Review: Seafood shack Breaker Breaker is a worthy pit stop on the Eastside Beltline
Breaker Breaker has been open for just two months, but this indoor-outdoor, Florida Panhandle-inspired fish shack and watering hole feels like it’s been a pit stop on the Eastside Beltline in Reynoldstown for much longer.
Featuring a structural design that incorporates reclaimed materials and sturdy cinder blocks, Breaker Breaker has its dining operation already operating smoothly in all gears.
Lock your bike to the base of the steel truss that supports the overhead beams and awning and follow the signs past a bar with diner-style seating through a breezeway to the order window.
You’ll find that chef Maximilian Hines has created a smart menu of snacks, fried platters, salads, sandwiches and house specialties that should appeal to both adults and kids, as well as to fish-seafood lovers and carnivores, and even those who eat only plants.
Scoop some thick fish dip made with smoked Gulf red drum onto Zapp’s chips, or swipe raw veggies into a bright red beet dip topped with fancy chile crisp and a garnish of dill.
You can split an order of poutine that brings a boatload of fries of varying lengths and thicknesses — the thin ones promise extra curl and crunch — doused with a mud-colored Cajun gravy accented with crab. My only gripe: More cheese curds, please.
Hot juices leak out of the bulging chicken etouffee empanadas when you take a bite, and the filling is flavorful enough that really it doesn’t need a dunk in the side of thick salsa verde. With two per order, this $8 snack is a bargain at an already budget-friendly spot.
The kitchen excels at fried stuff, from hush puppies to my menu favorite, the fried “calamari.” The latter is a thoughtful vegan and gluten-free option with broad appeal. Meaty hearts of palm subbed for seafood, and a gentle hand with the batter left the rings shatteringly crisp.
Among the half-dozen sandwiches, the blackened grouper was cooked superbly and served on a glossy brioche bun slicked with tartar sauce. The fried chicken sandwich was crispy on the outside and juicy inside, but it was overpowered by the tanginess of the Cajun slaw.
As with the snacks, my top sandwich pick happens to be vegetarian. The mushroom chopped cheese was exactly as the cashier described: a vegetarian Philly cheesesteak. One half of the toasted French bread was piled with grilled mushrooms and onions, then covered in gooey melted American cheese. The other half had the cold fixings: shredded lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. Slap it closed, sink your teeth in and prepare to use a lot of napkins.
The restaurant lists three specialties: gumbo, charbroiled oysters and a Cajun shrimp boil — to which I say, yes, yes and yes.
The gumbo got the kitchen-sink treatment, with chicken, shrimp, sausage and crab all in the pot. The half-dozen charbroiled oysters were decadently drenched in garlic butter and bubbly melted Parmesan. As for the shrimp boil, if you can’t handle heat, you won’t enjoy this $37 shareable meal, because everything was flecked with chile powder: the pound of jumbo shrimp, occasional sausage link and browned Brussels sprouts and potatoes.
The majority of the seven cocktails (including two frozen options) brought a different kind of heat — they were decidedly potent. But if the house cocktails aren’t for you, bartenders have a full bar at their disposal, and there’s a serviceable selection of canned and draft beer or boxed and canned wines.
Breaker Breaker isn’t fussy, which is part of its appeal. Owners Alex Brounstein and Johnny Farrow (the same folks behind Grindhouse Killer Burgers), designed it with attention to efficiency. It’s all counter-ordering (unless if you’re seated inside), with a cashier who keeps a binder near the register to answer your questions about ingredients. Runners zoom plastic baskets of food to the table and promptly remove them when you’ve popped the last hush puppy in your mouth.
Hines deserves credit for a menu that manages to be creative and yet efficient in its use of ingredients. Shrimp, fish and chicken are workhorses at Breaker Breaker, but the dishes don’t feel repetitive. The former executive chef at the Lawrence deftly gives low-brow fare a fresh look that seems as natural and well-fitting as the big rig-shaped structure and all its parts — be they metal or mural.
BREAKER BREAKER
3 out of 4 stars (excellent)
Food: casual, Gulf Coast-inspired
Service: efficient, with a smile
Noise level: low
Recommended dishes: little gem Caesar, cabbage and crispy rice salad, dockside poutine, hush puppies, chicken etouffee empanadas, fried “calamari,” blackened grouper sandwich, mushroom chopped cheese sandwich, charbroiled oysters, Cajun shrimp boil, gumbo
Vegetarian dishes: cabbage and crispy rice salad, hush puppies, roasted beet dip with veggies, fried “calamari,” mushroom chopped cheese sandwich
Alcohol: full bar
Price range: $$-$$$
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays
Parking: free street parking
MARTA: Inman Park/Reynoldstown station
Reservations: not accepted
Outdoor dining: covered patio seats 100-plus; adult-only upstairs terrace bar coming in late fall
Takeout: order online or in person; delivery via DoorDash coming soon
Address, phone: 921 Wylie St., Atlanta. 404-254-2969
Website: breakerbreakeratl.com
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About the Author
Ligaya Figueras is the AJC's senior editor for Food & Dining. Prior to joining the AJC in 2015, she was the executive editor for St. Louis-based culinary magazine Sauce. She has worked in the publishing industry since 1999 and holds degrees from St. Louis University and the University of Michigan.
