H. Harper Station

Now I'm by no means a foodie; I like trying new places but not necessarily new things.  My pallet is admittedly pedestrian, so you won't be reading about creme fraiche or the newest pan-Asian cuisine I'm cooking up in the kitchen.  But with so many new restaurants opening around Atlanta (and then closing in 3-6 months), I thought it would be fun to document all these new experiences.  It felt pretty strange to be taking pictures of food and drinks this first time around, however given my order I don't think anyone was mistaking me for a real live food critic.

H. Harper Station had a whole lot to live up to.  It's in the former home of The Depot on Memorial, a nice close location, but more importantly, it’s where Amanda and I first met.  We bonded over a dog, Arrested Development, and Batman (bonding which may or may not have been aided by me being there early for a three drink head start).  She mocks me to this day over the awkward hug I gave her at the end of the night, but I never claimed to be much of a hugger.  One of the nicest gifts I’ve ever gotten was a set of pictures of The Depot that Amanda had a photographer friend take and gave me for our one-year anniversary.  I went so far as to try and reach out to the new owners once I heard The Depot building had been bought to see about buying the really neat sign they had out front, but never heard back (which made more since once a repurposed version appeared in front of H. Harper).

So with all that back story laid out, we were really excited to check H. Harper Station out and see if it could be “our place” again.  Our first attempt was this past Saturday afternoon, and I have to say first attempt because we seem to have misjudged the atmosphere the place is going for.  It was around 3:00 and we were hoping to sit at the bar and watch the second half of the UGA game, but we rolled up on a mostly empty parking lot with a Valet smack in the middle of things.  I’m a big fan of valets at busy, elegant restaurants (leaving your car with the valet is like wearing cufflinks at work, you just feel classier), but that’s certainly not the meal I thought I was getting into.  I rolled up on the guy and asked if I could just park myself, and after giving a nice look of doubt he replied “Sure, why not?”  We parked and walked into an equally empty restaurant, both of patrons and televisions.  Since there was no missing the second half of a tied UGA/Auburn game we left and made our way to the old standby (Republic), but I will hand it to the staff as they were all very nice when we told them why and we promised to be back.

 Fast forward to Wednesday.  After neither of us left work until 7:30, Amanda had the great idea to meet up at H. Harper Station and give it another try.  There were at least some folks there this time around (but no valet out front thankfully), and we decided to go for a table instead of the bar since we were both starved.  H. Harper Station brands itself as “A Modern Watering Stop,” and they certainly live up to that title.  The twelve-page libations menu (their term, not just me being flowery) has a bit of everything, including my beloved Blanton’s Bourbon.  Mixed drinks are their specialty, so I immediately flipped to the Bourbon section …

The Black & Blue was a no brainer for me, and Amanda stayed true to her favorites by ordering a Rum Crusta (Flor de Cana 7 year, lemon, sugar, lemon bitters, crusta garnish).  Sometime I’ll have to try the Pimm’s Cup; I have no idea what Pimm’s tastes like but I need to at least try it after Pimm’s was so central to a Boardwalk Empire plot point this season.  Speaking of another time, next time I hit up H. Harper I think I may call in my drink order before leaving the house.  I can understand their explanation of “our hand-crafted drinks take longer to prepare” up to a point, but with hardly anyone else in the bar it took a good 10-15 minutes for us to get that first round.  All was forgiven when they actually arrived though, because the Black & Blue was DELICIOUS.  This was probably the best mixed-bourbon drink I’ve ever had, really balancing the bourbon flavor but not going the fruity route.  I’ll definitely be attempting this recipe at home in the future.

Amanda wasn’t quite as crazy about her drink; it was tasty but a little hard to get to between all the sugar on the rim and the lemon crust taking up over half the glass.  Is this one of those drink things that we’re supposed to know?  Do you take out that lemon crust?  But it looks so nice!  To get the drink reviews out of the way I followed up my Black & Blue with an Old Fashioned, which was quite good itself but didn’t measure up to the first.  I’ve had a few Old Fashioneds before and this was definitely among the better ones, not nearly as lip-pursingly strong as those I’ve tried from lesser bartenders.  H. Harper’s punch bowls hold some promise as something to set them apart, serving 4-6 in bowls that the owner’s mother apparently found antiquing in the north Georgia mountains.  I can see bringing a group there to give that AWP 290 Punch a try.

On to the food, and this is where the “review” will get particularly weak.  Like I mentioned before I don’t have a very advanced pallet, so I won’t be mentioning anything about nutty aromas unleashing hints of raspberry something along those lines.  H. Harper Station seems to be going for eclectic/gourmet Southern cuisine, as evidenced by our appetizer of crawfish hush puppies.  I forgot if when we first checked out the menu online Amanda had said “ooooh, crawfish hush puppies” or “ewwww, crawfish hush puppies,” but luckily for me it was the former.  Five hush puppies in all with a side of slaw and some Andouille chips, and the crawfish taste was pretty muted for me; only after a couple of bites did it start sinking in.  My favorite part might have actually been those chips, although they’re really just strips of bacon to me at that point so that’s probably why.

The menu is currently pretty small, with the sandwich plates more up my alley in terms of price we were going for that night as well as the straight-forwardness of the recipe.  I’ll want to try the Bison short ribs sometime, but I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough for the inclusion of broccoli, mushrooms, and lemon which left me going for the Beltline Burger while Amanda ordered the Fish and Grits.  This burger spoke right to me by throwing pulled pork on top of the patty, just like my standby at the Grand Lux Café in Vegas (notice the blackberry and blueberry in my drink there, definitely going for another one of those tonight).

Usually I’m weary of onions but the grilled onions on top of this burger were just fine, although I do have to admit to giving my pickles to Amanda (who in turn didn’t like them as they were sweet pickles instead of dill).  The tots were tots; since the menu didn’t call them anything special I wouldn’t be surprised if they were out of the freezer but good nonetheless, especially when dipped in the truffle mayonnaise.  This will probably be my go-to meal at H. Harper for the good price/taste combo, much like the Va La Hades burger at Republic.

Amanda was equally pleased with her Fish and Grits, and although she couldn’t have a bite of my burger (hey, I've at least got her eating chicken now) she was nice enough to let me try hers and I thought it was great.  The fish in question was seared trout and the grits had some crabmeat in them, neither of which was too strong and made for a really good combination.

Despite going in without the highest of expectations and a bit of a chip on my shoulder,  I did enjoy my meal at H. Harper Station.  I’m not quite sure how it fits into the neighborhood though; The Depot was a fish house with a little bit of everything including bar food on the menu, so it was really an anytime destination while I have a feeling H. Harper will be the place to go and get a nice drink before heading somewhere else.  Their décor wasn’t speakeasy or southern lodge, just a few elements of each mixed in with some pretty cheap looking chairs and tables that really didn’t fit with the atmosphere that I think they’re trying to build.  Rathbun’s and Agave have the nearby “nice place” destination on lockdown, but I do hope they find their way into the mix.

H. Harper Station
904 Memorial Dr
Atlanta, GA  30316
678.732.0415

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