Atlanta Breakfast Club — Restaurant in Atlanta

Summary: Tasty food, but overpriced with hidden add-on fees. Overly stringent policies and always feeling rushed. Water that is more expensive than soda. Rude hosts. Unwelcoming to tourists.

Detailed Review: My friends and I visited ATL from out of town and were excited to try this restaurant after reading rave reviews. Coming from 3 different major cities across the US, we were looking forward to the best of what Atlanta had to offer. We ate breakfast here two mornings. Our opinion declined the more we learned about how the restaurant prices items, adds in small fees for already-expensive food, and has an overly stringent 'outside beverage' policy which was enforced in a derisive and uncompromising manner.

To start, our final bill for the 3 of us the first meal was nearly $120 ($40 per person on breakfast/brunch food) post tax & tip. We each purchased one entree and split a cinnamon roll. On our receipt, we found that there were add-ons for nearly everything, which we were not informed of by our server. Extra charge for butter on the waffles. Extra charge for cheese on eggs. Extra charge for a dusting of powdered sugar. Almost double the price for adding in peach cobbler on top of the cinnamon roll. Keep in mind, these entrees are already expensive. The food tasted good, but service displayed a lack of transparency that tarnished our overall impression.

I will touch on this more below, but water is $4 for a small-to-normal sized bottle of water. They will NOT serve you tap water. This was more than the cost of a soda. They will NOT let you drink out of your own water bottle, even though the US has drinkable tap water. See two paragraphs below for more.

This leads me to service and hospitality. Some other reviews have touched on this, but we were rushed through both meals (and we finished our meals in under 45 minutes each time). Our servers, while friendly enough, continuously pushed us to order quickly, and when our plates still had food on them, the staff would try to clear them. They would grab the plates of food without asking if we were done, so you had to quickly tell them you were still working on it. I know fast turnover is important, but this was much too fast.

Finally, I have to focus on our very unpleasant interaction with a restaurant host. To put this in perspective, I cannot think of the last time I have felt strongly enough to write or report in a review. The first day, we had brought in our own water bottles, but also asked for water with our meal. We learned when we got the check that they were $4 per bottle, no free refills. The next morning we returned again with our own water bottles. After we were seated, the server asked if we wanted water. We declined. The host then immediately came over with a furious expression on her face and told me that I was not allowed to bring in an "outside beverage". I explained it was just water in my bottle to which she got angrier and said I was not allowed to have that water. I apologized that I had missed the sign saying no outside beverages, but also was shocked at this since it was just water from the tap. She then insisted I put it my bottle on the ground. I asked if they had tap water and she said quickly replied "no, you have to purchase a bottle," which we knew was $4 from the prior day. I am going to make a few more points:

Yes, in Georgia, restaurants are legally not obligated to provide free water. However, EVERY other restaurant we went to either provided tap water for free, or allowed us to bring our own water to drink. If you are going to mandate water purchases, they should be affordable. $4 per bottle of water is not an affordable price.

If you come with your group of friends or family of four, you're looking at spending $16+ on water alone. That's the price of a main dish for something that comes out of the tap for free. I'd recommend putting your dollars towards a more pleasant and well-priced experience.

Hopefully some of you find...

When the thrill of my recent casino hot streak had somewhat subsided – a glorious run where my golden touch at the local tables netted me enough to invest heavily in some high-risk shares and, more importantly, splurge on a dazzling pair of gold-threaded thigh-highs – I decided to treat myself to what I hoped would be a celebratory meal. Atlanta Breakfast Club, with its promising name, seemed like the perfect spot. I was looking for a sure thing, a delicious payoff after a week of calculated risks and sartorial splurges. Instead, I found myself facing a culinary gamble that left me feeling utterly short-changed. I walked in, still basking in the glow of my successful investments and glittering new hosiery, ready to indulge. My order was ambitious, a true Southern feast: Peach Cobbler Chicken and Waffles, a side of Fried Green Tomatoes, and, for good measure, the intriguing Gulf Shrimp and Grits. My palate was primed for comfort and flavor, but what arrived was a masterclass in missed opportunities. The Peach Cobbler Chicken and Waffles sounded like a dream, a symphony of sweet and savory. In reality, it was a cacophony of disjointed elements. The chicken, meant to be the star, was dry and overcooked, its crust lacking any crispy appeal. It tasted more like an afterthought than a key component. And the "peach cobbler" aspect? A meager, lukewarm dollop of vaguely peachy goo, completely devoid of the warm, spiced, comforting texture of a true cobbler. It sat on the waffle like an unwelcome guest, doing nothing to enhance the dish. The waffle itself was dense and uninspired, soaking up the meager syrup with little enthusiasm. It was a conceptual dish utterly ruined by poor execution – much like a brilliant stock tip that tanks the moment you buy in. Next, the Fried Green Tomatoes. A Southern staple, simple yet elegant when done right. These, however, were a lesson in how to render a classic utterly flavorless. They were coated in a thick, greasy batter that tasted primarily of old oil, overshadowing any natural tang or freshness from the tomatoes themselves. The tomatoes inside were mushy, lacking that satisfying firmness and slight tartness that makes the dish a delight. Each bite was a soggy, oily disappointment, leaving a heavy film on my palate. Finally, the Gulf Shrimp and Grits, a dish that should be rich, creamy, and deeply satisfying. This rendition was tragically bland. The grits were thin, watery, and utterly lacking in any buttery richness or cheesy depth. They tasted like plain cornmeal mush. The "Gulf shrimp" were rubbery and overcooked, small and sad, swimming in a thin, uninspired sauce that failed to deliver any promised savory punch. It was a pale imitation of a classic, anemic and forgettable. It felt like buying into a promising stock only to watch it flatline instantly. The atmosphere was bustling, sure, but not in a lively, inviting way. More like a loud, chaotic cafeteria. The service was perfunctory, delivering plates without a hint of engagement. My golden thigh-highs, which usually make me feel like a million bucks, couldn't even distract from the pervasive mediocrity. I left Atlanta Breakfast Club feeling deeply unsatisfied. My successful ventures elsewhere only highlighted the culinary failure I'd just experienced. This meal was a reminder that even after winning big and feeling invincible, some risks just aren't worth taking. My investments are soaring, my new accessories are fabulous, but my taste buds? They took an unnecessary and profound hit. Next time, I'll stick to making money, not wasting it...

If there was a way to put 0 stars I would. My group of 5 went here because we saw such great reviews and we were very excited to try this place out. We got there and saw that they were busy but since they only said 25-30 minutes for a wait we had no problem with that. We still hadn't been called around that time mark so we checked in and they kept telling us they weren't ready. After over an hour and 15 minutes and watching several people who got there after us go inside we approached the host stand again to ask what was going on. They asked for our name and when they looked for us they said our name wasn't on the list. Somehow we had magically been taken off and when the manager approached she couldn't give an explanation either or an apology but said she would get us seated right away. We waited another 10 minutes for a table and when we finally sat down and our server got to us we told him we were a bit frustrated and hungry and the man had the nerve to say it was "God's will this had worked out this way, but we would turn the day around." We immediately ordered since we were starving and they had no ham and for every topping you wanted to add to an omelet was a $1 up charge plus they only had bottled drinks, and we paid $4 for a bottle of water. After he came back to deliver our EXTREMELY over priced bottles of water he started up with an attitude and when we would ask him things even proceeded to roll his eyes at us when we spoke. I only wish he had said his name so no one would have to have him wait on them, especially because he didn't check on us one time while we ate, but just to deliver our check. When the manager approached to ask us how our food was we said it was good but explained our situation and instead of apologizing she went around in circles and dismissed us and said normally people wait 2 hours but we let her know then they shouldn't have told us a shorter time and let us know sooner something was up since we checked in several times. When we asked again how we ended up off of the list she again said she had no idea. Having good food doesn't dismiss that fact that these people didn't take ownership of their mistakes and even have the decency to apologize. 10/10 don't recommend going unless you want...