Atlas Grill

A nice, upscale lunch spot in the U.S. Bank building atrium. At first glance, the restaurant appears much smaller than it is – because there is a formal dining room to the left side of the atrium bar.
I ordered the vegetarian plate with pureed eggplant, roasted seasonal vegetables (carrots, green beans, cauliflower and broccoli) and rice. It was healthy, hearty and made me happy. .
Looking forward to trying their happy hour — although, for that purpose, I’m wishing the atrium dining area area was more casual. Right now, it seems in an awkward state of being too formal when you want to be casual and too casual when you want to be formal.

I found my walleye sandwich. Great flavor cooked perfectly with excellent soup of the day starter. Fast service and comfortable open seating.

Awful
The Iranian food is just a caricature of real Iranian food and the chef is not Iranian either I doubt he has ever have had decent Iranian food let alone make it. The food doesn’t even look right. The saffron is not saffron, just a yellow substance; doesn’t taste or smell like saffron. There is ZERO walnut or real pomegranate sauce in the fesenjun or pomegranate walnut chicken thing of disaster they serve. Gheyme was horrible as it tasted like it had been made 3 months ago and also burned. Kabab was at best average. The whole thing was overpriced. Just don’t go there!

Best restaurant ever for my wedding party.
Everyone enjoyed the food and the hospitality of the chef.

I went here during lunch. We were seated right away and the atmosphere is very nice and open. You have the choice to sit out in the atrium which is nice if you want a bit of sunshine.
I had the pomegranate-​walnut chicken (fesenjan) and it was very delicious! They have both Persian and «American» food options.
Service was great. They accidentally threw my leftovers away and within minutes had made a whole new plate for me to take home. Overall a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend it.

Ick… typical Greek run crappy restaurant. Very poor service. Little flys flying all over the place. Food was nasty. Had the chicken Greek salad. Chicken tasted like it was cooked several hours ago. Dressing was brutal. Chipotle would have been 10 times better.

Blah for all of it. Service, food, ambience, deals, anything really. Much better places in downtown.

I’ve dined at Atlas many times before and have always been satisfied. This past week, however, we had lunch there. The food was good, but the service was incredibly slow and inattentive. We ordered from the express lunch menu. It took more than half an hour for our food to arrive. Since we had a meeting to attend in the office that afternoon, we requested the bill right away. They brought it and then never came back to the table again. We had to literally stand up and flag down a server so we could get a to-​go box for the half a sandwich one of the members of my party didn’t get a chance to eat. I will not choose Atlas again for lunch unless I have a lot of time on my hands. This is despite the fact that the food was really good.

I must say, I’m now a huge Atlas Grill fan! Introduced the restaurant to a friend of mine for lunch, he too has never been. He ordered the butternut squash pasta of the day dish and I ordered the chop salad, both on the Express Lunch menu. FANTASTIC! I had them replace the ranch dressing with the greek vinagretted dressing to make it lighter in which he kindly did.
Great restaurant for lunch with a wide variety to choose from and plenty of seating! Must try for downtown lunch dwellers!

yummmmm
Their eggplant spread is incredible. And I have to be honest I don’t like eggplant all that much and I crave this. Perfect smokey taste and creamy texture.
Also their hearts of palm salad rocks.
Nice bar, great service and you can park in the building. Cool event room for party.
If I worked downtown I’d be going here for happy hour alot.

Truth be told, until last night, I’d never heard of Atlas Grill. And I honestly can say that I’ve never even stepped foot inside this restaurant. So let it be known, this review pertains to the catering aspects of their business. Regardless, when it comes to catered Persian cuisine, these guys hit a grand slam.
Last night I was fortunate enough to attend an event set up by the William Mitchell School of Law who invited guest speaker Hooman Majd (Iranian-​American journalist and author) to speak on current issues involving Iran. Coincidentally today is Persian New Year. To celebrate and kick off the event, food was provided… and catered by none other than Atlas.
Growing up I ate Persian food many times a week. I can speak from experience, this was done up in authentic fashion. And it was fantastic. I can honestly say that it was the best Persian meal that I’d had in a long time.
The spread was varied and everything was cooked perfectly; I’ll try and recount the items from memory. Sides included pita bread, feta cheese, basmati rice, salad, and grilled tomatoes. The entrees included char broiled kebab selections: chello kebab kubideh (ground lamb/​beef, with spices), chello kebab changeh (steak kebabs), and joojeh kebab (chicken marinated in saffron/​lemon). Not forgetting to include Iran’s most popular dish, ghormeh sabzi (stew of fenugreek, spinach, spices/​herbs, and cubed lamb) was also served. At the conclusion of the event a dessert of Persian pastries were served with tea. Everything was amazing, and I declared myself the clean plate club winner. And let me tell you, I piled that plate high!
If you need an event catered and are looking for ethnic cuisine (Mediterranean/​Middle Eastern) I’d definitely check this place out. Next step for me: go here for dinner!

Our family gathered for dinner last night at Atlas Grill. It was our first visit and we were not sure what to expect.
We ordered the platters to share among the 9 of us. We enjoyed a nice salad and bread course before the main course. Our great waiter and his assistant brought out two large platters with chicken, beef, and salmon on a bed of grilled veggies. Our plates were presented with saffron rice.
Without exception we enjoyed everything! The platter offerings had been prepared perfectly. Several had house wines and were pleased at the parings. Coffee was not the best but serviceable.
A word about our waiter and his assistant. They added the right touch with great service, humor, and grace.
Parking is complimentary after 5 and very convenient.
We recommend Atlas Grill for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Quite a nice surprise! Wasn’t too sure about this place at first for family dinner out, but it turned out to be a great place. Little skeptical about the 7pm closing time, but that’s the last time they take reservations.
For a long time we were the only table in the entire restaurant. They are much more busy at lunch time. It was kind of nice having the place practically to ourselves.
Our server was magnificent. Friendly, outgoing, helpful and seems like a server who enjoys working with people and enjoys her job.
Food: Impressive in taste and presentation
–2 ordered the Sea Scallops which were huge with a big mound of mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables (asparagus, peppers, yellow squash)
–2 ordered the roast lamb, both were satisfied
–1 ordered the Atlas Chicken which seems to be quite popular; as are the sea scallops
–1 ordered the Gulf Shrimp which was said to be amazingly good. The saffron rice that accompanied it however tasted a little minute rice-​ish
I’ve walked by a few times on my way through the skyway and it’s always bustling at lunch time. Glad we finally tried it.
The bathrooms were a tad dirty for the gals and when I flushed that thing it sounded like the Blair Witch trying to get out of that thing. What a shrill of a sound. I’d hate to be seated at a table near the bathroom.
Overall. made it to our list of places to return.

Stopped down for the lunch special as I work right upstairs in the north tower. I was greeted by a lovely blonde little thing that has previous been my server at The Tavern in Blaine.
Once we were seated I ordered my token cosmopolitan and sat back to enjoy the free bread that comes out almost as soon as I sat down.
The drink service was quick and also QUITE delicious (which is important when you’re paying $ 10 for ONE drink haha).
I ordered one of the sandwiches with a side salad and the house raspberry vinaigrette. It was DELICIOUS! I know there have been some complaints about the food quality, but it totally depends on how finicky you are. I had to look for something to complain about, but I suppose I could have focused on the one stem that made its way into my salad and let that ruin my entire meal, but I just enjoyed the other 99% of it that was amazing!
The bill came, and though I would consider Atlas to be a fine dining styled restaurant, I was greeted by a friendly meal, with cocktail, for under $ 25. I will be going back!

Don’t how the two other reviewers had a good experience but this is how mine went… Made reservations a week ago for Valentines Day last night. The website shows a beautiful restaurant with aquariums built in the walls and ornate oak trim décor. We didn’t even get to see the inside, we sat in the open area added on in front of the restaurant in the office plaza that was reminiscent of the food court at Southdale. We ordered a bottle of Sparkling wine and the server opened it with a huge pop and a loud Whooaa! (Not very discrete) The eggplant purée with pitas was delicious but that was the only highlight. Our salad came and the lettuce was all brown… I was going to order the Sea Bass but quickly changed my mind and went with the 14oz Sirloin. My wife ordered a Beef Tenderloin medium rare. The Tenderloin was well done and very dry. The vegetables were oversteamed to the point where they were mushy and had no color. My potatoes that came with the Sirloin were dry and hard– more like hashbrowns. It was a hard pill to swallow when it came time to pay the tab of 156.00 and not make a scene. (Its Valentines Day after all and a special day for my wife and I). I would have understood if the place was overly busy– but the «food court» was half empty. One last thing– what server would bring out brown lettuce and a tenderloin (cut into slices) that was overly overcooked? I would go with zero stars if I could. I will not recommend this establishment to anyone except someone who I don’t want to talk to me ever again.

I’m not a big fish fan, but I have to recommend the Chilean sea bass as well. I went to Atlas Grill as a date for a Law convention and the set up was more like a mini-​buffet for each table. Amongst six of us, we shared fire-​roasted pieces of chicken, tenderloin, salmon, lamb, and that sea bass on mounds of saffron basmati rice. By the time that the platter was passed to me, I could see that the bass was not exactly the meat of choice.
Ah, those fools!
After trying it, with not much option, the bass was easily my favorite. No one fought me for it either. I ate the entire six person portion of melt-​in-​your-​mouth, non-​fishy flavored delight.
I could not say that considering the downtown location, the elegant décor (check out the 360 view of their dining experience on their website), and the delicious food, that the meal prices are expensive. See
Cheapness factor:
The Atlas Grill has been a Entertainment card regular for the past two years that I have bought the book. At a free dinner, up to $ 20.00, with the purchase of another entrée, it definitely warrants a gander.

I had Chilean sea bass in parchment paper and it was delicious. Somewhat expensive but definitely a great place to splurge on lunch.