1. Jack’s Pizza & Wings
A smoky hole in the wall of gargantuan slices of greasy pizza slathered with mashed potatoes, gravy, collard greens, and fried chicken to sop up the $4 pitchers of Miller High Life and candied sriracha bacon for dessert, Jack’s is like a plethora of hipsters caught in a vortex of drunk bingo, adult trivia, and pizza topped with freakin’ tater tots and ketchup.
2. Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles
Here, two beautiful things join together in holy, battered, and fried matrimony and the world just makes sense for a moment.
3. Octopus Bar
Five-star ramen at a place that doesn’t open up ’til 10:30 at night? Welcome to adulthood.
4. Diesel
Believe it or not, that’s not a retro gas station you’re pulling into – unless the fuel you need is a pimento cheese smeared burger dipped in Coca Cola ketchup and washed down with a Porkslap and some Nerd Core trivia.
5. Joystick Gamebar
You know those nights of internal conflict where you can’t decide if you want to go out and socialize or stay home and drool all over yourself while playing vintage video games? This bar asks the pressing question “Why not both?” because obviously testing your skills with a quarter fueled round of Mortal Kombat is one thousand times better with a cocktail in one hand and a joystick in the other.
Not to mention there’s a room full of sofas for those who still want to drool all over themselves and play Jenga.
6. Radial Cafe
“Carbon footprint? What the hell is that?” — Radial
Simply put, they have organic Bloody Mary’s and their straws feel like bamboo.
7. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Ice cream packed with biscuits and peach jam? Loaded with whiskey and pecans? Brambleberry crisp crunched with gravel? Scoops infused with cayenne? Goddammit Jeni you splendid, sweet bitch.
8. Manuel’s Tavern
Jimmy Carter announced his 1970 gubernatorial bid here and President Obama recently swung by to throw some darts. Plus with JFK’s portrait hanging as a centerpiece for the bar and Manuel himself’s ashes resting in an urn beneath FDR, this place is like a pint-sized political museum, just with more beers on tap and better meatloaf.
9. Northside Tavern
Blues? Grime? Grit? Gimme.
10. 97 Estoria
This place is the smoky and grungy end of a spray painted rainbow if spray painted rainbows had fried green tomato B.L.T.’s and cheap beer.
11. Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium
There’s no denying that Church isn’t what it used to be, now with lines of sloppy drunk kids stretching around the block, giddy to be inside and witness works of art that would make their grandmother faint. But no matter, it’ll always be the spot where locals reflect on the simpler days of organ karaoke, tarot card readings, complimentary choir robes, cold beer, ping pong tournaments, and nuns holding dildos without having someone’s hot breath in your face and down your neck from a packed Friday night.
12. King of Pops
Technically a food cart, but they have Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch cereal milk popsicles for fuck’s sake.
13. Waffle House
Because it’s 4am, you’re drunk, and it’s Atlanta. 