Two Stars for Gunshow; One Star for Bartaco

Creative Loafing's Jennifer Zyman reviews Gunshow, awarding the restaurant two out of five stars. Zyman has fun at Top Chef alum Kevin Gillespie's restaurant, but says the food is inconsistent:

A mélange of autumn and winter beets and pickled cherries became cloying with the addition of sweet pumpkin butter. A plate of Vietnamese shaking pork would have been flawless if only there had been less of the salty marinade. It was so overpowering it distracted from how wonderfully tender the meat was. In the lackluster beef bourguignonne for breakfast, however — beef stew covered with an egg — the meat was far too tough to enjoy and the vegetables were overcooked to mushy. To be fair, the same chef turned out a fantastic roasted foie gras paired with quince and almonds "a couple of ways," which included pickling and a sweet puree swiped on the plate.

Over at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, John Kessler gives Bartaco one star. Kessler thinks the restaurant doesn't do justice to its namesake dish:

They do sound good, and I tried to warm to them on each of three visits. Some try to approximate Mexican street tacos, with shreds of chicken or crumbles of chorizo topped with a bit of onion and cilantro. Others get creative and sport (pretty juiceless) fried oysters, hunks of sesame ribeye or odd little falafels shaped like Tootsie Rolls. All are undone by their too-sturdy corn tortillas that have neither the flake-apart texture nor the intoxicating smell of fresh masa. After eating one taco and making it partway into the second, we usually give up and pick the fillings out of the third.

THE ELSEWHERE AND THE BLOGS: Hot Dish Review says the new Bocado Burger at Avalon is a success. Marie, Let's Eat! enjoys one final meal at Villains. Fried Chicken lips finds the food at Southbound to be consistent and well executed. Atlanta Restaurant Blog won't overlook the pastas and pizza at Baraonda. Burgers, Barbecue and Everything Else says the burger at Fred's Meat & Bread may soon find its way onto "Best of Atlanta" lists. Getaways for Grownups enjoys authentic Italian cuisine at Osteria Mattone.