Room Service Lounge
1937 Piedmont Cir; Midtown; 404.249.7RSL
Hotel bars are great, because one night you're picking up a smokin' hot stewardess, and the next one, a smokin' hotter Brent Musburger. Losing the hotel but keeping the bar...oh, and some of the hotel...Room Service Lounge.
A former 24-hour diner re-conceived by a well-traveled music business exec/partner of DJ Clue's Desert Storm Records, RSL's a hospitality-themed lounge-o-raunt, with sheer gold drapes, black ostrich-skin chairs and couches, two 106" retractable projector screens, circular glass tables with leather-topped pizza-pie stools, a black-fenced VIP area, and a check-in counter-inspired marble bar, where you can complain about the service, and demand to be upgraded to a double. The menu was crafted by a Hilton Head native with a decade-plus of southern and Caribbean fare experience; the cheeky "Check In" section starts with small bites like Jack Daniels-flavored wings, Angus, Turkey, or Ahi Sliders, and six crustaceans (three panko-fried and three poached) deemed the Shrimp Two-Way, or as your GF calls it, "sex with you". Mains include island fare like Coconut Chicken Curry in mild broth, and Jamaican-spiced Braised Oxtails over rice; for southern dining, there's the slow-cooked St. Louis BBQ Ribs, Chicken & Belgian Waffles topped w/ pecan sage butter, steaks like the Filet Mignon or 14oz Ribeye (each with two sides, e.g., Smoked Turkey Collard Greens, Cinnamon Sugar Baked Potato), or the Grilled Colorado Lamb Lollipops, which're definitely good, but not Pork-Up-Pop good.
Temporary hydration comes in the form of bottled beer (Peroni, Red Stripe, Yuengling...), Champagnes from Pearly Bay to "Ace of Spades", and blindingly clever hotel-themed cocktails like the "French Maid" (Hennessey Black w/ lime & Chambord) and the Tres Generaciones/trip sec/passion fruit puree "Do Not Disturb" -- exactly what Musburger said to you at the bar, although you could see in his red-hot eyes that he didn't mean it. Oh no he didn't.
