Best Wait Staff

OK, we know THE NATIONAL is in Athens, and this is Best of Atlanta, but we love the waitstaff there so much we're asking that you bear with us. Led by Chris Luken, the National's servers manage to hit that perfect note of friendly service with formal underpinnings – timing, knowledge and hospitality are all as good as it gets. To prove the point that personality is a major factor in good service, waiters wear street clothes instead of uniforms, reminding us that behind every great dining experience is a real person, not a drone we can order around. less...

Led by maitre d’ Rob Payne, the staff at QUINONES sets the standard for service in the city. Gracious, warm, pitch-perfect without ever being stiff or too formal, and yet gracefully adept at the precise dance that truly top-level service requires. Eating here is a delightful education in charm. less...

The DINING ROOM AT THE RITZ-CARLTON BUCKHEAD may be searching the globe for a new powerhouse chef to helm its kitchen, but that’s no reason to avoid a celebratory meal within its clubby cocoon. Maitre d’ Claude Guillaume and his near-clairvoyant staff haven’t gone anywhere. Their professional virtuosity lets you ease into an evening of engaging conversation with tablemates. This year the staff acquired an additional ace up its sleeve: 24-year-old sommelier Chantelle Grilhot, who knows as much about tending to customers as she does about wine. (P.S. The transitional kitchen is in the more-than-capable hands of ex-Bacchanalia and Seeger’s chef Daniel Porubiansky.) less...

Mostly young and male, relatively perky and corporately trained, neatly dressed in aprons and clean shirts, they exude the kind of confidence that sells humongous portions of four-cheese ravioli, fried calamari, roasted peppers, chopped salad, swordfish steak and whole chickens with garlic and rosemary. Drop a fork and they're there. Finish a glass of wine and ditto. And they smile, smile, smile. less...

Under the direction of manager Peter Krehan, tuxedoed staffers move as if on greased wheels — explaining the fusion menu, pouring wine, announcing the arrival of dishes, setting down and removing plates, praising the food and, in general, acting as if enjoying every blissful minute. Their mood is infectious. Only a grinch could fail to enjoy the ministrations of these service masters. less...