Cyprus, Tap, The Nook, Marlows Sunday Brunch, Taco Mac's beer list.

Go fish.

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"I love when I tell folks I live in Midtown, and the cool kids all make that condescending "oh, that's interesting" face"

Wow. It sounds like you hang out with some real douchebags.

I personally wouldn't want to live in Atlanta without being able to walk to PIedmont Park, one of the features that makes in-town living feasible in the first place. Who can afford to eat and drink at a restaurant several times a week (ie as a "hangout") anyway?

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@ nichojo - That list you provided is precisely why Midtown is such a stale place. They are all essentially the same concept. Beer list + Mediocre (at best) Pub Food + an obscene amount of TV's. It's formulaic and boring. STK is a great new addition, the Lawrence will be killer, The Spence and Lure are also welcome additions. Personally, I'd like to see a few places that are more creative and experimental. I'd say a molecular gastronomy place, but I think Atlanta is far from being able to support something like that. Perhaps a place that isn't even a restaurant, but some cool lounges/cocktail dens/wine bars. Key to getting that type of environment is having a real city, of course...

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This all just makes me very glad that I'm close to l5p and Decatur. The only thing good about midtown is that it's a little closer to Buford Highway.

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"the Independent is a pretty damn solid dive bar, but it's located in the back end of a huge grocery-store anchored strip center. Can't do it."

Wait, what? It sounds like you're looking for a "dive-themed" bar than a real dive bar.

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Publik is my place and I always just wait until the Fox shows begin before going there. Once the pre-show crowd clears out, everything is cool. Try the lamb burger -- very good.

Yeah, this central area of Midtown could use some more cool barstaurants (I like that word). Especially ones where the bars aren't filled with TV screens. Something like Holeman & Finch or Sound Table would do well here. But then maybe that's the kind of void both Lawrence and Spence will fill -- we'll see.

If you're ever downtown, I recommend the new Alma Cocina (Fifth Group place). It qualifies as a good barstaurant, I think. The pork cheek arepa is incredible and they have some impressive cocktails.

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I think you definitely missed out on Cypress Pint and Plate. It is the true epitome of a neighborhood bar. It is great for happy hour and late night- great service, cheap drinks, excellend appetizers, consistent wait staff, and excellent events. They cater to the community and most patrons there live and/or work in the neighborhood! Check it out...if you haven't already.

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I've lived here for 16 years, about as local as they get anymore. Great food and bev exists certainly in Atlanta. The state of Midtown reflects very accurately the state of mind for many people in the city, so for the 95% of you that fall in this category, deal with it!

When people want to be bourgeois but cheap, you can't have both, doesn't work that way. The attitude has never changed and that's why Atlanta has such a hard time measuring to the great food cities on a "consistent" basis. Atlanta has "moments", but not a vision that energizes the community 24/7. As long as people expect 5 star quality and service but don't want to pay more than 5 bucks, always an uphill battle. Groupon came along and REALLY dumbed things down...

One disadvantage that really hurts Midtown and other areas is its not walk friendly, too spread out. Density naturally creates a place for community. Too often great concepts are forced to be the lone anchor for an entire city block. Even with deep pockets its hard to make it alone, you need other businesses, working together to create that buzz and vibe people crave.

Kudos to the places that push to change that culture. There is a great core group already mentioned that strive to see top notch food and bev in Atlanta. I have to put in a shout to the Vortex, not Ecco or Escorpion but a consistent atmosphere, good food and a bar staff that will reciprocate good attitudes, try it (the good attitude part)!

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Also as a Midtowner, I wish your Facebook post of this article wasn't "Why do all the restaurants in Midtown suck?" In order to sustain our restaurants (which has been a problem)...and help further development---we need people to give our restaurants a try..For most of the last 2 years here, I have gone out eat at least twice a week--and haven't had to drive anywhere...restaurants like Ecco, TopFlr, Empire State South deserve top billing. For a more bar- like atmosphere, Barrelhouse, Cypress, Marlows, the Highlander, and Vortex. Baraonda has good Italian, Einsteins has a great brunch and an extremely friendly wait-staff. Mu-Lan has a great lunch menu and half-price martinis. Tierra (even though it is closing) has top of the line latin fusion food. Steamhouse Lounge is a great place for crab legs and oysters...and when it is raining Park Tavern has $1 drafts ---and a great patio. Give Midtown some time and hopefully you will find that our "restaurants" don't suck...we just them to stay here.

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I am on the same train as filmstocker with the who can be eating out all the time - BUT if you are single and car-less, and maybe your employer covers your phone bill, it is definitely doable.

I am throwing my nomination in for The Highlander - when I moved here in '09 it was where my wife and I went the first night of unpacking the pod, and have been going ever since.

great bar food, waitresses know our names, and no one, I repeat no one, is an outcast or can feel out of place here - I have seen dirtbags and polo sweater wearing moms and dads at adjacent tables and no one blinks.

the mall thing is one drawback, but I love the 'Henge' aspect of the brick columns at Midtown plaza - and it houses Atlanta's best movie theater

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PS, I think it's a bit more than coincidence that there is a host of new restaurants opening/preparing to open while at the same time, the residences at Atlantic Station are filling in, condos are being leased/sold at a quicker clip in Midtown, and 2 new high-rise apartment complexes have broken ground...more people = more demand = more services to meet that demand = a city worth spending time in.

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Forgot to mention in my previous comment -- kudos to Eric for mentioning bars that he can walk to.

One thing that has always confused me is how many Atlantans (and I've lived here for all of my 40-something years) have shown little interest in bars they can walk to instead of drive to.

I honestly can't enjoy a cocktail experience if I know I have to get in a car after I'm done. Do people just accept drinking and driving as inevitable? Because it really isn't. Having a bar you can walk home from is a good thing. I think the whole concept of getting to and from bars on foot should be more a part of our culture in Atlanta than it has been in the past.

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Atlanta Advocate,

Atlanta's alchohol licensing laws are ass backwards. I never really put it together until recently that nightclubs are the only places that serve only alchohol. They are the only ones who can afford to pay such a high fee. I noticed this after a trip to San Francisco where i really enjoyed all of the corner taverns. In Atlanta you have to serve a certain amount of food in order to qualify for a cheaper liquor license. That is why you do not see tiny bars. There has to be room for a kitchen. It's so utterly stupid. The city really needs to change the licensing laws and things would take off.

@ Eric C
I know its not midtown but the best bar for what you are describing in the entire city is the Righteous Room. Its in the Poncey Highlands so you would have to bike (a very quick ride from midtown) or take a bus. The food will shock you with its quality and it has the best jukebox in Atlanta.

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"That list you provided is precisely why Midtown is such a stale place. They are all essentially the same concept. Beer list + Mediocre (at best) Pub Food + an obscene amount of TV's."

Wait, what?

Yeah, Taco Mac has a bunch of TV's but it's beer list rivals anything else in the uh, state? You mentioned Hudson Grille which is "good" but if you're looking for a good restaurant with good food, why did you even go there? I mean, both have food equally bad but at least at TMac I get a unique brew.

Tap has what, like 3 TV's? A excellent beer list, fantastic, somewhat eccentric food (Veal Sweetbreads anyone?). The crowd is always hip and fun too.

Cyprus is just like Tap yet it has an atmosphere that is hard to beat. It IS the Midtown spot.

The Nook. Yep, another place with just a couple TV's and a great menu and vibe to boot. Sounds awful, right?

Do I need to continue?

I mean, I really am sorry I'm not solving your Bourdain-esque quest for gastronomy and the perfect cocktail but maybe Midtown just isn't that place. And maybe it doesn't want to be? We might be just fine with letting the 30-something millionaires in Buckhead throw their money at overpriced food and drinks while staring at strays that didn't make the Falcons cheer leading squad.

By all means, keep editorializing Midtown but don't say the restaurants just "suck." They don't. Maybe you just moved to the wrong place, or your writer's stipend is just a little too much.

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You (writer) sound like a moron dude. There are quite a few places worth going to on a regular basis (and more that are not). The Independent and The Highlander are your quintessential old-school midtown hang-outs. The exist and thrive because of their not-so-bougey location. Not to mention Apres Diem next door, which has/used to have a great bar/food/music scene for regulars.

Spend a weekend rotating through those, and if you think they suck, then....maybe Dallas is ready for you again ;)

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@eric I get the feeling about the independent. They're over the maximum number of stairs I'm willing to climb on the regular at a bar. I don't know what all the fuss is about regarding the Righteous Room. Its always packed, but only because its the side of a walk in closet. The service is pretty poor given the selection. It is cheap, though, iirc.

I've always wondered about Dugans, but I hear nothing but bad things...

If I had to pick a midtown bar, it might be deckards, just because it has a respectable beer list. Its sad that its a stripmall out parcel, though. Maybe leave midtown? I'll admit that I made that face, and still make that face. Its not the neighborhood for me. I'm lucky young augustine's is a long stagger home.

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