Agave Restaurant, Est. 2000 — Restaurant in Atlanta

One of those nights…everything went wrong!

Valet—opened only the driver’s car door and immediately ran to attend to someone else. He eventually returned, but gave literally no ticket or instructions and neglected to open the passenger’s (my) door. Weird and confusing.

Seating— We arrived a couple of minutes before our reservation for two. The doorway was very crowded as the place is extremely cramped. But the placement of our table was the worse part. They put us right beside the fireplace in the back room. Very cute aesthetically, but a logistical nightmare—-as we were very much in the way of all staff passing by. One of the waitresses even bumped into my fiancé. We asked to move and they moved us immediately. But mind you this was a reservation table—we should have never been squeezed in a table in the middle of the fast lane in rush hour traffic in the first place! They seemed to come to their senses and remove the table completely once we moved.

Service— Yikes! When we were seated, the host seated us pretty quickly and gave us chips and salsa and water. I noticed my app plate and silverware was missing, so I kindly asked him for a plate. He brought out the plate ONLY—completely overlooked the fact that I had no napkin or silverware LOL. Apparently he never informed our waitress of our presence either, because it took her about 10-15 minutes to even greet us. She was friendly though. We immediately asked her to move to a better table and she let us move, but by the time our new waitress took our drink orders, we had been there for 20 minutes. She also seemed frazzled, and only came over once she overheard me asking where our waiter was. She was nice enough, but no one was really personable or welcoming besides the first waitress we had briefly. We ordered margaritas and appetizers and they came out quickly. We also ordered entrees, but decided to cancel those and take our check early so we could try our luck elsewhere. Then a chef came out about 15 minutes to ask us if we were sure bc our food was “working.” It was nice of him to care, but we really didn’t need to extra pressure. We were already turned off from the place.

Food and Drinks— Chips & salsa- DELICIOUS! Some of the best I’ve had. I enjoyed the chicken taquitos, and the food plating presentation is stellar. Everything seems super fresh. The calamari came highly recommended, but we were disappointed in it. It was not super flavorful or super crispy. It may have just been an off night. I had the Mona Lisa Margarita, and it was decent. Very juicy and tropical. My fiancé had the top shelf marg and it hit him HARD lol. I would recommend that one if you’re looking for a STRONG drink ;).

Me and my fiancé go out frequently and this was one of our favorite date night spots from about a year ago. Too bad we were treated like a red headed stepchild this time! I get that Saturday nights are busy, but I wish they were a little better organized. Hopefully it was just a fluke, but bc of this experience I...

Man... I really wish I could have reported a better experience. My husband and I chose this place for date night since its close to his job. I was very excited initially to try this establishment. First let me say, the food did not disappoint. The drinks were also pretty good. The service, however, left much to be desired. We were greeted by the server assistant who brought us water and chips and salsa. It didn't take too long for our server to come by and get a beverage order. When he approached us, he didn't even give us his name. (I think the mgr later said it was Paul). He asked if we were ready to order a beverage so I ordered a cocktail for myself and a glass of wine for my husband. I was caught off guard by his response to my request for a cabernet for my husband. When I told him which wine, he responded by saying, " If it is on the menu, yes you can have it". Ummmm ok. We also gave him two app orders. However, we only recieved one. A few minutes after our drinks were delivered, I accidentally knocked my cocktail over and the table next to us help me clean it up. They were nice enough to give us their napkins. I was never able to request a new drink because our server never came back to the table. In fact, we did not see him again the entire time after he took our dinner order. He never came to check and see if we enjoyed our app. He never knew I spilled my drink. He never offered us more water. He never checked on us after our food was delivered. To make matters worse, the eldest guest at the table that gave us their napkins noticed how crowded our table was and she literally got up and walked over to our table and removed a few dishes/napkins and placed them on a table close by. She literally acknowledged the lack of service we were receiving without us having to say anything. I have worked in the restaurant industry for over 18 years and I have never recieved service as horrible as we did here. The mgr came by and apologized while dropping our check and togo boxes. After boxing our food we waited roughly another 15 minutes before getting up to find some one to cash us out. To add insult to injury, the same elderly guest who helped us at our table (same server) sat at her table without her meal for over 20 minutes while everyone else at her table had meals. I have never went to a restaurant and been attended to by another guest more than my server. How disappointing? As wonderful as the food and ambience were, the service or lack thereof, is definitely the reason we will not...

My husband and I have driven by Agave for years and heard great things about it, but we've never been inside. When our first choice restaurant had a ridiculously long wait, fate led us to Agave. We made a reservation online for 6:15 p.m. When we got there, just a few minutes before our reservation, we took in the warm atmosphere. The place had a lively and friendly vibe. Unfortunately, our first meeting with the host was disappointing because of how rude and unfriendly he was. But we sat quickly, and that's when things began to get better.

Anderson, our wonderful waiter, was a breath of fresh air. The way he talked about the main courses made us want to eat them right away. We started with chips and salsa, but it didn't really do much for us. Still, we kept going. I ordered the Texas Margarita, and my husband got the Top-shelf Margarita and the Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Bacon. Both my drink and the sprouts were a disappointment. We realized that maybe we should have asked for the check at that time.

But things changed when my husband chose the Rack of Lamb. It was tasty, but the sauce, mashed potatoes, and asparagus were not as flavorful as they should have been. My choice, the Crawfish Pasta, also turned out to be a letdown. I switched it for the Scallops, Collard Greens, and Tomato Grits to try to save the night, and it was a much better choice.

Despite the disappointments, we still made the choice to splurge on desserts, the Key Lime Pie and Chocolate Mousse, only to be met with an excessive array of pointless toppings that utterly overwhelmed the flavors. Unfortunately, it wasn't a pleasant experience at all, which made us sad and unhappy.

Even worse, we paid a high price for our culinary adventure because I've been sick all day with a bad stomach, throwing up, chills, and headaches. It's disappointing when a place that gets great reviews and awards doesn't live up to the hype.

In the end, Agave had the potential to deliver an amazing experience, but it fell short. Even though our server, Anderson, was great, the mediocre food and bad experience after the meal made us forget all the good things.

Maybe we went to the place on a bad day, but for now, we're disappointed and not sure if we'll give Agave...