Marcel

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 run into Don Draper, you are very likely to meet Bob, the restaurant’s maître d’/host/statement blazer connoisseur/Pantene model, who will offer his services for a lengthy cell phone photo shoot.

Accept Bob’s offer 1) Because he’s cool people 2) because you’ll want a few photos to capture the dapper atmosphere and occasion, whether you came in for an anniversary or celebratory team dinner on the boss’s corporate card. But 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.” 

photo credit: Amy Sinclair

Marcel is from famed restaurateur Ford Fry, known for The Optimist and Superica, and is by far our favorite of all his 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 run for their money. All solid reasons why Marcel maintains a steady crowd of both special occasion diners and regulars.

So, if you're looking for a unique escape that involves sipping daiquiris from retro coupe glasses and inhaling roasted oysters and shrimp cocktail off of vintage dinnerware, Marcel's can help transport you to a more debonair era. Even dessert, like their Baked Alaska, which is flambeed tableside with Caribbean rum, gives peak ‘60s as well.

While we can't promise you Jon Hamm, you are likely to find a celebrity or two in the late hours as Marcel is one of the few fine-dining spots still open when sets wrap for the day.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Amy Sinclair

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.

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.

photo credit: Amy Sinclair

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.

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.

photo credit: Amy Sinclair

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.