The Return of East Atlanta Santa was met with generally positive reviews. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average score of 70, based on four reviews. Renato Pagnani of
Pitchfork commented on the improvement of Gucci Mane's performance and vocals, and that the album shows a "more playful side of Gucci's personality, proving along the way that back to business doesn't have to mean an absence of fun". Narsimha Chintaluri of
HipHopDX said, "The flows are slicker, and the hooks more engaging. His writing is still standard fare for Gucci, but he doesn't hesitate to play with his delivery". In a mixed review,
The Guardians Lanre Bakare stated: "These [guest appearances] are mostly successful, with Gucci's one-note delivery providing ballast for the crooning of Tiller, the emo-rap of Drake and the Auto-Tuned oddness of Scott. But Gucci is at his best when solo."
The Irish Times stated that "Mane gets on with the gig he's had all year long of celebrating the fact that he currently has his freedom back". Chris Dart of
Exclaim! said, "It comes in flashes, and then it's back to a sort of dull, flat affect". ==Track listing==