A sizzling standout amongst teen clubs in Atlanta, Club Miami features a jam-packed dance floor and substantial after-midnight entry lines that confirm its status as a red-hot nightspot for the under 21 set. Friday nights and Saturday lesbian nights draw a fun-loving 18-and-over crowd ready to party until morning, shimmying on the dance floor to the enticing beat of hip-hop favorites. Celebrity appearances are also common, with past guests including Soulja Boy and Roscoe Dash. So after getting famished from all the dancing, there are plenty of ethnic restaurants open late to fill you up. Atlanta nightlife is back like it never left because despite a short period of lockdowns during the start of the pandemic, it really never did leave. From The Music Room bidding farewell to Edgewood Avenue last fall to the Castleberry Hill 2nd Friday Art Stroll taking a hit, there's a lot to miss.
But thanks to new late-night spots like The Bar at the Illuminarium and Puttshack, there are still plenty of great things to enjoy about Atlanta's vibrant dark side. Here is everything that you can do in Atlanta after dark. He's a Le Bernardin alum who came of age in his immigrant parents' straightforward Chinese restaurants. And though he's opened the most ambitious new restaurant Atlanta has seen in several years, that doesn't mean his rarefied food is short on fun. In the magnificently transformed Candler Park space that formerly housed Radial Cafe, choose from two tasting menus—seven courses for $125 or 10 for $165 —or sit on the patio and order from the a la carte "snacks" menu.
Hsu's Steak & Eggs is a nod to his family's frequent visits to Waffle House, but in his version, a dry-aged New York strip is accompanied by a sous-vide egg wrapped in a wasabi leaf. The menu is ruled by playfulness, down to pastry sous chef Lindsey Davis's cherry-coconut mousse, which arrives in the form of a giant glistening cherry . You'll drop a lot of cash, but even for the money, it's hard to find a more creative meal in town.
You don't have to spend $185 to eat at Sushi Hayakawa, but if you can, you should. Not only is that your entry fee to the restaurant's 14-course, two-and-a-half-hour honkaku omakase ; it also gets you front-and-center seats at Atsushi "Art" Hayakawa's sushi counter. Hayakawa is the most delightful character in Atlanta's food scene, a master of his craft who's as skilled at handling fish and rice as he is at charming his guests.
During a recent visit, he greeted a diner and quickly recalled a litany of details about the man's life. If you can't swing the honkaku omakase, try to get a spot at the sushi bar, where you can choose from a $135 or $95 tasting menu. The former will get you premium nigiri that Hayakawa gently brushes with his housemade soy sauce—and, if you're lucky, his signature dish of monkfish liver and scallops. Lava Lounge is a favorite haunt to the Midtown crowd known for its theme nights like Flip Flop Sundays and more.
The tri-level club features an outdoor tropical deck, plush seats and four bars. Atlanta's nightlife is full of a lively kaleidoscope of lounges, millennium-magnet clubs, bars, taverns and old-school hangouts, especially since the city's bars and clubs have reopened. The best Atlanta nightclubs all cater to strong local communities, newcomers or visitors. It's probably safe to say that going out for drinks is the most popular nighttime move for everyone ages 21 and up, but that doesn't mean you have to settle for your typical neighborhood bar.
This year alone, Atlanta's bar scene has gotten a huge upgrade, and two of the most stunning new watering holes are JoJo's Beloved and The Bar at the Illuminarium. JoJo's Beloved's moody and nostalgic decor is a cocktail lounge that looks like it came out of a scene of Bad Times at the El Royale, so don't hesitate to book a reservation there. Wall-to-wall projections will transport you through several magical immersive settings, so prepare to enjoy some drinks and tapas and be amazed. Though the name suggests a restaurant, there's much more to Suite than the menu. Get upstairs and claim one of the white leather couches or challenge a friend to a flashy game of billiards on the sparkling blue pool tables.
While Opera is usually a 21+ club, it does host college nights for the 18 and up crowd. You get your full loud music club experience here, so if you're looking for a party, this is the place to head. You'll find a lot of people and a lot of dancing, with consistently packed Friday and Saturday nights.
Guest DJs come in from all over the country to spin the hottest music to hit the dance floor to. You have to try Opera at least once during your time in Atlanta. Atlanta's dining scene has been bereft of French refinement since the closure of Joël on Northside Parkway in 2010. Across the country, revolutionary French cooking is staging a comeback. In Atlanta, that revival has arrived inside the recently transformed Hotel Clermont and directly above the lovably grungy Clermont Lounge.
Yes, the French resurgence has materialized above a strip club. The restaurant even bears the name of a dancer who once disrobed in that space. Based on the descriptions alone, many of Tiny Lou's dishes come across as rich and traditional, but chef Jeb Aldrich's food possesses far more restraint than those phrases suggest. A mastery of sauces is part of what makes the kitchen so good, as evidenced by the harissa beurre monte that graces a whole-roasted loup de mer. Claudia Martinez is the rare pastry chef who can fashion a brown-butter blondie that pays proper homage to Blondie herself, the downstairs lounge's most endearing star. Although the dark atmosphere and non-traditional attire worn by party goers at Masquerade may be a little intimidating, don't let it be.
Housed in a renovated turn-of-the-century mill, this three level club has something for everyone. Hear bands upstairs in "Heaven." Play games and sit at the bar in "Pergatory" and dance the night away downstairs in "Hell." If live music isn't your thing, come every Thursday for a night of old wave classics music. The club also features the occasional CD release party. Atlanta's nightlife has come a long way since the days when tourists used to flood Underground Atlanta to visit the jazz clubs, nightclubs, bars and other haunts.
The best Atlanta nightclubs, like ChitChat, used to be just outside Atlanta, in enclaves around the city. When you dressed up for the club, it was with the understanding that it was an event. Located in Little Five Points, the Variety Playhouse is a combination between a theater and nightclub, and it provides great musical acts in a comfortable setting. Lounge in one of the movie theater-style seats and enjoy fare from the snack bar, or hit the dancing section and groove to the tunes of your favorite band. All seats are general admission, so get there early to get a spot. A large parking lot is behind the venue and charges a nominal fee, which is a huge plus in this area as finding parking spots can get tricky.
If you don't have access to an airline lounge but you have a Priority Pass membership, The Club at ATL will be your only option in Atlanta unless you want to take a nap at Minute Suites. If you're mainly visiting the lounge for a drink or two, this lounge will suit your needs well. But the lounge tends to get crowded, has limited access to power outlets and many of the tables are awkwardly small for multiple people to use at once — so it's often not a good lounge for working.
And, the lounge might be underwhelming if you're getting ready to depart in business or first class on the airlines that use this lounge for their premium customers. Not many dedicated bars, but there are some pubs where you can lounge around in and enjoy a few drinks with people of all ages, I think. Places like Brick Store in Decatur, Book House off of Ponce De Leon, and The Porter in Little 5 Points all serve food so you can go in and get restaurant-like seating but also have access to nice drink menus.
They typically don't card at the door but if you look young they'll card you when you order alcohol, so tell your underage friend not to bother. Kevin Gillespie's Gunshow is Atlanta's gutsiest restaurant. The dining room is short on luxury—stark spotlights, metal tables, loud rock music—but high on intrigue.
Seven to eight chefs cook and then deliver plates directly to diners, who can choose to accept or reject them. You might find Hawaiian paté en croute with pineapple, jalapeño, and Parmesan aioli, or confit sunchoke with peanuts, garlic, coffee, and seaweed. The experience is made all the more fun thanks to cocktail director Mercedes O'Brien's unorthodox drinks and the restaurant's roving bar cart. Whether you're looking for pork, beef, or offal cooked over charcoal or—gasp! —gas, Korean barbecue is all over the map in metro Atlanta. There hasn't been much quality Korean barbecue inside the Perimeter since Mirror of Korea on Ponce closed forever ago.
D92 changed that when it opened in Decatur last August. It offers the kind of Korean barbecue that typically warrants a trip to the suburbs. Plus, there are cocktails , something most of those other places don't bother with. Unlike its sister restaurant, the stellar 9292 in Duluth, D92 offers gas rather than charcoal grills.
D92's core offerings otherwise mirror those of 9292, including a quality selection of prime beef and pork. And in addition to barbecue, there are homestyle dishes, such as beef japchae (stir-fried clear noodles), and trendy ones, including Korean fried chicken, served spicy or soy-seasoned. Atlanta is, and will always be, one of the best cities in the US for clubbing and nightlife.
After all, entire songs have been dedicated to the city's top party spots, and, if you play your cards right, you might end up at the kind of in-demand nightclub that brings out the big-name celebs and musicians that call the ATL home. While trends and tastes have changed over the years, the best clubs in Atlanta are pretty much always in-demand. Near many of the other hot clubs and restaurants, you are in for a fun night on the town when you choose to party at the this two level club.
The tropical theme, hence the name Flip Flops, is apparent throughout the entire club. Don't visit Flip Flops without sampling one of the frozen slushies. All are tasty but many especially love the Red Bull / vodka slushie. If you are willing to walk a bit, you can score inexpensive down the street from the club. If you want to fully experience Tomo, skip the sprawling menu; the shrimp tempura roll and teriyaki-glazed chicken breast will only distract you from the immensity of chef Tomohiro Naito's gift for Japanese cuisine.
Your best option is to snag one of five nightly spots for Naito's omakase , which starts at $100 and could include fluke with ponzu gelee and a lamb chop dusted in citrusy, almost minty sansho powder. If you're not one of the lucky five—or want to drop less cash—simply tell your waitress how much you'd like to spend, and you'll get a sampling of Naito's best plates. Your faux-makase could include slivers of superfresh sashimi shimmering in a shallow pool of yuzu ponzu and extra-virgin olive oil and a simple slice of miso-marinated, broiled black cod. It's been eight years since celebrity chef Hugh Acheson opened Empire State South and challenged Atlanta's notion that Southern food is something preciously preserved in the past.
A lot has changed since then, but Empire State South remains a destination restaurant in a part of Midtown that has too few of them. Among its most iconic dishes is the texturally enchanting farm egg on crispy rice with beef and mushroom sausage, shiitake, and corn. Equally seductive are the wine and cocktail programs, each among the very best in the city.
The terrace overlooking a bocce court ringed by Adirondacks is a splendid gathering spot for an impromptu al fresco meal or a planned event. In short, Empire State South, no longer trendy, is more inviting than ever. As a member, you will enjoy use of the Club's headquarters located in midtown Atlanta.
Enjoy a libation after work and prior to dinner, get away for a quiet lunch, kill some time while waiting for traffic to clear, reserve a room for a deposition and/or mediation, or surf the internet using our wireless network. Guests or non-members are welcome to accompany a member when using the club. The entire club may be reserved for private parties of up to 110 people when the Club is not generally open to members. During normal Club hours, members may reserve the back part of the Club for up to 50 people. Maybe you need to blow off some serious steam with your crew at an all-night dance party, or maybe you want to impress that special someone with a venue that's a little more discreet and sophisticated.
What Clubs Can You Get Into At 17 In Atlanta Either way, if you're looking to drink and party the night away, check out one of the lively nightclubs, music venues, dance halls and raucous haunts that populate this list. You have to be 18 to get in and 21 to drink at Club Glow on Buford Highway in northeast Atlanta. Some nights, it's a young crowd, due to the DJs and guest performers that come in to perform from all over the country. Wednesday night the ladies get in free all night long. There are two bars for soft drinks and water for the under 18 crowd, easy parking and the club doesn't close until 3 a.m., so you can spend the majority of the night out. Loca Luna serves up tasty tapas in the early evening in a fun and festive atmosphere.
Loca Luna is 18 and up but that doesn't stop the over 21 crowd from partying there as well. This Latin hot spot has an after-hours atmosphere that always sizzles. The club features live bands and late-night DJs inspiring a diverse crowd of dancers with a blend of Salsa, Reggae, and Top 40 mash-ups. Free salsa lessons help even clueless clubbers practice their moves before the dance floor gets loco. If you are more into the live music scene vs. the dance or clubbing scene, then you'll definitely want to check out Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points. The Variety Playhouse is a combination theater and nightclub.
Seating at Variety Playhouse features a mixture of theater-style seats, tables and chairs and dancing and standing areas. The capacity varies depending on the seating configuration. For many of the shows, there is limited seating along with standing areas. The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta is enviably located in the heart of downtown, placing guests minutes from MARTA mass transit, Georgia Aquarium and Centennial Olympic Park. And while the city is certainly appealing, the luxury hotel is equally so, acting as a gathering place for guests and Atlanta residents alike. Newly renovated accommodations offer luxury with a modern touch, dining has a distinctly local flavor and events are carefully designed.
Thrive offers a unique balance of contemporary with comfort for memorable dining and private events. The restaurant is available to host your party of up to 200 guests. With Victorian era decor and ambiance, The Blind Pig Parlour Bar offers a unique venue for your next cocktail party, birthday bash, corporate event or outing with friends and family. Whether you're looking to host a small, intimate event in the cozy parlour or have the entire facility to yourself, The Blind Pig has just the space for you accommodating up to 80 guests. City Hall's tougher stance on nightclubs and bars, combined with a surge in development , cool Atlanta's overheated nightlife scene.
Steve Kaplan buys the Gold Club in Buckhead, bringing Vegas-style glitz—as well as VIP rooms and pricey bottle service—to Atlanta's strip-club scene. The fun ends a few years later in a federal racketeering trial featuring embarrassed NBA stars and taciturn mafiosi. After reopening as a church, the building becomes home to the Gold Room in 2009.
Located behind a gas station, in a tiny strip mall on the border of College Park and East Point, Don Sige isn't known for its decor. Blond wood picnic benches, brown tile, and burnt-orange walls are what you get. The whiteboard menu offers a basic breakdown of the fantastic Mexican food for which the small restaurant is locally renowned.
