Thrive

Best sushi I think I’ve ever had. The specialty drinks are top notch as well. Cool lounge vibe.

Maybe I’m used to a higher caliber of Asian cuisine in DC and NYC but Thrive fell flat on all counts save one.
I’m in town for business and met my little sister, her wife and nephew here for dinner. Ordered the pork buns and dumplings to start. Pork in the buns was over cooked, dried out, and lacked any real substance. There was no succulent pieces of pork and that delicious fat you order pork buns for (think Momofuku), just dried meat on a bun with nothing complimenting the meat (leafy green, spice, acid). The dumplings while the menu said a mix of steamed and pan fried, all came fried, and while perfectly cooked the filling was bland with no favor. Main course my family split the fried chicken with mac and cheese and collard greens (It’s the south after all) and enjoyed the dish. Chicken was nicely fried, came out hot and crispy and still juicy with creamy mac and cheese and respectable collard greens. I had the cider plank salmon and it was ok. Salmon was perfectly cooked but could have used a pinch of salt, and sat on top a mixture of legumes, sliced greens, and a purée. It all worked but didn’t leave me wanting more.
The best bite for me was the spicy tuna roll. Was filled with perfectly prepared sashimi grade tuna with a nice roll that was more tuna than rice. The spice mixture wasn’t the typical spicy mayo that’s so popular these days, but an actual spice mixed that had the right amount of heat that didn’t overpower the tuna. Each piece was perfection, so sushi would be the only thing I’d come back to Thrive for.
For dessert they shared the chocolate cake and enjoyed it but I thought the plating was sloppy.
Space is modern and our server was friendly and very helpful, so service was well executed but great service with lackluster food doesn’t make me want to come back and drop another $ 100 dollars on dinner here.
Go for the sushi, ignore the apps and mains, and you’ll probably have a decent meal here you won’t regret.

I was here last night with my boyfriend & 2 of his friends. The ONLY reason we went here was because of the Groupon deal they have. 4 ppl for $ 104. Anyways, they charge taxes & 18% gratuity for this deal which totaled close to $ 50!!! We might as well paid full price! The service was extremely slow here & the waiter did not deserve that 18% gratuity. 2 stars because the food was decent, but the service was terrible. Also this was not much of a discount… we won’t be returning.

Was food was not consistent. Our first order consisted of wings and the California rolls. The foods was great until we placed the second order of the same thing. The wings were cooked perfect the first time but the second time they were not fully cooked and the rolls fell apart. Seems like the second batch was a rushed order.

Came in for NYE dinner. They wanted to sit us next to the kitchen but moved us after we showed a little hesitation. The prefix dinner was good but not anything to write home about. For the price not awesome, but not bad either, just kind of meh. The server seemed a little distant but low and behold they included 18% on the prefix menu, so he had little motivation to go above and beyond. Cool atmosphere and a good vibe. Trendy, not over the top. I’d try new places before going back but if friends were like, «Hey lets go.» I’d say «ok».

Bland. I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken which came with Mac N Cheese and Collard Greens. Although the greens were flavorful, and the fried chicken breast was juicy… everything was just plain bland, bland, bland. Like not a grain of salt made it on anything! The small ramekin of «gravy» tasted more like plain, flavorless grease. I had to ask the waiter what it was, before I learned it was supposed to be gravy! I finally asked for some salt and pepper (they don’t keep it on the table here) which helped.
Positive: the staff and the ambiance is really nice here and will return for drinks, they make an awesome Moscow Mule!

We had an awesome experience at Thrive tonight. Starting with the service, we were met at the door and immediately welcomed and shown to our table. It is surprising how many restaurants miss on this note, leaving guest standing at the hostess stand feeling like an intruder. Good selection of specialty drinks, wine and beer. Fun assortment of apps. We did the fried green tomatoes and the calamari and were very happy with both. Our group then ordered from all corners of the menu and everyone was in love with their choices. The collard greens with bacon were the highlight for me. Nothing be good things at Thrive.

So I still have not checked this place back but my hubby did and reported that they have fixed the espresso machine :)

Went there yesterday. Our waiter was not attentive. It took awhile to get his attention to order. We had to ask for a refill of water after having empty glasses for 10 mins. The menu was simple, nothing fancy. We ordered the calamari appetizer. It was not good. The squid was drenched in Mayonnaise. It was not crunchy like it was supposed to be. My wife and I could not take more than a few bites because it tasted like we were eating warm mayonnaise.
The price is comparable to other sushi restaurants, but the quality just isn’t there. ¹⁄₃ of the sushi menus was fried sushi rolls. We order one fried and the thrive special. There was barely any fish in the sushi. It was sliced paper thin and rolled with mostly rice. We were given the small dipping bowls you’d find at bars that would hold may a wedge or two of lemon. The little dipping bowls were for the soy sauce, keep in mind, we couldn’t even fit the one piece of sushi in it to dip properly.
I ordered the lamb sandwich with Brussel sprouts. The Brussels sprouts were sautéed in a sweet sauce. When he brought out the sandwich, the entire bottom bun was sitting in the Brussel sprout sauce. So a soggy sandwich was unpleasant to eat. We asked the waiter to give us a to go box, he offered to pack it up for us, big mistake. When we came home, we opened to check the food. He had packed the sandwich in with the Brussel sprouts, the entire sandwich was now drenched.
We are not going back to Thrive. We had come here because of a Groupon, now we know why they needed Groupon to draw in new customers. It’s because no one goes back after the first visit.
10÷5÷2015
In response to Theresa who works at Thrive. When I have a bad experience at a restaurant, I have to write a review to unload my frustration which is better than blowing up at the restaurant. If I have a good experience, I rave about it to my friends and family. I don’t need to write about my good experience. My wife and I aren’t hard to please. Good service can make up for lousy food or we can put up with lousy service if the food is good, but with our experience at Thrive, you guys didn’t meet either one. Even if you offered a free meal, I’d decline. I don’t want to have the same experience again. Hopefully this cleared up your questions about why I only write bad reviews.

WOW place! great food and fantastic location!
Sushi is wonderful!

Wanted a quick but good bit to eat before a concert at Phillips Arena so after reading many Unilocal reviews my daughter and I picked this place. So glad we did it was just a short walk from the venue and a wonderful meal.
Our server Taylor was so friendly, knowledgeable and very quick. Her Recommendations for drinks and dinner were spot on.
The next time we have a concert or any event at Phillips we are definitely going to come back

Thrive is a perfectly decent place to grab dinner before a game/​show at Philips Arena, a very short walk away, which is exactly what wifey and I did.
Overall the food ranged from ok to very good, while service was somewhat shaky. The restaurant was nearly empty — I don’t think there was ever more than 6 or 7 tables occupied at one time, and I’ve noticed when this happens restaurants often seem to get out of rhythm and service is often worse than when they’re busy. Anyhow, our food took entirely too long (entrees arrived 25 minutes after we finished our appetizers — the server made a comment about everyone ordering sushi and their was only 1 person making sushi, but with such a small crowd that was obviously a bogus excuse. Wifey and I were also rather surprised when a 2^nd round of drinks arrived at the table un-​ordered (and not comped), but we were going to order another round anyway, so no big deal.
As for the food…
— fried potstickers — basically what I’d expect from an average chinese restaurant. Not bad, but forgettable.
–Asian pork buns — Excellent. Highly recommended — good job on both the buns and the pork.
–Short Rib Ravioli — decent, but it was missing something. Besides salt. I mean, it was missing salt, but it was missing something else, too. Yeah, that. I was expecting a deeper, more complex flavor and just didn’t get it. But it was not bad.
–Sushi — I got the Vesuvius and another roll that I’m blanking on the name of. Both were good, but the Vesuvius is the way to go. The sushi here is definitely better than the majority of sushi joints I’ve been to.
–Drinks — Blood Orange Margarita is a stellar margarita (not very sweet, which is very much to my liking) and ‘The Cure’ is very interesting drink with blended Scotch.
Thrive isn’t a place I’d make a point of going to, but if I were looking for a place to eat before an event at Philips, I’d definitely return… and I’d probably stick to the sushi.

Fabulous sushi salads some vegetarian all beautifully prepared. A wonderful fined in the land of fried food. Brittaney the bartender is as gracious as she is beautiful A must do in Atlanta

Came here for dinner with a friend. Drinks were good. Service was good. Food was amazing.
The ambience is nice. Love the curtains, gives a secluded feel. I recommend the short rib lettuce wraps.

I have never been so excited to leave a restaurant review than with this one. This restaurant should have more than a 3 star average rating, just saying! I visited this restaurant Oct. 2014. I came to ATL for a TD Jakes Conference at the Philips Arena. The day’s agenda had been long so when we were able to leave my girlfriend and I were starving and saw this restaurant and decided to give them a try. This restaurant experience I will NEVER forget. The food (fried green tomatoes, sushi, brussel sprouts, etc.) and drinks were delicious and they have a variety of food. It’s not just sushi, they even have southern fare which we tried. The fried chicken with greens and mac & cheese had me in pure heaven! Kudos to the chef! What really made our experience great is the man in the picture below and our awesome waitress. I unfortunately don’t remember her name but she was a college student and had long, jet black hair and looked like a model. She was one the most friendly, attentive, personable wait staff I have had. We so enjoyed her being our waitress and she even helped us with suggestions on scenery to visit in ATL. We had finished our meal and even after we paid, she engaged us in conversation and called us a cab. I can’t say enough about her. My girlfriend and I had taken a picture with her but unfortunately my cell phone was stolen a week after my visit to the restaurant so I am not able to share that memorable moment. FYI: I had planned to do a review directly after our visit here but before reviewing, I was DETERMINED to retrieve the food pics I had taken on my cell phone. Luckily I had shared my wonderful experience with friends through pic messaging so I asked around until I found a friend who still had the pics on their phone to forward to me. YAY! Thrive, thank you for the Ultimate experience. The restaurant is beautiful, the food is divine and the staff is outstanding. I can’t wait to return to the ATL — not so much because of the city but because I want to come back to Thrive!!!

Checked out this place for downtown steak week. I choose this place specifically for the featured special which is listed as this «Surf N Turf: Filet of Beef and Alaskan King Crab Legs, Twice Baked Potato Purée, Roasted Asparagus, Hollandaise Sauce $ 30». That being said I was expecting to get a filet and actual king crab legs. Unfortunately what I received was a filet with about a tablespoon of crab meat on top. Although the filet delicious and was cooked just right, this is not what I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to getting dirty with giant king crab leg. I feel like the description that was given was deceptive.
Other than that the service was good and the atmosphere was chill.

I have nothing really bad to say about Thrive.
We did not order sushi. We had a groupon so we were able to order an appetizer first, which we had the braised rib lettuce wraps. They were decent. They had a nice spicy kick that I was not expecting.
My wife and I both ordered the Filet. And you could cut the steak with a fork. They cooked it perfectly. It came with garlic fries which were excellent and spinach.
The chocolate cake dessert was really rich and really good.
The service was really good as well.
The restaurant is worth the groupon price, however, I believe they are overpriced. For the price, the food should be overwhelmingly good. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, just not $ 125 for two people good.
That’s why they get 3 stars.

Excellent service. Attentive and friendly. They wouldn’t let me try a spoon of the ragout gravy so I could determine if I wanted it instead, but I got the duck and was thoroughly pleased. Great drinks.

Came here for my early birthday dinner with my mom because of the Groupon. We came before a few years ago for Restaurant Week lunch, but at night it seems more «hip» and «trendy» (looking.) It’s nicely decorated inside and it feels like it should be a lounge, but it was super empty on a Friday night.
There was nothing wrong with the food, but it’s aggressively average (the Groupon is a great deal though so we at least left super full.) For appetizers we had the pork belly buns and calamari which were both good. Pork buns were one of the meal highlights. Calamari is supposedly one of the things they’re «known for» (I feel like a lot of restaurants claim this and their calamari is always very regular.) It was cooked really well although drenched in sauce so it looses most of the crispy aspect. We also had two sushi rolls which were fine, nothing special.
For entrees I got the duck. The waitress said the chef suggested a medium temp because «it gets tough and chewy much lower than that,» which seemed like a weird thing to say, but I took the suggestion. It came out pretty rare anyway but was definitely chewy. It came with tempura rice cakes which were cool.
My mom got the steak which was very steak-​y. It had chimichurri sauce on it which she didn’t like but I thought it was pretty good. Parmesan fries let me down as they normally do at restaurants when they’re not covered in a lot of real parmesan like at the Counter.
My boyfriend got the lamb ragu with homemade tagliatelle. The pasta was pretty chewy and the sauce was really normal. The lamb was ground and you couldn’t really taste the lamb-​ness in it.
Because it was my birthday we were able to get all three desserts. They took a long time but they put it on a huge plate that said «Happy Birthday» and was really pretty. The melting chocolate cake and panna cotta were good. The semifreddo was not so good.

One of my good friends and I stopped here for a late 2pm lunch last Monday, because he works across the street and recommended that we ate here.
During our visit, the manager greeted and sat us, he was top notch. The interior of Thrive is very warm and inviting, it is very posh and the lounge area is beautifully decorated in white décor
My friend had their DL Special, this includes Spicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon, which consists of Cream Cheese, Avocado, Spicy Mayo and Teriyaki Sauce.
I had the Rainbow roll; this has Crab, Cucumber, Avocado, Topped with Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Eel and is finished with Teriyaki Sauce.
The sushi was excellent; it was prepared and presented very pleasantly on the plate and was just the perfect portion for lunch.
Our waiter was attentive and provided excellent service.
My friend was telling me that their cornmeal crusted grouper sandwich is very popular here, so I will definitely have to stop by at least one more time to try it.
Overall, based on this one time experience, I would recommend Thrive.
[Review #203]