Here's a look at the best new Atlanta restaurants, corporate event venues, hotels, conference centers, and private and party rooms to open this spring. These new and renovated Atlanta venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, conferences, meetings, weddings, business dinners, teambuilding activities, cocktail parties, and more.
Housed in a 1920s-era warehouse that previously served as director Tyler Perry's studio space, Krog Street Market opened in November and is home to restaurants, retailers, and market stalls selling fresh produce and prepared foods. Restaurant spaces include Craft Izakaya, a Japanese-fusion-theme-space that seats 96; the Cockentrice, a charcuterie-centric restaurant that seats about 130; and the Luminary from Top Chef contestant Eli Kirshtein, which seats about 140 and has a 50-person patio and a private dining room that seats 36. Superica, set to open in late February, will seat 130 people inside and 40 in an outdoor space.
The contemporary dining room at Atlas, the new restaurant at the St. Regis Atlanta hotel in Buckhead, displays art from the Lewis Collection, including pieces from Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Francis Bacon, and other famed artists. The restaurant, part of the Tavistock Restaurant Collection, serves a menu of local and seasonal American cuisine with European influences. It seats 106 and has a private dining room that seats 12. It opened in January.
A renovation at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta completed in August updated the hotel's 30,000 square feet of meeting space. The new 3,650-square-foot Highland Ballroom holds 260 guests banquet-style or holds 300 for receptions. A face-lift to the existing Grand Ballroom added modern decor, new lighting, Wi-Fi technology, audiovisual equipment, and touch-screen systems. The overall 9,700 square feet of meeting space seats 750 guests or holds 1,250 for receptions.
The Omni Hotel at CNN Center is now the only hotel directly connected to the Georgia World Congress Center after the addition of a $6.8 million, 116-foot-long connector. Constructed of glass and steel, it was completed at the end of 2014 and allows business travelers a walkable passageway when commuting between the hotel and the 3.9 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space at the center.
The recently revamped Midtown restaurant Two Urban Licks reopened in October with an updated menu from new executive chef Michael Bertozzi. The eye-catching design features gold leaf paint, dramatic oversize light fixtures, and a "wine on tap" wall with 72 barrels of wine. The 280-seat restaurant has several spaces for private events. The new private dining room, called the Ballroom, seats 40 guests and overlooks the main dining room, a courtyard with a retractable roof, and a "living wall" of floor-to-ceiling greenery. The space seats 60 or holds 90 for receptions. A patio and herb garden offers boccie ball courts and holds about 25 guests.
Community Smith, the meat-centric concept from chef Micah Willex, opened in late January in the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown hotel. It seats 147 throughout the bar, restaurant, and sidewalk patio. Three private dining areas hold groups of 16, 18, and 32. Located in the former Briza space, the restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and features a second-floor rooftop patio dubbed the Garden at Community Smith that holds 300 people.
Located inside the Forum Athletic Club in Buckhead, the indoor cycling studio Cyc Buckhead opened at the end of January and features 50 bikes in a 2,000-square-foot space. Buyouts are available for corporate teambuilding events.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based American Food and Beverage opened an Atlanta location in mid-January. Located in Buckhead, the upscale tavern features stool seating, a wraparound bar, and menu items such as duck potpie and chorizo Scotch eggs. The venue seats 185 guests. For private gatherings, the bar area holds 75 guests for receptions.
Chefs Eddie Russell and Matt Palmerlee, former co-hosts of Cooking Channel show Belly Up, opened Last Word Food & Cocktails in early October. The locally sourced menu varies by day and season. The layout features an L-shaped bar and clusters of seating, and design elements include white subway tiles, a concrete floor, and live oak tabletops from St. Simons Island. The 2,162-square-foot space seats about 60 including at a 12-seat redwood communal table.
The pan-Asian restaurant Bento Hut opened in the Pencil Factory Flats & Shops in October and serves sushi, fresh juice, smoothies, and Dutch-Indonesian-inspired dishes. The space, once home to Chow Bing, seats 70 or holds about 100 people for receptions.
