Cooks & Soldiers — Restaurant in Atlanta

Dining at Cooks & Soldiers was an outright disaster, and not because of the food. The kitchen delivered an impressive 4.5-star meal, but the service was so shockingly bad it completely wrecked the experience.

A Promising Start That Meant Nothing: The evening began on a high note with an outstanding host—warm, engaging, and thoughtful enough to acknowledge our birthday celebration. His welcome set high expectations, making what followed all the more frustrating.

Service: A Complete Trainwreck (1/5) From the moment we sat down, the service was an unmitigated disaster. Our waitress, Josh, took a solid 8-10 minutes just to appear. She rattled off some recommendations but disappeared when we were ready to order. Another 8-10-minute wait before she finally returned.

Then came the agonizing cycle of neglect:

Club sodas with lime? 10-minute wait.

Straws? Another 8-10 minutes.

Extra butter for the bread? Forget it—it never showed up.

Dirty plates? Sat untouched for 10-13 minutes.

Dessert menu? We had to flag down another waitress just to get one.

Dessert order? Another long wait before our server resurfaced.

At no point did she check in on the food or acknowledge the ridiculous delays. It wasn’t just inattentiveness—it was a total absence of service.

The Food: The Only Saving Grace (4.5/5) The kitchen deserves better than the front-of-house staff they’re stuck with.

Mountain Bread – Wonderfully textured with a wild salt accompaniment that elevated it.

Bikini – A refined, elevated take on a grilled cheese sandwich, with Iberico ham adding depth.

Txangurro (Blue Crab) – Had potential, but the excessive breading and butter drowned out the crab rather than enhancing it.

Piquillo Relleno (Beef-Stuffed Peppers) – Well-balanced, though the grease from the beef should have been drained.

Pato (Sliced Duck Breast) – The duck was cooked flawlessly, though the portion was small.

Pulpo a la Gallega (Octopus) – A true standout, with perfect seasoning and execution.

Final Verdict: Service Destroyed This Meal There’s no getting around it—Cooks & Soldiers serves phenomenal food, but the appalling service makes it not worth the trip. Dining should be about more than just great flavors; it’s about hospitality, attentiveness, and a seamless experience.

Would I return? Not unless they overhaul their service completely. No meal, no matter how well-executed, is worth this level of...

I don't know how I missed writing a review for this spot. It's located in West Midtown. It's on the corner of 14th street and Howell Mill road. They offer valet parking located on the first level of the garage attached off of 14th street.

My sister and I opted to dine here on a Friday evening. We came in without reservations. I would NOT recommend doing this. While we were able to be seated in the bar area, you may not have the same luck.

Our server was awesome! He had a great personality. He advised us of his favorite items on the menu. I was already going to order 2 of his recommendations. when I came on a prior occasion I had the Bikini and it was the best grill cheese sandwich I have ever had in my entire life! The other option I had already picked out was the smoked mushroom toast. His third suggestion was the Gambas, which is a shrimp dish.

The food came out in no time. Our first dish to arrive was the smoked mushroom toast ( my favorite of the three dishes). The menu describes this dish as local mushrooms: black truffle, goat cheese crème fraiche, sourdough. The combination of all the flavors work. There is a slight taste of truffle that makes this dish special! It's a must try.

My next favorite item was the bikini. We did opt to get the vegetarian version of this dish. The traditional bikini does have pork in it. The vegetarian bikini description is white cheddar grilled cheese, black truffle, white bread. A little history on the bikini sandwich: it's a Barcelona classic pressed ham and cheese sandwich. It is named after the Bikini hall in Barcelona. Ok, now that we know where the name came from let's discuss how amazing the rendition from Cooks and Soldiers is. This sandwich is simple perfection! I don't know if it's the butter perfectly toasted in the head or the quality of the cheese, but this sandwich will have you wanting more!

While I also enjoyed the shrimp dish, it just does not compare to the first two I mentioned. However it is a solid dish and worth ordering.

Overall, this spot is one of my favorites in the city. It has a sexy ambiance with low lighting throughout, amazing food and recommendable service is provided. If you check it out, I can't imagine you being...

Fresh off watching Anthony Bourdain's San Sebastian episode, I jetsetted for the next best thing: Atlanta, and a visit to Cooks & Soldiers. Having now lived in Silicon Valley for two years (twas a Chicago resident prior), I've practically misplaced all memory of the ubiquity of the trendy casual, three dollar bill, rowdy dining room, small plates sharing, beautiful people dining scene. Cooks & Soldiers was a nice reminder.

It's a beautiful space with good food. With 8pm reservations, we chilled at the bar - hello, summery cocktails! - for a bit before getting the call to the big leagues. Seating was on the enclosed patio area, a nice offshoot area. Once ordered, food came promptly, a quicker than expected turn. No complaints here. I forget the first cocktail, but the house gin and tonic, a highlight of their drink menu, was good.

Two favorites for me were the bikini and the house charcuterie. First, the latter. It's hard to go wrong with a housemade charcuterie plate, well, anywhere, but especially hard at a place that does jamon iberico. I could've downed this whole plate by myself. Meanwhile, the bikini is essentially a glorified grilled cheese sandwich. But man, that jamon iberico...

The hongos y setas pintxo toast appears to be a top-seller on Yelp, but upon further review, I found it unmemorable. We also had the pato ahumado, which was better, and not just because duck confit is another auto-rec similar to jamon iberico. Another favorite of mine, the pulpo, was also done well here.

Overall, I keep scurrying back to a word from my first paragraph - ubiquity. Was Cooks & Soldiers good? Sure - it jumps the 4* star bar with ease. But with these types of places filling up Eater 38 lists all around the country, I'm left looking for the cut above when it comes to the pure trendy casual restaurants, and Cooks & Soldiers left me wanting a little bit more - a trip to San Sebastian,...