SLATER’S STEAKHOUSE (1653 S. Lumpkin St., 706-395-6082): Midway through my second meal at Slater’s, it occurred to me that the extreme expensiveness of the restaurant—much remarked upon by anyone who’s looked at its menu—is not a bug so much as it is a feature for some audiences. Steakhouses, especially the fancy kind, partially exist as a venue in which to spend money conspicuously. The environment allows for one-up-manship: Who can order the most expensive cut of meat? Eat it the rarest? Select the most outrageously priced bottle of wine? Drink the most cocktails? For salespeople, they allow one to impress one’s clients with the company credit card. For some folks on dates, the check can serve as a marker of what one is willing to do, a love language in which one can express fluency. I don’t fall into any of those categories, and you may not either. And yet! Slater’s is Athens expensive, but it is not Atlanta steakhouse expensive. A New York strip is $42, whereas it’ll cost you $58 at Bones in Buckhead, the gold standard in the area and a place that has a dress code banning flip flops, sweats and hats.
Slater’s will treat you well. Reservations are an option but generally don’t seem required, with the exception of home game weekends, I’d guess. The couple who run it—Jerry and Krista Slater, of The Expat, The Lark wine shop and a couple other forthcoming places—made their reputation in cocktails, and the ones at Slater’s are very classic and very nice. There are no obscure ingredients, just good stuff straightforwardly and well mixed, presented in beautiful glassware. The martini comes a few different ways (gin, vodka, dirty, not so dirty, onion, olive), but none that are ridiculous. It appears in a little glass vial nestled in a bed of ice, with extra left over to refill your glass. The presentation is both slightly silly and “ooh, fancy” in a nice way at the same time. The daiquiri, to me, is the real winner, mixed strong enough and simple enough to be just right.
How are the steaks? Well, they’re pretty good. You may be able to make a better, less pricey one at home that is more to your liking. As established, that is not why you go to a restaurant like this. Sauces are an extra $6 and aren’t needed. In fact, they muddy the taste of a nice piece of meat. Between a plain ribeye and a filet topped with Bearnaise sauce, the ribeye wins every time. Looking for something less showy and a bit more of a bargain? The pork chop is $27 and tender without dancing on the edge of food safety. The lamb chops don’t need their jalapeno mint chutney, which is a bit finely chopped for something bearing that name, but it’s surprisingly nice, and the chops themselves are also in the Goldilocks region of just right in terms of cooking: pretty rare, with a lovely sear on the edges that caramelizes the fat. It should go without saying, but Slater’s is not hugely vegetarian friendly, although it does have a pasta entree sans meat.
Sides are family style, which means not everyone at the table needs one, and they are sized for sharing. I tend to prefer my mashed potatoes with some texture because that’s how my mom made them, but the silky garlic ones at Slater’s are very good. The creamed spinach is good, but not exciting. The Brussels sprouts with Benton’s bacon are too salty. The mushrooms with bone marrow butter aren’t all that. Better, instead, if you want some marrow, to order the “bone marrow canoe” in the starters: a big old bone whacked in half and served with buttery, shatteringly crisp little crostini and a spoon to scoop and smear. Also in that section is an excellent fritto misto that a) will remind you sweetly of the 1990s, when fried calamari was everywhere on menus, and b) includes sharp pickled peppers and thin fried slices of lemon that are real highlights. It’s a fun dish that doesn’t carry huge expectations with it, and may succeed as a result.
The space, which I will forever think of as the former Five and Ten, even though other restaurants have come and gone, is well appointed but Athens appropriate, with decent art, and servers who know how to read a table and attend or disappear. Is there anything surprising? Not really. Shrimp cocktail, wedge salads, French onion soup—again, it comes with the territory. It’s focused on timelessness and on executing standards well, and it mostly does. If you’re looking for youthful exuberance and high-wire experimentation, there are other restaurants for that. Slater’s is open 5–9 p.m. Sunday (sometimes as early as 3 p.m. on Sundays, when it also does a burger), Wednesday and Thursday, 5–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closes Monday and Tuesday.
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