The Vortex Bar And Grill

Food is just as great as the little 5 points location, but this was is bigger so there is rarely a wait for a table! Get one of their signature burgers! I’ve tried about 4 or 5 different ones and they’re all really good!

the tex melt burger is amazing! And they have vegetarian options for all of their burgers!

Okay soooo since they changed the age limit from 18 to 21 I was never able to go but now that I’m 21, I figured why not go while my brother is in town. I love this place! We went on a Monday around 3pm so it wasn’t crowded at all. It’s in the middle of midtown which is nice. We just rode Marta to midtown station and it’s about two blocks down. We both had the coronary bypass burger and man was that thing delicious! But so bad for you lol I highly recommend it though. Since we were there around 3, they had 3 o’clock shot time! Anybody who wants to take a shot (bartenders, waiters, and waitresses included) can! They also have mystery shots for $ 2 so you don’t know what they’re giving you haha Drinks wise I had a sump’n fruity which was good and my brother had the skull crusher. That thing is a brain cell killer so beware! But overall I really like this place and will certainly be back.

This is review 1135. Why are there SOOO many reviews for the Vortex? Probably because a lot of people eat here, because it is so good!
Most of the huge sammich menu consist of imaginative yet relatively tasteful items. I believe that a sandwich with more than three main ingredients is overly Fieri-​esque. The rest of my party had the Classic Coronary, and enjoyed them immensely. In truth, the Classic is a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg, on a regular bun, with great fries or tots. A substantial sandwich executed well.
I went for a Coronary Bypass, which is the same thing except instead of a bun, it was framed with two grilled bacon-​n-​cheese sammiches. So a sammich made out of several smaller sammiches. 3,500 calories later and I felt surprisingly alive and well!
They have a single, double, triple and quad, which costs eighty bucks and weighs in at over 8,000 calories. Now any and all of them are utterly ridiculous and if you ate it in a strip mall, that would just be pathetic. But the final piece of the equation is that the Vortex is lively and fun and it just seemed fitting to eat a days worth of food in a half hour.
I’ll be back.

Unique burgers and sides. Our waitress was nice and helped me make my choices since it was my first time. Cool décor and relaxed environment.

After my nail salon visit I decided to walk to The Vortex. Sadly, I have never tried this Atlanta staple. My experience while there was fine. I sat at the bar and put in an order to go. Once I got home and tried the burger I got, the blue ‘shroom, I was’t impressed at all. So much so that it’s still hanging out in my fridge uneaten. Not sure why I didn’t like it, but for me to not eat it says a lot. The french fries were pretty good.

Repulsive and vulgar… giant Penis as you walk in. Pretty much a porn shop, bar and all the filth that comes with it. Typical downtown Atlanta

I have been to the Vortex recently on two occasions. Both times on dates. The first time it was late night, I sat at the bar and ordered a Grilled Cheesy Mofo with no pepper jack cheese with tator tots. I wasn’t a big fan of the burger or the tator tots. The second time, we sat in the dining room and ordered the GREASY SPOON– Two griddled sirloin patties, topped with white American cheese, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce and slathered with our homemade Vortex diner relish, and wrapped in wax paper. My date ordered nachos. We ended up splitting both dishes between us. The burger was larger than I expected so it was a great item to share. I think this has been my fave Vortex burger to-​date. I also prefer fries over tator tots. The nachos weren’t bad, but pretty spicy. Luckily, no hearburn. We ate around 8:30pm and things were starting to pick up. Around 10, there was a line outside for folks waiting to get in. Crazy!

Extremely, uh… unique bar and grill. They serve superbly tasty (if not slightly unhealthy) dishes of all types of «bar food and pub grub,» but elevated with signature flavors and great preparation.
While we’re aware there are two locations, we prefer the Midtown spot. Everything we’ve had (on two separate occasions visiting) has been super good. This includes the Borracho Nachos and the Mac’n’Cheesy Changa for appetizers (highly recommended). The turkey chili was really good, as were our main dishes — the Buffalo Bomber (buffalo chicken sand), Grilled Cheesy Mofo, and Black & Blue and Ka’Mana Wa’na Lei’ya burgers. Cocktails and mixed drinks are great too. Super expansive listing of alcoholic offerings.
I will say only this to the Vortex: the Buffalo Bomber could have used a lot more buffalo sauce, but the chicken itself was great! Your standard fries need a LOT of work. For everything else you tend to show love and thought to in food prep, the fries are sad, under-​seasoned remnants of frozen, bagged grocery store fries. You can do better.
Back to the positives: not only are the food and drinks good, but the ambiance is hilarious. The dishes are comically named and have great irreverent descriptions in the menus, the décor screams high-​end biker bar, and even the restrooms have rollicking posters and «instructions» for the guests.
Don’t go here if you’re easily offended, you probably will be and the waitstaff and other guests will make fun of you for it. Nobody cares that you are sensitive here. Get over yourself.

I despise this place with a passion. It’s 21 and over so it is not family friendly, there is smoking inside which is repulsive, and the people that work there from the doorman to the hostess to the bartenders are complete garbage. The doorman is a needlessly smart ass piece of crap bouncer for a «burger» joint and the hostess looks like she hates her life leaning on the podium looking like her dog died turning off any customer that may walk in the door. This place will not get my business ever!
If you want good burgers go to Farm Burger which is clean and family friendly and delicious. Not a smoky mess serving average meat on a stale bun topped with slop. Disgusting filth all around. I’m mad I paid for parking to even come here. What a waste.

The good: the burgers were soooooo GOOOD!!! I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the menu, but I believe I ordered the zombie apocalypse (hence the knife sticking to one of my burgers) and I must say it was good! It was really filling too. Didn’t need to order anything extra :) love how it came with sweet yam fries. Oh god those were so good as well! I also love the character of this place. If you have a chance, you can look around and find interesting décor ;)
The bad: sorry to those who are not of age, (I can’t remember) but you need to be over a certain age to eat here.
The ugly: nothing too bad about this place
Neutral: great for group hang outs. They had a lot of tvs, so it should be a good place to catch a game.

I found my favorite burger here! Everybody raved highly about the coronary bypass burger so there was no way I would pass on ordering it! It was so good that j didn’t have time to take a picture. It was huge! I shared with my sister and she attacked the beef. It melts in your mouth and loaded with flavor! I was so sad how fast it went!
I was also happy that I could have my favorite Voodoo chips. I normally get it at Wawa, but they serve it here too. Next time I’ll try the tots when I go back to Atl. Just didn’t want to feel entirely sick of eating too much. Weird to say I was still hungry and sad the kitchen closed.
My bartender was really straight forward with the drink. He wasn’t for all the fancy stuff but for all about making sure we get happy and drunk.
I tried to request a «bloody fetus» He googled it but of course it wasn’t what I expected. He did forewarn me that his roll was to make me simple drinks and wasn’t a mixologist. So it was no biggie.
But $ 2 secret shots! Be prepared! OMG! $ 2 secret shots!!! U just don’t know what u will get at random. I just downed something like Everclear. Definitely a surprise kick in the butt
From the pictures u can tell we had a good time!

This was one of my favorite burger spots in Atlanta. It is a bar, so no kids are allowed and one of the very few places that still allow smoking in a designated eating area. At night, there is a game of trivia that the patrons seem to enjoy and come specifically for.
I love the casual and laid back atmosphere. The burgers are amazing and I LOVED their sweet potato fries. It’s been a while since I’ve been, and on my recent visit I was shocked and dismayed (and almost cried a little) that they have taken the sweet potato fries off their menu!!! Seriously? I can’t believe people didn’t riot about this. And since I’m on a rant, I hate that their ice tea is from a fountain and not brewed (I don’t drink, but my friends who do enjoy the selection of beer here).
** rant over ***
Like I said, the burgers are amazing, one of the best burger spots in town. I hope they bring their sweet potato fries back!

The Elvis Burger at Vortex is no joke. delicious! I enjoyed mine without the bun. I made the mistake of ordering tots for my side… instead get a side of plantains. There wasn’t enough on the burger and that sweetness just pairs so damn well. Do it.

My friends and I came here for dinner before a show at the Fox, got here around 5PM on a Sunday, and there was no wait! (Which was great because the last time I was there my party and I had to wait over 2 hours on a Saturday night). You do have to be 21 and up to enter, which could be due to the profanity on their menus and décor, but nothing too in your face. Warning, they do allow smoking though.
I ordered the Classic coronary burger, which was enough for two (that says a lot cuz I can eat). Anyway I got it medium well, and it was cooked to perfection, juicy and scrumptious, that one comes with lettuce, onions, cheese, pickles and 4 strips of bacon goodness, oh and I got a side of tots too which were so so good; crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I’d come back

I don’t know how I’ve lived in Atlanta for 5 years and have only visited Vortex 3 times. I instantly fell in love with vortex for 2 reasons.
1. House Rules: for folk that have worked years in the service industry there is nothing more imperative than bar etiquette. I’m sure ever waiter and bartender ever wishes their establishment would post rules like Vortex’s «Idiot Free Zone» and «Servers are not Servants.»
2. Coronary Bypass Burger: grilled cheese, beef, bacon and a fried egg. Like heaven in your mouth. This burger is not for the faint of heart. Bring your appetite if you plan on ordering this big mama. Complete with fries, tots and cheesy-​cheese goo. Plan to leave preparing to give birth to a food baby.
Vortex also has an extensive brew and spirits menu. They check ID at the door and on most weekend nights there’s a small wait. This truly is a dive bar adorn with dive décor. I will be back for another Coronary Bypass!

Stopped in during my trip Atlanta and it was pretty good. The food was nothing to write home about. The whole theme was a bit campy for me. I felt they took the edginess of the idea too far and it became a caricature of itself. Going there once was more than enough for me.
I had a burger and a beer and was full when I left.

The same as the other vortex for the most part except parking is more expensive. The fat Elvis I finally did it and ordered this crazy novelty of a burger. Have to say the peanut butter was a bit much took away from the taste of the burger. The turkey chili still is the life changer and that little piece of cornbread is crazy good.
For the price vortex is to me best deal for the amount of food you get.

I was sooooo excited to come to this place. I had heard about it since before I lived in Atlanta and thought it was going to be just fabulous! The decoration is cool/​funny and the music is great. The food itself is just ok, the descriptions really make everything sound out of this world. That and the amount of things to pick from makes it a bit overwhelming since I didn’t feel sure of my choice, scared i’d like something else better. :)
When the food came out, and it came out REALLY fast… I was like Wow… There was just a lot of food and stuff, literally. You cant actually taste how «phenomenal» the actual patty is because its submerged with the peanut butter or chili or whatever your burger came with. My plate in particular kind of repulsed me because it was just too much sauce/​stuff… But that’s my fault for picking that burger. The tots, are tots, I’ve never had bad tots and I think they all taste the same; even the ones at Publix in the freezer section.
If I lived closer, i’d probably like to hang out here and eat while drinking– I liked the ambiance and the food was ok. There are a bunch of things that sounded really good. I was just expecting the best burgers I’ve ever had and that’s not what I got BUTTT they were the most creative I’ve ever had/​seen, so there’s that! lol :)

The Vortex had been on my Atlanta friend’s bucket list for a while now, and she’s lived in Atlanta for about three years and had never been. We decided to go this past week when I was in town.
THE GOOD:
–The atmosphere was pretty cool. We had to show IDs upon entering the restaurant, which I thought was a little weird, but it turns out it’s because people are allowed to smoke inside, and you have to be 18+ to be around that … interesting. (in Michigan, we’ve outlawed smoking in restaurants)
–The food! I had the Four Horsemen burger, I believe it was called. Wasn’t sure if I’d like the horseradish sauce but it was really good.
–Waitress was helpful in suggesting burgers for us, since it was our first time there.
THE MEH:
–Parking. We parked directly across the street and it was $ 7 (ouch) though to be fair it didn’t expire until like 4am the next day … so if you were hanging out in Midtown for a few hours, it’s not too bad.
–Tater tots … they were just okay. Tasted like Ore-​Ida ones I could have made at home.
I’d come back here when in town again but might try the other location for fun, apparently that was the original location too.