Three Stars for Lusca; Two Stars for Southbound

Creative Loafing's Jennifer Zyman reviews Lusca, giving the latest concept from Angus Brown and Nhan Le three out of five stars. Zyman says the restaurant is on its way to becoming an Atlanta staple:

It's easy to get carried away and rack up a large bill at Lusca. The dishes are so alluring, I often feel compelled to try just one more thing. Show some restraint or you'll find yourself shocked at the final tab. Excellence and ingenuity, even in such a casual setting, come at a price.

Although Lusca has been open only about three months and faces the normal issues of any newborn restaurant, it has the potential to become an institution just as its sister restaurant, Octopus Bar, has. If this kind of edgy opulence is where Atlanta is headed as a restaurant town, it's about damn time. Keep South Buckhead weird.

Behind a paywall, Jenny Turknett of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution gives Chamblee's Southbound two stars, praising the decor more than the food:

Southbound's ensemble requires a bit of tailoring. If the kitchen, rather than the decor, could just provide the bold and unique statement, we could have a showpiece on our hands.

THE ELSEWHERE AND THE BLOGS: Hot Dish Review will return to Poor Calvin's to sate the next Thai food craving. ATL Food Snob says The Pig & The Pearl is the best Atlantic Station concept in years, and Marie, Let's Eat! plans to return to the restaurant too. Fried Chicken Lips enjoys the hunks of meat at Chops Lobster Bar. Friday Date Night has an excellent brunch at Egg Harbor Cafe. Bella Vivere likes the food and the prices at Jang Won Jung Korean Restaurant in Duluth. Crush Crave has a fine lunch at Tin Can Fish House in Sandy Springs. Atlanta Restaurant Blog returns to Zeal Modern Eatery and finds one of the nicer fine dining restaurants in East Cobb.