Spondivits - Atlanta

Excellent eating! atmosphere, personal! here 2 nights in a row while in the city for 4 days. can go back! I lived 20 years at the sc coast and they serve the best steamed shrimp ever! I'll long for ever.

The bar remembers the cheers tw show bar. looks like the local irrigation hole. the place was quite cramped. if they plan to eat solo, their only sitting options are at the bar, or the last table, closest to the men's bath. I was set to 6pm. let's see how long it takes to take my waitress my drink order.7 minutes to take my drink and meal order. not too bad if they are not in a rush. let us see how long I deliver my drink from 6:07pm.6:14pm for the beer and seafood icemer.All is hot and tasteful! that was worth it! I would definitely come back here! highly recommended. they come early so that they can get a seat. the reason why I didn't give him five is the cramp of the place.

That's still my favorite restaurant. the prices have risen, and to be honest, the staff was not as friendly as they were earlier. I guess the things are changing through necessity. what has not changed is the quality of seafood. the servier sizes are perfect. the quality of the dipped or fried is absolutely amazing.

The first time I enjoyed the experience. the food was good, but it wasn't all I heard that people were hype up to be, but I would go sometime again to try more eating on the menu. the prizes range from $22 $45 for the main courses. the atmosphere was nicely relaxed. the staff was friendly, very active with serving their tables, also the manager went around to help the waiters. if it's their first time, the waiter will explain to them everything they can do.

One of the most interesting—and for some, maddening—aspects of this current recession is just how uneven it is. So went one of my thoughts when confronted with a 40 minute wait this past Friday for a table at Spondivits: Somewhere else in Atlanta, some poor restaurateur has sold his soul to Scoutmob, Groupon or Living Social in an attempt to gain some sort of critical mass. In those revenue-compromised eateries, you could have waltzed in at 8p on a Friday and had your pick of tables. Maybe even made to feel special, too. Not at Spondivits, a Virginia Avenue institution in a neighborhood that isn’t quite College Park and not yet Hapeville—believe it sits in East Point at that point—a faux Florida fish dive on the northern approach to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. No, at Spondivits, you will wait your fully allotted 40 minutes or longer for your table. And then, you will spend the rest of your meal wondering why. If the décor attempts to recall an era of a past, un-air conditioned Florida, Spondivits’ HVAC system labors mightily to complete that sensation. On this night we had our choice of the outside deck—which might have been compelling if it enjoyed breezes and marina views rather than still air, the approach to valet parking, and the side of the adjacent Waffle House—or a table inside where the inadequate coolers left patrons right just 7 degrees cooler than their outdoor dining counterparts. We found two seats at the bar, and a friendly bartender found us two cold ones. (By the way, why is it that there are bartenders like this guy—incredibly busy though it is, but he’s unflappable and has your beer in about two minutes—and you have to wait 20 minutes in most Atlanta gay bars where there is no food served, and no service bar to distract. . .just sayin’ He also invited us to eat at the bar. Looking back, that would not have been a bad alternative. Because eating in Spondivits is essentially eating at a bar, whether you choose to remain at the center bar or move to an outlying table—the high tables have bar stools, not chairs, there is about $57 worth of décor on the walls and most of that came gratis, courtesy of the local beer distributor. There are those who believe flicking neon signs showcase their complexion optimally, and there are others who believe that copious quantities of fried seafood are prized for their age-defying qualities. If you fall into either category, this may be a restaurant for you. Actually there is a third category, and this would be the exact target market for this now-30 year old restaurant. There are people who find neon flattering, look forward to pounds of expertly fried seafood—and like to spend considerable money on both. For if the ambiance conjures up a simpler, cheaper Florida, the menu prices might have you bring out your iPhone to perform some currency conversion. But alas, the prices, shockingly enough, are in 2011 dollars. And this, in combination with thinking of the other soul-sold Scoutmob-dependent restaurants in town, just has my scratching my head. Want the drink special? The Bacardi Grape Koolaid is a breathalyzer-popping $19.99, though you do get 32 oz of ice and flavoring to go with your liquor, there. A cup—yeah, what with a handle a 24 hour-diner would serve you coffee in—of admittedly fine New England Clam Chowder sets you back $7. A basket of fried seafood, no forks or knifes needed or given, mounted atop an Idaho’s-worth of French Fries, is $16.99. If you don’t want your seafood encumbered by breading and time in very hot oil, count on paying $26-30 for an entrée. And so it goes. (Some restaurants have flowers on the table, but here the crab legs seem popular enough that every other table appears to have a bouquet of the spiky things in large buckets sprouting from them. Didn’t price those, but I have to believe roses would have been cheaper. And oddly, if you did want roses, there is a strolling seller of those walking through the restaurant. The fried seafood basket was nicely done, all said. The portion wasn’t skimpy, and I could tell the difference between the oysters, clam strips, and shrimp. The service was brisk, even if the air temperature wasn’t. And the combination of the heat and PA announcements of the clearing wait list made it easy for our server to get us to eat and get out—this is not a place for lingering. So about 90 minutes after we arrived—a good part of that waiting for a table—we walked back to get our car. And wouldn’t you know it, the wait for a table at 9:30p was even lengthier than it was when we walked in. One of the more interesting things about this recession is how some businesses manage to defy gravity. If such feats, high prices, good fried seafood, and coma-inducing inside heat and humidity do it for you, you owe it to yourself to try Spondivits. Though a quick trip to Florida might just be easier and cheaper. . .