Bistro Niko works when you’re craving beef bourguignon and want a lively atmosphere to eat it in. Walk past bins full of baguettes (just in case you’re unsure that this place is French) to get to the large open dining room with leather booths, white tablecloths, and noise levels like a high school cafeteria. (Seriously, prepare to shout at your tablemates above the racket.) The crowd checks every box for a typical night out in Buckhead: a sea of finance bros, a c-suite table sitting next to a multi-gen family with teenagers staring at their phones, and gossipy friend groups. They’re all settling in for rich food and many glasses of French vino (they have a nice variety of Burgundy and Bordeaux wines). For the most part, Bistro Niko delivers on a reliable weekday dinner. Most dishes, like the escargot topped with a puffy pastry layer, feel lavish because they use two full sticks of butter in them (we’re guessing here, but it’s a lot). But others are the budget version, like the seafood tagliatelle pasta that explains why there’s a salt shaker on every table (use it on this dish liberally, but the bland noodles cannot be helped).