George R.
Yelp
Summary: Very good food and big portions in a seriously loud environment. Seems like a cross between a Mexican restaurant and a club. We were there at about 7pm on a Saturday night and as we were leaving we saw several groups of very dressed-up people coming in. It wouldn't surprise me if they eventually take out some tables, turn down the lights, and turn it into a more social scene.
Room: Everybody notes that it's loud here, and I've been in a lot of loud restaurants, but this is more than loud. Imagine you're in a college gym and there is a band standing in front of a couple of Marshall amps doing 80's covers in one corner. Got that mental picture? Now you're ready for the acoustics (the floor, ceiling, and walls are hard as a rock) and volume that pervade the restaurant. At every corner of the room, the volume seemed similar, so talking at the table requires a lot of leaning in and strong projection. Another way to think of it is as a music venue with food. That said, the music is actually pretty good and if you're here with some people you don't particularly want to talk to, it's ideal. The room, otherwise, is very basic and functional.
Service: The waitstaff was very attentive and didn't bother us with upsells or try to push us into anything in particular. We were given a small appetizer very quickly and the guacamole we ordered cam pretty quickly, but the mains took a while to get there. Not sure why, because it wasn't particularly busy when we were there.
Food: The food was really delicious, and we're not talkng about Mexican fast food like you find at most places. I had the fish 'soup' which was stuffed with seafood in a rich, slightly spicy broth. If you order a bouillabaisse in a French restaurant or cioppino in an Italian place, the main ingredients are various vegetables and the seafood is placed on top for the most part. Here' it's nearly all seafood. Crab legs, chunks of white fish, squid, octopus, etc. It was delicious and it comes with a few pieces of grilled bread so you can sop. Others in the group had a whole baked snapper that was big and moist with a slightly sweet/sour coating, a cold seafood salad that, again, was packed with fresh seafood, and snapper fillets that could seriously have comfortably fed three people. Everything was cooked to perfection, well seasoned, and delicious.
Value: There is no doubt that you get huge portions, but you pay for it as well. Our entrees ranged from mid-teens to $38 for the whole snapper. Those are not typical Atlanta prices, but if you're there with one other person, you can easily share an entree and be happy. If you're there with a group, get one entree for every two people and share. I'd say it's a fair value if everybody is getting their own entree and a good value if you're sharing.
