Kitty Dare — Restaurant in Atlanta

TLDR: I would 100% come back for wine and charcuterie and possibly some cheesecake, but I can make these entrees and apps better at home

Came for a member of our dinner club's birthday and got to try several dishes.

Apps were decent. The broccolini + burrata tasted fresh but needed at least a touch of acid and salt. Tunisi Eggplant was lovely. We ordered 2 caesers for the table. The anchovies were phenomenal on the salad.

I ordered a piccolo charcuterie board for myself and my boyfriend. I usually don't order boards because they're upcharged and served with stale bread, nuts, and a lack of condiments. This board (which I read every review beforehand) blows most others out of the water. The meat sourced from Spotted Trotter was top notch per usual. The cheeses were good and plentiful. But the accouterments elevated the charcuterie to a great value. Fried olives, honey comb, bread - all great. The relish? Maybe spice it up and infuse some of that good ole Mediterranean coriander into it. Either way, we made the others jealous they didn't raise their hand when I asked for a charcuterie head count 😂

Sidenote: I found the random 2 pieces of bread with nduja to be strange and unshareable. Would've love more (it's my favorite item from Spotted Trotter) but it's not available as a meat option on the board.

Entrees were... ok. Nothing more. I personally ordered the gnocchi. I liked the addition of crunchy chickpeas to add textural contrast to a usually 1-texture dish, but the lamb ragu felt like it should've simmered on the stove for another 2 hours. It was, as another reviewer put it, sloppy joe-esque.

Shrimp Bucatini was surprisingly bland. I'll note that our whole table asked for salt & lemons for most entrees, but the bucatini needed it the most. I make pasta once a week, usually cacio e pepe, and maybe I'm too pretentious and too good at what I do, but I wouldn't even serve this to my boyfriend if I had made it like this. The bread/pistachio crumbs were too wet and not flavorful. Pasta was a bit dry and stiff-not al dente. Some shrimp were good, some overcooked. All of it heavily improved by squeezing 2 wedges of lemon.

The Crispy Arroz was anything but, though I still enjoyed this one the most. Not sure why it's called "crispy" when it's basically a big jumbalaya soup. Homey and flavorful. No lemon or salt needed! Maybe not worth the price. I also don't see a need for prosciutto in this dish.

I'll give a dessert rundown too since we tried them all: -Creme Brulee (7/10) -Knafeh (5/10) - too soggy & syrupy -Rice Pudding (3/10) - no one at the table liked this except for me & probably because I like weird foods. It's definitely a "weird food". My friend said it tasted like a dessert you would eat on a wooden boat. -Cheesecake (10/10), no notes/a perfect dessert (and as a cheesecake hater too) -Fior di Latte gelato (8/10)

I'm on dry January so I skipped ordering drinks and tried around the table. All good, but nothing exceptional. The wines were great, though.

Upon splitting everything, cost came out to about $75 per person, which I think is a good value to have tried all we did, just unfortunate some dishes didn't live up...

Everything at Kitty Dare is SO GOOD! The food, service, ambience, free and easy street parking (which is so rare in ATL!) - really everything about Kitty Dare makes it my #1 pick for a large variety of occasions - a dinner for a large group, or an intimate group.

I had a reservation for about 8 people - it was very easy to book online. I had to call to ask some questions. Someone answered immediately, and was extremely helpful and accommodating of my needs.

We were seated immediately for our reservation - a long very comfortable table. Restaurant is gorgeous - love the tiles, great ambiance for a lovely long dinner to catch up with friends. The music is the perfect volume, great jazz music that's the perfect backdrop.

We had a round of drinks (the G&T is so refreshing and aromatic!) and had some appetizers to share. The charcuterie board is huge, and amazing - someone said they could order a whole board for dinner instead of getting a entrée and would be very happy. The fried olives on the board is a standout - crispy tempura-ish coating - so good. We also got the labneh (sumac, pomegranates, olives) with the house made barbari bread (the bread is AMAZING) as well as the dip trio (all the dips were delicious).

Everyone was happy with their entrees - my catch of the day salmon and lemon zest risotto was AMAZING. The best piece of salmon I've ever had. We also had the bebere chicken, the bucatini and shrimp, the cavatelli alla genovese. All the dishes really highlighted the Mediterranean Italian fusion Kitty Dare does.

We were pretty full, but had an eye on desserts. The white chocolate and pistachio cheesecake is SO good - very rich and sweet, but perfect for those who want a traditional dessert. We also got the cardamom orange creme brulee (very aromatic, loved the orange flavor really came through) and the saffron and dates panna cotta (I LOVED this one, the texture was amazing and it comes with crunchy chocolate and cookie crumbles).

When we finally wrapped up, we were surprised at how easy it was to split the check (a lot of places give you a hard time but Kitty Dare made it really easy and didn't pressure us to do one check). The waiter had a card reader and everyone paid quickly.

All in all, we spent 2.5 hours at dinner - this is the perfect place to really enjoy a long meal with friends. I will be back!! The rest of the dessert menu is calling to me, and they update the...

Took my wife for her birthday dinner. Made sure it was in the reservation notes. Called ahead and made sure they knew as well. They assured me a quiet table and then sat us next to a party of 15 young women. Okay, small space, no big deal. Server was scattered from the moment she approached. After the water, she disappeared for a long while. We then ordered drinks and the labneh as an appetizer. I got my beer fairly quickly, about 10 minutes later the server came back and asked my wife what she ordered to drink again. Then it took about another 10 to 15 minutes for her drink to come out. So about 30-45 mins for a glass of sangria, which I’m sure they make in bulk and simply need to pour into a glass. The labneh appetizer was for all intents and purposes plain cream cheese with some pomegranate seeds. Bland and uninspiring in every way. We were finally able to order a Cesar salad to split. My wife ordered a pasta dish (not really Mediterranean) and I order the caciao Pepe risotto add chicken (also not really Mediterranean). This place says it’s a Mediterranean restaurant? Caesar never arrived, well it did but that was after our entrees had been at the table for more than 5 minutes. We told our server when she delivered our entrees we no longer wanted it but they attempted to bring it to our table twice more, perhaps ensuring we would have to pay for it? My wife’s entree came out cold and my risotto was extremely salty. I can say the chicken which was served on the side was delicious. In the end, they simply served us the check and had us pay the bill. Keep in mind that we had seen the table next to us get delivered a birthday desert with a candle in it while we were sat in the beginning. So it was clear that they simply don’t read notes or care! I had been talking this menu up for a week to my wife for her birthday, telling her it was going to be amazing, only to look like an ass and be completely wrong. My wife obviously doesn’t blame me but this place has so much work to do. I can’t fathom where the good reviews come from. They should transition using their chicken into a high end chicken sandwich place. They and all of us would be...