10 New Atlanta Venues for 2019 Summer Entertaining and Events

Loews Atlanta Hotel recently finished a $13 million property-wide renovation, giving the Midtown hotel a sleek aesthetic with lavender, gold, and blush hues. The 26-story property has 414 guest rooms and 44 suites, and more than 40,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Spaces include the Ellington ballroom, which seats more than 1,000; the Mercer ballroom, which seats 420; and a 14th-floor terrace, which holds 260 for receptions.

All-day breakfast restaurant Pancake Social opened at Ponce City Market in March. Helmed by chef Anne Quatrano, the restaurant offers seven types of sweet and savory pancakes, along with a selection of burgers and sandwiches. The 2,950-square-foot restaurant seats 80 guests and is available for private events.

The Iberian Pig, a Spanish tapas restaurant, opened its second location in Buckhead in May. Owned by Castellucci Hospitality Group, the two-story restaurant offers a menu helmed by chef John Castellucci and features an interior designed by Elizabeth Ingram Studio. The 4,500-square-foot venue has a variety of private dining and event options, including a private dining room that seats 14; a mezzanine dining room that holds 100 for receptions; a semiprivate bar area that holds 40 standing; a patio that holds 40 standing; and a main dining room that seats 50 guests for semiprivate events. Available for full buyouts, the restaurant can hold 250 guests for reception-style events.

King and Duke, chef Ford Fry’s literary-theme American restaurant in Buckhead, recently updated its upstairs parlor, which is available for private events. Located on the restaurant’s mezzanine level, the parlor seats about 40 guests in an environment that includes leather chairs and floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains. Other event spaces include the patio, which holds semiprivate events for as many as 40 guests; the drawing room, which seats 14 for private events; and the cocktail bay, which holds 20 guests for semiprivate receptions. The restaurant is available for full buyouts for as many as 150 seated guests. For events, the restaurant offers four different special food menus, as well as a beverage service that includes tableside demonstrations.

Reformation Brewery opened a new location in Canton in May. Located at the Mill on Etowah, the 20,000-square-foot venue serves as the brewery’s main production facility and warehouse, and it offers a public taproom and private event space. The venue can hold reception-style events for 100 guests, with the option to add beer packages. It also is available for semiprivate events for around 150 guests.

The Whitley hotel in Buckhead unveiled a multimillion-dollar renovation in June. Designed by Parker-Torres-Design, the renovations include a revamped lobby; 507 redesigned guest rooms with living areas, marble bathrooms, and hardwood floors; and a renovated spa. Trade Root Restaurant and Lounge, the hotel’s lobby restaurant, also has been updated with a new Southern-inspired food and cocktail menu. The hotel also debuted the 5,000-square-foot Legacy Ballroom, which seats 300 guests for banquets. The addition brings the property’s meeting and event space to 40,000 square feet with 31 spaces. Once the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, the property rebranded in December 2017.

Ecco Buckhead, the third outpost of Fifth Group Restaurants’ European concept, opened next to Phipps Plaza at the end of 2018. Menu highlights of the Buckhead location include the restaurant’s signature fried goat cheese, as well as a variety of pasta dishes and flatbreads. The 9,500-square-foot restaurant seats 240 guests and offers a private dining room that seats 60 and a patio that seats 50. Customizable event menus are available from Fifth Group Restaurants’ private dining team.

Sea Island resort unveiled its Golf Performance Center at the Sea Island Golf Club in March. The 17,000-square-foot facility has six instruction and club-fitting bays; a putting studio designed by putting instructor Phil Kenyon; a golf club workshop; a retail area; and a gym with locker rooms. For meetings and events, the performance center includes a boardroom that seats 10 guests. The entire resort has 42,000 square feet of indoor meeting space for as many as 500 guests. Other resort event spaces includes the Cloister Ballroom, which holds 600 guests for receptions, and Rainbow Island, which holds 500 guests for receptions. The destination resort is about a five-hour drive from Atlanta.

Botiwalla, an Indian restaurant that has a stall in Ponce City Market, opened a new location in Alpharetta in May. Led by chef and restaurateur Meherwan Irani, the eatery serves a variety of Indian staples, as well as cocktails, boozy slushies, and Indian beer. The 1,800-square-foot venue seats 54 guests inside and outside. For private events, the restaurant is available for full buyouts only.

Georgia Beer Garden unveiled a new menu and a Bauhaus-inspired biergarten trailer in April. The beer trailer, which is on loan from the Goethe-Institute of America, is located in the venue’s backyard through September. The restaurant and bar also now has three menus—for lunch, happy hour, and dinner—from chef Jonathan Canales. New menu items include a variety of vegetarian options to complement the German meat dishes. The venue has 2,500 square feet of indoor space that holds 321 people standing and a backyard that holds 300. The venue is available for full buyouts and can hold reception-style events on its upstairs floor for 100 guests.