Miss Lawrence at Bar ONE!!!

If you’re like me and get annoyed that you never see celebrities out and about, go to Bar ONE in downtown Atlanta, owned by Peter Thomas of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. While I did not see him or any of the “wives” there, I did see someone far better – the one and only Miss Lawrence!!!!

 

Besides this amazing celebrity sighting, the place also has the following going for it:

• The food – tapas-style with Caribbean flare – is actually really tasty. The menu is small, and we were able to try a lot of it since there were four of us, which is fun. The best things were the coconut curry crab & shrimp with dumplings, the chicken flatbread with roasted red peppers, and the fish tacos with avocado sauce (mostly due to the avocado sauce).
• They also serve a mean rum punch.
• There’s complimentary valet.
• And they have a huge portrait of Cynthia Bailey on the wall that screams “take a picture of this.” 

See...?

Some of the cons include:

• The seating is terrible. It is done lounge-style, so with four of us dining together, we all sat on the same side of the table on a bench-like structure. There was room on the other side of the table for chairs, but apparently that’s not how they do things. So my husband, my BFF and her fiancé pretty much all sat on top of each other to eat. It was awkward, even though we all spend a lot of time together, as well as physically uncomfortable.
• Bar ONE is on Memorial Drive in Grant Park. The surroundings are not exactly scenic. I don’t really care about that, but some might.
• We were there on Sunday from about 5:30 – 6:45 p.m., so it wasn’t very crowded (though we did catch the tail end of a baby shower happening there). Since the place is miniscule, I imagine it can get pretty chaotic during peak bar hours. I would definitely make a reservation if you want to eat. We did, and we still had to wait an extra 10 or so minutes for our table (sans chairs).

But overall I liked the vibe, so I will definitely return at least once. The food and drink were not cheap, but not astronomical either. (Our bill was about $150 for four.) The service was fine but not remarkable. Rumor has it they hold a “Housewives” viewing party on Sunday evenings when the show airs, so I will likely return for one of those to increase my chances of a NeNe sighting. Check them out at http://www.baroneatl.com.