grits dish was good, with carmelized onion and roasted peppers.

Service: 6
There were only two servers working the entire floor. They apologized for being understaffed. Our server first gave us the wrong table's bill. The second attempt was a little a better; he brought our bill but we found two additional drinks on it which didn't belong to us. So I guess third time's a charm as it was finally correct on the third attempt. Aside from the bill errors, everything was fine.

Value: 10
Awesome prices!!

8 Overall Rating - Firkin & Gryphon 8/18/11

4764 Ashford Dunwoody Rd
Dunwoody, GA 30338
770-350-5977
www.firkinandgryphon.com/

Ambiance: 7
Wow, we have found our new local standby! This is a great sports bar & restaurant. Tonight, they had $3 wine, $2 beer specials and Trivia. On Tuesdays they have trivia and Wednesdays they have poker. The restaurant was pretty packed. I understand that Thursdays and weekends are usually busy for them. I liked the individual TV's at the various booths!

Food Quality: 9
We were more than pleasantly surprised! Firkin & Gryphon offers a great variety on their menu. I love the "build your own: burger, pizza & pasta" concept. Not only can you build your own food, there's a full Irish menu with a plentiful selection of appetizers and a few unique salads!

The fried egg appetizer was interesting and tasty. It seemed like a lot of prep work was required to create the dish.
The Vegetable samosas were delicious, but boy were they spicy! They reminded me of an Indian dish, served with dill dip and chutney.
We also had the Irish Nachos which were unbelievably yummy (definitely not healthy).
Greg had the Steak and Mushroom Pie and loved it.

On our 2nd visit (9/26), I had the Avocado BLT and Greg ordered the Cottage Pie, which was absolutely to die for!!

Service: 7
Fried egg appetizer wasn't served with spicy mustard.

Value: 9
Terrific prices!