8 Overall Rating - Grace 1720 10/5/12

5155 Peachtree Parkway #320
Norcross, GA 30092
(678) 421-1720
http://www.grace1720.com/

Ambiance: 10
Located in the Forum at Norcross. We had the perfect weather for an evening on the patio. We sat next to the fire outside and it was so relaxing. The fountain behind us provided a soothing and calming effect with its flowing water. The interior's Old World feel was very nice, although we didn't spend much time inside.

Food Quality: 7
The blue cheese caramelized onion dip was absolutely delicious!!!

The vegetarian pasta with chicken was light, yet full of fresh flavors. Its white wine butter sauce was light and offered a nice balance to the dish. There was a good mix of veggies including sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, red onion, zucchini, red bell peppers and spinach.

Greg loved his shrimp and grits. The grits are purchased locally, although they tasted a little undercooked to me.

Service: 9
The staff was very present, though they remained discreetly behind the glass door. Our water glasses never dropped below the half full. Overall, they did a great job taking care of us.

Value: 8
We were frugal with our orders. There are more pricey items on the menu, but we were able to get two entrees and one appetizer (no drinks) for $69.45.

8 Overall Rating - The Spence 8/7/12

75 5th Street Northwest
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
(404) 892-9111
http://www.thespenceatl.com/?landing

Dinner with Sabo - yea! It's been far too long, my friend!

The Spence is another hot spot from the Concentrics restaurant group. They've really expanded their portfolio of eateries in the ATL.

They offer a unique menu. You need to be willing to explore and venture outside your normal palate to enjoy their food. I tried, unsuccessfully, with one dish...but at least now I can say I've tried sweetbreads!

Ambiance: 8
Trendy restaurant located on the corner of 5th and Spring St. Of course, the concrete floors made it difficult to hear (as usual for me).

Food Quality: 8
Interesting coconut butter served with butter topped rolls.

The Porcini Noodles, Oxtail, Egg & Truffle dish was delicious!

The Corn Creme Brulee was fantastic too!

The Buffalo Fried Sweetbreads were tasty, but I couldn't get past my first one. I had too many visuals in my head from the texture which made it difficult to continue eating.

The Not So Simple Green Salad had a surprising kick with thinly sliced jalapenos, sliced carrots, radish, and light Greek goddess dressing.

The Corned Lamb Tostadas & Guajillo Salsa were light and balanced just right - the flavors worked great with one another.





For dessert, we had the Milk Chocolate, Peanut, Burnt Banana Ice Cream - it was Uh-Maze-ing (but much too small)! Those little brown specks that you see in the picture were not cocoa dusts either...they were part of the design on the plate!

Service: 9
No issues with service.

Value: 7
Small plates...dessert for $7 (check out the portion size).

9 Overall Rating - Red PrimeSteak in OKC 7/11/12

504 North Broadway
Oklahoma, OK 73103
http://redprimesteak.com/

Ambiance: 8
Very cool ambiance. Open floor plan with neon red accent lights throughout the restaurant.

Food Quality: 9
They offer one of the best prix fixe menus I've ever seen! For $39, you select from each of the following categories, but unlike most prix fixe menus you're offered a really good variety from the main menu.
- appetizer
- entree
- side dish
- dessert

The bread was served with velvety smooth, warm butter which was speckled with salt.

The Chop House Salad was deliciously unique. I would definitely recommend it.

I opted for one of their steaks. What's really amazing about this experience is you get to choose both a crust and a sauce. I decided on the Bleu Cheese Crust and the Brandy Mushroom Sauce. In addition to all of that, every steak is served with roasted garlic cloves (OMG)!!! The mushroom sauce was incredibly delicious! I have to admit that this was one of THE most enjoyable steaks I've ever had.

As my side dish, I chose the Flash Fried Baby Spinach, which I found to be mediocre and greasy.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy my dessert which was the Strawberry/Peach Meringue. I should have listened to our server and ordered the chocolate dessert instead.

Service: 10
Don and Karen are regulars at this restaurant, so the service was superb!

Value: 9
The prix fixe menu is absolutely the way to go. I would give this a 10 rating for value, but if you decided to order off the menu, you should plan to spend some money which is why I rated them a 9 on value instead of 10.

8.5 Overall Rating - Rathbuns 7/2/12

112 Krog Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
404.524.8280
http://www.rathbunsrestaurant.com/dinner-menu.html

Tonight was a very special occasion for us...we get to find out if we're having a girl or boy!

Ambiance: 10
Modern bulding (artsy), perfect warm lighting for enjoying a special dinner with friends or loved ones.

Food Quality: 9
I definitely need to come back when I don't have any food restrictions. So many things were appealing on the menu - smoked proscuitto flatbread with local chevre, caramelized onion, pink peppercorn honey - thin rare beef heart of ribeye smoked salt, truffle mustard aoili...they all sound so yummy!

I didn't care for the aniseed bread. When I saw the warm butter in the dish, I was anxious for the server to walk away so I could devour the bread and butter. But to my disappointment, the bread wasn't warm and I really could've done without the anise.

For starters, we had the french fries with blue cheese fondue. The fries were fine, but the fondue was dee-lishh-shus!! Greg also ordered the eggplant fries. It's probably one of the most unique dishes I've ever had....they were perfectly fried eggplant slices dusted with confectioner's sugar and served with a side of tobasco sauce mixed with confectioners (so they said)....it just tasted like a mouthful of "I bet you can't handle this heat!". The flavors were very interesting....I can't begin to imagine how they created this combo.

Entrees- my thai duck was average. The risotto was cooked fine and the duck was perfectly, but the flavors didn't appeal to me. There was a nice spice finish, but I didn't find this dish to be as good as Bluepoint's panang duck dish.

Charred corn and gouda was deliciously filling. It's definitely best when eaten with a spoon instead of a fork to get more gouda cream sauce with each bite.
The edamame potstickers were quite good. The soy sauce was exceptionally good. The potstickers were cooked just right to crisp the outside, yet leaving a little tenderness in the dumpling.
The salmon tostadas tasted just like bagel, lox and schmear.

Service: 7
I couldn't indulge in alcohol, but our server was quick to offer any non-alcohol mix from the bar. They whipped up a fruit cocktail for me and boy, was it yummy, sweet and refreshing!
Greg had a housemade lemonade - it was a bit too tart.
Service delivery was great, but clearing the table was poorly executed. Throughout the entire dinner service up through dessert, only one appetizer plate was cleared, leaving two empty bread and butter plates, two empty glasses, one empty side dish and half eaten fries on the table.

Value: 7
Desserts $3.95 great value!

5 Overall Rating - Rosebud 5/24/12

1397 N Highland Avenue Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30306
(404) 347-9747
http://www.rosebudatlanta.com/

Dinner with Michelle and Jim

Ambiance: 7

Food Quality: 5
We ate at 6PM on a Saturday night. It was disappointing to find that they were out of two appetizers, two desserts and I think one entree so early in the evening.

Michelle and Jim's Housemade Pimento Cheese appetizer was pretty good. It had a surprising kick, so get ready for it.

Greg and I started with the potato skins which were stuffed with mushrooms and cheese. While it was an interesting combination, I still prefer the standard skins.

For an entree, I had their signature fried chicken dish. The green beans were slightly overcooked, but they were seasoned well. My fried chicken was more like a country fried steak, covered with gravy served on top of mashed potatoes. I found the dish to be mediocre, at best. Greg didn't care much for his Coffee Braised Lamb Shank. He complained of the lamb tasting too gamey.

For dessert, we shared the Mexican Coca-Cola Cake. It was good, but again, nothing fantastic.

Service: 6
Our server had a little attitude when we teased about being out of so many items.

Value: 4
Both appetizers ended up on my bill. We were in a hurry, so I didn't raise the issue to our server. For the quality, the price wasn't worth it.

7 Overall Rating - Carbonara Trattoria 5/21/12

5499 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Dunwoody, GA 30338
(678) 587-9100
http://carbonaradunwoody.com/

Ambiance: 7


Food Quality: 6.5
The bread was served with real butter, which of course, is my favorite. The bread was warm with a light and fluffy inside. It's the perfect way to begin our dining experience.

For an appetizer, we had their Steamed Mussels. The mussels were slightly overcooked, but the flavor was good, or I should say that the it has potential. Unfortunately, the dish was slightly overpowered by the skunk-like flavor that is often present in some mussels.

Greg's Torchietti and Shrimp delivered strong earth and rustic flavors, too much for my liking, but Greg enjoyed the uniqueness of the dish.

My Bucatini all’ Amatriciana was really good. Admittedly, I thought the pasta tasted like Chef Boyardee at first, but the dish grew on me (both literally and figuratively!)

Service: 9
The staff was both friendly and "neighborhood familiar". The owner is a retired Coke executive from Egypt who stopped by our table to speak with us. He was very hands on, seen grating Parmesan cheese blocks tableside as he made his way around to each table. The service was quite efficient tonight. We were told that weekends are very busy.

Value: 7
$52 before tip for an appetizer, two pasta dishes and hot tea.

9 Overall Rating - Little Alley Steak 5/7/12

955 Canton Street
Roswell, GA
(770) 998-0440
http://littlealleysteak.com/

Little Alley Steak had just opened eight weeks prior to our visit.

Ambiance: 8
Eclectic decor with beautiful rustic wood partition and finishes, including three brick walls each with its own unique character. This lively restaurant is nestled in the heart of Roswell. The bar was hopping on a Monday night...I can only imagine what Thursday nights and weekends are like here! We liked the lights which were strung from meat hangers.

Food Quality: 9
Steaks brought in from Chicago's Meats by Linz.
We thoroughly enjoyed our NY Strip progression, each cut accompanied with its own salt. The Au Gratin goat cheese potatoes were rich in flavor - thinly cut potatoes were just right. The crunchy topping overpowers the dish though. It's good, but it just needs a bit less of it.

Wild mushrooms were oily, but tasty with garlic.













Bok choy - I would've liked more oyster sauce. You have to fish at the bottom of the dish to get any of it. The black pepper was a little too dominant, but I did like the contrast. As we ate more of the bok choy, we finally FOUND the black pepper oyster sauce - it's a zinger!
Fries - good, kinda like Five Guys, but not as good. The aoili that accompanied the fries was a nice alternative to ketchup.
Their bread was drenched in butter - oh my.

Service: 10
Full house, but everything was expedited very well from kitchen. Louis was our server - would highly recommend him.

Value: 7
You're gonna spend a little money here, but we did it right. Being pregnant, it helps cut down the bill ('cos we just drank water). We split the Strip Progression and four side dishes for only $77 before tip.