Thirsty Guide to Atlanta

Thirsty South aims to share the best sources in Atlanta for quenching your thirst for great coffee, beer, wine, liquor or cocktails. Our focus is on the local shops, bars and restaurants that share a commitment to providing that which is simply well crafted, from microbrews to single-lot freshly roasted beans to small batch bourbons to artisan wines. Enjoy!

And if you have a favorite you’d like us to consider, please feel free to send along your suggestions to thirsty@thirstysouth.com. There are certainly many worthy contenders, but we have chosen to keep our lists focused on the top picks for each category. This list is being updated frequently as we continue to visit and re-visit establishments across Atlanta, so please check back on occasion.

Cocktails
Liquor Stores
Beer Bars
Beer Shops
Wine Selections, Restaurants & Bars
Wine Shops
Coffee Bars & Roasters

Thirsty South Cocktails

• Holeman & Finch Public House: THE cocktail destination in Atlanta, thanks to Greg Best and team, with or without the 10PM burger and dedication to handcrafted goodness in all forms
• Leon’s Full Service: an offshoot of The Brick Store Pub that makes it VERY hard to choose between cocktails and beer, be sure to get some frites to keep your drinks company
• Drinkshop: OK, it’s in a hotel, downtown, and is bit chi-chi, but Drinkshop knows good cocktails, down to the hand carved ice for each drink
• Top FLR: eclectic and noisy, with a creative list of rotating cocktails, and manages to maintain a great neighborhood vibe just steps off Ponce

Thirsty South Liquor Stores

• H&F Bottle Shop: they’re not even open yet but have somehow vaulted to the lead in this category! Thus is the power of Holeman & Finch’s expanding empire
• Tower: Tower makes for a great all around liquor store – they may not have everything you are seeking out, but chances are good they’ll at least offer a good alternative, at a reasonable price, and can order something special for you if you need it
• Mac’s Beer and Wine: surprisingly good selection from this Midtown mainstay

Thirsty South Beer Bars

• The Brick Store Pub: if you care about beer, you should care about The Brick Store, who clearly cares about beer. The Belgian selection is especially strong, and frequent special kegs and casks keep things ever interesting.
• Leon’s Full Service: the Brick Store offshoot does a nice job of selecting a small but excellent list of draught and bottled beers
• The Porter Beer Bar: tiny, cramped, and spot on
• TAP: we may get flak for this, but they have a good beer program. Not quite as high on the “dedication” scale as the others, but a good stop if you’re in the neighborhood

Thirsty South Beer Shops

• Hop City: beer shopping mecca, for homebrewers and drinkers alike
• Tower (Piedmont location): Tower has seriously picked up their beer selection, with a broad range of regional, national and Belgian brews
• Green’s: probably the first really serious beer selection in town, and still very good

Thirsty South Wine Selections, Restaurants & Bars

• Abattoir: the prices are often amazing, the selection always superb (though fairly small), from Oregon to France and beyond (the cheap wine glasses notwithstanding)
• Bones: if you want a big steak and a big cab, this is the place to go, but the list is deep, broad and impressive especially for reds, including some interesting magnum and larger selections and older vintages at not-as-ridiculous-as-you-might-think prices
• Cakes & Ale: small but well-chosen list that fits their food perfectly
• Empire State South: this newcomer, a modern take on the Southern meat and three, offers a wine list that is bold, carefully chosen, well priced, and tilted to some of our favorite varietals/regions – Burgundy and Rieslings from Germany and Austria. The menu offers clever little descriptors for each wine, and some footnotes on their philosophy – such as this gem on the topic of Southern food and its harmonious connection with Burgundy: “we’re tasting locales and their culture, framing sensations in our cortex, feeling a touch in our soul. That’s right, I said the s-word.”
• Miller Union: a mix of eclectic and familiar craft wine names in a mid-sized list at decent prices
• Social: wins point for being unusual and the general vibe of being somewhere in Southern France or Northern Africa. Probably the most eclectic short wine list in Atlanta, spanning Europe and Morocco with mostly affordable takes on interesting table wine. The staff may not be able to offer much guidance, but they will be happy to offer a taste
• Top FLR: yet another contender for most eclectic, in a very good way, great list by the glass

Thirsty South Wine Shops

• Cellar 13 Wine Merchant: John Passman offers a small but excellent array of wines, focused on France and Italy, in this cozy shop near Johnny’s Hideaway
• Perrine’s: just opened at the end of August 2010, Perrine Prieur, formerly of JOEL, has brought a sommelier’s touch to a fine selection of wines both familiar and unique, with some very nice boutique value selections from France especially. A cheese counter and grape-based skin care line?! add to the fun.
• Sherlock’s: several locations across Atlanta, with varying selections, consistently solid and sometimes rare finds
• Star Provisions: a frankly tiny assortment, but, again, very well-chosen, not a dud among them

Thirsty South Coffee Bars & Roasters

• Octane and Octane Emory: serious coffee by french press  (chemex at the Emory location) and perfect espresso, using Counter Culture beans, and a staff committed to the art of coffee – check out the Thursday Night Throwdowns (latte art competition) and the great little selection of beers on tap as well
• Dancing Goats Coffee Bar: Decatur shop from Batdorf & Bronson, a Washington-based roaster who also roasts locally here in Atlanta, Friday 10am cuppings open to the public
• Aurora: a long-lived Atlanta coffee institution in Little Five Points and Virginia Highlands