First look at Mastro’s Ocean Club in downtown Atlanta

Mastro’s Ocean Club will open Friday in downtown Atlanta, bringing high-end steaks and seafood to the CTR, the mixed-use development formerly know as CNN Center.

The new Mastro’s took over the ground-floor space formerly occupied by McCormick & Schmick’s at the corner of Marietta Street and Centennial Olympic Park Drive. Both Mastro’s and McCormick & Schmick’s are owned by Landry’s, Inc., the Houston-based dining and hospitality conglomerate that also operates several other Atlanta-area restaurants, including the Palm Restaurant, Morton’s and Dos Caminos, along with well-known brands like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Rainforest Cafe.

Mastro’s Restaurants began in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the chain has grown to 25 locations nationwide with the opening in Atlanta.

The restaurant chain is divided into two camps: steakhouses and ocean clubs. The latter puts a greater focus on seafood, though both restaurant types have similar menus. The Mastro’s Ocean Club in Atlanta will feature a sushi menu in addition to its usual seafood offerings.

The Mastro’s Ocean Club menu

The menu will offer prime steaks, including Japanese, Australian and American wagyu, as well as fresh seafood options and a small sushi selection prepared by a dedicated sushi chef, according to executive chef Richard Lee. Lee has extensive experience in upscale chain restaurants; he formerly worked at STK Atlanta, Le Colonial and Le Bilboquet.

Mastro’s Ocean Club is known for its use of dry ice for dramatic effect in both cocktails and its luxurious seafood towers. In Atlanta, the seafood tower will include options like fresh oysters, Dungeness crab, shrimp, lobster and other items dependent on seasonal availability, according to a news release. Each seafood tower is delivered to the table with dry ice mist billowing in its wake.

The Atlanta restaurant will have a couple of location-specific menu items: an entree of jerk-spiced grouper with mango butter sauce and a dessert option of warm pecan pie.

Wine and cocktails at Mastro’s Ocean Club

The wine programs at all Mastro’s locations have received some level of recognition from Wine Spectator, and the Atlanta restaurant will open with a 3,000-bottle cellar, according to a news release.

General manager William Warren told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the opening wine list will feature bottles from all five first-growth Bordeaux estates, a rare and expensive accomplishment for any wine collection.

Like the seafood towers, many cocktails at Mastro’s will be chilled by dry ice, causing them to emanate a cool mist when they’re served. The cocktail menu highlights a variety of martinis and includes several options that are beginning to come back into fashion, like the lemon drop and appletini.

What else will Mastro’s Ocean Club offer?

The interior of the new Mastro’s is modern but relatively neutral, with large swaths of book-matched stone around a backlit bar, glass wine walls and white tablecloths. It will seat a little more than 200 guests at maximum capacity.

“Our private dining rooms options are definitely something we’re excited about,” Warren said.

The restaurant will offer three private rooms with different seating arrangements and capacities, from 15 people to more than 40.

The restaurant will also offer live music nearly every night, and the Atlanta location will be open 365 days a year, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, Warren said.