Capping off a weekend of dining in re-purposed restaurants (after a disappointing lunch at S’more BBQ), we ended up at Ten Atlanta for brunch on Sunday, in the former Five Napkin Burger space.  Here’s the question that I’m sure is on your mind, if you’ve looked at the link to the restaurant:  How did we end up eating Father’s Day brunch in a place that bills itself as “upscale restaurant by day – Atlanta’s hottest bar by night”?  Funny story…

The completely empty bar area

I had heard really good things about a new place that had opened at the corner of 10th & Piedmont, called, ironically, Tenth & Piedmont.  I checked out the menu on-line and it looked really tasty.  So we made a reservation and headed downtown.  As we drove down 10th Street, I saw the giant Ten on the building next to Zocalo, pulled into the parking lot and we walked in the door.  The inside still resembles Five Napkin. It really is a good looking restaurant.  Did I mention that there was a mirror ball on the ceiling by the second bar?

We were seated quickly and given our choice of spots – it wasn’t a problem as there were only three other guests in the restaurants, seated at two tables.  And we later found out that the single diner at the table behind us worked there.  We looked over the menu (it really didn’t resemble what I had seen on line) and we ordered – a smoked bacon pancake wrap (which included scrambled eggs and maple syrup) and a pimento cheeseburger with bacon and a side of fries.    The bacon pancake wrap could have used more bacon, but was otherwise okay (spoken in the best imitation of a Chopped chef discussing a lack of a secret ingredient).   The burger could have used more taste, in general.  It was just bland.  The beef was dry, the bacon was too crispy and almost burnt.  The pimento cheese was good, though.  On a positive note, the service was attentive – it should have been as there was a one to one ratio of tables to servers.The biggest isuse was that, overall, it just wasn’t very good.  The Urbanspoon rating seems to reflect that.

I really couldn’t figure out how a place that I had heard such good things about could turn out so bad.  Then as we were leaving, I pulled out of the parking lot and saw Tenth and Piedmont.  Across the street from where we ate.