Amalfi Cucina + Mercato — Restaurant in Atlanta

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! POOR MANAGEMENT WITH A BAD ATTITUDE! CHEAP INGREDIENTS USED AND FREEZER BURN TASTE!

My husband and I had an event to attend at Red Phone Booth, but we stopped in here by accident. We were greeted by a very friendly gentleman. It was 730ish, and this place was completely empty, not a one customer in the restaurant, but the guy was so nice we promised him that we would return later to grab a bite.

We ended up coming back to this restaurant at 925pm. The lady at the bar said she was told by her manager that they are only doing take-out orders only, but she recommended that we speak with the manager so we could dine in.

Kayla (the manager) approached us, not a smile, very unwelcoming energy. She looked at me and called and said, "Yes, sir." I had to pause and corrected her that I was not a sir. She had an attitude and proceeded to say, "Well, I was talking to your husband, not you, but i looked at you." Not even an apology. She immediately said, "You can only dine in if you arrive 30 mins before the closing time." It's was literally 935pm, and our time was being wasted because of Kayla making excuses, and she did everything in her power to stop us from dining in. She also said that at 945, they can only do take out orders. But we got there before 930, so what's the problem? Their business hour said the place closes at 10! She then switched her story that at 930, you can't dine in at all. She never once apologized. Instead, she allowed money to just walk out.

We had to order our food through Red phone booth...BTW, Everyone at red phone booth were amazing!!!! We got calamari and the chicken parmesan. THE WORST CALAMARI EVER!!!! IT HAD THE TERRIBLE FREEZER BURN TASTE! It was SO Dry! Some weren't even cooked all the way through.

The chicken parmesan was HORRIBLE! The pasta was soooo salty, and it was DESERT DRY!!! AND THE CHICKEN WAS BURNT!!!

So this place is basically cooking and serving cheap frozen dinner type, using cheap ingredients but wants to charge premium prices?? with HORRIBLE management and poor customer service!? Using cheap ingredients to make their dishes... No wonder this place was completely empty!!

When my husband and I walked out the red phone booth, Kayla was outside. She just stared at me with a very unpleasant look. I will never return to this place, and I will definitely let others...

Amalfi Cucina & Mercato is a Neapolitan pizzeria centered around a 6000 pound wood-burning brick oven, imported from Italy. Amalfi focuses on providing an authentic Italian menu using fresh, quality ingredients from the Campania region of Italy. Its owners, Greg Grant and Stephen de Haan, apprenticed under Pizzaiolo Maestros and studied under Associazione Verace Pizza Napolentana.

ACM is located in Buckhead near the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont Roads. There are two Atlanta locations, with the other eatery located Downtown. The restaurant group also owns Red Phone Booth locations in Atlanta, Nashville, Miami, and metro Dallas.

The restaurant is very spacious. I have never been to Italy (very much on my bucket list), but I felt transported to Campania. Customer service was solid. The staff was welcoming and fielded questions regarding the menu.

We ordered: Drinks: French 75, Pineapple Martini, Coffee Appetizers: Pizza Amalfi, Insalata Della Casa, Blossom Fritti, Polpette (meatballs) Mains: Rigatoni di Napoli (blackened chicken), Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs, Aragosta (Lobster) Ravioli Dessert: Caramel cheesecake

The French 75 was solid, but we loved the Pineapple Martini. The coffee was cold and we ended up returning it.

The Pizza Amalfi was delicious with its thin crust, rich San Marzano sauce, and balance of spice from the sausage with the peppadew peppers. The Insalata Della Casa was not memorable, lacking a memorable dressing. I loved the marinara sauce with the basil and mozzarella; however, I did not enjoy the flavor of the meatballs. The Blossom Fritti was also disappointing, as the batter and zucchini blossoms were bland.

The main dishes were enjoyed by all members of our party. The Lobster Ravioli was particularly memorable but we were all members of the clean plate club.

We also really enjoyed the caramel cheesecake. The creaminess of the cheesecake paired well with the caramel topping. We would come back for their pizzas, creamy pastas, wine (Amalfi has a nice wine list featuring Italian wines), cocktails,...

We are visiting Atlanta and after a long day traveling, we walked over from Hyatt Place to grab dinner.

Being from Chicago, we are admitted pizza snobs and my wife is half-Italian whose family still makes sauce the "old-fashioned" way. To win her over is especially difficult.

We were seated immediately and enjoyed the high ceilings and atmosphere, including the oven and relatively open kitchen, where you can see the dough being tossed and pizzas being made.

We ordered 2 pizzas - four cheese and Margherita. The Mrs. ordered Chicken Marsala (or something very close to it). The pizzas were done very quickly due to the heat in the oven. There was minimal char on the pizza and the crust was very soft and chewy - which was a good surprise! Overall, we enjoyed the pizzas very much.

The Mrs. enjoyed her pasta and said it was probably the best she's ever had. That's a rock solid review from someone who seemingly complains about every Italian dish she eats.

Smell - Some reviews mention a smell of smoke. There was no smell when we visited.

Prices - Very reasonable considering the portion sizes and quality of the food.

Service - We will save the best for last. We have been amazed at how friendly people from Atlanta are and at Amalfi it was no different. Our server was prompt, attentive and very knowledgeable about the menu even though she's a newer employee. She wrote down multiple recommendations for places we should check out while in town. We also spoke with the manager for quite awhile and our interactions were very pleasant.

We highly recommend Amalfi and will be...