Past the first-date stage. Picking up where the proposal left off. Ten Atlanta date-night bars our editors return to.
The date-night bar is a different brief from the first-date bar. The first-date bar has to pass — the date-night bar has to be a place you both enjoy enough to come back to. These ten venues in Atlanta are where our editors send couples three months in, three years in, thirty years in. They are not flashy. They are the rooms our editors are sending their partners to, on Tuesday nights when nothing in particular is happening.
The Atlanta bars our editors take their own partners to
The first six picks below are the editors' default — the rooms we send a friend to first when they ask. Each is followed by a recommendation we have ordered ourselves at least three times. Click any bar name to read the full review, signature drink notes, neighbourhood guide and how to book.
In Krog Street Market, Ticonderoga Club the room is what it should be — quiet without being precious, busy without being a queue. Repeat visits earn you the corner. After the third time, the staff start saving it for you. After the sixth, the menu is ordering itself. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
At Holeman & Finch Public House in Buckhead, the holeman burger and highball arrives in a coupe and the bar staff move at the right pace. Repeat visits earn you the corner. After the third time, the staff start saving it for you. After the sixth, the menu is ordering itself. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
The Expat, in Athens (Atlanta press), the expat highball arrives in a coupe and the bar staff move at the right pace. An honest pour at honest prices. The kind of room that holds up at three years in and at thirty. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Kimball House, in Decatur, the room is what it should be — quiet without being precious, busy without being a queue. An honest pour at honest prices. The kind of room that holds up at three years in and at thirty. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
In West Midtown, Cooks & Soldiers Bar the basque spritz arrives in a coupe and the bar staff move at the right pace. An honest pour at honest prices. The kind of room that holds up at three years in and at thirty. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
In Poncey-Highland, Bon Ton the room is what it should be — quiet without being precious, busy without being a queue. Tuesday-night good. Not the bar you take a first date to and not the bar you take a proposal to — the bar you take each other to when there is no occasion. Editors' rating in our database: 4.6 of 5.
Order: Bon Ton Sazerac
The full Atlanta guideEvery bar category, every neighbourhood. Our complete Atlanta guide covers cocktail bars, rooftops, hidden gems and more across the city.
These last four are the editors' deeper-cut picks. Smaller rooms, more specific energy. If the first six feel obvious to you — meaning you have already been — start here.
Watchman's sits in Krog Street Market and the room is what it should be — quiet without being precious, busy without being a queue. Repeat visits earn you the corner. After the third time, the staff start saving it for you. After the sixth, the menu is ordering itself. Editors' rating in our database: 4.6 of 5.
At Aria Restaurant Bar in Buckhead, the aria manhattan arrives in a coupe and the bar staff move at the right pace. An honest pour at honest prices. The kind of room that holds up at three years in and at thirty. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Atlas Bar at St Regis, in Buckhead, the atlas manhattan is on the menu year-round for a reason and the bartenders pour with intent. Tuesday-night good. Not the bar you take a first date to and not the bar you take a proposal to — the bar you take each other to when there is no occasion. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Lazy Betty Bar sits in Candler Park and the lazy betty pairing is on the menu year-round for a reason and the bartenders pour with intent. Repeat visits earn you the corner. After the third time, the staff start saving it for you. After the sixth, the menu is ordering itself. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Order: Lazy Betty Pairing
Weekly editorial
The bars worth going to, weekly.
One email per week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 72 cities worldwide.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
More Date Night in AtlantaThe full editor-curated list of Date Night in Atlanta, with neighbourhood notes and signature-drink picks.
Date-night bars are the venues you want the staff to know your face at. Two suggestions. Pick one from this list and turn it into your monthly Tuesday — the staff will remember, the corner will get held, and over time the bar starts to feel like an extension of your living room. That is the goal.
If you are between stages: our companion Atlanta guidesFrom first-date picks to anniversary rooms - every occasion in Atlanta our editors cover, cross-linked.
Sponsored placements on this article, on the Atlanta city guide, and across the barsforKings network. Contact us to put your bar in front of the right audience.
