Ecco Midtown — Restaurant in Atlanta

Just wow.

I had always heard about Ecco and walked past it a dozen times while I was a student at Georgia Tech, but on a college student budget, I never dared to walk in. Thus, I was super excited to hear that my first corporate team happy hour would be at Ecco.

I'm a responsible adult, so I had one cocktail: Long Live the Queen. I remember taking a sip and thinking "This is one of the best cocktails I've ever had." However, I rarely order cocktails for myself at restaurants, so I can't really compare to nice cocktails at other locations. Very delicious if you like slightly sweeter beverages, though.

Although we had to wait about an hour to get seats (no reservations for a large group), the service was excellent. Very attentive with great recommendations. We ordered a variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts for the table (appetizers and entrees paired with different wines that I know nothing about). I'll focus on the food:

Appetizers Cured Meats & Cheeses: I honestly have no idea what meats and cheeses we ordered, but everything was amazing! I think I tried almost every combination of our meats and cheeses with the complementary bread. A great way to share an appetizer with a large group of people. Piquillo Peppers: Pretty tasty. Peppers stuffed with braised beef. It doesn't stand out in my memory, so it wasn't anything I'd tell everyone to order. Fried Goat Cheese: Okay. Everyone talks about this for a reason. It's amazing. If you like cheese, order it! The combination of the sweet honey with the cheese is the best thing ever! Cheese paired with any appropriate sweet always wins my heart over.

Entrees / Sides Trout: I forget the full menu item name, but the trout was delicious. After filling myself with meats and cheeses, I wanted a lighter entree, and trout was perfect. Very soft, not too salty, but good flavors and delicious. A good choice for anyone looking for something lighter or healthier. Pommes Frites: Aka french fries. If you like potatoes, just get it. Definitely big enough to share among at least 2-3 people (we shared among about 7 people). Roasted Cauliflower: I usually don't love cauliflower, but oh my gosh. Probably one of my favorite vegetable sides for the day.

Dessert Olive Oil Ice Cream with Chocolate & Sea Salt: This is really interesting... Most of the people at the table got this simply for the uniqueness. I personally was not a fan, because it really does taste kind of like olive oil. It does do well when the bites have more chocolate. Although I'm not a fan, I don't think it's disgusting or anything. It just felt weird for me. Give a shot if you like trying new things! Cocoa Nib Ice Cream with Chocolate Magic Shell: My choice of ice cream. Chocolate ice cream with little specks of cocoa nibs and a chocolate shell. Great for chocolate lovers. I actually don't like chocolate ice cream too much (I prefer vanilla), but I still finished this. I just love the combination of textures that the cocoa nibs and chocolate shell add. Opera Cake: I remember sampling this off of my co-workers plate, and I thought it was good, but not as rich as I expected. Relatively light if my memory serves me right. Nothing extraordinary, because it doesn't really stand out in my memory.

There were a few more sides we ordered, but I don't recall their names, and I cannot find them on the online menu.

Overall, a great restaurant for both drinks and food. The pizza also looked amazing! I am definitely going to return to try more of their menu! There's complementary valet available at...

I made reservations for my birthday to come here (option to mark reason for visit in reservation). We arrived early and were seated by the time of our reservation. The place was packed on a Monday evening. We would have waited at the bar had there been a seat at the bar- there were literally none. Which, great for the place, glad they are busy, but just don't arrive around 7-8 thinking you'll be able to grab a drink. Or server was pleasant and present without being overbearing. He made good recommendations and answered all my questions. The fried goat cheese wasn't what I was expecting. It's like a funnel cake exterior in honey, with a goat cheese interior. Good, but just know what you're getting so you can fully enjoy them. The charcuterie board was great, I would get it again. I got the duck, and I love duck, and I'm used to getting an almost oily full flavored meat. Maybe it's because it was smoked (I love smoked foods) but the duck was a little tough and tasted more like smoked turkey to me. It was good, but not what I was expecting. Next time I'll go with one of the flatbreads. My husband got the smoked pork chop and it was great. I got the broccolini and it was pretty good, had a real nice char flavor to it. My husband got the artichoke side and he said it was a great blend of sweet and savory and a good compliment to the pork chop. Both our cocktails were great, I got the Mayan medicine, a mezcal cocktail. It was very smooth and the honey, lemon and ginger weren't overpowering, and the rye whiskey really mellowed out the mezcal while retaining the smoke flavors. I was thrilled that the seasonal gelato was "sweet cream" so I got the affogatto dessert- the espresso was also good. The gelato was fantastic. My husband pointed out that the decor was "curtains" but the furniture was nice and there's an open kitchen. The servers wear white dress shirts and jeans with an apron. The manager wore a flannel with jeans. I'm all for comfort but it did seem to clash with what felt like an upscale restaurant. It didn't detract from my experience, but just was apparent enough for me to take notice of it. I would come back for the cocktails and to try a few other of the appetizers. I would say you can't really go wrong ordering all of those and...

A great date night. We were going to The Fox Theatre and wanted to eat nearby. We parked between the two and it was an easy walk. Arrived a few minutes prior to our reservation and were seated immediately. The decor is nice, comfortable upscale modern. The service was impeccable Harold, our waiter took plenty of time to familiarize us with the menu, make suggestions for wine pairing with our meal. He was very knowledgeable, attentive and amiable. We started with the fried goat cheese and foccacia. Both were very good. I'm not always a huge fan of goat cheese, but this was spectacular. It was deep fried balls of cheese, about the size of a ping-pong balls, covered in honey and course ground black pepper. Absolutely delicious! We shared the apple, grape and arugula salad, also very good. For our main course I opted for the sea scallops. Portion was small, but after the starters, it was plenty. Also, our waiter explained that there were just 3 scallops in this course, totalling 6 oz. Flavors were fresh and complex. The vegetables / sunchokes added excitement to the dish while the scallops were perfectly cooked and tasted fresh, sweet and delicious. My husband got the papparedelli pasta with pork marinated in a tomato sauce. It reminded me of some of the best linguine bolognese I've ever had... loaded with fresh basil, it was pure comfort food. Not what I would have ordered, but I'm probably going to crave it daily. Even though we didn't need dessert, we still had plenty of time to spare, and we're so glad that was the case. I ordered the chocolate torte with cream and apricots. AMAZING! Rich, perfect amount of sweetness, generous portion. I couldn't possibly finish it. Just perfect... my husband got the Bee Sting cake... This was pure heaven!!! It was delicate yet loaded with flavor, great textures, and a wonderful complement to my chocolate cake... I also had a cappuccino, which was very good, but tiny. It was probably just 4 or 5 oz, but had rich esspresso and great foam. I could have easily consumed 3. Overall, it was a great night. Will definitely visit again. Price for everything noted above before tip was $137. Not a cheap meal, but it was...