Spondivits — Restaurant in East Point

SAVE YOUR MONEY! DO NOT DINE HERE! Ridiculously expensive, sub par food and food quality (nothing tastes fresh/quality. Even the lemonade and fountain coke was terrible), no ambience, dirty/cruddy establishment, sketchy “free” parking situation (trust me, you end up paying for it given the extremely elevated prices for the poor quality food), meager food portions, sharing is discouraged, 4% charge for card payments (cash is encouraged. Who doesn’t use cards these days? And who walks around with as much cash as you’ll need to cover the huge bill?), no refund/compensation/returning of poor quality, poor tasting food, 18% gratuity (the nerve!), only high-top tables inside or sit outside in a booth, not kid-friendly (no booster chairs and no space to accommodate strollers unless you sit outside). THIS IS NOT AN ESTABLISHMENT THAT CARES about the quality of its food or its customers and their dining experiences. I am afraid to do further research on their food quality, cleanliness and health inspection grade. This is very clearly a bold, shameless, offensive money grab.

Dined here on a rare, random, impulsive week-day night out with hubby, toddler and baby. Hubby had been years prior, likes seafood, and said it was good; I had no time to read recent reviews. Only seating option was outside since we had kids. Menu prices were alarming at first glance, but I assumed food quality would be great given the prices. Nope! And everything was an extra ridiculous charge (extra for butter, extra for old bay seasoning?!?!, extra for cheese, and not just a few cents extra…several dollars extra)…final bill was $201 (we didn’t even have drinks).

Ordered chicken tenders and fries for toddler… $38.95?!?!?!!!!, which was very oddly shaped but good; a very shallow “bowl” of clam chowder (extremely salty but otherwise flavorful)..$21.95; a Caesar salad (stale croutons, soggy tomatoes, browning lettuce, watered down dressing)…$18.95; a “deluxe platter” that came with coleslaw and tuna salad designed for 1 (not for sharing, but we shared) with an extra cost for butter and old bay seasoning and cheese on the oysters ($73.85) (shrimp were decent, crab legs were not fresh or even fresh tasting (rubbery shells), butter was blah despite the heap of seasoning/“herbs” included in it, coleslaw was HORRIBLE. I can’t even describe the taste. Not creamy, not sweet, not crunchy; tuna salad was HORRIBLE (too creamy, unidentifiable unexplainable taste…very much just YUCK for both), cocktail sauce was decent.

The only decent tasting food in our order was the oddly shaped but nicely battered and juicy/tender chicken tenders. To patronize a “seafood”restaurant and only enjoy the chicken tenders is sad sad sad. The waiter was pleasant and attentive, and amazingly, did not bat at an eye or give any negative facial response to our shock and reaction to what I’m sure she knows was very overpriced poor quality food. An owner or manager came by very briefly to ask if we were ok, but careful not to ask if we enjoyed our food, and left before we could even consider being honest (which my nice husband would not have wanted me to do).

We don’t get out much these days/nights with our small children. Given the effort it takes to get out, we do our best to make it count, make it worthwhile, without having to drive all the way downtown (we live in South Fulton) and fight traffic with 2 small kids in the car. We don’t mind paying if either the food or the ambience (or both) are worth it. We stayed only because of the effort it took to even make it out of the house for dinner. My God…what sad regret. I never leave reviews, good or bad (I don’t have the time), unless service is exceptional one way or the other. But this was exceptionally bad food, with exceptionally high prices. So here I am at 2:26 am leaving this review in hopes that no one wastes their precious time, effort and hard-earned money at this shameful establishment. Shame on the owners/operators, shame on the “chef(s)”, shame on the environmental/public health permitters and inspectors of this...

An Absolutely HORRIBLE and RIDICULOUS EXPERIENCE!!!!

We frequent the Spondivits restaurant when we desire a nice crab and seafood dining experience. My wife and I just ate dinner there days ago with one of our favorite couple friends.

So, today after we left the Atlanta Falcons game, I told my wife that a Spondivits seafood dinner would be nice, because our dinner last Monday was an excellent fullfilling experience. Today, our experience was not so enjoyable, nor was it exceptional.

The waitress came and asked what we wanted to drink. We gave her our drink order and we ordered our meal at that time too...since we already knew what we wanted to eat.

Our food came out within minutes, but the portions looked a little skimpy compared to before, seeing as how we were just there 6 days ago. So we asked our waiter for the manager. The manager came over and told us that our "order was the correct serving size."

Now I'm a little perplexed, because my plate was a lot heftier last Monday. I questioned the manager about the serving size from last Monday and she said, "I dont know what you were served but this is correct."

There was no apology, nor any attempt to validate my questions or concerns. It seems that she was just giving a quick response to justify her position. There was no customer service in her tone of voice, nor in the conversation.

I just continued to eat because it had been a long day and I was hungry. I started to dig into my crab legs and the ends of my clusters were ice cold. I checked my other clusters and the ends of those were cold also. I again asked for the manager to explain to her my food was cold. The manager tells us that's the way its supposed to be, and the clusters are normally warm at the top and cold on the ends. Again, she said, "That's normal, and plus, your food has been on your table for a minute, so that's probably why its cold"

(I want to know what pricey seafood restaurant in Atlanta serves seafood warm at the top of the clusters and cold on the ends. This response made no sense.)

I said, "My food has been on this this table for 2 minutes, and I've only had time to eat two shrimp." I'm now fed up with the manager's unprofessionalism, lack of customer service, and the overall experience. I tell my wife let's go and I ask the manager for 2 to-go boxes. She responds and says, "Well, I'm going to have to call the police." I said, "You're going to call the police? For what?"

I stated to the manager, "I never said that I wasn't paying for my food. I asked you for a to-go box!!!"

She then she says, "I'm not talking with you anymore and walks away from my table."

At this point I was done!!!! I could not believe she threatened to call the police in me. I then ask for another manager so I could file a formal complaint.

I'm sorry, but I don't typically sterotype, nor do I profile individuals, but I had to realize at this moment, where the establishment that I'm eating at is located. What side of Atlanta I'm in, and is this manager, named Vanessa, stereotyping me, based upon her experiences with past customers in this area. And yes, that's exactly what she was doing!!!

I will NEVER eat at Spondivits again. I have eaten here countless times over the last 23 years of living in Atlanta. Not only that, the drive to this restaurant is over an hour from my home.

PSA...Managers who don't know how to manage customers, we don't only come to a restaurant for just food, we patronize the establishment for the SERVICE and the overall experience. Please learn how to be gracious to those customers who sacrifice time and their day to travel to your restaurant. Customer Service and Management Training is severely needed!

This simple response would have been more appropriate, "Sir, l apologize your food is cold, and since this is not an acceptable way to serve food to our customers, let me get your food remade so it's hot and...

I am appalled and deeply disappointed by the lack of professionalism and integrity displayed during my visit to Spondivits on the evening of May 7 around 8 PM. I went with friends, looking forward to enjoying a good meal and relaxing atmosphere. Unfortunately, what I experienced was far from acceptable.

Our server, a young woman named Erin, took our orders. I specifically asked for a Crown Apple and cranberry—a drink I’m very particular about because Crown Apple is the only alcohol I drink. When Erin repeated the order back, she said “Crown and cranberry,” and I immediately corrected her by emphasizing that I requested Crown Apple. Despite that, the drink that arrived was clearly made with regular Crown, not Crown Apple. I took one sip and instantly knew it was wrong.

When I brought this to Erin’s attention, she followed protocol and notified the manager, Brandon. That’s when things took a turn for the worse.

Brandon approached the table with a bottle of Crown Apple in hand and insisted that my drink did contain Crown Apple, claiming that there was no regular Crown in the building at all. He even said, “I don’t drink—I haven’t had a drink in 13 years—but I’m not calling you a liar, you’re just mistaken.” That statement alone was incredibly condescending. I asked him or the bartender to taste the drink and verify it—he refused. I calmly reiterated that I know the difference, and that the drink was not made with Crown Apple. I left the drink on the edge of the table, disappointed and frustrated.

About ten minutes later, the bartender, Amira, approached me with a new drink in hand and a sincere apology. She explained that she had just opened a fresh bottle of Crown Apple, and wanted me to taste it. Sure enough, that was the drink I had originally ordered.

This proved everything I had said from the beginning. Brandon was completely wrong—there was clearly regular Crown available behind the bar, and he insisted otherwise. Not only did he argue with a customer, but he also effectively called me dishonest, and refused to take proper steps to verify the situation. Instead of investigating with the staff or simply admitting a possible mistake, he chose to dig his heels in and create unnecessary tension. Even though he eventually returned to apologize, the damage was done. His apology felt hollow and far too late after doubling down and treating me like I didn’t know what I was talking about.

On the other hand, Erin and Amira handled the situation gracefully. Erin alerted the bartender, and Amira took responsibility and corrected the error—as any good professional should.

This experience highlights a bigger issue with the way Spondivits enforces its policies. While I understand and respect that a business can have firm rules, there must be room for accountability. Mistakes happen. But when management is more interested in defending the establishment than listening to the customer or seeking the truth, that’s a problem.

To Spondivits: do better. You lost my trust and my respect tonight. There are too many seafood spots in Atlanta that serve great food without the arrogance and without the rigid, dismissive attitude toward their customers. And to Brandon: learn how to speak to people. Learn how to investigate concerns instead of assuming your guests are wrong. It’s called customer service.

I paid for my food and my drink—but I couldn’t wait to write this review. This experience was unacceptable, and I hope it prompts a serious look at how your management team handles conflict and...