The Depot

Hit or miss. Typically good fish dishes and apps, along with a decent wine list and reliably good burgers earns the depot three stars, but it must be said that my visits have ranged from the great, with outstanding food and drinks, to watching guests I’ve taken immediately love the ambiance of the old rail station and patio but then struggle to like the food as much as they like their surroundings, all the while staring at me like «really?», ugh.
We are happy to have them in the neighborhood, but unlike some of the other reviewers we actually had better luck when the restaurant was new than we’ve had more recently. Here’s hoping for better days ahead for them!

Ok lookey here. They Depot still has its kinks to work out (i too have waited way to long for them to brew up a fresh PBR-​in-​a-​can) but i have to point out progress when i see it.
The Depot opened up with great anticipation; the old train station that had sat in partial repair for years was finally completed and being used. I’m no restoration expert but in my opinion the inside of this place is absolutely beautiful. The seating can be a little odd so i wouldn’t recommend a group bigger than 4 (6 at most as there are only 6 booths that seem to accommodate that many peeps).
The menu at first was an over-​zealous attempt at a seafoody reputation but it failed to deliver on anything other than the oysters (which I’ve been told are quite tasty). The refinement just wasn’t there (indeed, the fried food do lack flavor at time).
But i will say that if you live in the area (Grant Park, Cabbage Town, Reynoldstown) that means that «low-​budget photo shoots» and «homeless guys with funyans» (sp?) come with the territory and — dare i say — are the personality of the nachbarschaft (that’s German for neighborhood — you learned something today! Yippee!).
The menu seems to have found it’s resting place with more sandwich items on it and less pub-​house fish fare. I’ll admit that some time passed before i made my second visit (which is when i experienced the PBR fiasco) so again their performance is less than «Stella» (hehe, get it!?) but is markedly improved. And despite the industrial «Triumph» lofts next door in don’t mind being outside at all. Maybe i just hold good company?!
I guess I’m saying if you haven’t been in awhile give it a return visit. You won’t be wowed by culinary delights or pristinely dressed socialites but you might enjoy your meal and feel a little better about the direction of this convenient neighborhood hang out.

We popped into the Depot before picking up our pup from daycare, and we were very impressed with the look of the place. Gorgeous renovation! Very cool that the original rail is the footrest for the bar.
Cold beer (with frosty mugs) and $ 5 oyster dozens (only on Mondays)? Sign me up. The Gulf oysters were HUGE and super briny, perfect for a crisp fall day. Draft selections were pretty varied, and the rest of the menu looked fine, though we were only in for a quick appetizer so we didn’t try anything besides the halfshells and the potato chips (regular and sweet potato, could have used a little more salt). Service at the bar was very friendly and attentive.
We’ll be back!

If there’s one thing that Atlanta (and especially my part of town) has enough of, it’s ho-​hum restaurant experiences. You know the kind: looks nice enough from the outside, always has a decent crowd, menu seems interesting enough. But when you actually pay a visit, the execution on the promise falls flat. Such is my assessment of The Depot — a train-​station-​turned-​restaurant on Memorial Drive. My friend Kali and I stopped there one weekend afternoon after we’d worked up an appetite window-​shopping in nearby East Atlanta Village.
After arriving and being seated, we waited an inordinate amount of time for almost everything — drinks, silverware, appetizer. Even before I’d had a single bite of food from the kitchen, I already had a sour taste in my mouth from this place. When our appetizer — the fried green tomatoes — arrived, it looked pretty good. Coated in a crispy batter and topped with a slice of gouda (?) and some smoky peach salsa, it had all the makings of a tasty intro to a more substantial meal. After sampling it, all I could say was that it was an intro — a deep-​fried augur of things to come. Pretty on the plate yes, but the only flavor came from the salsa.
Next to arrive were our entrees — we both opted for burgers. Mine was the turkey burger which came with grilled onions, and an olive tapenade along with a hefty serving of hand-​cut fries. Much like the appetizer, I struggled to find any distinctive or memorable flavor in either the burger (even after adding all the tapenade to the sandwich) or the fries. To underscore the point, I — a notorious french-​fry fiend — even left most of them on the plate, untouched.
To round out our less-​than-​stellar experience, we opted to sit outside on the patio since it was a sunny day. Let’s just say, the scenery on this (or any) stretch of Memorial Drive isn’t exactly the best, and we were treated to: a homeless guy walking by, wrist-​deep in a bag of Funyuns; a guy and girl who looked like they were conducting a low-​budget photo shoot on the steps of the loft building across the street; and the post-​war, rubble-​y look of the in-​construction building next door to the Depot itself. Nice.
After trying it firsthand, the best thing this restaurant has to offer me is the occasional juvenile chuckle that I get when I drive past, and some of the lights in the sign have gone out, making it read: ‘The Pot’.
Hey, don’t act like you don’t think that’s funny too.

They did a nice job converting this freight depot into a restaurant — very spacious, large bar and big booths for seating. We sat on the patio which has an upper level with high tops and a bar area and a lower level with additional seating. The patio is nicely landscaped, has a fountain and overall a pleasant place to enjoy some food and drink.
I had the grilled portabello with tomato slice and topped with provolone on a focaccia bun with french fries. The portabello had good flavor. The fries were fresh and hot, but limp and I prefer stiff (mind out of the gutter; we’re talking fries!). The food was good, but nothing extraordinary.
We went on a Friday night and there was valet parking. I found this laughable because there is plenty of parking close to the building and it just seems unnecessary. Whatever!
I give The Depot 3-​stars as it is a cool place to meet up with friends for drinks and a bite to eat if you’re in the area.

I went for a late lunch on Sunday afternoon. The interior is finished in dark wood and beautiful large windows. The service was friendly and not rushed. My friend liked her Blood Mary and I just had a couple draught beers. The Crawfish and Chicken Pizza was good and we followed with the Artichoke Dip. The dip was not very good since it was a bit dry and a little bland. This was my second visit and would give it another try.
The entertainment started about halfway through our meal. There is a condo complex next to the restaurant. My friend flinched and told me to check out the girl on the balcony. Some girl, dressed in a leotard that was way too tight was on the cellphone doing what was probably a cheerleading routine from last century… it wasn’t pretty. All I can say is maybe The Depot can invest in some curtains because I nearly lost my lunch.

My husband and I used to drive by here all the time when the place was falling apart and say ‘what a great place for a restaurant’ — I’m glad to see the place restored. We finally got around to eating here recently and had a great meal. I love the décor — they’ve kept the train station feel — in fact the inside of the restaurant is reminiscent of a train car. Long bar on one side, booths and brick on the other. Since it was raining we were not able to take advantage of the outside patio, but it looks like a great spot for a lazy, hazy afternoon.
Back to the food — service was fine — nice waitress, pleasant, not perky. Attentive, but not overly so — but we weren’t ignored either — that nice balance of being left alone to talk and enjoy each others company, but food bought and taken when needed. I had grouper with white wine sauce (yummy) — and a testament to the kitchen was the vegetable of the day — squash and zucchini that were crisp, crisp I say — not the squalid mess usually served in every other place in town.
Plus the beer is cheaper here than other places in the neighborhood — my new favorite brew — Golden Monkey (of course I drink monkey beer!) — is a couple of bucks cheaper here than in the Village.

As a local to Grant Park, this is my new favorite neighborhood bar. I’ve probably been there 10 times since it opened, and the service has been great for me. Some of the food has too much infusion from the south west, as in some salad dressings and spices have a Mexican flavor, I assume from the kitchen staff. (This is the 4 of 5)
This is a good hangout for friends wanting dinner and drinks. The oysters also rock.

For a casual dinner/​dessert/​drinks this place is great. I had a variety of vegetable side dishes as a meal (starting a new diet). I enjoyed the spinach. It reminded me of the spinach served at Maggiano’s. The macaroni and cheese was also very good (I guess I really didn’t stick to the new diet. Oops!) and their mixed drinks as well.
By the way look out for the Cary Grant look a like, I think he said his name was Ted. Adorable.

So bad…
First off, I sat at a table for 10 – 15 minutes without anyone coming by. The waiter who did come by was sadly not too friendly either — in a sort of creepy way. I got the NY strip sandwich which sounded good. It was supposed to have caramelized onions and be served on garlic bread. The onions were sauteed and soggy. The garlic bread was just stale bread (no garlic). They even gave me an end piece and tried to flip it outside-​in to disguise this. The steak was well done while I ordered it medium-​rare. This restaurant’s only redeeming quality is that they have good hand-​cut fries. Other than that, it sucks.
Oh and the train depot really doesn’t emit that old-​timey feel that they are going for. It’s too new looking. Too clean.
Later that night, Montezuma came to visit.

Depot Haiku Review
A cool «station» but,
sadly consistency is
their Achilles’ Heel.

Come on ride that train. .and ride it! Choo-​choo! Or, rather, chew-​chew,* at this train depot turned restaurant and bar!
Since I’d read many a Unilocal about the Depot before actually going, I was a bit hesitant when it came to the menu, so I ended up keeping it simple. Very simple. First instinct was to get a turkey burger, but after a little Spanish Inquisition on our waiter, he divulged that he thought they were pre made frozen patties — and he gave the disclaimer that ‘the more they’re cooked, the pinker they get, so they tend to scare people.’ Hence the disclaimer in case I got that one.
Not really in the mood for a pink patty, I went with as standard as you can get — cheeseburger. This guy is made in the back, and it was a good one. Also, the housemade fries (yes, I asked about these too.. . I am somewhat of a fry connoisseur.) were all quickly inhaled, including the tiny burnt crispy bits. Good.
Now on to this spot’s selling point: the whole train depot thing. I’ll let you know up front that I really like trains (not in a ‘I collect trains’ kind of way, but more like ‘I think trains are romantic’) — so, I’m immediately a sucker for the whole Depot thing. Plus, near my hometown, I grew up going to this OTHER restaurant called the Depot, so my mind was partially preoccupied by waxing nostalgic about my original time eating fries somewhere people jumped onto trains a hundred or so years ago.
But despite that, I think anyone could appreciate the splendor of the space — very ‘lofty’ but in such an authentic way. They kept things simple (even the piece of artwork I was sitting nearby, was just a picture of, well, the depot.) and added some simple hanging globe lights.
The bar and tables slicing the center of the space in half likely fill up on the weekends (I went on a weekday and it was pretty empty), and I can see myself sipping a boxcar* or dirty martini or really anything here.
The menu prices are another plus of this place — it can be tricky to find a menu in the $ 8 — $ 15 range at a place you’d actually like to sit down and eat in Atlanta, so I was glad to see the menu in this range. The easy parking lot is a good thing, and the service was decent, too. I was pretty hardpressed to find anything too terribly wrong with the place, except for the pink turkey burger story, the fact that a side item alone costs $ 3.50 and that I couldn’t stay for another glass of wine.
* Please pardon the puns. For some reason, I think I’m punny today.

Six meals ordered, two were acceptable, two were poor and two were downright bad.
The plus:
The turkey burger was good — a little charred but OK.
The kids got a coloring page and crayons on arrival.
It was not too hot, not too cold.
The minus:
Kids chicken fingers were greasy and tasteless
Kids grilled cheese sandwich was barely grilled and over-​cheesy
Chicken sandwich was overcooked, greasy, tough and charred
Asian scallop salad was basically a fresh-​pac garden salad with soy sauce and sesame oil. Very disappointing Scallops were greasy but OK.
Soda was flat
Waiter inattentive and unresponsive to problems
Service relatively slow
Kids are welcome but the kid meal options are atrocious — chicken fingers, grilled cheese or a burger. Where is the fruit, the vegetable, the salad option — maybe even a kid steak or a grilled chicken breast? No effort at all on the kids menu.
Overall, a highly disappointing experience. It seems that all the food is cooked on the same grill that has not been cleaned in weeks. It all had the same, slightly charred flavor — poorly seasoned, poorly presented and poorly served. And the soda was flat.
The whole place smacks of a lack of effort — the menu, the service, the management and the overall experience.
Give it a miss, or at least wait until it loses enough money that the management and chef are fired and they bring in new personnel.

Before heading to The Depot, I checked out a bunch of the other reviews online and found that they were not terribly positive. I braced myself for a unpleasant experience.
I will say that I did not experience anything negative at all. I very much enjoyed the space and the dark paneled interior. Our group spent the majority of the time at the bar, but the stools were comfortable and the area was spacious — and they even have those little purse hooks under the bar.
I ordered the Depot Salad… not something that’s easily indicative of the quality of a restaurant, but the produce was very fresth (no ‘slimy’ greens), the chicken was well seasoned and cooked perfectly and the dressing was very tasty. I was very happy with it.
Our group spent most of the afternoon hanging out, drinking beer and just catching up on old times — it was a perfect spot to do that, and the staff were friendly and welcoming, and even patient with the two year old who kept running around causing a fuss. Thankfully he’s cute, so people were more entertained than anything… but I digress!
My only negative was that the crosswind brought the cigarette smoke from the patio through the windows and into the bar area, but sadly that couldn’t be helped.
Overall I enjoyed The Depot and it would definitely warrant a repeat visit.

I really have enjoyed this place the last couple of times that I have been. Not sure why it has gotten so many negative reviews and I’m pretty picky.
I went yesterday for the second time for brunch with some friends. Last time I was there I got the french toast and it was wonderful but lately I’ve been trying to force myself to try different things on the menu wherever I go. I decided to try the lump crab salad. It wasn’t good at all but like I said I’m really picky especially when it comes to salads. I explained to the server why I didn’t like it and asked him to take it back and he was more than willing an even apologized to me for not being pleased with the selection. I decided to order the breakfast burrito instead and LOVED it! I think everyone I was with really enjoyed their food.
Another good thing about this place is that there’s never really a wait and you can’t hardly go anywhere in atlanta for brunch and there’s not some kinda wait.
I gave this place four stars mostly for the mimosas and live music! They always have live music on sundays, its usually a cover band or cover «person» but .hey I like knowing the songs.

The good
–Convenience (for me anyway — 1 mile from our house)
–Dark wooden interior
–Attentive server (although a bit nervous and confused, I wouldn’t want to be here when it is busy)
–No crowd at all during lunchtime on a bad weather Sunday
–Spicy Bloody Mary
–English Premier League on the plasmas
–LARGE portions
–Salmon BLT — cooked properly — good flavor (my wife’s dish)
The so-​so
–Shrimp Po’ boy (ok shrimp and bread, but soggy lettuce and a fake remoulade sauce. I am pretty sure it was curry-​apple mayo — imagine dunking celery in this at an office holiday party — bland, bland, bland). I am 0 for 2 on Po’ Boys this week
–French fries — tasted ok, but were limp and a little sogged
–The temperature (45 degrees outside, 55 inside, keep the jacket on)
The weird
–The music — really loud Samantha Fox, Pet Shop Boys, etc…
–Off duty server practicing her pole dance routine in front of the manager
Not too bad. Given the mid-​range performance on the sandwiches during a slow shift, would probably not venture past the bar food options (there are entrees/​sides and pastas also available in addition to burgers, salads etc…). Will be back due to convenience factor and plasmas.

Four of us headed down on Monday evening to give the Depot a try. We’ve heard that weekends are packed so we thought we’d try a week night and really check the place out.
it was a quiet evening, only about half the tables had customers and we were seated as soon as we walked in. Everyone was very friendly and attentive and we ordered some reasonably priced beers right away.
Originally we sat outside, but it was a little chilly and windy out so we relocated back inside with no fuss. I think a nice privacy fence around the outside eating area and a fire pit would really go a long way to making the outside area much more cozy as opposed to the open, exposed feel it has now.
Drinks took a little longer than expected to arrive based on the number of customers, but we hardly noticed. A nice thing about the Depot, compared to some other places in town, is that it’s not too loud, and it’s easy to have a great conversation without shouting «WHAT?!» every few minutes.
The menu has a very large selection. A little bit of everything someone said. We ordered food and again, it took a few minutes longer than expected, but barely noticeable.
I had the Cajun Chicken sandwich. Very tasty but very spicy! I loved it but it was too spicy for most of the people at the table. The jalapenos put it over the top. I’d get it again, but I needed extra water.
There were a few burgers on the table that ranged from delicious, to overcooked, and a spinach salad that was plain and simple but good.
The best deal at our table was the Pizza of the Day. That got rave reviews and for $ 9.50 (that day) it could have fed two of us easily. Fresh ingredients and delicious.
We’ll definitely try the Depot again.

I’d love to give The Depot a higher rating but I didn’t try the food.
Drinks were good. I orderer a dirty martini, and to my surprise, it was a big’un! :) Awesome space! Staff was especially friendly! I will definately be back to try the food.

For Valentines Day, we decided to do something low key and fun. I found out through Kaitlin’s review (thanks Kaitlin!) that The Depot was finally open and have been wanting to see the space for some time now! What a beautiful space it is! I can’t wait for the summer to enjoy the outside deck! They did a great job with the décor and the bar provided much enjoyment and entertainment for everyone waiting for a table.
The wait was not long and we were seated in our table. We started with the Baja Nachos, which were amazing! The roasted peppers definitely kicked it up a notch from the traditional nachos you would get anywhere else. I got the Bacon Cheeseburger, David got the Foot Long Hot Dog with Sauerkraut and Bison Chili, and Leslie got the Oyster Po-​Boy. Everything was good, not great but good.
The only downside of the night was that it was super cold and drafty. I mean there really is nothing to keep this place warm or cool. They will definitely have to figure out how to control the temp!

2^nd day open, 1^st one to review, yay!
We’ve been waiting patiently for quite awhile for this place to open, and let me tell you — it was worth the wait! The Depot is a new *February 2008* bar and restaurant open on Memorial Drive in Reynoldstown. It’s right across from another one of our favorite places — Wag-​a-​lot — so every time we’ve driven by in the last few months we’ve paid special attention to see if this place was open — and tonight it was!
It is located in an abandoned train depot — hence the name — and we found out is owned by the same group as Vickery’s, Highland Tap, and Fontaines. The interior is filled with lots of dark wood, has a great big, long bar, high ceilings, and just an overall comfy feel to it. The beer selection is great — 10 or so to choose from on tap, and another 40 or so in bottles — including some interesting ones — Victory Golden Monkey anyone?
Service was wonderful, wait and bar staff really seemed to be experienced. Food was good — came out hot and fast. Interesting menu choices. We started with the BBQ Oysters — delicious! And my husband and I each had a burger — he the Cowcatcher, and me the Locomotive (turkey!) — cool to see they kept the train theme! Both very good!
Looks like it has a great outdoor bar and patio — which as spring is quickly approaching — I am sure we will frequent. I forgot to ask if they are dog-​friendly?! I’ll update at a later time with that info.
But overall — great and very welcome addition to the Grant Park/​East Atlanta area — go check it out!