Head-to-Head · Atlanta

O by Brush vs Little Bear

Atlanta's one-star omakase counter versus a Bib Gourmand tasting at 75 dollars. Book O by Brush to splurge, Little Bear for value.

O by Brush

Buckhead · Japanese omakase · 1 Michelin star · Food 9 / Room 9 / Value 8

O by Brush full review →

Little Bear

Summerhill · Modern American tasting · Bib Gourmand · Food 8 / Room 7 / Value 9

Little Bear full review →

The Verdict

O by Brush is the omakase counter Jason Liang runs inside his Brush Sushi space in Buckhead, and it is the more formal of the two rooms by a distance. It holds one Michelin star in the 2025 Guide to the American South, seats only a handful of guests at a time, and serves a set sequence of roughly twenty courses, nigiri and small plates, at about 255 dollars a head with a beverage pairing near 125 dollars. There is nothing to order; Liang decides. It scores 9 for food, 9 for the room and 8 for value, and it is built for an occasion you have planned.

Little Bear is the opposite proposition and, plate for plate, one of the most interesting kitchens in Atlanta. Jarrett Stieber cooks a constantly changing tasting menu out of a compact room in Summerhill, just south of downtown, for 75 dollars, a price that earned it a Michelin Bib Gourmand and Stieber the Guide's Young Chef Award. Vegetables and Southern ingredients get pulled apart and rebuilt with real wit. It scores 8 for food, 7 for the room and 9 for value: less polish than the Buckhead counter, far more for the money.

Scores, Side by Side

Score	O by Brush	Little Bear
Food	9 / 10	8 / 10
Atmosphere	9 / 10	7 / 10
Value	8 / 10	9 / 10

Which One for Which Occasion

Occasion	Editorial Pick
A special-occasion splurge	O by BrushThe one-star counter, the set omakase and the price put it in Atlanta's small group of genuine occasion rooms.
The most interesting cooking for the money	Little BearA 75-dollar tasting that won a Bib Gourmand makes it the value pick for diners who care about invention over polish.
A solo seat	O by BrushA counter omakase is built for one, and the set menu means a single diner misses nothing.
A casual weeknight	Little BearThe compact Summerhill room is easier to get into midweek and lighter on the wallet for a non-occasion dinner.
A sushi night	O by BrushFor nigiri and a guided Japanese sequence, nothing at Little Bear competes; this is the city's serious omakase.

Price and How to Book

The spend tells most of the story. O by Brush is a 255-dollar omakase released a few weeks ahead for a handful of counter seats, so you book early and plan around it; the full picture is in the O by Brush review. Little Bear is a 75-dollar tasting in a small Summerhill room that takes weeknight tables more easily, as covered in the Little Bear review. Both sit in our wider Atlanta dining guide.

For cuisine context, weigh O by Brush against the best Japanese restaurants worldwide and the top sushi counters, and Little Bear against the strongest tasting menus. For occasion fit, line them up with our picks for a first date and for solo dining. More match-ups sit on the compare index, including O by Brush vs Omakase Table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, O by Brush or Little Bear?

They sit at opposite ends of the spending scale. O by Brush is Jason Liang's omakase counter in Buckhead, holder of one Michelin star in the 2025 Guide to the American South, and it scores 9 for food in our review. Little Bear is Jarrett Stieber's Summerhill room, a Michelin Bib Gourmand serving a 75-dollar tasting that scores well on value. Book O by Brush for a special-occasion sushi splurge, and Little Bear for the most interesting cooking in town at a fair price.

How much do O by Brush and Little Bear cost?

O by Brush runs a roughly twenty-course omakase at about 255 dollars a head, with a beverage pairing near 125 dollars. Little Bear serves a set tasting menu at 75 dollars, one of the best-value Michelin-recognised meals in Atlanta. The gap is wide: O by Brush is the once-in-a-while occasion, while Little Bear is the room you can return to without flinching at the bill.

Is O by Brush or Little Bear harder to book?

Both are small and fill up, but O by Brush is tighter because the omakase counter seats only a handful at a time and releases dates a few weeks out. Little Bear takes reservations for its compact Summerhill dining room and holds some seats back, so a weeknight table is more attainable on short notice. For either, booking the moment a date opens is the safest approach.

What should I order at O by Brush and Little Bear?

At O by Brush there is nothing to choose: Jason Liang sets the omakase, a sequence of nigiri and small courses paced across the counter. At Little Bear the menu changes constantly, so let Jarrett Stieber's kitchen lead with the set tasting, where vegetables and Southern ingredients get treated with the kind of invention that won him a Michelin Young Chef Award.