I am a huge fan of the restaurants in downtown Roswell. I always liked the area and after a recent tour with Atlanta Culinary Tours, I was introduced to even more restaurants. During our tour, I noticed one particular restaurant packed with people hanging out all over the lawn. It looked like so much fun, I knew that Nine Street Kitchen would be the next restaurant in Roswell I visited. Naturally, I was thrilled when they extended an invitation to sample their menu.

Most of the seating is actually outside, which is surprising as the historic house that was converted to the restaurant looks quite large. But stepping inside you’ll see there is actually very little seating. Besides patio seating, there’s also lots of tables set up on the lawn. But here’s what is really cool: the picnic area.

Nine Street Kitchen puts out the blankets, pillows, etc for guest to relax, sip wine and nosh on some food. The area is first come, first serve. No reservations taken. It was pretty popular on the Wednesday night I visited, even if it was rather warm. Servers take orders here, just like the restaurant.

Although I didn’t sit in the picnic area, I did enjoy the outdoor dining at one of their tables. We began with the Havarti cheese and tomato appetizer. I liked the melted cheese but didn’t feel it went well with the tomatoes. I think it was supposed to be a twist on a Caprese salad, but I ended up mostly piling the melted cheese on my bread which was yummy.

Next up, we tried the spinach, apple and pecan salad with honey chipotle dressing. You can add your choice of protein to the salad for a full meal, or have it without. All dressings are made in house and this huge salad didn’t disappoint. I wouldn’t hesitate to order it again.

John rocks as a server. He was super helpful in helping me pick out wines to pair with my dinner. The first, a Sauvignon Blanc went perfect with the salad. For our entrees we chose the Surf ‘n Turf and the Crab and Shrimp pasta. John was equally helpful is recommending a Pinot Noir that would pair well with my steak. By the way, the wine list is a terrific selection that rotates often.

The crab and shrimp pasta was huge. And they are very generous with the shrimp and crab. Two could easily split this and the salad mentioned above and have a very satisfying and inexpensive meal. I’m glad I ordered the steak though. This was so tender and juicy. If you can’t decide between surf or turf, you don’t have to. Get the steak with a tuna steak or salmon. The house made sauce is a tomato mushroom sauce. It tastes much better than it looks. Oh and the sides served with my steak are nothing to sneeze at either. The mashed potatoes and mushrooms were delicious.

How is it that I am not able to finish a meal but I still have room for dessert? After looking through the three pages of desserts from Nine Street Kitchen, we settled on the Lemon Coconut Cake and the Chocolate P-Nut Butter Pie. The latter was the winner. Chocoholics should try the Big Fat Chocolate cake with six layers of chocolate cake, plus chocolate pudding topped with ganache soaked chunks of cake. Whew!

I’m gushing over this Roswell discovery. I can’t wait until it cools down a bit to assemble a group for a fun afternoon picnic at Nine Street Kitchen.

Nine Street Kitchen
982 Canton Street #100
Roswell, GA 30075
(678) 682-3222

About Malika

Malika is the author of Food Lovers' Guide to Atlanta and the founder of Atlanta Restaurant Blog. She is also a Digital Marketing and Social Media Consultant.