Nightlife

Fortify yourself with a basket of chicken at Harold’s Chicken & Ice Bar—and don’t forget the hot sauce.

1. Whiskey Park Whiskey Park: Dan Klores Communications

Atlanta’s venerable blues joint is named for one legend (Blind Willie McTell) and is the best place to see another: Francine Reed, whose soulful voice, feisty wisecracks, and dance-inducing songs mesh perfectly with the intimate dive bar’s New Orleans–inspired atmosphere.

With weekly gigs at Tongue and Groove, Luckie Food Lounge, and Velvet Room, to name a few, it’s a wonder DJ Trauma ever sleeps. Hailing from New York, Trauma knows just what makes Atlanta’s club scene so hot.   Did you always want to be a DJ? Definitely not. I started deejay

Coming of age in the era of Stonewall gave Knoxville native Greg Heagerty a certain vantage point on the notion of gay pride. The sixty-five-year-old part-time doorman at Blake’s has watched the ups and downs of Atlanta’s gay nightlife scene through the seventies’ liberation era and into the present day.   ONLINE EXTRA  

Take a peek at the 
universe.

Near the end of Maynard Jackson’s second term, a few of us from his office used to get together after work to hoist a few and gossip and bitch. Manuel’s Tavern became one of our gathering places.

Start easy with a sherry cobbler—the subtly sweet, low-octane cocktail of the moment—at H. Harper Station, housed in a former train depot in Reynoldstown. Head over to Poncey-Highland to eavesdrop on the journalists and politicos at Manuel’s Tavern and sip a SweetWater 420.

If you’ve got small kids, we don’t need to sell you on the marvels of Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium.

Atlanta has a laid-back style; it’s a lot less pretentious than New York or other large cities. One place that really exemplifies that is Morgan Kylee boutique in Buckhead. It’s small, friendly, personal.