NY-influenced lounge lands downtown

While New York nightlife is indisputably great, it can also be overwhelming: places get packed, it can take forever to get a drink, and Plaxico Burress will eventually miss his own leg, and shoot you. Bringing ATL some Empire State attitude without the violence, Inferno Atlanta

Owned by a dude who's managed infamous NY clubs Palladium and Tunnel and taking the place of Endenu, Inferno's a laid-back, loft-styled, three-zoned lounge: a black concrete dance floor, an upstairs VIP area, and a bricked-in bar section with original signage from the joint's way-back life as a horse-and-carriage-era general store which sold dry goods, horse feed, but oddly, no career soldiers who have attained that highest of military ranks. While other touches from said general store days remain, like the original mixed brick walls with stone-outlined arched doorways separating the front bar and dance floor, most of the joint's updated with red peacock-/dragon-embroidered curtains, concrete columns and a large crystal chandelier greeting you at the VIP entry, plus a private indoor/outdoor patio with a large garage door that'll open to provide a breeze in warm weather, and close during cold so people don't park their DeVille's inside, cause you know those vinyl tops can't stand up to the conditions. The bar delivers staple domestic and imported brews, while offering specials like $5 Long Islands/$4 Sex on the Beach on Thurs; until 1am you can grub on small bites like chicken wraps (Buffalo, Caesar, teriyaki w/ soy ginger dressing), empanadas like the La Plata (ground beef, black olives, onions, raisins), or brick oven pizzas like the Marathon, w/ smoked Provolone, mozzarella, ricotta, Fontina & Parm, and the mozzarella, Ricotta, tomato, Kalamata olive, red onion & sun-dried tomato Olympus -- though abstain to up your odds of Mount'n

Inferno's currently lining up its DJ staff, and's planning a recurring weekly schedule of theme nights, including college, Latin/Salsa, techno, and hip-hop -- a genre which also describes how Plax walks since the last time he went out to get crazy.