Aja, Atlanta, Georgia Restaurant Details

Food:

Great place, from the first call to make a reservation for a party of 15 until we left, it was a good experience. It was not overcrowded, the people on the phone were friendly. They called the day of to confirm. The bartender was more than accommodating, even making me a birthday specialty. Free valet, good food, and the food looked like the pictures. :-) It came out quickly and the place was not overcrowded. Very different than the other Atlanta places we've hosted dinner parties at. I will certainly be returning...and they have my favorite #spicycrabapplesushi
I'm picky and my birthday last year at SUITE lounge was a total flop. AJA made up for it and then some. Everyone in my party enjoyed their night. Thanks AJA and staff! :-)

Food:

I set at the bar and was not greeted by the bartender who was in front of me filling a mixer container. She seemed pretty busy so I waited (about 3 minutes) as she went to the other side of the bar to make drinks.While this took place the "bar manager" seemed to be checking inventory and did not ask if I had been assisted. Upon completion she came back to my side and still had not greeted me or provided a menu for review.

Food:

I hate to do this...

Aja is the one place I have been to the most over the years in Atlanta. Thee most. And when I pulled up on Friday, I was very disappointed.

I didn't go in. One thing that has stood out for me is the valet. They were always hard working, attentive and friendly. One time I had a car issue and one of the guys was under my car helping me out. But to pull up and see a $5 sign? I was not happy. There is nowhere else to park. You either pay valet or you pay in the lot. Seriously, there is nowhere to park due to its location. So you are being forced to pay. And that is not cool.

Aja has changed their menu. And I get it, you have to keep things fresh and new. But some things should always remain the same. Their spicy duck fried rice was amazing. Now, it's some BBQ Duck rice....I don't know I was just so disappointed after having it when I did go last time. And a chicken and waffle fried rice? What part of Asian influence is that??? Another stellar dish on the menu was the Mongolian Shredded beef. That appears to be gone. Why? I have no clue. Maybe they just gave it a fancy name and I am missing it. Who knows. The sushi has been pretty good and for $5 you get some good choices. That's if that is still a running special. See comments below.

And this next point is geared more at Here to Serve then just Aja. There used to be a section on the website where you can see the specials they were having at all the restaurants. Like $5 Sushi at Aja on Monday, $6 Oysters at Coast on Wednesday. That section is gone so I don't know what the specials are or if they even exist. And let's be honest, we all like to take advantage of specials. Hiding them does what?

There has been a change of ownership of H2R and David Abes who was a manager at Aja is gone. Obviously the changes haven't been good ones because my once favorite restaurant has gotten a two star review from me. I have had issues before because with anything the more you use it the higher the chance of a poor experience. And each and every time it was handled with some level of courtesy and I appreciated that about Aja. Now, I don't know if it would be the same. I think one of the last times I was there, it was Friday and there was a group of us at the bar having a great time laughing and talking, until the bartender told us to keep it down. *Insert look of confusion here*

Food:

The service was terrible. No one was in the restaurant on a Saturday night, which says a lot. We arrived early for our reservation- and weren't seated for 15 minutes. It took an additional 30 minutes for any drinks to get to our table. The waiter took one person's order, and then left. I finally said something- afterwards the service still was no better. Two wrong orders were delivered to the table. If they were busy, It would be understandable.. But I could count on less than two hands how many tables were in the whole joint. There were plenty of employees- mostly walking around aimlessly. The food was good- service was terrible. We will not be back.

Food:

Hats off to Aja for the support and hospitality the venue provided for our party of 50+. After discussing options with a handful of venues, we chose Aja based on environment, large party food/beverage selection, and their solid up-front communication. The results - great food, an enjoyable private space upstairs, and a pleasing & patient staff!! Nicole with Aja's event management was great to discuss options with and ensured the space and schedule was as planned. Our waiters upstairs on March 14, 2015 were perfect. Thanks so much Aja and HereToServe for a great night, we will definitely enjoy another event at your location in the future.