Chops & Lobster Bar — Restaurant in Atlanta

Extremely LOUD! That put a damper on the evening from the start. We were a party of 6 seated at a 60” round table that could easily accommodate a party of 8-10, so I was 5' from my daughter across from me. Even hearing my husband, who was sitting next to me, was difficult. You could not carry on a conversation at the table without yelling, which was exhausting. I couldn't hear the waiter unless he was standing beside me & bending down. I am glad my parents (who are in their mid-70s) couldn't join us. They would've been miserable. My expectations of dining at an expensive restaurant go hand-in-hand with a calm, classy ambience. That's certainly not Chops. It's become more of an overpriced bar for wearing whatever they want. They have a lax dress code which doesn't add to the ambience. You have some men in sports coats & ties and others in plain t-shirts & jeans. Children arrived wearing athletic shorts & t-shirts. (That didn't bother me as much as seeing grown men wearing sneakers and t-shirts.) While our waiter was friendly, the overall service was hit and miss. There were times my water glass was overflowing (literally at the top rim, which was weird) & other times when we sat w/empty glasses. The crumbs were scraped off in one spot (one time), but not others. It was tough getting the attention of the waitstaff because of the noise. Given the prices, I would expect a more refined, polished level of service. It seemed scattered, for lack of a better word. Maybe sitting in the middle of a crowded area next to the wait station made it worse? (That said, they did acknowledge our special occasion, which we indicated when booking the reservation on Open Table. For that I am thankful.)

The food was also hit and miss, which was the real shame. After dining at Chops on and off for the past 35 years, I was very excited to introduce my children to the fried lobster tail. In the past, it was light and flaky and extremely flavorful. Truly, it's one of the reasons I was glad to return. Unfortunately, the lobster tail we had was heavily breaded, overcooked, and WAY too salty. We ate them because, well, they cost $44 per tail, but we all reflected that they just weren't that good. The salt overpowered any of the flavor of the lobster. And our steaks were also not up to par. My daughter, who ordered her steak medium, received a medium well filet mignon. She didn't complain, but instead used the butter and honey mustard served with the lobster to add moisture and flavor to her steak. My NY Strip was also overcooked. I ordered it medium knowing I could send it back if it wasn't cooked enough, but it came out well done. Again, I didn't complain because you can't "uncook" a steak and I didn't want to embarrass my family by speaking up, but that was pretty disappointing given the $66 price tag for the 12 oz. steak. My husband's steak was cooked as ordered, which he enjoyed.

Now to the positive -- the appetizers! The Maryland Style crab cake was delicious! Lots of lump crab meat and very little filler and breading. Perfect! And the calamari was the best I've ever had. Very flavorful! My adult children, who have pretty refined palates, enjoyed the steak tartare, which was prepared at the table.

We also ordered six sides, with a shout out to the creamed spinach, Yukon gold potato mash, and, especially, the corn mash. I would skip the green beans and broccolini, though they were "okay." The mac and cheese was disappointing. It just didn't have much flavor.

Drinks were fine, though a bit overpriced. I would recommend the Paloma over the Peachtree Peach, which was very sweet and not very strong. Would I return? I'm not sure. If so, I would just sit at the bar and order a few delicious appetizers. As far as dinner, there are too many restaurants at the same price point that provide a more refined dining experience. This place is best suited to someone dining on their company's expense account. The staff was friendly-enough, but I left feeling like the money spent didn't live up to...

Two reasons why I dropped two stars.

#1The menu is very expensive overall. The less expensive items are smalls that won’t get you full or not as attractive as the most expensive items on purpose. It’s hard for two people to get two full meals for under $100. Valet, drinks, appetizers, desserts will run the ticket up easy. Can’t blame anyone for creating a menu that pushes you to desire the more expensive item, one would say that’s good marketing. To be close to $150 per person is not realistic for most people to eat here often. getting quality food for less at other places challenges your thought of why would I continue to spend more money here and get less food when I could get more food for less $$. The drinks are elevated pricing also. I can understand drinks being more expensive than food-if the food is fair priced, people will buy more drinks. we all know a crazy markup is on alcohol so you’ll make your money there.

#2My wife had on a plain sweater with a small lizard logo on it the size of a small polo logo. As we were checking in for our reservation, the manager tapped a front door security person and pointed at my wife. The security person told my wife she couldn’t enter with that sweater on. Many European guest were sitting with plain T-shirts/sweaters. Knowing where we are in the city, I felt some discrimination as I’ve felt before in this area which made us uncomfortable. She took off the sweater and had a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt on and she put on my scarf and we were seated. In my opinion, the T-shirt was less fitting for dress code. Even if the food is good, you obviously lose a star for discomfort and another star for extremely high pricing. Some people would have just left or rated you 1-Star. Treat everyone well, have less complaints, more money and better ratings and you can still not like me. It’s easy!

It’s tough to give this place three star after tasting the food. The wine and drinks were strong, but my friends Remi and Coke was $63, unbelievable. Bread Pudding 10/10 Warm deliciousness, I could taste the rum, perfect texture-so good. Onion Rings-10/10 So fresh and perfectly cooked. Asparagus/Baked Potato/Brussels & Mushroom, free bread and side salad 10/10 perfectly cooked and seasoned. At $12 each for sides, they could easily be $8-$9. The crab cake and Grouper was delicious-light and fresh 10/10. We managed to get out of here spending $175 for two as luckily we found free street parking or we would have been at the $200 mark after paying valet. The couple with us bill was $300. I’m not hating on anyone who can afford to eat here often. The service was premium-new plates and new forks every time as well as combing the table to remove crumbs. High-level experience! I know for quality experience the price will be elevated to cover rent prices and service. The inside space isn’t as large as I thought (a box) so it feels like you are sitting somewhat close to others when it’s packed, and the noise level gets pretty loud when it’s packed and hard to hear anyone at our table without talking loud also. As people cleared the noise level subsided. Accommodating restrooms. Many celebrities have eaten here, their pictures on the wall near...

Planned my mothers 60th Birthday lunch with Chops & Lobster Bar Atlanta 2 1/2 weeks before her birthday which is the day after Christmas 12/26. With it being the day after and some businesses being closed to spend time with their loved ones I called to make the reservations just to be sure they were open. I spoke with a young lady whom was very polite and told her that I would like to make reservations for 12:30pm on 12/26/2023. She immediately put me on hold for a few minutes then came back and verified the time was 12:30pm on 12/26/2023 to which I responded "Yes I wanted to make sure that you guys would be open with it being the day after Christmas" she then responded "oh yes we are open! I just verified that's why I placed you on hold to make sure." She asked if there was an special occasion that was bringing us in and I informed her it was my mothers 60th birthday and she asked for her name. We book and everything is good. I get a confirmation text the day of booking the reservation and also a confirmation on Christmas day to confirm the reservation in which I confirmed. I tell her that I have this big surprise for her and we get all dressed up(I had previously made arrangements for 60 Roses to be delivered with her gift to the restaurant at 1:15pm) and we get to the restaurant and they are closed and do not open until 5 or 6 for dinner. The excitement and delight that she had on her face as we approached Chop ATL quickly subsided when she found out that we would not be able to have our lunch as planned. Not to mention the flowers and gift were not able to be received on her birthday but 2 days after because we were not that the restaurant when they were to be delivered and in the mix of trying to find somewhere else to eat I had totally forgotten to call and try to have the delivery changed/postponed until after we had already arrived at another establishment to have her birthday meal. Which became a even bigger headache because it was unable to be delivered, so she had to wait until the delivery could be rescheduled which didn't happen until 12/28/23. This whole ordeal could have been avoided had I been informed that they would only be opening for dinner on 12/26 instead I was booked for a time that they were closed not only with a live hostess from the restaurant but also was sent an electronic conformation text to confirm the reservation. This was very disappointing and ruined a part of what was supposed to be a special day for my mother with her turning 60 being a special milestone. I didn't get a call or email or anything apologizing for the mistake that was made on the companies end or anything. I'm not sure if I was the only person that experienced this but as much money as I spend with the company I would think I would have gotten at least an apology it through the whole day off as thing were planned...