Little Alley Steak

I couldn’t have been more disappointed with a meal than I was at Little Alley Steak. We dined on a Tuesday evening and from a staffing perspective we were seated promptly and our server was quite knowledgable. After that the entire meal went down hill. My date had the progression of strip and I had the hanger. ALL of our meat was poorly prepared and over cooked despite a medium-​rare request. As for the sides, we chose the mushroom risotto, the mushroom confit and the green beans. Simple yes, tasty absolutely not. All of the sides lacked flavor. The wine list, while extensive, is way over-​priced. The best item on the menu was the point Reyes bleu cheese butter. Skip the steak enhancements as well.

Without question my favorite steak in Atlanta. Awesome interior, great service and a nice bourbon list. Dry aged bone in ribeye was outstanding.

Absolutely fantastic! Awesome raw oysters, steaks and best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever tasted. Excellent and friendly service. I had the progression of NY strip and my only complaint is that I needed more. The B’sprouts were fabulous in texture and taste. What a great experience.

Let’s start off with one big positive: Little Alley Steak has the best steak I’ve tasted in Atlanta. Better than Bones. Better than Capital Grille. Better than Chops. Way better than McKendrick’s.
The décor is very nice. Casual, but warm and not a stuffy steakhouse experience. Large groups and dates will feel comfortable. The design is such that nobody is stacked up on top of another table, it’s not overly loud – but you don’t have to worry about it being so quiet that you can hear yourself chew.
The service is extremely attentive, courteous and professional. The problem here is inconsistency coming out of the kitchen.
We started out with crab cocktail, as that’s my go to at pretty much every steakhouse I visit. Note that it is not jumbo lump — and that was me making a rookie mistake. It’s king crab cocktail — not as tasty and it looked like it was just hastily ripped out of the shell. It arrived in a bed of dry ice, which is nice until the ice melts and turns the crab into a watery mess. As other reviews have noted, it seems they have problems keeping shells out of the food. I had a huge, inch long shell in mine. My wife and I were picking many small shells out of our mouths as we ate.
My wife and I aren’t one to complain and send things back. I was in a good mood, so when the waitress came over and asked why we weren’t finishing it I just said there were some shells and we were finished, not a big deal. The manager must have seen the dish after the waitress took it away, and she rushed over to let us know we wouldn’t pay for it and to see if we wanted another. That was a nice gesture but we declined a replacement, as the steak was going to get to the table in a couple of minutes.
Steak, as explained earlier, was awesome. My wife got a wet aged bone-​in ribeye and I got a dry aged NY strip. Go for the dry aged. My wife’s steak was good, mine was great. Perfect char, perfect temperature inside, melt in your mouth. I got the green peppercorn sauce on mine which was fantastic.
We ordered the au gratin potatoes, and inconsistency struck again. Terrible. Watery, almost milk-​like consistency of the goat cheese. Undercooked potatoes. A mess and very disappointing.
We got a bottle of wine (good selection), decided to forgo dessert and head out for a drink after. Damage was about $ 200 for two people, two entrees, one side, one bottle of wine. Our app was removed. So if you’re looking for a full date here it’ll be about $ 250ish, closer to $ 300 if you splurge.
I’m not sure when we’ll be back, but I have a hunch this place deserves a second shot.

Oh man, delicious! Wines are great, steaks are great, sides are great. It’s hard to describe them in detail because I was in a euphoric state the entire time. Our server was TOP NOTCH, forgot his name but he was the young looking black guy. Going back for sure. Make sure they cook your steak to the right temperature if you go with a large party, one of ours had to send theirs back!

I was in the mood for something new and a step above Chops… but not quite a Bones. Little Alley Steak was a great find. A newish restaurant (on the map for about 4 years), that feels like it is a neighborhood staple.
Our server, Beth, was perfect. She was knowledgeable, delightful, attentive, patient… the list goes on. Great service.
The food was spot on. If you get an appetizer, you MUST have the Wagyu tartare, and the scallops with pork belly did not disappoint. For entrees, my date and I decided we would do a little sharing. I was in a surf n’ turf mood. So we shared a 18 oz cowboy cut ribeye and the seafood pappardelle pasta. The steak was USDA Prime, and it looked and tasted the part. It was probably the best steak I have had in the past two-​plus years. The pasta was delicious too. I was almost embarrassed to enjoy it so much, because I had a perfectly marbled Prime ribeye right in front of me, but could not stop eating the pasta. My only disappointment with the menu was their potatoes section did not include hash browns.
I would definitely go here again… and again… and again. It was exactly what I was looking for: A slightly nicer and more quaint experience than Chops, but a step below a restaurant like Bones. But… if they would have shaken my martini table side, that gap would be practically indistinguishable.

I’ve heard about this place for quite a while but as usually when the mood strikes for steak I almost immediately think Chops, Bones, Morton’s, or Cabernet, or Killer Creek, or … (the list keeps going) I have had this one way down the list even though I don’t live far from it.
The interior is very welcoming, I’ve been in here on occasion and really love it. Upscale yet homey and quant, everyone that works here very friendly, 5 stars for décor and service.
I went in on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy the brunch. Now you are going to tell me that this place maybe doesn’t specialize in brunch and therefore I don’t have a right to write a review — ok, then skip to the next review, cause I didn’t have the steak here. I did however have a Moroccan shrimp appetizer which was a-​mazing and deserves 6 stars for execution, flavor and prep. Other than that, the shrimp and grints were a 3 star, the lobster bisque was a 2 star (even with the chunks of lobster added, this was too thick, too salty) and my eggs benedict lacked flavor and lacked properly poached eggs and lands on a 2 star.
I guess this place will move back down the list again when steak options come up, if they cannot execute these dishes well I just can’t bring myself to put them on the list to trust them with my demanding steak appetite.

I got the meat and cheese plate, chop chop salad, dry aged strip, duck rolls. All were delicious! Went to Rathbun Steak the night before, and little alley was better.
Great ambience, wine, food and service.

Our experience was a total let down.
From the awful waitress to the bad Manhattan cocktail to the disappointing side of truffle fries, I do not recommend this place at all. 4 people $ 400 and it was truly underwhelming.

OMG! Brunch is awesome!!! We’ve been dining here for years on the delicious steaks. Today, we decided to try brunch as we were Xmas shopping on Canton St. My husband had the spinach, mushroom & chèvre omelette. I had the chicken & waffles with a glass of Mumm Nappa. As always service was above & beyond, food was incredible!

My dad and I went on a Friday night around 6. We made a reservation and were seated immediately. Reservations definitely necessary. The place was small but comfortable. Our server was great and offered just enough advice and opinions on the menu. We ordered a martini and an old fashion and both were fantastic. We had the cheese plate which was great and beautifully presented. I had the dry aged ribeye and dad had the lamb. The rib eye was PERFECTLY cooked. The most evenly cooked steak I have ever had. It was delicious. The lamb was less than average. Not bad but not great. We also got the twice baked potatoes which were amazing. The truffle Mac and cheese was amazing. The crispy Brussels were ok. They looked a lot better than they actually tasted. All and all it was a very good dinner. We loved the atmosphere, service and food!

We’ve dropped by Little Alley Steak a while ago during one of the Live After Five outings. We just happened upon the place and saw that they were serving up aged steaks which, like Reese’s Cups, is a serious weakness for me. Although I did not Unilocal review the place at that time, I figured we revisit.
This visit was for brunch. They used to have a buffet, but that appears to no longer be the case, as it was sit down — menu service only. The brunch menu is small, but filled with a decent variety to cure whatever ails you. The entire menu is also available, so if you want a porterhouse and fries with your Prosecco and Mimosa, by all means, have at it!
The wife ordered the Smoked Salmon Benedict with a side of fingerling potatoes. I ordered the King Crab Oscar Benedict, with the fingerlings, and bacon. The side order of bacon, I think, was 8 rashers! Be aware that you can share the sides. The fingerlings were sauteed homefries style with onion and bell peppers. The bacon was perfectly crisped. All of the food was 5 star. As 12:30 approached, we ordered some adult beverages: Bloody Mary for the wife and Prosecco for me. Again everything was on point.
So why the three star rating? Well, there was a huge crab shell in my King Crab Oscar. You can reference the photo that I posted to see just how awful that thing is. I understand that some small shell pieces may get into fresh crab dish, but this thing was unappetizing and pretty much disturbing. I brought it to the attention of the server, who apologized profusely and offered to get the chef. I told him no need to get the chef, these things happen. While I didn’t want to create a disturbance, I did have the expectation that he would have made some concession for that piece of shell; comped drinks perhaps, removal of the crab dish from the bill, perhaps? You can imagine my surprise when the bill came and there was no mention of the beleaguered crab dish.
While I am pretty sure we may return to Little Alley Steak, because the food was delicious, I doubt that I will forget the crab shell incident any time soon.

Good food but we had issues getting our steaks cooked to the proper temps. I ordered the dry aged bone in ribeye Med rare and it came to me very rare. My wife ordered her prime fillet Med well and it came to the table very rare. The waiter warned us that the kitchen undercooks steaks. He was right. Sent my wife’s back for more time cooking and they brought it back within a minute with no real noticeable new cooking. A manager noticed it and did comp us that steak. Sides, Salads and meatball app were all great. I’d go again I’ll just insist I get our steaks cooked the way I want.

We used to be regulars at Little Alley. I’m trying to cut back on the food portions, so we were suggesting a possible change or addition to the appetizers. The manager informed us that their appetizers were very popular and they weren’t going to change a thing. Upon our return visit, the same manager mocked us for making the suggestion.
Our last visit, we were told by the hostess we couldn’t sit at our regular table, even though it was open.
The food is good, the attitudes are unacceptable! Restaurants come and go. This one can take a hike!

For our 3-​year anniversary, we selected Little Alley Steak located along the popular stretch of Canton Street. We arrived, with reservations, for a 7:30pm meal on a Friday. Like many other neighboring restaurants and businesses, Little Alley was shoehorned into a cozy and quaint space that had previously been another business (probably better suited for the small space). One should not feel so cramped and crammed in with other diners when paying for a high-​end steak dinner, and yet we were.
Looking over the extensive wine list and gawking at the heavily marked up prices, I ultimately declined to order a bottle. Instead, we each ordered a single glass of Alta Vista Malbec ($ 14/​glass) which still carried with it a 250+% markup. I guess that’s how it goes at «fancy» restaurants.
We ordered and decided to share the wet-​aged porterhouse ($ 56). I knew that a porterhouse consists of the New York Strip on one side of the T-​bone, and the tenderloin — also known as the filet, or filet mignon on the other side. It seemed like the best value for steak on the menu. We ordered it medium-​rare with a side of mushrooms, brandy, and shallots ($ 3) and bone marrow butter ($ 5). The steak arrived topped with roasted cloves of garlic and a few sprigs of thyme. I appreciated the rustic presentation. The steak had been pre-​cut off the T-​bone and into more manageable chunks.
We discovered quickly that our steak had been undercooked. What had arrived was a blue-​rare steak (mostly raw with only a sear on the outside) — I am hesitant to even call this steak rare, as I don’t believe it had been cooked enough for that designation. Of course our waiter was nowhere to be found at the time, so we dug in anyway. Not the way that we prefer our steak, but also not something that we would completely shy away from. We shrugged it off and ate it anyway. Still a good and enjoyable quality steak. The bone marrow butter was tasty but struggled to melt over the cool steak. My wife enjoyed the mushroom, brandy, and shallot sauce.
For our side, we opted for the au gratin potatoes ($ 6). Very tasty. I detected the advertised goat cheese in it and the crisp and crumbly topping was perfect. Is it sad that I enjoyed the $ 6 side more than the $ 56 porterhouse?
The bread that had been promised to us by our waiter when we had initially ordered didn’t arrive until we were nearly finished with our meal. They struggled to find a place to put our bread on our already crammed tiny table. Oh well.
Little Alley did do what is customary for customers celebrating a special event, they brought out a free-​of-​charge dessert — Crème Brulet with fresh berries. Yum! Much appreciated.
Overall, not a «bad» experience per se, but not as great as we had been hoping for. Middle of the road, 3-​stars «A-​Ok».

Goodbye Ruth’s Cris hello Little Alley! My wife and I went there on Friday night just to celebrate life. We were due a special evening and this place certainly did not let us down. Where to start?
Bobby, our waiter, was nothing short of amazing. He did a great job with his explanations, was extremely attentive and finally was just an overall good guy.
My wife had wine and I had 3, yes to many, of the Sierra Nevada Torpedo’s. At 7% alcohol I did, let’s say, over indulge.
For appetizers we shared the mussels and the Ahi Tuna. They both literally melted in your mouth.
We split a wedge for our salad. It was unbelievable and more than enough to share. They, without asking, split it for us and presented to us.
Now for the main course. I have to be honest that I am not a dry aged beef kind of guy. I ordered the 16 oz wet aged ribeye medium rare. OMG! The best steak I have had in my entire life. My wife ordered the 8 oz filet wet aged as well. It too was amazing. We also ordered spinach and risotto. Both exceed our expectations. Bottom line we both brought ½ of our entries home as we were stuffed and the Torpedo’s were certainly starting to take affect.
The bill came out to around $ 180 without tip and worth every penny of it.
Thank you Little Alley and Bobby for a wonderful night. We will see you again.
My wife drove us home and I soon was snoring up a storm. I call this a successful evening.

I think it’s a bit crazy that one of my favorite upscale steakhouses in the country is in Roswell, Georgia, of all places, but it’s become a place that I need to visit at least a couple of times a year when I’m visiting the Atlanta area.
Small and unassuming from the outside, it’s bustling and loud once you enter. I’ve eaten with a large group, one-​on-​one with a colleague and solo at the bar — each time the experience has been excellent.
Their meat is sourced directly from a single butcher in Chicago, so you can assure that they have their handle on the quality of product that they are receiving. I have tried the filet, the rib eye and a special cut they had available some time ago (sorry, can’t remember what it was!). Each time, they were cooked to perfection and finished with delicious garlic thyme butter.
In traditional steakhouse fashion, everything is a la carte. The various veg are done well, including classics like garlic spinach, au gratin potatoes, mashed potatoes, etc. On my last occasion, I added a broiled lobster tail, which paired very well with the garlic thyme butter.
Finally, I should note that their bread pudding is delicious and is large enough to feed three people.

Little Alley Steak is a classic steakhouse situated on the popular Canton Street corridor in downtown Roswell. Like other businesses up and down this road, the building Little Alley is housed in used to be something different. In this case, it was an old antiques shop that was restored and renovated into a high-​end steak restaurant. It looks great.
Whoever designed the interior did an excellent job. The sophisticated-​looking inside consists of dark woods and brick accented with white subway tiles. The picturesque bar is neatly decorated with a multitude of bottles, tiered and shelved. There’s a mixture of button-​tufted booths and table seating. While this is a sit-​down service restaurant, I like how there are big menus on the wall, showing off the various cuts of steak, local meats and cheeses, and bourbon, whiskey, and single malt Scotch selections available.
The restaurant isn’t terribly big and patio seating is available. I recommend booking reservations on OpenTable and earning free dining points in the process. My favorite parts of the restaurant’s look are the exposed bulb meat hook light fixtures and the steer’s head, butcher knives, meat hooks, and meat grinding tools on display just inside the entrance. It really sets the mood and there’s no denying what type of eatery this is.
Steak and seafood comprises the majority of Little Alley’s dinner menu. They have both wet and dry-​aged steaks from a 28-​day-​wet-​aged 8 oz. center-​cut filet to a massive 60-​day-​dry-​aged 30 oz. tomahawk bone-​in ribeye. Interesting appetizers include duck confit spring rolls and beef carpaccio and beef tartare made with Masami American Kobe beef. Seafood includes lobster (lobster tail, lobster bisque), raw oysters, shellfish cocktails, fish (e.g. Scottish salmon, ahi tuna, European seabass), scallops, and Alaskan king crab legs. Expect to spend about $ 12 – 18 per appetizer, $ 40 – 65 per steak, and $ 25 – 40 each for most other meat and seafood entrees.
Little Alley also serves Sunday brunch from 11am to 3pm. This review is based primarily upon my Sunday brunch experience. I believe Little Alley began serving a Sunday brunch buffet beginning in Summer 2014. It costs $ 24.95 per person. During our visit, the following items were available from the self-​serve buffet:
Salmon and capers
Triple cream mac & cheese
Wagyu beef meatballs
Chicken with mushroom gravy
French green beans
Mashed potatoes
Eggs Benedict
Biscuits and gravy
Bacon
Sausage links
Cheese grits
Chicken and waffles
Garlic-​infused sirloin steak (from meat carving station)
Ham (from meat carving station)
Salad and fruit
Pastries, muffins, and croissants
In general, I thought the brunch was okay. There weren’t many customers during our visit, so the foods didn’t turn over much. This meant several of the items stayed on the buffet for quite some time, enough to dry them out. This happened most notably to the fried chicken in the chicken and waffles. The waffles had also become soft and limp. I guess it wasn’t anything a good dousing of syrup couldn’t fix.
The salmon, chicken, sirloin, and ham weren’t bad. The salmon was moist and the chicken was flavorful. I liked how the sirloin had slices of garlic embedded in it. The sirloin came with customary au jus and horseradish sauce. The ham slices were thick and surprisingly smooth and tender.
I thought it was neat Eggs Benedict was available, though I’m not sure it’s a dish best suited for a buffet. There wasn’t nearly enough Hollandaise sauce on the eggs. The English muffins stuck to the serving tray causing frequent rips and several busted poached eggs due to customers’ failed attempts at retrieving a single serving.
Other items such as the green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage links, and cheese grits were average, reminiscent of items commonly found on a hotel/​convention buffet. I love biscuits and gravy, but the version here was disappointing. The biscuits weren’t memorable and the gravy had become thick and wasn’t enjoyable. The bacon was extra crispy and overly greasy. The cheese grits had dried out considerably and weren’t appetizing. The salty and oily sausage links fared the best out of this group.
The salad, fruit, pastries, muffins, and croissants were mostly run-​of-​the-​mill. Fruit consisted of purple grapes, strawberries, pineapple, and cantaloupe.
Hands down, the best items on the buffet were the triple cream mac and cheese and the Wagyu meatballs. If you couldn’t tell from its name, the triple cream mac and cheese was incredibly rich. It was made with mascarpone Italian cheese and black truffle oil. It’s up there with some of the best mac and cheese dishes I’ve had. The Wagyu meatballs were delectable. They were made with Masami American Kobe beef with a veal demi-​glacé. It was good eating.
Neil was our server and he did a terrific job. Polite and attentive.
Limited free parking is available on the street or behind the building. There’s also a $ 3 surface lot nearby.

Some things in life, you just know. For example, before I even walked in the door of the Little Alley Steak Restaurant & Bar, I knew what I was going to order. 12 year old Van Winkle Special Reserve. 18 Ounce, bone-​in Ribeye. Brussels Sprouts. I also knew I was going to enjoy it.
What I didn’t know was just how popular this place was. Reservations definitely recommended, especially on the weekends. However, when it’s a party of one, walking in and sitting at the bar, is an option — with no wait, whatsoever. At least that was the case for me.
If you happen to sit at the bar, ask for Randi or Christen. They’re so friendly and nice and their service just added to the excellent experience I was having there with others at the bar.
One thing a lot of people don’t know about me is that I love Brussels Sprouts. Especially when they’re cooked over an open flame. Add that to the steak I ordered medium rare, which it was served just as I asked, and it was one of those meals that I’ll never forget. The flavor of the beef and vegetables, mixed in with the whiskey — was yet another meal in the Atlanta area that I didn’t just eat — I savored every bite.
The dining area was pretty loud so don’t go expecting a nice quiet, intimate dinner. It’s a fun restaurant — not some snooty, mind your manners kind of place. In other words, my kind of place.
Good luck with street parking. Easiest to just valet park. It’s not free but definitely cheap compared to the cost of parking in Los Angeles.

When I was told we were going to Little Alley Steak for dinner I was informed I am going to quote un quote « Unilocal my tits off» and that my friends is exactly what’s about to happen here.
The three of us arrived at Little Alley around 5:45 PM and were seated immediately at our table where we met our lovely waiter Pete. First things first Pete you are a star in my book! He was entertaining and informative to every question we had to throw at him, he was a real pleasure. He filled us in on where the restaurant gets their meat from which is a butcher in Chicago Meats by Linz. We ordered our drinks and looked over the menu a bit deciding on what to start with. My eyes were immediately drawn to the bone marrow (I have been looking to mark this off my bucket list for some time now) while my boyfriend picked the lobster bisque and our buddy opted for the beet & CalyRoad goat cheese salad. Shortly after we placed our appetizer orders out came some hot rolls and butter, not long after that our appetizers arrived.
Bone marrow: served one bone cut in half roasted topped with parsley salad and toasted crostini. Rich buttery meaty goodness that my palette has never experienced. Absolutely amazing a must try for all meat lovers.
Lobster bisque: extremely rich and loaded with lobster flavor and meat.
Beet and goat cheese salad: frisee, spinach, pork belly, pistachios, pork jowel vinaigrette. Didn’t try it but was told it was tasty.
After we devoured our apps we decided on our main couse which ended up being the tomahawk 30 oz bone in ribeye for my boyfriend and I to split cooked medium and our friend ordered the Kobe beef 10 oz eye of ribeye after much needed recommendation from Pete. We decided on 3 sides: crispy brussels sprouts with Bearnaise sauce, truffle fries, and lobster mac and cheese. The steaks came out beautifully cooked and served table side with pan seared garlic and herb sprig. My first bite of the tomahawk was like butter and cooked perfectly and juicy. Hands down one of the best steaks I have ever had. The sides were outrageous, I was really in love with the crispy brussle sprouts and creamy cheesy lobster mac. We did as much damage as we could and wrapped up the rest. Pete brought us out shots of fireball and we greatly appreciated the gesture.
This dinner was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Georgia and can’t wait to come back and revisit little alley steak on my next visit!