The new Vice Steak Bar in Milton is all about vertical integration, controlling its supply chain.

Whether diners should care about that is open to debate. A better question is: Why create a supply chain for local beef only to serve a mangled steak to a customer?

It’s difficult for diners to appreciate all that unseen effort if their restaurant experience is mediocre.

Guests at Vice Steak Bar can learn about the provenance of the beef from a flyer dropped off with the menu. It explains how the company raises cattle at a farm in Ellijay, owns an abattoir, and serves its beef directly to customers through its restaurants and butcher shop.

Many people care about the origin of their food, and others will be thrilled to learn that the grass-fed cattle are raised without hormones and antibiotics. But the importance of this impressive supply chain seems lost on Vice Steak Bar’s own employees.

Pan-roasted scallop and pork belly is among the recommended dishes at Vice Steak Bar. (Henri Hollis/AJC)

Credit: Henri Hollis

icon to expand image

Credit: Henri Hollis

On one of my visits to the restaurant, a cowboy rib-eye that was the centerpiece of a $190 meal for four was unceremoniously delivered to our table looking as if it had been hacked with a machete. We ordered the most expensive item on the menu, yet someone in the kitchen couldn’t be bothered to slice our beautiful 2-pound steak into evenly sized pieces or even cut all the way through the meat.

To make matters worse, the four side dishes included with the meal arrived higgledy-piggledy, without serving utensils. We weren’t given any steak knives, and when we asked, our server said the restaurant “might be out” of the seemingly critical utensils.

Luckily, she returned with the sharp knives we needed to finish the job the kitchen had left incomplete. But for the four side dishes and two sauces on the table, she left only two spoons.

That pair of spoons proved to be prophetic because two of the side dishes did not turn out well. The bowl of creamed spinach tasted completely unsalted, while the tahini-roasted carrots were undercooked, with many pieces stuck to the roasting pan in which they were served.

A seared tuna appetizer was prepared expertly at Vice Steak Bar. (Henri Hollis/AJC)

Credit: Henri Hollis

icon to expand image

Credit: Henri Hollis

Otherwise, much of the food was tasty, including those same side dishes on another visit, when they were executed much better.

Once cut into manageable pieces, the steak was very good — leaner than most wagyu, with a clean flavor and savory crust.

As for the side dishes, the whipped potatoes, mac and cheese, and braised field peas were solid, and a seared tuna appetizer was prepared expertly.

Also, the 16-ounce wagyu rib-eye ordered on a different visit was served with much more care, with nice, even slices and the same well-developed flavor.

A 16-ounce American wagyu rib-eye at Vice Steak Bar in Milton was leaner than most, with a clean flavor and savory crust. (Henri Hollis/AJC)

Credit: Henri Hollis

icon to expand image

Credit: Henri Hollis

However, that inconsistency is indicative of Vice Steak Bar’s lack of attention to detail. On both visits, our primary server disappeared for stretches while food and drink runners delivered items with little rhyme or reason, disrupting the rhythm of our meals. Many of the servers seemed inexperienced and undertrained, which is not their fault.

At a restaurant where a meal can cost hundreds of dollars, management needs to train the staff properly. Customers should not have to beg for extra utensils. And the steak shouldn’t look like it was sliced by someone wearing a blindfold, either.

The Vice Restaurant Group’s vertically integrated supply chain is impressive and important. It’s also good business, with beef prices skyrocketing. Outside of the family-style dinners, none of the restaurant’s individual steaks breaks the $100 mark, a rarity among modern, upscale steakhouses.

This restaurant should serve as the best advertisement for the group’s admirable efforts to raise beef that’s local, healthier and more sustainable, and to offer good value on quality meat. But the message falls flat if Vice Steak Bar can’t deliver the experience customers expect from a restaurant this expensive.


VICE STEAK BAR

1 out of 4 stars (good)

Food: steak

Service: friendly but largely inexperienced

Noise level: moderate to loud

Recommended dishes: pan-roasted scallop and pork belly, swordfish ceviche, 16-ounce American wagyu rib-eye, pan-roasted salmon, whipped potatoes, creamed spinach, braised field peas, tahini-roasted carrots

Vegetarian dishes: tomato and burrata salad, VSB Caesar, summer melon salad, whipped potatoes, creamed spinach, hand-cut fries, street corn, crispy Brussels sprouts, pimento mac and cheese, roasted tomatoes with herbs, roasted sunchokes three ways, mushrooms a la grecque with taleggio

Alcohol: full bar

Price range: $50-$100 per person, excluding drinks

Hours: 5-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 5-9 p.m. Sundays

Accessibility: fully ADA-compliant

Parking: valet or free lot on-site

Nearest MARTA station: none

Reservations: recommended; phone or OpenTable

Outdoor dining: yes

Takeout: no

Address, phone: 3000 Heritage Walk, Milton. 678-974-0940

Website: vicesteakbar.com

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s dining critics conduct reviews anonymously. Reservations are not made in their name, nor do they provide restaurants with advance notice about their visits. Our critics always make multiple visits, sample the full range of the menu and pay for all of their meals. AJC dining critics wait at least one month after a new restaurant has opened before visiting.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Atlanta-based reporter Richard Eldredge is compiling stories, photos and recipes for a coffee table book commemorating iconic Atlanta restaurant The Colonnade. (AJC File)

Featured

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have made roughly 3.6 times more arrests in Georgia in the first six months of President Donald Trump's term as they did during thelast six months of Joe Biden's presidency. (Phil Robibero/AJC)

Credit: Photo Illustration: Philip Robibero / AJC | Source: Getty, Open Street Map