No matter what kind of night you're looking for, there are restaurants, lounges and night clubs in Atlanta that match all tastes.
The trick to this city is simple: for every occasion, a savvy destination.
Want to know the very best places to go, no matter the mood?
Well, let's go. Depending on what Whatcha wanna do?
Dance
3771 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta
There are trendier, more youthful dance clubs all over the city. But straight up, if you want to dance like "nobody-puts-baby-in-a-corner type of dancing, do yourself a favor and go to Johnny's Hideaway. Disco jams on deck on all night? Check. Mirror on the ceiling? You know it. Watered down drinks that take half an hour to get? You betcha, so order them two at a time. The most, um, diverse crowd in Atlanta? You better believe it, especially with The Clermont on hiatus.
Rub elbows with the rich and famous
So, lets say the goal was to meet a celebrity on a Friday night in Atlanta. Or, more realistically, to navigate your night into the same establishment as someone recognizable, and then to stare awkwardly from across the room at them, even though it turns out that they are totally just a person out in the world just like you. Even once you've established that fact of humanity, you may still be a bit intrigued by that certain someone with a Wikipedia page, fancy car and a couple IMDB credits to tout.
541 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta
Celebrities love trending restaurants. It's a fact. Corner tables. Seclusion. And yet, paradoxically, inclusion (in the cool next big thing). That's why its the best place to go for dinner, and you should just book a standing nightly reservation, starting their next availability in like six weeks, is Staplehouse. The food, as everyone ever, including people who definitely know food like Wyatt Williams, will tell you, is pretty tasty. And the brand cache couldn't be higher, on account of Bon Appetit's naming the restaurant The Best New Restaurant in America. The cocktails are well regarded too; I specifically recommend my old acquaintance and now bartender (or is it mixologist) Ben Richardson's Ivey League, which is a drink made in homage to a friend who passed away. Respect on you, Ben. Cool drink. Add to all that the fact that it's in the trendy part of town...now you've got a celebrity magnet.
Drink great cocktails
Here's a question: Which matters more in deciding cocktail excellence−the cocktail alone, based on its creativity, deliciousness and other qualities of construction and hipness or the cocktail in the context of the deliciousness-to-fun ratio? What I mean is, would you rather have a "ten" cocktail in a "eight" environment, or an "eight" cocktail in a place that is "ten" fun?
Two World Hero at Empire State South
999 Peachtree St. NE #140, Atlanta
For the straight ahead best cocktail around, try the Two World Hero at Empire State South. Hugh Acheson's Midtown restaurant seems like it's been around forever by now, and the Two World Hero has built up a reputation in the meantime. The drink is from mixologist Kellie Thorn, and is a take on the Vieux Carre: It's Cognac, rye, black tea, red wine syrup and vermouth. Good luck drinking nine of those (insanely delicious, beautiful, bold and masterful cocktails)! Also, see above, Staplehouse, Richardson, Ivey League.
The Toronto at Sound Table
483 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta
For the eight cocktail in the ten spot? Go to Sound Table, order the Toronto. Here's the drink: 110-proof rye, Fernet Branca, sugar, bitters, and flamed orange. It's like an Old Fashioned, but different. And it's one of the most underrated drinks in the city, served in a spot that turns all the way up after 11.
Check out the hottest hip-hop
Music Room
327 Edgewood Ave Downstairs, Atlanta
Another interpretive question for you: What constitutes the hottest hip-hop in Atlanta? I would lean towards the increasing hybridization of trap beats against EDM melodies (an example), which is a stew whose pot is stirred off Edgewood Avenue. Sound Table, mentioned above, gives you some of this flavor, and you can get more of it at Music Room.
Magic City
241 Forsyth St SW, Atlanta
Alternatively, you could point to the young rappers breaking out now from ATL like Migos and Lil Yachty, with the auto-tuned stunting and the trap star swag as the "hottest" thing going. If that's the kind of club banger you want to hear, well, first of all you can go to any night club in Atlanta and hear it all night -- the city is light years ahead of other cities in setting the rap game culture. But, to really see the sausage getting made, you have to understand the economics of becoming a famous rapper in Atlanta via DJ Esco and Magic City, as proved by the ascendancy of our very own Future. And then, you gotta go to Magic City Mondays and see for yourself what the hottest hip-hop in Atlanta will be next week, and subsequently, which mumbled-into-auto-tune "flow" or hazy trap beat will creep it's way out to New York and LA next month.
Less of the frills and more of the singing thrills
758 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta
Why not keep it simple for a night out on the town? The Local is an end destination with these ingredients: trendy part of town, turn up spot, beatnik mindset and good drinks. Need another example of a place to fulfills the criteria? Monday nights at the Local -- the Ponce de Leon karaoke structure fire -- might work. John Hamm was there once. And he played in the movies.
