SPOTLIGHT ATLANTA NIGHTLIFE
WORDS BY TONY WARE
With a huge selection of world-class bars, lounges and clubs, “Hotlanta” is quickly becoming a mecca for those seeking the perfect beat.
Following its hosting of the 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta experienced big-city adolescence—as the city began growing outwardly, it simultaneously began maturing inwardly. Now a sprawling metropolis of 4.5 million, Atlanta is still in a state of constant development. And while increased traffic and limited public transportation may make people want to crawl out of their skin while navigating the budding options, the city’s simmering nightlife scene offers a place to blow off steam and show off that skin, instead. Having developed exponentially over the last decade, Atlanta’s blossoming nightlife is still barely out of its proverbial teens and up for anything, offering an “in” no matter what you’re in to. So let’s look at where Atlanta goes out for it, and what people get out of it.
Buckhead
Centered around the intersections of East Paces Ferry, Pharr Road and Bolling Way, Buckhead Village’s entertainment district long had a reputation as Atlanta’s Bourbon Street. This status wasn’t exactly undeserved, thanks mainly to modern rock/commercial dance/ hip-hop-blaring venues such as Coyote Ugly (404-659-8459)—inspired by the girls-onthe-biker-bar film—and Mako’s (404-846-8096) —where the motto is “Anything Goes at Mako’s,” and Uranus (404-816-9931).
eleven50
While the just-out-of-college crowd is still present, people equally spill from the sidewalks for see-and-be-scene ultra-lounges such as the bustling mainstay Tongue and Groove (404-261-2325) and crisp two-tiered newcomer Babylon (678-755-7796), and the multicultural mélange at dance clubs such as Latin-themed The Havana Club (404-869-8484) and the hanger-like Frequency (404-760-1975), which offers hi-NRG Eurodance.
Or, mingle with martinis at Capital Grille (404-262-1162), a high-end steakhouse, or Beluga (404-869-1090), a cosmopolitan hideaway. Those more willing to stray from the beaten path can experience Electra (404-627-8464), a quaint lounge on a quiet side street featuring house music and retromodern furnishings in a smoke-free environment.
Over a few blocks on East Andrews Drive, a West Buckhead scene is prospering. East Andrews Café (404-869-1132) plays host to the upwardly mobile luxury vodka-andmicrobrews singles set, while the adjacent Andrews Upstairs (404-467-1600) hosts classic rock cover bands for those who prefer sharing a Bud with a bud. And around the curve of the street Aiko (404-869-4800) —a restaurant/dance club with a well-lit, whitewashed atrium reminiscent of a gauzy ski lodge—offers a sushi bar through the evening and serves a liquid diet of martinis by night.
HaloMidtown
Branching off the city’s main arteries of Peachtree Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue, Midtown is home to the city’s most intensive clubbing. In the 4×4 block radius around Crescent Avenue are located a dozen venues, from intimate converted bungalows featuring the city’s finest house DJs—the interconnected Cosmopolitan and Lava Lounge (404-873-6189)—to lavish former community theaters showcasing international progressive house/ trance talent—eleven50 (404-874-3006), among others. Hip-hop fans line the streets to watch stars such as Jermaine Dupree and Usher skip the lines at the palatial, South Beach-inspired Vision (404 874-4460) and crunk Club 112 (404-607-7277). Those seeking spectacles but to a more transcultural beat make the drive across the interstates to West Midtown to visit Compound (404-872-4621), a complex of courtyards and converted former high-end car showrooms that retain an aerodynamic air of opulence.
CompoundMidtown isn’t all splashy and sprawling, however. Enticing nooks are equally abundant. In the angular, concrete basement of the Biltmore Hotel, Halo (404-962-7333) offers food, fine wine and downtempo DJs in a post-industrial chic lounge as equally coiffed as its crowd. Next to the Fox Theatre, Bazzaar (404-885-7505) is a New York-style corner lounge offering unhurried service and local DJ selectors in plush sumptuousness.
And finally there is MJQ Concourse (404-870-0575), an outwardly nondescript club located literally underground (in an old parking garage) that eschews trends and attracts a savvy, street-smart crowd with a hand-picked selection of local and visiting DJs (house, hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, post-punk, you name it). Inside the subterranean rumpus rooms, a host of irregular regulars and gawkers intermingle, and it’s electric.
Sun DialDowntown
If there’s one area of town that most embodies Atlanta’s strive to reinvent itself, it’s Downtown. Downtown has seen some of Atlanta’s most infamous clubbing come and go—in long defunct venues such as Velvet and Level3. But if there is one venue that stands as a testament to gauging the times, it is The Mark. Home to plenty of debauchery in its previous earthy and Asian-themed incarnation as Karma, The Mark (404-918-6922) sparked off the city’s ultra-lounge trend in 2003 when it debuted a sleek “disco” design, influenced by the boutique hotels of Ian Schrager.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the rebranded open-air “entertainment district” of Kenny’s Alley in Underground Atlanta. Home to clubs including The Alley Cat (678-904-2514), a Hard Rock-style live venue; Latin Sol (678-904-4357), a Latin club featuring live bands; and Future (678-904-2457), an Old Wave/Industrial dance club.
Why not get away from the city bustle with a trip up to The Sun Dial (404-589-7506) at the top of The Westin; a revolving restaurant/ lounge 73 stories up that offers impeccable cocktails, live jazz and an unrivaled view of Atlanta, a city bursting with possibilities?