The Garden Room — Restaurant in Atlanta

Short review: 1 cocktail + 1 mocktail + $9 water + 2 small appetizers + 2 small entrees with no sides + 2 desserts + tip + parking totaled $325 and we left not feeling full or impressed.

Long review: I was really looking forward to going to this place for a long time because I think the concept is so cool. We ended up going for our anniversary.

First of all, it’s located inside the St. Regis hotel & the parking is not free. Our options were either valet (I believe that would have been $15 before the tip) or a paid parking garage. We did the garage and ended up paying $20 after being there for over 2 hours.

Upon walking inside, we felt underdressed. The vibe felt fancy & people were quite dressed up. The atmosphere and decor was nice and we were excited. We looked at the menu and assumed everything would be delicious, given the high prices and busy-ness of the place on a Wednesday evening. Our server was friendly and suggested some cocktails. We ordered 2 of them, they came out quickly, and were very pretty & yummy!

It was downhill from there. We asked about portion sizes of different dishes and noticed a theme of most of them being quite small, even things not labeled as appetizers. We were told that we should get 3-4 dishes per person which seemed outlandish, given the prices, but we assumed they must be exquisite. We ended up ordering the pork belly, scallops, lamb ragu, market fish, and the FM roche, & la vie en rose for dessert.

The pork belly & scallops came out first, together, and we got a feel for the small portions. The pork belly tasted good but not amazing and was the size of a small appetizer. The scallops were laughably tiny and were actually not even whole scallops.. they cut up scallops and mixed them with some other ingredients and put them onto some tiny seashells (I guess to be eaten like oysters?) which laid on a plate of very coarse salt that would coat the bottom of the seashell so you’d eat some with the dish. It felt like crunching sand and we didn’t really taste any scallops.

Then we waited for a really, really long time for the next dish. As we waited, we noticed that all the plants around us were fake, which took away from the ambience a bit, as well as the loud bumping techno music that sounded like the soundtrack at a club. Eventually our waiter came around and asked if we had gotten the lamb ragu yet, we said no, and he seemed slightly annoyed and said he would get the fish started right then as well. The ragu came out soon after that and was also a small portion. We also both felt it was overly salty but otherwise okay. We waited a long time again and noticed that we were barely getting refills of the $9 water we ordered - our glasses going empty for long periods of time. Eventually the market fish came out and we immediately noticed it too was overly salted but the sauce it came with was nice.

We were still hungry but didn’t want to order more because everything was clearly overpriced and we weren’t willing to spend so much time waiting for the dishes and then not even really enjoying them. We had already committed to getting desserts though.

The desserts were somewhat redeeming, I enjoyed eating the freeze-dried rose petals and the raspberry sorbet was excellent. I would still say it was overpriced for the small portion size though.

So, maybe I would come back here for cocktails and desserts, especially if I’m looking for a photo opp or someone else is paying. Otherwise I’m good with it being a one-time experience because it really was...

On Thursday, November 14, I visited The Garden Room with a friend to celebrate his birthday after dinner at Umi. Initially, everything was going well, and we were among the last guests to leave. I opened a tab with my card, enjoyed the night, and paid the final bill in cash before leaving.

However, the next day, I noticed a pending transaction for the full tab on my bank account. Thinking it was an error, I called the restaurant around 5 PM and spoke with a hostess. She explained that it was their peak hour, and a manager would call me back on Saturday during the day. I wasn’t upset and patiently provided all the necessary details.

Unfortunately, I never received a call. On Saturday evening, after waiting all day, I called again. Once more, the hostess gave me the same response—that a manager would contact me later. This time, I was understandably frustrated. I explained that I had been patient and requested a callback within the hour or I would show up in person.

This was a major inconvenience, as I was traveling, staying in the suburbs, and already had standing plans. Despite this, I had to Uber to Midtown(back and forth) only to find that the manager, Jenn—who was supposed to call me—did not want to meet me.

Instead, another manager, Tony, assisted me. To his credit, Tony was professional and did his best to make me feel comfortable, though he was unaware of the issue. I waited 45 mins (or so) for a resolution, only to be told that Jenn needed to contact corporate to retrieve the receipt and investigate further.

While waiting, I approached the bartender from that night and asked if he remembered me. He acknowledged that he did and confirmed that he used my card for the transaction. When I asked about the cash I left in the envelope, he initially gave me a blank stare and later claimed it was “only 40 bucks.” This interaction felt deceitful, especially since I had paid significantly more—$340.

I requested that Tony review the security footage, as $340 doesn’t simply vanish. Before leaving, Tony assured me that Jenn would reach out the following day (Sunday). I made it clear that I was no longer interested in a callback, but even so, Jenn never followed up.

Upon returning to my home state, I canceled my card and reported the transaction as fraudulent. I also want to note that I did not sign for the transaction, and my signature is distinct and cannot be replicated.

On Friday Nov 22nd, Jenn finally called with a lackluster apology, stating that corporate would reverse the transaction and that she would email me confirmation. As of today, I have yet to receive any such email.

This entire experience was handled poorly. For a situation involving over $300 or really any amount, it should have been addressed promptly. Whoever closed that night should have noticed an overage in the register. Jenn should have prioritized investigating the issue on Saturday morning as promised. The fact that this wasn’t done suggests a lack of accountability and raises serious concerns about the integrity of the staff, particularly the bartenders.

This experience has left me feeling cheated out of my time, money, and trust—not once but twice. I am thoroughly disappointed in the lack of professionalism and customer care. Upper management needs to be aware of the gross mishandling of this situation.

To anyone reading this: Avoid paying in cash at this establishment.

Thank you for such a distasteful, disastrous, and disappointing experience. I will not...

Went for our 25 year Wedding Anniversary this past Saturday and it was something new and enjoyable! First let me say that I did NOT know that the restaurant is INSIDE the St. Regis Hotel. Not a biggie, just good to know when you are looking for the place. We valet parked and it costs $15 validated from TGR. Not sure how much it would be if you didn't get it validated but it was worth it to walk right in the hotel. The TGR is upstairs and to the left past the Astor bar. You have to go at least once just to enjoy the Garden Room vibe. It is very unique and tastefully done! I had asked for a nice view and they accommodated and it was fun to people watch. They have a huge bar too which is nice. So we ordered drinks, a salad (they didn't have many options for green stuff - think they should add more.), and husband had the Short Rib and I got the Sea Bass. They don't have a huge menu nor a lot of sides - oh we noticed someone had ordered these Tater Tot things - we asked our server and they aren't on the menu but they do come with the caviar order and you can order them a la carte which we did. Husband's short rib was not hot and he should have sent it back but he was starving so he didn't. They don't really give full servings of say a starch with the entree - there was just a small portion of some puree (I forget what). It was good, but for $65, it should have been hot. My sea bass, on the other hand, was PERFECT! It had this most unique and yummy sauce that they poured around it - kind of dark and I think had some miso but also something else - but it was phenomenal! Again - no starch - it would have been great with some Jasmine rice! They had these cute little cut up veggies on top of the fish that were good. Tatiana did let me taste the wines that I ordered with out even having to ask which was nice. Oh - we did see someone getting this cool table-side presentation of Pasta Carbonara and she forgot to mention that to us! The presentation was super cool - it was prepared in this huge cheese wheel and the cream and pasta was added and the cheese...it looked delish! Now for dessert - we went with the Chocolate Rocher and while Tatiana was a great server - I told her that she undersold this one..(she did say it was one of her favorites)...but she didn't tell us that the Chocolate Ball is covered in gold food coloring and inside is like chocolate milk and when you crack it, it goes all over the vanilla ice cream and there are these chocolate crunchy things - DELICIOUS!!! If you like chocolate, definitely get this! We should have each gotten one! Also - they have this cool photo-op area with all the lush greenery, flowers, etc. so that is fun too! Would definitely go for a special occasion - you feel like it is special - not that you just spent a fortune and that the atmosphere was common. The reason for the 4 stars on the food is the lack of green veggie and side options and short rib was not heated through. Otherwise,...