Red Door Tavern

This was fun because I rarely go to dive bars anymore. I would even suggest that 3 stars for a dive bar is meant in a good way, as I’m not sure a dive bar can be more.
The liquor was great, but the sights were even better. There were some seriously wasted people, which kind of takes you down memory lane to your lowest points.
I really liked that there were 2 different kinds of music being played at the same time. Upon discovering the back room, there was a «dance circle» of socially awkward people «breaking it down.» This was the highlight for me. I could watch all night.

Loved this place. I am from NC and was looking for a local dive bar. As I am older I went in the afternoon and much to my surprise found people of my age. The people were more than friendly and made me feel very welcome and at home. This will definitely be my hangout on future visits!

Decent place located right on Roswell. Easy to get to and among several other bars. I’d lean away from dive bar since the Red Door felt more like a neighborhood bar. Several locals/​regulars that are very friendly. Please note I’ve never been on a weekend, the place may completely change. Nice outdoor patio. Enter the front door off Roswell under the very bright RED DOOR sign. Long, narrow layout with a well worn tri-​color checkerboard floor. The bar is on the south wall with really just empty space and a bench opposite the bar. The actual bar is a long straight bar with an older wooden bar top with a small rail. Several cigarette burns remind you that smoking in bars is still legal in ATL. Round polished foot rest and chairs with padded bottom and a wooden back support. Bar back includes various signs, menus, lighted bottle shelves, POS systems, and some HDTVs. Not overly smokey when I’ve been, but enough that I chose not to eat at the Red Door. Bartenders are good, shots are honest, maybe even generous.

I’m always on the hunt for a good dive bar, and I think Red Door might just be perfect. Although I live around EAV, and there are many similar bars in that area, they’re all packed out with obnoxious folks of all ages. Sometimes I just want to go to a true quiet, dive bar with cheap drinks where no one will bother me! Did not think I would find that in Buckhead, but I was wrong.
On the weekends, this place transforms. There are 2 other rooms that open up for the weekend only. One is in the front and is actually very attractive! The floor is covered in pennies, the walls are exposed wood, and the light fixtures have Edison bulbs (I love those). There’s also live music! The room in the back is dance room; fairly small, but with 2 stripper poles (honestly, drunk people on stripper poles is just hilarious), and the walls are covered with various vintage-​looking doors. The music is hit or miss, but for the most part the dj is good! There’s also a food truck out front with good burgers and another food truck across the street with the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had, but I’ll save that for another review.
Overall, I’m a fan. There’s patio seating, which is a plus. And parking is pretty easy on weekdays. Weekend parking is a nightmare, but you should probably be taking über anyway if you’re going to a bar strip late on a weekend…

A friend of mine and I were looking for a Happy Hour after work one Friday in the Buckhead area. His goal was to find something non-​pretentious. I told him good luck with that. We stopped at about three other places first, took a look at the menu and proceeded on our merry way. Then he remembered Red Door Tavern. He drives for one of these companies similar to Über and remembers dropping people off at this place from time to time. It was probably a little after 5pm. The paid lot near by was not taking payments yet, so that was a score right there, lol! When we walked in, the bar wasn’t full but you could tell that the people that were there, were regulars, kind of like cheers. They had $ 3 shots, $ 5 mixed drinks and an assortment of beers. My friend and I ordered shots and he got a beer. Since the day was nice, we sat outside and enjoyed the weather. When I went back in to order the second round, I ended up striking up a conversation with a few of the regulars, who were really nice. My friend also made a few new friends while we were outside as well. And the drinks I had were great as well. I told my bartender, I like sweet drinks and she did not disappoint. She made one that tasted like fruit loops. I let my friend try and he loved it too! The shots I had were good as well. So all in all, our mission was accomplished. We found a non-​pretentious, inexpensive bar for happy hour in Buckhead. I’ll definitely go back.

Went here one Sat night with my friend when his boys came into town. This place was sort of cramp, and the crowd there didn’t help much. The inside was the typical dark ish bar scene. The crowd here had more of the older crowd compared to the early to mid 20’s. A good mixture of ages I’d say. There were a few games like darts or hoops towards the back, but I can’t quite remember.
This place was next to The Dive Bar btw.

I am extremely bothered with how a situation was handled at this place. The fact that I left a very nice and important jacket to me there last weekend, yes it was my fault for leaving it, However I called and Shelby said it was up there on Tuesday. I show up two days later and it’s no where to be found. Where could it have gone in less than 48 hours? I requested she put my name on it but she sounded utterly confused at my request? Completely poor management. I left my number with the nice guy bartending that night and said he will do his best to locate it after talking to all employees. After not hearing from anyone I decided to call yesterday, I asked to speak with the manager, Steve, but he wasn’t in yet. They left him a note with my number and to have him call me. But to no avail of course. I didn’t expect much from this sloppy place. All I truly wanted was an apology and to make sure this didn’t happen to someone else in the future. I guarantee you it was one of the girls that works here that took it. Shame on this place for being disrespectful to its customers and not having the balls to even call me back. I will never go here again and will be telling many many of my friends as well. It’s a shame, this could have been handled much differently by them.

The bartender was incredibly offensive and disrespectful out of nowhere. He made very demeaning homophobic and sexist comments to myself and one of my friends. It was completely unacceptable and rude. I will never go back to a bar that allows their staff to insult their patrons.
Other things that go into the bad review:
–They don’t serve alcohol up until their listed closing time. I don’t know how they decide when to stop serving — I’m not sure how patrons would know that time when their hours of operations are noticeably listed in multiple places. It felt lazy.
–The restrooms are very dirty.
–An overall dirtiness.

Theft Problem! The Staff Steals
Had a fun night here with a couple friends. Late night realized my iPhone was gone. So started calling it and it was answered the next AM — I talked to my lovely waitress Megan from the night before! What great luck when she answered my phone and said it was safely in her possession and she sweetly promised to promptly mail it back. I offered to pay reward and shipping and was told she would send her email address so I could do so, and that she was going to the post office that day and she would text or email me with that confirmation. That was great news! too bad it was a lie.
I was tracking the phone’s movements via iCloud so I should have known I was being lied to, but preferred to hope she was actually going to do what she claimed — Especially because I could see the Megan took the phone home with her where it remained for over a week until it was wiped clean and is gone — even when she was claiming it was back at the restaurant — good olé iCloud.
Many calls to her and manager and story changes every time. Moved lost and found, waitress out of town, someone had a baby, call right back, its in the mail, its at someone else’s house — the whole gamut of conflicting stories. So needless to say I never got it back.
Bummer — hundreds lost on a brand new iphone lost to my lovely server that swiped it. One just doesn’t expect their server to steal their phone — so beware. Its a real pain filing police reports from across the country for such a dumb reason. I sure hope she got something of value for it, I just paid $ 600 for it the week before.
I guess it really is a dive bar.

First stop of the night after Elbow Room, and it was a pretty chill environment. Found a booth to sit at, and after we visited the bar, we all just sat around and talked and chilled. Pretty relaxing atmosphere. The bartender made AWESOME drinks. I think of all the places, this place definitely had the better end of cocktails. We ALL loved our drinks.
Not a bad place, and I wouldn’t mind coming back.

This will be first installment of my Atlanta bar reviews. Typically I have reviewed restaurants, but I figured I’d chime in with my two cents on the Atlanta nightlife.
We’ll start with «Old Faithful», Red Door Tavern in Buckhead. What a place…
The Red Door, or «The Door» is a Buckhead staple. And, in some ways, it is two bars. From 3 – 7 it is an old man happy hour spot. Free shots at 4. Dirt cheap beers, great service, and always fun people watching, The Door is one of my favorite Buckhead happy hour spots. Go three or four times and you are bound to see the exact same people hunched over the bar pounding cheap beers and mixed drinks.
At midnight, the place turns into a young Buckhead crowd night club. Can’t really comment on that, as I’ve only been a few times late, and I wasn’t in a state of mind to recall anything of value to bring to a review. That being said, everyone seemed to be having a blast and I know it’s a popular spot.
The Door is a dump. Really, it is a crappy, dirty, ugly bar. But it’s fantastic. Being one of the first bars I began to patron after I moved to ATL, it’s remained one of my favorite spots.

Smack dab in the middle of the Buckhead Bar Triangle, this place has seen more action than a Real Housewife of Atlanta. Redbox, Red Hole, That Dive Bar… whatever you want to call it, my Red Door Tavern is your quintessential hole in the wall.
I’ve got several great memories from this joint. If you want the full saga, join me for happy hour here any given Friday and I’ll tell you some tales. For now, here are my top favorite memories…
When I first got to Atlanta after graduating from UGA, this place was a veritable who’s who of preppy frat boys and drunk sorority girls; albeit, I knew most of them from my days on Milledge Avenue. There are a lot of hazy, blurred memories from Red Door — all of which I wish were more clear because those were some damn good times.
Then when I lived across the street at Matheison Exchange Lofts, I used to look down from my balcony to watch the spectacle at Red Door. On occasion, my boyfriend (now husband) and I would venture down to join the debauchery. One time, I was enjoying a glass of wine on my patio when a friend recognized me from 12 floors below. He called my cell, commanding us to come down to Red Door with him and his brigade for happy hour.
Then recently, on a warm spring afternoon, I was the only girl at Red Door besides the bartender! I think every gent in the place turned to look at me when I walked in. The bartender gave me a Bud Light for only $ 2 and I went outside to enjoy the patio. I sat there reading (a pocket collection of essays by Faulkner of all things!) by myself waiting for my friend to join me and no one bothered me. It was actually quite nice.
Plus, Red Door won’t tell you no if you want to bring your dog with you! During my most recent happy hour, while reading Faulkner, a beautiful golden retriever moseyed out of the bar to join me outside. There’s nothing sweeter than living in the South, reading Faulkner, sipping a cold beer and petting a nice puppy at an awesome bar like Red Door Tavern.

Red Door Tavern is an example of a good hole-​in-​the-​wall dive bar. I came here on a Saturday night to celebrate a friend’s birthday and the bar was absolutely slammed with people. We were shoulder-​to-​shoulder inside and it was a struggle just to get from the entrance to the dance floor. There is an outdoor patio, but all the action is inside.
When you enter Red Door, the bar is long and the space is narrow. Towards the back is the entrance to another room where the DJ and dance floor are located. The DJ played a variety of mainstream, dance, rap, and retro hits (e.g. Michael Jackson). Nothing too crazy, but it was good stuff. The room with the dance floor has a small stage with a dance pole for the ladies. The room with the bar plays a different set of music that is chosen by customers off the jukebox.
The drinks are cheap and all in all, I had a fun time here. I ran into Nick Cellini and Chris Dimino of 790 The Zone at the bar. I don’t know what they were doing here on a Saturday night because the crowd was mostly twentysomethings. Even they admitted to me they were too old to be there.
My friends and I parked close Red Door, in a small parking lot on the same side of the street. It was $ 5 to park and we had to insert cash into a huge metal box. The slot we inserted the cash into corresponded to our parking spot number.

This bar is great. You walk in and friendly bartender will take your order, the people that come in know it’s a throw it down, good time type of bar. The owner, Steve, works as one of the bartenders and really cares about people and his staff. He has done a great job running one of the most fun bars in Buckhead! Check it out

Red Door Tavern — what can I say? It’s a Dive Bar, in capital letters. There are times when nothing else will do. From the barely old enough to drink twenty-​boppers to the… well… yeah.
There is a dance floor, which is awesome. The drinks are inexpensive, some of them anyway, but only if you can penetrate the wall of oxford and polo shirts and catch the attention of the harried staff (who are great).
Even though it’s a Dive Bar, Red Door manages to somehow be a yuppie joint at the same time. I am not sure how it achieves this, and it may be unique.
If a sports team from any of the states adjoining Georgia has experienced a victory or a defeat that day, Red Door Tavern will be packed to the gills with fans who express the agony and the ecstasy with equal gusto.
Every time I go there it is at the urging of friends. And, every time I go there it is unbelievably crowded. Yet, every time I go there I have a good time.

I love some Red Door. The bar has slushies that you can mix alcohol with. Do I need to say anything else?
They also have a nice front deck, a main room with a juke box, and a back room with 2 stripper poles. Awesome bar.

Redsox bar in Atlanta! Love love love it
Standard buckhead yuppies, the bartenders are great, the drinks are cheap.
My favorite out of that strip of bars…

It is your typical dive bar.
They got 5 different beers on draft, bottle beer, all your usual liquors. Stays open to 3am during the weekdays.
Not a bad place.

This bar has everything that I love: cheap beer, cool bartenders, jukebox with good music, a patio, dance floor, fun people, relaxed atmosphere.
I went to Red Door with a big crowd and everyone had a great time. We immediately hit the jukebox and picked out some music and then went to the bar where we made friends with one of the bartenders. He (his name escapes me…) remembered our drink orders and made sure we didn’t have a long wait for drinks. We danced later on in the night and there were stripper poles in the dance room. HA. Probably could get trashy but it was just funny when I was there.
The main room of the bar has the jukebox music while the dancing room has a DJ playing rap and other upbeat dance tracks. There is some seating in the main room, at the bar and at tables along the wall.
The crowd: a twentysomething low key party crowd who likes to wear jeans and drink beer and maybe dance a little after midnight.
Only bad thing: not enough bathrooms. They’re all one person bathrooms – one women’s, one men’s and a unisex.
Totally my kind of place. Cheap beer in a fun and welcoming setting in Buckhead is rare and I loved it.

I apparently didn’t go to the same bar as everyone else that has reviewed this place.
I think what turned me off most from this bar was the room in back that was über trashy. Nothing more I want to see than several incredibly wasted guys attempting to use stripper poles. Who knows, maybe it was ambiguous-​frat-​guy-​night at the bar.
I would rather go to the Virginia Highlands area any day of the week rather than go back to that dump.