Elite Event: What’s Your Gusto?

This was my very first event as a newbie Elite. It was a lovely experience and I was very glad to be a part of it.
I finally get to meet our community manager, Ben & his wife. As well as other fellow Elites & their plus one.
Gusto shut down the whole restaurant just for this event. It was really neat to meet the owner, the chef and hear about their food & restaurant. And of course, we were treated with 3 different tastings of their menu. I was happy full after my meal. The food was so fresh & delicious, I will definitely be back.
Thanks for a great event!

Came for the Unilocal event when it had been open for 3 months. They offered 4 cups of their different gustos. 3 with chicken, 1 with mushroom. All 4 flavors tasted all natural and were refreshing to eat. We had the Tahini Cucubumber Feta with mushrooms, Chipotle Mango Avocado with chicken, Apple Curry Peanut with Chicken, and the Chile Citrus BBQ with chicken. The mushroom dish was really delicious and everybody else in the place was raving about all of the other dishes as well, so I’m assuming they really liked it as well. The flavors were very unique with fresh ingredients. Parking can be a little tricky, with street parking and a smaller lot but still a great place. They are adding vegan and gluten-​free options to the meny as well. Highly recommend this place!

With Unilocalers like Daniel B. and Addy C., I feel like the pressure to write as comprehensive of a review is off of me.
Whew.
Let me focus on the intangible — my roommate and I got there and we felt at home.
We shared a table with two great ladies that also welcomed us.
The food and booze was great — the place really lent itself to connecting with folks and who better than other Unilocalers.
This place is just a couple of miles away and I would have NEVER come if it hadn’t have been for this event. We will make it a point to swing by again — note, there IS free parking — don’t let a ticket ruin your outing!!!

What a great event! I really enjoyed the experience at Gusto! Wood Fire Grill. The whole place was closed down just for us and the staff really pulled out all the stops to make sure the experience was flawless.
Ben G. was awesome enough to remember that my partner and I are vegan/​vegetarian and he worked with Kelly (who was also awesome) to make sure our food was made with their portobello protein option. When Kelly brought our food out she explained which Gusto we were experiencing. We were served 4 different Gusto’s: Chili Citrus BBQ, Chipotle Mango Avocado, Tahini Cucumber Feta, and my personal favorite Apple Curry Peanut. Each Gusto was served over brown rice and they hooked us up with large portions and a scrumptious side of sweet potato chips. The food was really so good!
As the owner, Nate Hybl explained, «What’s your Gusto?» is like asking, «what are you in the mood for?». This is such a great concept because their menu really spans quite a large assortment of flavor profiles and I must give props to Chef Shawn for pulling all of those awesome flavors together.
I look for Gusto! Wood Fire Grill to take off and have multiple locations. I would love it if they opened one in Ponce City Market, but in the meantime, I will definitely be going back to their awesome little spot on Peachtree Rd!

This was another awesome Unilocal elite event at Gusto where we were able to taste delicious food, hear the story of the owners, and mingle with awesome Unilocal Elites! I have loved getting to meet new people at every event I have attended.
Gusto was gracious enough to close down the restaurant for us for a night. They also kept us very full — we were able to try four of their different flavor profiles (Gusto’s) and their sweet potato chips. My favorite Gusto bowl was definitely the tahini, cucumber, and feta! Who doesn’t love big chunks of feta mixed in with grilled chicken, rice, garbanzo beans, cucumber, and tomato? Yum! The sweet potato chips were some of the best that I have had. One of the staff explained that they use wood to cook the meat to give it that smoky taste and they focus on making food taste good with flavor instead of fat. I definitely applaud their delicious efforts of making healthy food taste good!
One of my favorite parts of the night was hearing the owner and chef share the story of the restaurant! It shows what great things can happen when people believe in a good product and work hard to make sure that their dreams become a reality!
Thank you Ben, JJ, Unilocal,and Gusto for another awesome night. I’ll definitely be back to Gusto and will tell others about it as well!

What an awesome event at this really great restaurant this was. Lots of new people and the TASTIEST food I’ve had in a bit. It was so healthy, filling, and not greasy. The peanut dishes and the ones with feta cheese were my favorite. My boyfriend loved them all. Can’t wait for this place to skyrocket, which it will, and they can open one by my job in Johns Creek.

Gusto! What a great experience. The food here is absolutely delicious. But first thing’s first. Parking can get a little dicey here. They share a parking lot behind the restaurant with CVS and a few other stores along the street. In all fairness I came on a busy night for the restaurant, so hopefully most days parking shouldn’t be an issue. But fair warning. I believe there is also paid parking along the street.
Ok, now back to the good stuff. The food is prepared quickly and without sacrificing quality. They pride themselves on delivering fresh quality food to your table. The way you order is three steps. First you choose a style, ranging from greens, grains, bread, to flatbread. Then you choose a protein between chicken, portabella, and shrimp. And lastly, you choose your Gusto! A gusto is «a robust flavor of profile created from the world’s ingredients». So what does that mean? Well essentially they offer all different types of flavors from different areas of the world: Greek, Mexican, Asian, American, etc.
Tonight I was able to try 4 different gustos: tahini cucumber feta, chile citrus bbq, chipotle mango avocado, and apple curry peanut. And amongst all the rich and flavorful dishes, I absolutely loved the apple curry peanut the most. That’s not to take away from the other dishes, but the ingredients that went into this dish just blended so perfectly together, from the granny smith apple, purple cabbage, and fresh basil to the soy mustard vinaigrette and roasted peanuts, the chef really had an imaginative taste that just worked wonders to the taste buds. I would love to come back here and try all the different combinations. It’s high quality food for very reasonable prices.

Events like this make being Elite pretty awesome. Loved the four-​dish samples — somehow, Gusto has already sneakily lured me back for another go-​around. They were all delicious, and that chicken is definitely wood-​fired. They’ve got something beyond ordinary going on here.
Thanks Ben and crew!

A few words to sum up my experience — I never would of expected so much flavor in a cup like this.
I loved hearing the story about how there was no experience cooking, but learning the adventure learning to cook with ALL the flavors and spices of different regions. I have a huge appreciation for that, because I really feel like you could taste a new flavor or «region/​culture» in every cup.
Of course I don’t need to mention that the event was very well organized. I loved the idea of the «get to know you friends» activity. This was actually the best networking I’ve ever done at a Unilocal event, so that was great for me too.
Thank you once again!

This was a very great gathering for a casual Wednesday night. I’ve heard about Gusto but didn’t know it was… I thought it had some relation to Woodfire Grill and I kind of shrugged it off… HUGE MISTAKE!
Gusto’s is going to become my new favorite Go to spot. As someone who is trying to eat healthier but hates hates hates to sacrifice asian and other bold flavors, this fits me like a glove.
Everything we had there was exceptional, I gobbled everything up. The peanut butter froyo was delicious, even though I don’t even like peanut butter all that much.
The best part of the night was hearing Nate come out and talk to us about his concept. You can tell he really is passionate about actually prepping and cooking the food as well as being humbled by the Unilocal community which was definitely cool to hear.
By far one of the best Unilocal events I’ve been to and can’t wait to start eating at Gusto’s more!
Thanks!

So happy my +1 and I were able to attend this event. It was such a fun night :)
It seems like a lot of Unilocalers have already written out what I wanted to say so… I’ll make this quick!
…I am SO glad Ben/​JJ mentioned in the email that there was parking in the back. Ha. Otherwise, I would have been struggling for a metered spot.
Each bowl had a very generous portion of Gusto’s food! Wish I could pick a favorite, but to be honest– each bowl had a very specific taste & charm. that I just can’t pick. I saw on here that Addy C listed a pretty detailed mix of each bowl — so yep! Each bowl had a great selection of healthy ingredients and were very obvious. I can see myself coming here often for meals that aren’t too heavy/​healthy side of things… #Delicious! Their Housemade Sweet Potato Chips were AWESOME. Nom. I will be back for this too.
The froyo that was given out was pretty tasty. I like desserts in general… can’t say no… I tasted peanut butter in this froyo. My favorite :)
I did see lots of people enjoying the drinks here too and very happy with the choices. My +1 enjoyed it. Too bad I can’t drink during the week day :(
And of course it’s always nice to see familiar and new faces at events. :D The ice breaker after the meal was pretty cool. It was also really good to hear from the Nate to see how far he’s come with everything.
BTW: I LOVE that Gusto has hooks on their higher tables. That’s a definite plus for ladies with our huge purses. (I can’t be the only one, right?!)
Thanks Ben, JJ, Unilocal,& Gusto Staff for hosting: D Awesome job!

Great event. I missed out on the preview party at Gusto! on October 30, 2014 (which was open to some Unilocalers), but had already become a fan of the restaurant from a separate visit. How nice of the folks at Gusto! to close down the entire place for our Elite Event last night. It was a lot of fun trying out different «gustos» (flavor combinations) and listening to founder Nate Hybl and chef Shawn Grodensky tell their stories.
It was a packed house. Every seat inside Gusto! was taken and then some. I estimate attendance was at roughly 80 Unilocalers and +1s. There was wine, fountain drinks, and each of us was served a specially prepared sampler tray showing off some of the best and most popular gustos Gusto! had to offer. Each tray contained:
* Tahini Cucumber Feta (salad) — hummus, cucumber, tomato, chickpea salad, white balsamic vinaigrette, feta with dill
* Chile Citrus BBQ (with brown rice) — spicy Korean BBQ sauce (gochujang), cucumber, carrot, radish, jalapeño, citrus avocado dressing, cilantro
* Chipotle Mango Avocado (with brown rice) — smoky chipotle cream sauce, avocado, mango, black bean, corn, cilantro lime dressing, jack cheese
* Apple Curry Peanut (with brown rice) — mild curry peanut sauce, Granny Smith apple, purple cabbage, basil, ginger, soy mustard vinaigrette, roasted peanuts
* Housemade Sweet Potato Chips
I’d already tried the Chile Citrus BBQ, Chipotle Mango Avocado, and Apple Curry Peanut, so the only new flavor to me was the Tahini Cucumber Feta. All the different gustos were delicious. When asked by multiple people which gusto was my favorite, I couldn’t give an answer — I liked them all. I like that the ingredients are fresh, flavorful, and healthy and the meals are relatively inexpensive at $ 9 – 11 each. It’s a nice alternative to Chipotle with many more options to choose from. Our trays alone contained flavors from the Mediterranean, Korea, Mexico, and Thailand.
As usual, the sweet potato chips were excellent. We also got samples of chocolate and peanut butter swirl frozen yogurt.
The staff was very nice and friendly. Founder Nate, who was the 2003 Rose Bowl Game MVP by the way, spoke highly of Unilocal and how it’s positively affected his new business. Since opening this past fall, Gusto! has already accumulated a 4.5 star rating with 63 reviews.
In addition to food and drink, Ben had us play a little game. We each had to befriend five new Unilocalers and friend them using the Unilocal app. This was easy because there were so many new faces (the Unilocal Atlanta Elite community continues to grow). The first person who successfully added five new friends won (I think) a Valentine’s themed, heart-​shaped box of chocolates. Congratulations to Juan M. for winning the prize! The five Unilocalers I met were Debbie K, Joanna R, Gillian R, Eddie C, and Audrey A.
Thank you, Ben, JJ, Brittany Wages Photography, Nate, Shawn, and everyone else at Gusto! for a tasty and enjoyable night. Since I live in the vicinity, I’ll definitely be returning to Gusto! many times in the future. Cheers.

As always, a great event put on by Ben and the Atlanta Unilocal team. My +1 and I had been excited about this one since taking a glance at their menu and wanting to try literally all of the Gustos (all of the toppings and sauces that go on top of your protein and base). Each Gusto had its own unique flair, and I was won over by a few that I was initially skeptical about – I’m looking at you radishes in the chile citrus bbq and at apple curry peanut. At the base of it, all of the proteins were cooked really well; the chicken was seasoned perfectly and moist and the portabella was delicious. My +1 and I went through each one as a taste journey so we could share our thoughts as we ate. I especially liked that even though the menu was laid out simply, there are a range of complex flavors (omg healthy too, a menu after my own heart). It really shows the care and dedication that was taken in choosing and presenting the ingredients.
The highlight of the night for me was getting to hear Nate and Shawn’s story about how Gusto was imagined and came to exist. It is always lovely to see the creative faces behind the counter and in the kitchen. I definitely look forward to coming back again. I NEED to try that soy sriracha!

Oops… Ben and JJ did it again.
Excellent Unilocal Elite event in the heart of Buckhead. Food was really different in a great way. Loved the Chipotle Mango Avocado — the best of the four dishes I had. The Sweet Soy Sriracha was spicy and good too.
Enjoyed meeting Ryan from Gusto! as well. We’ll be back.

Fell in love with their food when I had the opportunity to attend their soft opening — and grateful to get invited back! Tonight we were treated to generous servings of four different gusto profiles — also their Housemade (and addicting) Sweet Potato Chips!
— Chipotle Mango Avocado = smoky chipotle cream sauce + avocado, mango, black bean, corn salad in cilantro lime dressing + fresh jack cheese
— Tahini Cucumber Feta = creamy hummus + cucumber, tomato, chickpea salad in white balsamic vinaigrette + feta with dill
— Chili Citrus BBQ = spicy Korean chile bbq sauce + cucumber, carrot, radish, jalapeño salad in citrus avocado dressing + fresh cilantro
— Apple Curry Peanut = mild curry peanut sauce + granny smith apple, purple cabbage, fresh basil, ginger salad in soy mustard vinaigrette, roasted peanuts
Great selection of fresh healthy and tasty ingredients for each of their profiles — agree with Kristin B some bold flavor action going on here. My favorite was the Chipotle Mango Avocado profile — I’m a huge mango and avocado fan so those ingredients together won me over immediately :) Tahini Cucumber Feta is great if you’re looking for something lighter — the Chili Citrus BBQ and Apple Curry Peanut if you’re looking for something heavier. We also experienced the woodfire-​grilled chicken and portabella — you can definitely taste the flame-​grilled flavor … I love anything grilled :) Seriously all of them were great — super stuffed the portions were overly generous and then they treated us to a double twist of frozen yogurt. Nice sweet finish!
Thanks to Gusto! Wood Fire Grill for hosting and introducing us to your creative food concept, and Happy Three Month Anniversary! I’ll definitely come back for sure! Also thanks to Ben G and JJ for putting together this event also the cool new Unilocal tote bags and fun game to add more Atlanta Unilocal friends to our network :)

What a fun little event! It always makes you feel special when a restaurant totally closes down for the night just to fête Unilocalers. Though the place was ours alone, probably only around 40 elites (and their plus ones) were on the guest list, making this an intimate evening, and making those of us who made the cut even more grateful to get in. As always, it was great to make new friends and get to catch up with some old ones.
We were greeted with wine, beer, and a full fountain of soda products (with the good pellet/​fluffy ice!), but it was the food is really what blew me away here. It was all so boldly flavored and incredibly fresh — not at all what you’d expect from fast-​casual dining. Every guest got their own tray of generously sized samples of four of their «gustos» on woodfire grilled chicken or portobello mushrooms as well as a generous serving of their housemade sweet potato chips. And honestly, I couldn’t pick a favorite! I will definitely return when I need a quick but healthy meal in the future, particularly now that I know they’ve got tons of free parking off of Brighton Rd. The little samples of fro-​yo as we were leaving were a nice touch as well.
Gusto has a passionate team running the place, and even better, they’re turning out some great product. Thanks for a great evening!