You can find this location of the Gordon Biersch Brewery at 3242 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30305. This is on the north-eastern side of Peachtree Rd to the west of the Piedmont intersection to Peachtree. I'm not sure about parking but this is Buckhead so be prepared to either valet or pay to park.
As many of you know, I get invited to many industry-related events and some are linked to lunches or meals of some sort - thus I decided with my friend and coworker Sid, to attend one at the Gordon Biersch Brewery in Buckhead. I would normally have passed as I've been to the midtown location a few times and wasn't very impressed but since I hadn't visited this location in Buckhead it seemed like a good time to take in some technology-related information while getting a free lunch. We took MARTA down from Sandy Springs and exited from the Buckhead Station - it was a couple of blocks walking in decent weather which provided some much needed exercise, a boon!
This location is tucked back behind the Fidelity Investments building - turn if driving when you see the sign or marquee. One bonus is the Buck statue which I hadn't seen before. Nice to see that the area is loosening up a bit and not taking itself too seriously.
The restaurant itself has a pretty awesome patio for outside seating - I'm not too sure about the view but I can't imagine a better patio to chill with a pint of IPA while nibbling on snacks. The interior is a bit different from the midtown location as to be expected, with high ceilings, a huge bar and the required beer fats behind glass - I'm not sure if they are actually functional but presume they are. I like the interior quite a bit as it's quite expansive, however from the echos I would think it gets quite noisy on busy nights so I'm not sure if it's the place to go for light conversation, more for a game or large group outing.
The menus at these industry events can be fairly light with only a couple of options - today it as a Cheeseburger, CBLT or Blackened Fish Sandwich with a couple of dessert options.
I started with a Diet Coke since I was planning on returning to work. However from past experience the lagers served here are palatable if not great. Actually, I'm not too fond of most lagers and with so many fantastic craft beer options I'm not quite sure how this place stays in business. They seem to have added an ale or two but I haven't had anything that was standout served at Gordon Biersch and perhaps that's the rub for me. I want either the food to be fantastic or the beer to be fantastic or better yet, both. Thus far my experience at GB is that both are on the mediocre side.
For lunch I selected the Blackened Fish Sandwich, Atlantic cod dusted with Cajun seasoning and griddled, served on garlic-toasted ciabatta with Cajun remoulade, tomato, mixed greens and garlic fries. This was a good option but the bread was a bit chewy. Fries were top-notch.
Sid had a veggie burger which he liked but he commented that the interior was a bit mushy so he didn't finish the whole sandwich - he also liked the fries.
For dessert we each had one of the options - I had the Warm Apple Bread Pudding ala mode and Sid the Triple Chocolate Brownie, also ala mode. I thought both were good but I did find a piece of plastic left in the bread pudding. Having worked in restaurants for so long I didn't get upset about it - better than finding a tip of a finger but do be careful. One standout was the coffee - it was better than I expected.
So overall, the meal was good but nothing really special much as I had anticipated. Of final note, the service here was top-notch with every attentive servers and quick responses to any request. I was impressed as these type of lunch meetings can often illicit a rather lackadaisical response from the staff - not so here. Kudos for getting good help and training them well.
-- John
(also posted to Yelp)
As many of you know, I get invited to many industry-related events and some are linked to lunches or meals of some sort - thus I decided with my friend and coworker Sid, to attend one at the Gordon Biersch Brewery in Buckhead. I would normally have passed as I've been to the midtown location a few times and wasn't very impressed but since I hadn't visited this location in Buckhead it seemed like a good time to take in some technology-related information while getting a free lunch. We took MARTA down from Sandy Springs and exited from the Buckhead Station - it was a couple of blocks walking in decent weather which provided some much needed exercise, a boon!
This location is tucked back behind the Fidelity Investments building - turn if driving when you see the sign or marquee. One bonus is the Buck statue which I hadn't seen before. Nice to see that the area is loosening up a bit and not taking itself too seriously.
The restaurant itself has a pretty awesome patio for outside seating - I'm not too sure about the view but I can't imagine a better patio to chill with a pint of IPA while nibbling on snacks. The interior is a bit different from the midtown location as to be expected, with high ceilings, a huge bar and the required beer fats behind glass - I'm not sure if they are actually functional but presume they are. I like the interior quite a bit as it's quite expansive, however from the echos I would think it gets quite noisy on busy nights so I'm not sure if it's the place to go for light conversation, more for a game or large group outing.
The menus at these industry events can be fairly light with only a couple of options - today it as a Cheeseburger, CBLT or Blackened Fish Sandwich with a couple of dessert options.
I started with a Diet Coke since I was planning on returning to work. However from past experience the lagers served here are palatable if not great. Actually, I'm not too fond of most lagers and with so many fantastic craft beer options I'm not quite sure how this place stays in business. They seem to have added an ale or two but I haven't had anything that was standout served at Gordon Biersch and perhaps that's the rub for me. I want either the food to be fantastic or the beer to be fantastic or better yet, both. Thus far my experience at GB is that both are on the mediocre side.
For lunch I selected the Blackened Fish Sandwich, Atlantic cod dusted with Cajun seasoning and griddled, served on garlic-toasted ciabatta with Cajun remoulade, tomato, mixed greens and garlic fries. This was a good option but the bread was a bit chewy. Fries were top-notch.
Sid had a veggie burger which he liked but he commented that the interior was a bit mushy so he didn't finish the whole sandwich - he also liked the fries.
For dessert we each had one of the options - I had the Warm Apple Bread Pudding ala mode and Sid the Triple Chocolate Brownie, also ala mode. I thought both were good but I did find a piece of plastic left in the bread pudding. Having worked in restaurants for so long I didn't get upset about it - better than finding a tip of a finger but do be careful. One standout was the coffee - it was better than I expected.
So overall, the meal was good but nothing really special much as I had anticipated. Of final note, the service here was top-notch with every attentive servers and quick responses to any request. I was impressed as these type of lunch meetings can often illicit a rather lackadaisical response from the staff - not so here. Kudos for getting good help and training them well.
-- John
(also posted to Yelp)
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