These Atlanta restaurants made OpenTable’s top 100 spots for a ‘big night out’ list

Whether making dinner reservations to celebrate a promotion, anniversary or even just wowing a new love, the goal is to find the restaurant that elevates from a good bite to eat to that ideal amount of Je ne sais quoi. OpenTable has a list for that.

The online reservation site has just announced its catalog of the  "100 Best Restaurants in America for  Big Night," which include America's premier restaurants that serve up exquisite dishes with a side of the perfect ambiance.

“The list features an array of buzzworthy restaurants, from up-and-coming to established, trendy to tried-and-true, across 24 states and Washington D.C.” said Caroline Potter, OpenTable’s chief dining officer. “Whatever your notion of a big night out entails, whether it’s a bustling bar scene or a spot to see-and-be-seen, fun is on the menu at any of these honorees.”

The 100 restaurants were selected based on 12 million verified diner reviews gathered between Feb. 1, 2017 and Jan. 31, 2018. The dining spots were then rated based on their “overall” score and compared against the percentage of reviews which  the “hot spot” feature was selected.

California ruled the unranked listing with 18 restaurants on the “big night out” list. Florida came in second with 17 restaurants. For Georgia, the two hot spots that made the list are both Atlanta favorites. (Sorry, Savannah.)

The Optimist, a seafood restaurant in West Midtown, made the elite 100 list. Known for its oysters, the restaurant touts a "beach-food experience" in landlocked Atlanta. In 2017, the restaurateur behind The Optimist, Ford Fry,  was named a James Beard Award semifinalist.

Two Urban Licks, a fixture on Atlanta's dining scene since 2004, also holds the top 100 claim to fame. OpenTable just heralded the happening American cuisine eatery, known for its signature pimento cheese hush puppies, in 2017. It made OpenTable's top 100 U.S. 'hot spots' in America list.

To see the entire list of America's top 100 restaurants for a big night out, take a gander at OpenTable's list.