Instant nightlife
By summer, Castleberry Hill could be home to a grown-up bar district
For much of the two years since Karen Smiley set up shop in Castleberry Hill, her Slice pizzeria and martini bar was the only game in that part of town for anyone unwilling to settle for takeout hot wings and a 40-ounce beer.
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These days, Smiley is lonely no more as more than a half-dozen restaurants, bars and upscale lounges race to plant roots among the artist lofts, galleries and warehouses that make up the historic district just southwest of downtown.
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“It hasn’t hurt me to be the only place down here,” Smiley says. “But I’m excited about this area becoming more of a dining and entertainment destination. The news so far is all good.”
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Well, not all good for some of the would-be restaurateurs struggling to navigate the city’s Kafkaesque permitting process. But if every new business opens as planned, it could signal the transformation of Castleberry Hill from an urban bedroom community and gallery row into a bona fide bar and restaurant district.
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Among the proposed watering holes:
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• M Bar, a laid-back lounge next door to Slice specializing in martinis, margaritas and mojitos. Hmm. What do you ‘spoze the “M” stands for?
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• No Mas Cantina. From the Mexican furniture importers on Huff Road comes a 350-seat restaurant and tequila bar where customers can order home furnishings off the menu. If you like the silverware, have it wrapped to go.
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• Wasabi Sushi and Sake Lounge, next door to No Mas on Walker Street.
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• Elliott Street Deli & Pub. Already serving lunch, this homey neighborhood bar is waiting on its liquor license.
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• Studio 281, a cool-jazz lounge intended for a sophisticated, older clientele, set in an intimate loft space.
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• OWC, which wine enthusiasts will tell you means “original wooden crate.” An upscale wine bar and restaurant near the corner of Peters and Walker streets.
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• Smiley’s, a tavern from the Slice owner with pool tables, pub grub and live music.
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• Cafe Noir, a coffee and dessert bar with full bar service in a former meat-packing plant converted by gallery owner Jason Wertz.
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• Sugar Lounge, helping revive the bar scene on nearby Trinity Avenue alongside the just-opened Royal.
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The first opening is likely to be M Bar, perhaps in late May, followed in mid-June by Wasabi and No Mas, by far the largest newcomer with a 70-seat patio, private banquet rooms and an expansive furniture showroom with stucco walls designed to look like a Mexican village.
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“It’s counterintuitive, from a business perspective, to put a restaurant of this size down here,” says No Mas co-owner Walt Bilinksi.
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“But we’re hoping to draw customers from surrounding neighborhoods,” says partner Steve McNeil, finishing his sentence.
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M Bar co-owner Larry McMillon likewise expects Castleberry to become downtown’s go-to place for dining and lounging, but he’s quick to point out that there are no rowdy, Buckhead-style nightclubs or crunk hip-hop joints planned for the area.
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“Atlanta lacks a strong lounge scene, especially for an African-American crowd,” explains McMillon, who, like nearly all of the new entrepreneurs, made Castleberry his home before deciding to open a business there. He notes that Castleberry is one of the most racially integrated neighborhoods in Atlanta.
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It’s not guaranteed, however, that all of the proposed joints will get off the ground. Henry Davenporte, who says his Studio 281 jazz lounge has been hung up in permitting since October, complains that City Hall bureaucracy is blocking his attempt to give something back to his adopted neighborhood.
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“I’m caught up in the maze, stuck in the mud and can’t get past the fire department,” he says.
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Castleberry Hill Neighborhood Association President Tami Donnelly says nearly all the locals are excited about the burgeoning bar scene, but she has concerns about the shortage of parking — especially since Falcons game days flood the area with tailgate traffic from the nearby Georgia Dome.
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“We welcome the restaurants,” she says, “but we’d like to see more retail so people will get out and walk around the neighborhood.”