WaterHaven Restaurant

This restaurant is closed for good

Is this place open still? I have been trying to change a reservation I made through OpenTable for the last 4 days. They are offline on OpenTable and their phone number has been a fast busy for days.
I’m annoyed becuase I can’t make another reservation on OT until I change this one. AH!

A-​ok is the perfect review for this place, because that’s exactly how I felt about it, not great, but not awful. We went here for V-​day because we had a gift certificate and half off all bottles of wine was pretty tempting.
The lamb sliders are incredible, I wish I could have had a whole meal of just the sliders, a must-​order app. My white fish was covered in bacon, so that was really the only flavor I could taste and the butternut squash ravioli on the side was overcooked.
The space is really cool though and we found parking on the street right outside, so that was nice given most places in Midtown require you to valet.
I would probably check out a lot more places before coming back here, but if you are looking for someplace in the area this isn’t a bad option to have — just make sure to order the sliders :)

[I posted this before, but it mysteriously disappeared?]
We hit this place up for Unilocal Eats due mostly to their expansive Unilocal Eats menu. Kudos to them for giving people some choices.
The restaurant is fairly nice. I like the open feel of the place (lots of windows). The attire is listed as «casual» but considering the décor of the restaurant itself and the attire of the staff I feel it’s more like a business-​casual/​semi-​dressy kind of place. I didn’t really feel too underdressed though. :)
Anyway, I ended up going with the lamb sliders, the pork loin chop, and the crème brulee. The lamb sliders were pretty decent — they sort of just tasted like a good gyro with the tzatziki sauce but they could’ve used something else on the burger since it was just the lamb patty and the bun. I also tried the caesar salad which seemed just ok to me.
My main course came with a large, boneless pork chop, green beans, cauliflower gratin, and a sweet onion spread for the pork. This dish was a pretty sizeable amount of food. It was kind of a mixed bag though. The pork chop and the onion spread was tasty, but it was a little too greasy. The beans also were a little too greasy as well. I wasn’t a fan of the cauliflower gratin though — not great consistency and I didn’t care for the flavor much (too much horseradish maybe?). Overall, it was decent and a good portion, but it was a little too heavy. I also sampled the grilled salmon dish which was pretty solid. The potato cake with it was really bland and boring, but the fish and succotash were both really solid.
I sampled the chocolate ice box pie which was very chocolatey, rich, and not too sweet — overall very good. However, the crème brulee I got for dessert was a complete dud. Instead of cool, smooth, creamy crème brulee, it was basically a dish of warm, lumpy, runny cooked eggs — I think they clearly just screwed up making the custard. I’m not sure how they didn’t notice this mistake though… Anyway, upon seeing the uneaten dessert, our server inquired about it and I basically just told him that it did not come out right. To make up for it he gave us another slice of the chocolate pie for free.
Our server was very good throughout the meal and actually did what he could to fix the dessert mishap instead of becoming apathetic, angry or defensive as can sometimes happen when something doesn’t go right. I definitely appreciate that.
So the food was pretty good, but there were definitely some misses too. While fairly good, however, at least to me, it didn’t stand out as being particularly special. I’m glad I tried it during Unilocal Eats though.
3

I was a big user and fan of the Globe which was in this place before WaterHaven. The new restaurant has been in operation for 9 months by now. It is still a relatively popular lunch place at Tech Square.
I went here for a business lunch with two colleagues. It was a snow day in Atlanta — so not much activity. We were almost alone.
The globe used ot have a light/​bright Northern Europe style. The WaterHaven in comparison has a dark and warmer decoration. It comes down to taste. I was a bit dark for me, but otherwise a pretty OK place. There is still a separated area in the back for groups.
The have a pretty impressive wine list, but not much in terms of beer, and we learned that they do not have sparkling water not even pelegrino. Weird. You would think sparkling water would be standard in any restaurant. So we had a mixture of plain water and ice-​tea (even on a snow day).
For lunch we had the soup of the day — curry/​cream — and burgers, steak sandwich, and chicken sandwich. We had two sides of fries.
The cream soup was very good and of OK size. The burger was really small, but tasty. The steak sandwich had a lot of onion in it and the meat was not very tender. The chicken sandwich had lots of cheese and was overcooked. So 2 out of 3 were not exactly great. The fries were plenty and good.
We finished off with coffee and it was OK. Overall the settings are pretty good, the appetizer was great, but the sandwiches were of poor quality.
In addition our sevice was not exactly attentive even on a slow day.
Probably the best high-​end restaurant at Tech Square, but that does say more about the competition.

Big Gay Supper Club held their annual holiday feast here a few weeks ago and I got to try pretty much everything on their menu. My favorite part of our meal was the vegetable plate featuring the harvest of local farmers. Who knew Georgia carrots were sooooo good?!?
The flatbreads are delicious. The service was awesome. I really appreciated the bartender. In addition to having special wines already selected for our group, he kept up with the different tabs without making a mistake.

Hey Omar!
I think that was me!
I’m still here because I needed to get some work done on my PC and I already got coffee so why not hang around, right?
Well, you left, I let my friends go, and I paid (generous of me, huh?).
As soon as that slip left my hands, I could hear that little noise they’d do in «The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly» to kind of indicate that you are all alone and accompanied by tumbleweeds.
Yes, they need training.
BUT, the food was okay (a little pricey).
I got the recommended chopped salad and it was humongous and all I’ll need today.
The space, I think, is the one from the Globe something or other and is pretty cool. I think they are definitely targeting the business crowd (sorry Techsters — does Juniors still exist? Go there.)
Very convenient and very central.
Oh, and they served one of my buddies a flan that was savory and made with veggies — is that weird or what?

What a great surprise this place was.
My wife and I walked in about 730 and decided to grab a drink at the bar. The place was totally empty when we arrived, so I have to admit I was a bit nervous.
The bartender was very personable and knowledgeable about the wine list. He helped me select a wonderful Syrah, chatted a bit about the vineyard, etc. He also allowed my wife to sample a ginger flavored liquor that we’d never heard of, and made an excellent ginger infused martini-​type drink.
The WaterHaven website mentioned a ‘date night’ special during October. One appetizer, two entrees, and one desert for $ 40. What a deal.
We chose the Lamb Sliders for our appetizer at our table, we’d already tried the calamari at the bar (the aioli was excellent), and they were absolutely amazing. There’s a reason this gets tons of reviews. The lamb was juicy, well browned on the outside, but still a bit pink inside, and the buns were excellent.
My wife selected the Oxtails and I tried the Georgia Trout. Both were excellent, but the oxtails were the clear winner. Bold, complex flavors, rich sauce, smooth marrow, a total winner. The trout was very flavorful and had a wonderful presentation.
Desert, a chocolate icebox pie, seemed a bit out of place and was not exciting when delivered. But give it a chance. The chocolate was rich, well developed, and not overly sweet. Certainly not what I thought of when I first heard the options.
This restaurant is a solid value, with a few real standouts on the well rounded menu. You absolutely have to try the Lamb Sliders. You won’t be disappointed.

So, it was Midtown Restaurant week. Where to go? I’d already been to many of the restaurants listed and wanted to try something new. WaterHaven’s menu intrigued me. I like that they had a solid offering of dishes — not just 2 apps and 2 entrees. Lamb sliders, crabcakes, bacon wrapped trout, oxtails all sounded yummy to me.
Our group arrived around 730ish. Wathaven offers some specialty cocktails like a strawberry infused mojito, sweat tea vodka, sloe gin mule and the like. I’ve been burned by theses cocktails as of late. And when I say «burned» I mean that the description sounds good, but it often ends up being a high-​ticket price without delivering on the alcohol.
Several of us opted for wine instead. A nice Grenache priced at $ 48.
For appetizers, we ordered a mix of the calamari, fried green tomatoes, lamb sliders, and the crabcake. See pics here:
. Although the crabcake was full of meat and not too much bread, it lacked any real taste to it. It was pretty bland. The lamb sliders on the other hand, although simply prepared, were full of flavor. I was also concerned that the bun would be too much in relation to the amount of meat as with sliders at JCT Kitchen, but it wasn’t.
The calamari was decent, nothing to complain about, but was overshadowed by the lamb sliders as well as the fried green tomatoes. Now, this is probably the last appetizer that I would have chosen to order, but it was delightful. The thin, fried tomatoes were served with a pesto sauce that adds a wonderful flavor to the tomatoes.
As far as entrees we ran the gamut, from Bacon Wrapped Trout, Flatiron Steak, Chicken and of course the Oxtails. The trout was flaky and cooked perfectly with bacon and a side of mushroom lasagna. I’ve never seen lasagna quite like this before. It was like a round pasta sandwich. The pasta was on the top and bottom and the mushroom and asiago and ricotta cheese were mixed inside. Very yummy and unexpected. They could almost serve that dish by itself. In fact, it would make a perfect offering for vegetarians.
I did taste the Oxtails myself and was impressed. These were braised and fall off the bone tender. The only thing I didn’t care for or did my friend for that matter is the dumplings they were served with were not very dumpling-​like. They were more like hard potatoes. But all in all it was a very pleasurable meal. I didn’t sample the steak or the chicken, but judging by the fact that there wasn’t a speck of food left on anyone’s plate, I’d take it everyone was satisfied.
But we weren’t done yet. We still had the dessert course. Our choices were the Chocolate icebox cake, the lemon and blueberry panacotta or the Chef’s nightly creation which was a poundcake with berries and ice cream. Again, within our group we had a sampling of all 3.
The least favorite of mine was the chocolate cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate but this was so rich, one bite was plenty. The pound cake was delicious and moist and the sweetness of the cake went well with the tart berries. But the Lemon blueberry panacotta takes the cake, so to speak. If you’ve never had panacotta, it is like a pudding or flan. Not only was the plating pretty with thoughtful details like a candied lemon zest on top, the lemon flavor came through in every bite, with the lemon and blueberry in perfect harmony.
Service was also great, with friendly, consistent service. And the chef even came by to ask us how we liked everything. I love that even though they knew we were here for restaurant week, they still wanted to make sure we had a good experience. And they had a good menu offering as well. Listen up restaurants: THIS is how you successfully execute a restaurant week, quite the opposite of my many other restaurant week experiences.

The fried green tomatoes were the most fantastic I’ve ever had. But my sister’s house salad was teeny, tiny. It tasted good, not great, but it was so small.
We both had halibut and thought the portion was very small. Half of the plate was filled with navy beans. We also both thought the fish was bland. I asked for some sort of sauce to put on it and the waiter brought me salt. I told him I said sauce and he said the chef didn’t have any.
Neither of us would want to return to this restaurant.
The place was near empty on a Saturday night. My sister and I understand why.

I am very sad to report that this place is not long for this world, based on my visit. I chose this place based on location and Unilocal reviews for a friends birthday. It was a Tuesday, and the place was EMPTY. OK, there was a table on the terrace and one inside occupied but thats it and it was 8 to 9:30. The waiter told us it was usually like this. Dont fire him please we liked him. Except for the initial wait once we sat down.
Mark, who was in our party, really didnt enjoy Waterhaven at all. He had the halibut. We all shared the shrimp and grits and the fried green tomato. The description was enticing. Alas the apps disappointed. I had the oxtail and I will say my friends that it was excellent and beautiful. I loved it, was happy that no one asked for a bite, and have looked up the recipe.
The beer is cheap and a good selection, and that gets bonus stars, but all in all it is expensive, $ 50 a head.
Went there with an open heart and mind but I am afraid it is not good enough for what it is trying to be.

I chose this spot based on Unilocal reviews for my farewell dinner before an overseas trip. I was hoping that it would live up to the reviews… Well, way to go, fellow Unilocalers! Many kudos to the lot of you — this restaurant delivered on all accounts and then some!
My group was mildly under-​dressed for the occasion, though that didn’t attract any foul looks from the staff. In fact, the staff was extremely friendly and brutally honest about what they felt was excellent on the menu and what might leave us wishing we’d gone to McDonald’s instead. Our waiter was fun and friendly, not to mention extremely patient! He explained nearly every item on the menu, including what the chef’s inspiration for the evening was. Always delivered his words with a smile, and even took a group photo for us. Great guy!
Because it was the Midtown Restaurant Week, we all decided to go for that. It was an excellent deal as many of the main dishes alone cost as much as the three course meal. Even with the steeper prices, Waterhaven delivers. The portions were crazy — my trout was overflowing on the plate — and everything was cooked to perfection. We had calamari, lamb sliders, salad, mac and cheese, crab cakes, and excellent desserts. Everyone’s main dishes were exquisite, and as mentioned before, the portions were certainly plenty enough to feed all the mouths at the table.
The ambiance was cozy yet over the top (in a good way). Everything is eco friendly, which I loved! Not just the food… no, we’re talking the carpet (recycled), paints (no VOC), nearly anything you can see is in some way recycled or upcycled. It was rather impressive, and earns two big thumbs up from the green movement in me.
If you can’t come for a Unilocal Eats or Restaurant Week event, getting all of this food would be a little more costly for you. That would be my only warning, and even then, I’d add a «It’s SO worth it!» to the end of that warning. When food is of sound quality and flavor, it’s worth it to spend the extra buck. Right inside Tech Square, so finding parking can be difficult, but again, totally worth the hassle. Check this spot out as soon as possible!

One of my favorite restaurants close by my apartment. Each time I’ve gone they’ve done the food and service absolutely wonderfully. Why I don’t see more people there is a mystery to me.
My girlfriend and I have enjoyed everything we’ve eaten here, but I’d particularly recommend the Oxtails.

Excellent food, service & drinks. Pity it appears to be under appreciated. I would recommend going soon of you’re going to go.

The name sounds funny. It makes me think of Kevin Costner’s horrible all brown movie Waterworld. But waterhaven is not brown and there are no men covered in fishscaled leather walking around. There are, however, plenty of seating outside in the shade of tech square. We parked ourselves there and got an excellent lunch.
photos of the mean can be seen at
What you can’t see that well in the back of the above photo are the fried green tomatoes. I am always wary when ordering it because it so often turns out soggy or bland. These were none of that. Super crunchy and salted just right, even the one that grew up on fried green tomatoes loved them.
In the foreground is the daily flatbread. While it looks slightly thick in the photo, it was in fact rather thin and crunchy throughout. Evenly covered with cheese and olives, it was easy to put away despite the large size for an appetizer.
Here is a perfect example of lost perspective in photos. This salad was, in life, the size of my head, but appears puny here. The dressing surprised me. The menu said only buttermilk, at least that’s what I read without reading too carefully. What I didn’t expect was the powerful dash of curry powder in the buttermilk. It wasn’t a problem as I love curry and have used it on my own seared salmon before. It was only surprising because my first bite was of an apple chunk and I had not thought about pairing apple with curry. Once I got acquainted with the curry, it was a pleasure to eat.
I was had at the first utterance of «icebox pie.» I love that term! Something chilled and old fashioned, perfect for a summer day lunch. As the name promised, the little wedge was cool and light, anchored by a denser cookie crust. It was the perfect ending to enjoy while watching the lively square that never got too noising to disturb our lunch.

Tried this place during Unilocal Eats week. It wasn’t a bad experience but i wouldn’t put it on the top of my list to return to. First of all the restaurant itself was interesting, including a waterfall inside, and the waiter was very attentive. I got the trout with mushroom lasagna. The trout had bacon on it which completely obscured the flavor of the fish. The mushroom lasagna thingy was excellent though. My girlfriend got the halibut which was excellent but the beans had no flavor at all. They should have put the bacon in with the beans. The crab cake was really good as well as the crème brûlée. I think with a little tweaking of the menu it would be better but I will probably not be going back real soon. Oh! But they do support local/​sustained/​organic farming if you’re into that… why wouldn’t you be.

Having visited WaterHaven on a Friday night, I wouldn’t give it much longer to survive. My date and I ate there on a Friday night, and there were three other tables at 8:30 in the evening. The location is convenient, in Midtown, but located in an area primarily frequented by GT students and people running in and out of the gym. Not exactly the prime location for an upscale eatery. Adding to the problem is the fact that their parking deck collapsed, and there is no valet parking. We had to park across the street in a deck.
The space itself is interesting. WaterHaven has done a better job of splitting up the space than the Globe ever did. However, they have packed in a bunch of tables, which is ironic considering that it made it look even more deserted. I ordered a glass of champagne, which the waiter told me they had «run out of». «What did you have, one bottle?» I thought? I picked another, which was brought out in not only a very small champagne glass (nothing compared to the monster Four Seasons glasses), but poured as if it were a glass of white wine, not even nearing the top.
The meal itself was completely underwhelming. As others have said, the menu is boring boring boring. I normally don’t have trouble finding something that sounds interesting, but this menu did nothing to stimulate the palate. I ended up with the shrimp and grit cakes, which were fairly tasteless. My date had the fried green tomatoes, which were saved only by a small dollop of goat cheese spread sparingly on the top. My entrée, the Georgia Trout, normally very recognizable, was served in such a way that I actually had to ask my date if he remembered what kind of fish I had ordered. It tasted like nothing. I ended up covering the fish with the accompanying mushroom «lasagna» with sage brown butter. It tasted like neither mushrooms nor sage brown butter, but was good in a creamy, heavy sort of way. We had panna cotta for dessert, which I liked, as it was not terribly heavy. My date complained that it was tasteless except for the sauce, however, which was not surprising. Our waiter brought us the check, apologizing profusely for the «collapsed deck» and explained no less than three times that we would have to pay for the parking, but they would take $ 3 off the bill. Perhaps he should have been more worried about the food than the three dollars.
I would not eat there again, considering the amount of great restaurants in the area.

From the other reviews it looks like the menu and front door need a little work. But, I just went there for lunch and had a great experience.
I had a very delicious roast pork sandwich that was a good mixture of texture, spice, and substance. The sandwich came with a side of either wilted spinach, fries, or something else. I got the spinach and was impressed. It was warm, and only lightly vinegary… nice.
The other two both had the salmon salad and both thought it was a tasty and healthy option. It looked good, with golden raisins, granny smith apples, spinach, and some seasoning.
Personally, I had grown bored of the Tech square options, and am very happy that this place has come in, and is reasonably priced.
Welcome WaterHaven. Now explain your name.

Came here for a client lunch and the food was excellent. I wasn’t expecting to be the first to review but since I am, this puts a lot of added pressure on me. WaterHaven is located where the Globe used to be, the spot is pretty trendy and the food was great. I had the steak sandwich and fried green tomato appetizer. My client had the salmon salad. Portions were good, service was great and the food tasted fresh and clean (like the Outkast song) I can’t really explain a clean taste, but you will know it when you taste it. Definitely check this spot out… Highly recommended!

I frequented the now defunk Globe, which I enjoyed. Waterhaven’s concept feels out of place in the space. The name «Waterhaven» is odd. The front entrance off the street is locked with a sign asking patrons to use the side door — major turn-​off. I sat at the bar and watched people attempt to enter through what is obviously the front entrance.
The ambience is clean, inviting, curious… the only draw because the menu is mediocre. Appetizers include hummus and flatbread which you can get at most chain restaurants. The entrees were interesting, but again, nothing special.
The Crabcake was a decent size crabmeat, and yummy. The cucumber salad that came with it was odd. Not a good combination.
The Lamb Pappardelle was tasty, but the presentation was awful. It was served on a large plate, splayed out, and messy. A circular or square container would make this dish present better.
The Mac-​n-​Cheez was good. Small elbows. Shells would’ve been better. The cheese was yellow and orange, quite bland. The bread crumbs on top added great texture and crunch, but a bit bland.
My 3 stars are devoted to the ambience and staff. The bar staff were friendly, efficient, and could describe items on the menu — very important in the way of customer service.