Part of Chops Lobster Bar Reopens After a Fire Temporarily Shuttered the Restaurant

The lobster bar downstairs at Chops Lobster Bar is back open after a fire temporarily closed the Buckhead restaurant earlier this year on West Paces Ferry Road. Chops steakhouse upstairs should reopen some time in October, a press release from Buckhead Life Restaurant Group indicates.

A hood fire broke out in the attic above the kitchen at Chops Lobster Bar during dinner service on January 14, 2022. All of the restaurant’s patrons and staff were safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported. Much of the damage was caused by thousands of gallons of water used to extinguish the blaze.

Prior to the January fire, Buckhead Life had just completed a dining room expansion at the three-decade-old restaurant.

While the lobster bar retains a familiar design following the renovations, the steakhouse at Chops received a bit of a makeover during the closure this year. It now features a dining room called the Plaza Room that also serves as a private dining area opening to a courtyard shared by neighboring restaurants Umi sushi, Chai Yo, and the Garden Room at the St. Regis Hotel. A new patio overlooks the courtyard and seats up to 36 people, with the updated bar at Chops offering additional seating at high-top tables, booths, and regular dining tables.

Johnson Studio

Johnson Studio

In addition to the redesign redux, the menu at Chops includes a few new dishes, like escargot styled after those served at the group’s French restaurant Bistro Niko in Buckhead and wood-grilled octopus topped with marinated red onions, Greek olives, and capers from its Greek restaurant Kyma on Piedmont Road.

Buckhead Life Restaurant Group also operates Atlanta Fish Market, Corner Cafe, Pricci, and Veni Vidi Vici in Atlanta, along with Chops Lobster Bar and City Fish Market in Boca Raton and Lobster Bar Sea Grille in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

One Buckhead Plaza, 70 West Paces Ferry Road.