North Italia — Restaurant in Atlanta

Alright, North Italia at Lenox — thank you for whatever this was. As a European, I came with reasonable expectations: olive oil that doesn’t taste like motor oil, a pasta that remembers it should be pasta, and a bolognese that, you know, actually contains meat. What I received instead was an earnest attempt at “Italian-themed” food as interpreted by someone who once saw a photo of Italy on Instagram.

Starter: arugula + avocado salad. Calling it a salad is generous — this was a velvet-clad calorie ambush. Somewhere between a bowl and a small engine, it clocked in at about 500 calories and felt like it. The arugula was doing its best, the avocado was doing its worst, and together they made a very fashionable train wreck. If you’re counting calories or dignity, bring a calculator.

Main: the ‘bolognese’. Oh sweet summer child. Traditional bolognese is a proud, slow-simmered declaration of beef and depth. What arrived looked like lasagna that had given up on life, been sliced into sad ribbons, and tossed in a sauce that sprinkled the faintest hint of meat like it owed somebody money. The texture made it impossible to differentiate pasta from protein — not because of any culinary mystery, but because there simply wasn’t enough meat presence to justify the name. Call it “pasta with a vague memory of Bolognese” and we’d all be honest.

Portions? Hearty. Authenticity? Elastic. Flavor? Present in the broad, suggestive way of someone whispering a recipe to you from across the room. It’s calorific theatre with very little substance. If you want comforting, carefully calibrated Italian food, go elsewhere. If you want Instagram-friendly plates that look like they could star in a chain-restaurant rom-com, enjoy.

Final thoughts: North Italia at Lenox is not Italian — it’s a bold reinterpretation of Italian through the lens of unlimited butter, indecision, and caffeine. I appreciate the effort, I enjoy theatre, but I also like my pasta to know what it is. Not impressed — but I’ll give them credit for the bread....

We have come here for 2 years on our mom and daughter dates❤️❤️❤️! Everytime the food is AMAZING, the noodles are homemade, my favorite is the bolognese, spicy vodka. The salads are amazing (kale salad super green and good) and dessert--the gelatoooo omgggggg! But most of all, THE STAFF---the staff is our absolute favorite. Everytime they treat us like family, they recognize us and are just so so so so kind, accommodating, helpful, and they talked about the menu options knowledgeablely (experts on it), the desert menu, truly everything you would want in a restaurant!!! My mom and I love fashion, and us girls love the amazing women here serving kindness, wonderulness and LOOKS HONEY! long long story short, they are fabulous. Special shout out to Brea, our wonderful server who was so wondeful, always bringing me more hot water for my tea :) and reccomending the best options for u! Special shout out to Aja our other amazingggf server, who was fabulous, she was new and you wouldn't know it, she knew all the menu option like the back of her hand, she just crushed it! Then our girl Shaelisha!!!!! Shaelisha is the BEST host, like omg, setting the tables up so beautifully, being the coolest, the funest, and just THE BEST (also serving looks!!! Like go girl! Lets be honest all the girl were SERVING🔥-- beautiful inside and out 💖🙏). Finally Mo, MO is the manger and was kind enough to take photos of us girl together ❤️! When we talked to him he just raved about how amazing his staff was, and giving them all the credit for their amazing work-- what a great leader! I can see why everytime we come here the staff is amazing, the food is super and the location is beautifully set and clean (bathrooms, walkways, etc are always clean)!!! Thank you Mo, Shaelisha, Brea and Aja (and all other staff) for making our experience so wonderful and just making our day, truly I am grateful for you, thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️❤️❤️! You all...

This restaurant was absolutely incredible from the moment we walked in until we left. My husband and I have 5 (well behaved) children and we usually get “the look” when entering a restaurant (we’re used to it but it’s almost expected at this point), so I didn’t expect to be greeted by the friendliest hostess AND she commented on our kids, which doesn’t seem like a big deal but most people usually don’t say anything, so it was a big deal to me. 🙂 We sat at a big booth with a window into the kitchen, so you could see everyone working, preparing and cooking food. Our waiter was kind and attentive. The food was AMAZING. If you are looking for delicious Italian food, absolutely come here. At some point during our visit, our very shy 3-year-old was intrigued by everyone in the kitchen and had turned around to watch them. But what we were unaware of is she had been playing a game of peek-a-boo with the chef, and when we realized it, he was all in, playing with her and hiding behind boxes and even people, then popping up to surprise her and she loved it. Like I said, we have 5 kids and they don’t usually receive much attention from staff so the fact that the chef was doing this, it meant so much to me. 🥹 Kindness goes so far and we were definitely shown so much of it. We asked for a dessert menu and while we were looking at what to order, the chef brings out 5 gelatos for our kids AND then a butter cake for my husband and me to share. I just couldn’t believe it. I know this won’t be the case for every person that visits this restaurant, but the point of the story is that the people working here are incredibly friendly, attentive, kind, courteous and went above and beyond their normal duties. There aren’t a lot of places that can say that about their staff. Thank you for a wonderful, memorable lunch that we thought was going to be just another lunch. It was so much more...