Chops/Lobster Bar
Bill Addison
“Which is better: Bone’s or Chops?” is one of the eternal questions of the Atlanta dining scene. I choose Bone’s, but that doesn’t mean I disregard its closest competitor. Chops has always drawn a frothier crowd than most steakhouses, probably because it strutted onto the scene at the end of the overblown eighties. The finest among its beef options is the dry-aged porterhouse, a cut that encompasses filet mignon and New York strip. Dover sole, dressed with lemon and capers, will tide over displaced fans waiting for the much-delayed reincarnation of Pano’s & Paul’s (also owned by the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group), where the fish was a signature dish. Chops has an ace sidekick: the downstairs Lobster Bar, an homage to New York’s tiled, vaulted Grand Central Oyster Bar.