One restaurant concept is being swapped out for another in Midtown.
Community Smith, which opened at 866 Peachtree St. NW next to Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel in early 2015, has reopened as Rowdy Tiger Whiskey Bar & Kitchen.
Executive chef Christina “Chris” Wai is managing the kitchen at Rowdy Tiger, with a menu described in a press release as “Southern-inspired food washed down with the world’s finest whiskey.”
Most recently, Wai was executive chef at Midtown’s Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant, Takorea and has worked at restaurants and country clubs in Florida and Georgia.
Some of Wai’s menu items include small plates such as fried green tomato caprese with burrata, crispy basil and charred red pepper balsamic and entrees such as sweet tea-brined Heritage pork loin chop with sorghum demi, Logan Turnpike grits and crispy Brussels sprouts; low country cioppino with seared seabass, smoked sausage, shrimp, red potatoes, sweet corn charred tomato fish broth and butter grilled bread; and a bourbon Angus burger with aged cheddar, applewood bacon, Bibb lettuce, Roma tomatoes, pickles and bourbon onion mustard on a toasted brioche bun. Dessert options include a croissant bread pudding with bourbon caramel and locally-made High Road fleur de sel ice cream.
Thirsty? Consult a “Whiskey Diary” to figure out what to order. The drink menu also features more than 50 moonshines, craft cocktails and local beers.
Rowdy Tiger will be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. The space seats 150 guests in the dining room and an additional 20 on the street level, and also has two semi-private dining rooms.
If you’re looking for more of a bar atmosphere, Rowdy Tiger Rooftop rooftop patio is open on the second floor. Accommodating 200 people, the bar focuses on Prohibition- era cocktails, cognac, whiskey and bourbon and also offers a “sharable plates” menu. The space also features oversized games and wall-to-wall murals.
Rowdy Tiger collaborated with Dallas-based design firm Studio 11 on the restaurant and rooftop’s design, seeking “to bring the Prohibition era to life with thoughtful touches of the past,” according to a release. Design elements include blackened steel, wood and copper stills as well as reclaimed furniture.
The restaurant and rooftop’s name comes from people who were part of the “Free & Rowdy Party” and would go to speakeasies called “Blind Tigers” to consume forbidden liquor.
Rowdy Tiger Whiskey Bar & Kitchen will be open from 6:30 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday (the kitchen closes at 11 p.m.) and Friday and Saturday from 6:30 a.m.-1 a.m. (the kitchen closes at 11 p.m.).
Rowdy Tiger Rooftop will be open from 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 4 p.m.-midnight on Saturday and Friday, weather-permitting. In room dining at the Renaissance Midtown Atlanta Hotel will be available from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Saturday.
866 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta. 678-412-2402.
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