Atomic Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

Do not come here.

Came here for a birthday dinner so there was an assortment of meals and drinks.

Drinks - at one point, one person had ordered two shots of the jam donut shooter, and they brought out two glasses of gin. And when we did get the jam donut shots, they didn't even prepare it nicely like you would a cocktail. It was like they just shoved all alcohol needed into the one shot glass.

Food one person in my group had commented that their "atomic parma" had seemed weird by their ingredient choices. I'm not a chef, so I can't say exactly what that would've tasted like, but it did seem weird. I'd ordered a Hawaiian parma and while it seemed fine, it did feel like it lost some heat, as if it wasn't even under the heat lamps while it waited. one person ordered a margherita pizza and said it tasted like a frozen pizza, that it lacked something and wasn't worth the $20-something dollars. another person ordered the paella. They said it tasted nice and seemed fine, but an hour or so later on the drive home, they were sick. It's unclear if that's the restaurants fault, but based on other reviews, it could be.

Service As id mentioned, this was a birthday dinner. We have them the bag with the cake and candles inside, and when we were ready, they brought the bag out and might as well have thrown it on the table in front of us. We had to set our own candles and had to ask them to also bring us plates, cutlery and a knife. Again, they were very rude about how they brought it all out. We left when it was barely even 9pm, and they'd started cleaning and packing up long before we decided to start heading off. Google says they close at 10pm

Atmosphere It's a shame that the restaurant turned out as bad as it was. It's located in a lovely spot in Williamstown and the decor seemed lovely enough and everything, but that was the only thing it had going. When I'd arrived (the first in my group) at about 6.15pm, the restaurant was completely empty. Literally no one inside. Some people sat outside, though I've no idea if they were eating for this restaurant or another.

Please don't come here. Not until they've seriously gone through some big changes in their management and food and service practices.

(As of writing this, I couldn't access their website to confirm some small details on their food and pricing as their website was down. Take that information...

Look, the one thing you can say about the Atomic bar is that it is pretty resilient as it has been here for the last 25years??? Obviously with a range of different management. So at the moment it is a very popular venue for weekend tourists and probably some locals too. It has an outdoor street dining section that is very pleasant and nice to dine when the weather is nice. The food quality and range is quite good too but they have issues with getting food to the table when busy on weekends and it's not unusual to have to wait a long time. Also just the other day when I was there a customer (very respectfully) informed the waitress that his meal was cold in the middle. She offered to some recompense but he just wanted to let her know. (i wold have asked for my money back.......although he did finish the whole dish!!). Also the staff (mostly women as far as i know) cannot ever get the prices of the "happy hour" drinks . Of course i speak from personal experience. If it says $16:90 for a Pint they will charge 7:20 or 7:00 a or whatever they like on the day. And yes I was paying cash.Similarly,  if you ask for a schooner or pot..........it's just "pot luck" what prices they will charge.Basically, it's as if they don't have any awareness of the big blackboard sitting at the front of the venue and the prices written clearly there in chalk.Its mystifying!! Anyway a friend and I go weekly just to be surprised and amused by the prices they will charge...

Booking a table at the last minute for New Year’s Eve is always a gamble, but Atomic Bar in Williamstown felt less like roulette and more like Russian roulette. A large venue with seating for 100+ inside and plenty more outside, yet somehow, at 8pm on NYE, the place was half-empty. First red flag.

We were seated on barstools at high tables along the wall—comfy if you enjoy dining at altitude. A family of four tried to squeeze into a table behind us but promptly left after realising sardines in a can had more elbow room. They assured the staff they’d “be back later,” but their tone was as genuine as a politician’s promise.

Now, the food. We started with buffalo wings, which were so dry I’m pretty sure the buffalo filed a formal complaint. Ever wonder what a chicken wing crossed with beef jerky tastes like? Neither did I, but now I know. Next came the medium-rare scotch fillet, which was served cold. Maybe it was medium-rare because it never got near a flame? As for the chicken scallopini, let’s just say Gandhi’s underwear probably held more moisture.

Drinks didn’t fare much better. My partner’s wine was oxidized, but we gave it another shot with a fresh pour from the same bottle—spoiler alert: still oxidized. The highlight of the night? My pint of beer, which was cold, carbonated, and incapable of disappointment.

In summary, Atomic Bar promises an explosive experience, and it delivers—just not in the...