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Review - My 8/22 Atlanta Visit: 3 out of 10

NDallasRuss

HR Legend
Dec 5, 2002
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31,339
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I've been to Atlanta many times before. This review is specific to my visit yesterday.

The good:

The hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Midtown that was pretty nice. In a strange twist, the shower in my room had almost too much water pressure. Unfortunately it was coming from a square shower head - like the big waterfall shower heads, but coming out from the wall, rather than overhead. It was aimed right at my chest and largely unmovable.

The airport. Despite how busy it is, I like how it's set up. From the sky trains to the terminal trains to security to the gates, everything seemed to be designed and operating very smoothly and accommodated the crazy number of people cycling through there.

The bad:

The shooting. There was a shooting close enough to our office to activate out company's warning system, so we all got texts/calls during our meetings that there was an active incident. We watched out the windows as the helicopters hovered overhead. We found out later that a woman (a disgruntled ex-employee of another audit/consulting firm) had shot three people, killing two of them.


The steak. We went to a place called STK for dinner. It's a trendy, expensive steak place. We were pretty disappointed. They were playing pop/dance music louder than they really needed to. A couple of us ordered old fashioneds and they were not good. My ($95!!) steak, rather than the medium-rare I'd requested, was more like a medium+. So I had to send it back so they could try again. The second time around was a little better, but still seemed closer to medium than medium rare.


So there you have it. NDallasRuss' value-added review for the day! I'm sure you're all a little better off now! Tune in next time when I regale you with tales of my trip to the grocery store or maybe a suspenseful "who was that walking by my house?!".
 
I've been to Atlanta many times before. This review is specific to my visit yesterday.

The good:

The hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Midtown that was pretty nice. In a strange twist, the shower in my room had almost too much water pressure. Unfortunately it was coming from a square shower head - like the big waterfall shower heads, but coming out from the wall, rather than overhead. It was aimed right at my chest and largely unmovable.

The airport. Despite how busy it is, I like how it's set up. From the sky trains to the terminal trains to security to the gates, everything seemed to be designed and operating very smoothly and accommodated the crazy number of people cycling through there.

The bad:

The shooting. There was a shooting close enough to our office to activate out company's warning system, so we all got texts/calls during our meetings that there was an active incident. We watched out the windows as the helicopters hovered overhead. We found out later that a woman (a disgruntled ex-employee of another audit/consulting firm) had shot three people, killing two of them.


The steak. We went to a place called STK for dinner. It's a trendy, expensive steak place. We were pretty disappointed. They were playing pop/dance music louder than they really needed to. A couple of us ordered old fashioneds and they were not good. My ($95!!) steak, rather than the medium-rare I'd requested, was more like a medium+. So I had to send it back so they could try again. The second time around was a little better, but still seemed closer to medium than medium rare.


So there you have it. NDallasRuss' value-added review for the day! I'm sure you're all a little better off now! Tune in next time when I regale you with tales of my trip to the grocery store or maybe a suspenseful "who was that walking by my house?!".
Steak in Atlanta? That's a big no, bro! Sorry about your horse meat.
 
I've been to Atlanta many times before. This review is specific to my visit yesterday.

The good:

The hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Midtown that was pretty nice. In a strange twist, the shower in my room had almost too much water pressure. Unfortunately it was coming from a square shower head - like the big waterfall shower heads, but coming out from the wall, rather than overhead. It was aimed right at my chest and largely unmovable.

The airport. Despite how busy it is, I like how it's set up. From the sky trains to the terminal trains to security to the gates, everything seemed to be designed and operating very smoothly and accommodated the crazy number of people cycling through there.

The bad:

The shooting. There was a shooting close enough to our office to activate out company's warning system, so we all got texts/calls during our meetings that there was an active incident. We watched out the windows as the helicopters hovered overhead. We found out later that a woman (a disgruntled ex-employee of another audit/consulting firm) had shot three people, killing two of them.


The steak. We went to a place called STK for dinner. It's a trendy, expensive steak place. We were pretty disappointed. They were playing pop/dance music louder than they really needed to. A couple of us ordered old fashioneds and they were not good. My ($95!!) steak, rather than the medium-rare I'd requested, was more like a medium+. So I had to send it back so they could try again. The second time around was a little better, but still seemed closer to medium than medium rare.


So there you have it. NDallasRuss' value-added review for the day! I'm sure you're all a little better off now! Tune in next time when I regale you with tales of my trip to the grocery store or maybe a suspenseful "who was that walking by my house?!".

I didn’t enjoy STK either. Definitely overhyped and overcharging. It’s not even in the same tier as Bern’s in Tampa, Chandler’s in Boise, Peter Luger’s in NYC, St Elmo in Indianapolis, Cattlemen’s in OKC etc…

Between STK, whatever the expensive rotating restaurant is in the heart of downtown, and a ridiculously overpriced izakaya in Buckhead, I’ve had more bad yet insanely priced meals in Atlanta than anywhere else. New Orleans it is NOT!
 
Sounds like a bit of a rough trip.

You know there's a Four Seasons right by there in midtown? Are you not a HORT'er?

STK? Maybe in Vegas. If you want great steak in Atlanta, go to Bone's or Hal's. They're as good as just about any steakhouse in the country. The people-watching in Hal's is world-class, as well.

That shooting was crazy. It happened at 1100 Peachtree......I used to work at 1155 Peachtree. Glad you were okay. Pew pew.
 
I didn’t enjoy STK either. Definitely overhyped and overcharging. It’s not even in the same tier as Bern’s in Tampa, Chandler’s in Boise, Peter Luger’s in NYC, St Elmo in Indianapolis, Cattlemen’s in OKC etc…

Between STK, whatever the expensive rotating restaurant is in the heart of downtown, and a ridiculously overpriced izakaya in Buckhead, I’ve had more bad yet insanely priced meals in Atlanta than anywhere else. New Orleans it is NOT!
I was surprised. I thought it would be a lot better. And the place was really packed!
 
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Sounds like a bit of a rough trip.

You know there's a Four Seasons right by there in midtown? Are you not a HORT'er?

STK? Maybe in Vegas. If you want great steak in Atlanta, go to Bone's or Hal's. They're as good as just about any steakhouse in the country. The people-watching in Hal's is world-class, as well.

That shooting was crazy. It happened at 1100 Peachtree......I used to work at 1155 Peachtree. Glad you were okay. Pew pew.
Work trip so we all stayed at the Marriott, which works out for hotel points.

We were working at the One Atlantic Center which is at Peachtreee NW and 14th. So not as close as your old place, but still pretty close.

I think we'll be down there next quarter, so I'll recommend those two places - I appreciate it.

It was a pretty good trip - certainly not the first time there's been shots fired in my vicinity!
 
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Hal’s is one of the last restaurants I know of where people can still smoke. Crazy. Don’t let that deter you (if you hate smoke). It’s part of the charm. Bone-in filet.

You may as well head over to Johnnie’s Hideaway after. The people-watching is even better there. A true Atlanta (Hal’s and JH) experience. Everyone should do it at least once.
 
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I've been to Atlanta many times before. This review is specific to my visit yesterday.

The good:

The hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Midtown that was pretty nice. In a strange twist, the shower in my room had almost too much water pressure. Unfortunately it was coming from a square shower head - like the big waterfall shower heads, but coming out from the wall, rather than overhead. It was aimed right at my chest and largely unmovable.

The airport. Despite how busy it is, I like how it's set up. From the sky trains to the terminal trains to security to the gates, everything seemed to be designed and operating very smoothly and accommodated the crazy number of people cycling through there.

The bad:

The shooting. There was a shooting close enough to our office to activate out company's warning system, so we all got texts/calls during our meetings that there was an active incident. We watched out the windows as the helicopters hovered overhead. We found out later that a woman (a disgruntled ex-employee of another audit/consulting firm) had shot three people, killing two of them.


The steak. We went to a place called STK for dinner. It's a trendy, expensive steak place. We were pretty disappointed. They were playing pop/dance music louder than they really needed to. A couple of us ordered old fashioneds and they were not good. My ($95!!) steak, rather than the medium-rare I'd requested, was more like a medium+. So I had to send it back so they could try again. The second time around was a little better, but still seemed closer to medium than medium rare.


So there you have it. NDallasRuss' value-added review for the day! I'm sure you're all a little better off now! Tune in next time when I regale you with tales of my trip to the grocery store or maybe a suspenseful "who was that walking by my house?!".
Sorry Russ, this review ain’t no good.

Any Atlanta review should include details of one of the following:

- Your experience at Cheetah’s

- Your reasoning for not going to Cheetah’s
 
I was surprised. I thought it would be a lot better. And the place was really packed!

I haven’t been to the locations in NYC, South Beach or Vegas but I have been to the one in Orlando and it’s not in my top 5 steak places in Otown. In Otown I’m still a fan of Charley’s so that’s my number one for steak followed by Sear and Sea at the Bonnet Creek Resort (which is probably my favorite nonDisney and nonUniversal resort in Otown that I’ve been to), Vito’s Chophouse (which is like a lesser Charley’s with an Italian slant run by the same company), The Palm, the Venetian Chophouse, Bigfire, Le Cellier (if you get stuck in Disney properties, the Yachtsman is Disneys new “best” steakhouse but I still prefer the old classic in Epcot), Adega Gaucha (best Brazilian style in Otown), Double Eagle, and Ruth’s Chris (best large chain imo). Roughly in that order.
 
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Sorry Russ, this review ain’t no good.

Any Atlanta review should include details of one of the following:

- Your experience at Cheetah’s

- Your reasoning for not going to Cheetah’s

When I was in Atlanta working for the Kodak during the Olympics in 1996, I was just a rising junior at FSU and was of course still a Star Trek nerd in a Marching Band (as well as a skunk band and a Kornesque hare rock band) who happened to live in a four bedroom apartment with 1) my b*tch “college wife” who was a stuckup rich girl from Philly, 2) a “Downy” 35 yo guy who worked for Delta who was retarded enough and had the “Downy” look so everyone treated him like an idiot but he was smart enough to live essentially alone (or with roommates who didn’t know him) and hold down a steady blue collar job, plus he was actually very friendly and 3) a hard drinking 22 yo hot stripper who worked at the Cheetah Club. We were such an odd grouping, we should have been a tv show.
 
I've been to Atlanta many times before. This review is specific to my visit yesterday.

The good:

The hotel. We stayed at a Marriott in Midtown that was pretty nice. In a strange twist, the shower in my room had almost too much water pressure. Unfortunately it was coming from a square shower head - like the big waterfall shower heads, but coming out from the wall, rather than overhead. It was aimed right at my chest and largely unmovable.

The airport. Despite how busy it is, I like how it's set up. From the sky trains to the terminal trains to security to the gates, everything seemed to be designed and operating very smoothly and accommodated the crazy number of people cycling through there.

The bad:

The shooting. There was a shooting close enough to our office to activate out company's warning system, so we all got texts/calls during our meetings that there was an active incident. We watched out the windows as the helicopters hovered overhead. We found out later that a woman (a disgruntled ex-employee of another audit/consulting firm) had shot three people, killing two of them.


The steak. We went to a place called STK for dinner. It's a trendy, expensive steak place. We were pretty disappointed. They were playing pop/dance music louder than they really needed to. A couple of us ordered old fashioneds and they were not good. My ($95!!) steak, rather than the medium-rare I'd requested, was more like a medium+. So I had to send it back so they could try again. The second time around was a little better, but still seemed closer to medium than medium rare.


So there you have it. NDallasRuss' value-added review for the day! I'm sure you're all a little better off now! Tune in next time when I regale you with tales of my trip to the grocery store or maybe a suspenseful "who was that walking by my house?!".
Pro tip if you are stuck going to a high-end steakhouse whilst on the company dime...order the fish. It's the same quality as high-end fish restaurants and (usually) much more interesting that a slab salted beef on a plate with truffle or lobster mac n cheese and brussels sprouts... (I haven't even seen the menu and I probably could guess everything thin out....steakhouses are so boring).
 
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Sounds like a bit of a rough trip.

You know there's a Four Seasons right by there in midtown? Are you not a HORT'er?

STK? Maybe in Vegas. If you want great steak in Atlanta, go to Bone's or Hal's. They're as good as just about any steakhouse in the country. The people-watching in Hal's is world-class, as well.

That shooting was crazy. It happened at 1100 Peachtree......I used to work at 1155 Peachtree. Glad you were okay. Pew pew.
We ate at the Capital Grille about a year ago and were very pleased with our steak. It was about half of what the op paid. It is in north Atlanta.
 
We ate at the Capital Grille about a year ago and were very pleased with our steak. It was about half of what the op paid. It is in north Atlanta.

capital grille is okay, for sure, but he can get that in most decent-sized cities. Certainly not a bad place to eat. Hal’s will definitely be pricier, but probably the same or a little less than STK. if it’s purely for the steak, Bone’s is just as good. Still pricey,
 
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