For a downtown sports arena, the keys to success are ample parking, a winning franchise and, of course, a great nearby sports bar where you can watch your franchise win without actually bothering with an arena. Offering the latter, Dantanna's in the CNN Center
Oddly not named for Robert Urich's character in Vega$, Dantanna's downtown location retains the same modestly upscale decor of its Buckhead flagship (warm lighting, dark wood walls, plush blue-green leather seats), but is far more sports friendly: more space (used to spread out the tables), more flat screens, and roomier private dining/viewing areas. The menu grammar-schoolishly avoids fish, instead highlighting DT's rep-establishing, 28-day aged black Angus steaks (the Dijon-garlic hanger w/ onion-vodka demi-glace; the 22oz NY strip); there're also meaty entrees (zinfandel short ribs in blackberry bbq sauce), tasty sandwiches (the "Freuben" w/ fried tilapia, cabbage slaw, & Swiss), and soups like chicken & sausage gumbo and "She Crab" (comes with orange roe, but not hot red fingernail polish and a come-hither strut). Specialty cocktails (Basil Gin Gimlet, Kentucky Lemonade) use house-squeezed juices, plus there's a 100-strong "All American" wine list, plenty of taps (Peroni, Sierra, 420), and 80+ bottles, from Delirium Nocturnum and Aventinus, to Arrogant Bastard, which is not brewed by Ted Turner
DT's also sports two patios -- one main and one private, both with at least four plasmas -- as the key to being outside is still being able to watch TV.
