Marcel is Atlanta’s top steakhouse - Review - Atlanta - The Infatuation
"Atlanta has plenty of fancy steakhouses, but Marcel is by far our favorite for a decadent special occasion. Once you make it past the restaurant’s heavy-ass steel front door, you’ll find a dining scene straight from a Mad Men episode with dim lighting, tufted dark leather chairs, tuxedoed waiters, and background jazz. If Don Draper decided to leave Manhattan to live out his golden years in a Buckhead mega-mansion, we guarantee that Marcel would be his go-to spot. And while you may not (technically) run into Don Draper, you are very likely to see a table of business suits having a celebratory team dinner on the boss’s corporate card or dapper couples in for an anniversary. Even if you’re not celebrating anything, you will find company in a crowd of come-as-you-are regulars, who after a tough day at work would rather splurge on a hundred-dollar steak than come home to another loathsome game of "how else can I stretch these rotisserie chicken leftovers" (Though notably, some diners may be reluctant to return over concerns voiced in an anonymous online manifesto). photo credit: Amy Sinclair From the same team as The Optimist, Bettlecat, and Superica, Marcel is our favorite of all the restaurant group's spots, because every single menu item is very close to being the city’s best version. With choice steak cuts, flame-grilled and finished in an herb butter, Marcel is Atlanta's pound-for-pound steakhouse champ (appropriately, since the venue is named after '30s-era boxing champ Marcellin "Marcel" Cerdan). Even the pasta dishes from the pillowy gnocchi, lobster-packed risotto, and a flawless cacio e pepe give the bonafide pasta restaurants a true run for their money. Come here to cosplay a more debonair era—to sip daiquiris from retro coupe glasses, inhale roasted oysters and shrimp cocktail off of vintage dinnerware, and enjoy desserts like their Baked Alaska, flambeed tableside with Caribbean rum, in peak ‘60s style. And to mingle with celebs. While we can't promise you Jon Hamm, Marcel is one of the few fine-dining spots still open when sets wrap for the day. RESERVE A TABLE WITH RESERVE A TABLE Food Rundown Oysters Marcel Similar to oysters Rockefeller, these broiled half-shell oysters keep the butter, herbs, and breadcrumbs but ditch the name for that of French boxer Marcel Cerdan, whom the restaurant is named after. These little gems just might be the best charbroiled oysters in the city. photo credit: Amy Sinclair Caesar This is not your run-of-the-mill caesar salad. Your waiter prepares each salad fresh at a table station in the back corner of the restaurant, where you see them whip up the egg-based dressing from scratch. photo credit: Amy Sinclair Tomahawk The 30-ounce bone-in ribeye is a sight to see when it’s first placed at the table, still sizzling in the sear pan. The simple preparation of only butter and light seasoning allows the quality of the cut to shine through, and you can pair it with options ranging from Béarnaise sauce and a heap of crab meat (our fave) to Brady au Poivre sauce and a lobster tail. Cacio e Pepe This dish is offered as a side, but it is easily deserving of its own place on the entree list, with spaghetti tossed in a simple but flavor-rich mixture of butter, finely grated cheese, and cracked black pepper. photo credit: Amy Sinclair Gnocchi This soft, melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi is served in a simple pomodoro sauce sprinkled with parmesan. Your vegetarian friends will thank you for the introduction and for making a steakhouse their new favorite restaurant. Pommes Frites Béarnaise French fries come and go through your life—the fast ones, the cheap ones, the thick ones, and greasy ones, but these fries will occupy a space in your heart forever. The thin, crispy fries are tossed in a salty herb butter and coupled with an equally faultless Béarnaise sauce, which may serve as your gateway to becoming one of those "mayonnaise with fries” people. photo credit: Amy Sinclair Beef Wellington You have to order this 24-hours in advance (we witnessed a group of high-rolling businessmen get turned down when trying to order it day of, so this is serious). When it’s ready, they present it to your table uncut so you can document the beauty of the latticework puff pastry crust that’s been cooked to a golden brown. Then they whisk it away and it reappears cut into thick slices. The puff pastry melts in your mouth. The chateaubriand is so soft a baby could gum it down, and it blends nicely with the tangy, horseradishy mince of mushrooms and herbs. At $190, this is really for special occasions, but eating this beautiful beef wellington is reason enough to celebrate. photo credit: Juli Horsford" - Nina Reeder
