Kevin Gillespie’s latest culinary creation, Cold Beer, adjacent to the Atlanta BeltLine debuted July 23 in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.
The name is inspired by an old Georgia roadside bar Gillespie used to see on camping trips as a kid. “Technically speaking, Cold Beer is a bar concept,” says Gillespie. “But because of its location in the middle of Atlanta’s most popular outdoor social hub, we want Cold Beer to be a community gathering place for nonstop celebrating.”
Photos by Brandon AmatoThe 7,000-square-foot space in the city’s new Edge mixed-use development (home to Atlanta’s newest Shake Shack location and Hazel Jane’s Wine & Coffee) features a BeltLine-facing patio and will soon unveil a rooftop deck.
Leading Cold Beer’s culinary team is chef de cuisine Brian Baxter (formerly of Husk and Bastion in Nashville) along with Red Beard Restaurants beverage director Mercedes O’Brien. Gavin DeCantillon is service manager, and Wes Gray, a longtime Gunshow waiter and beer aficionado, serves as assistant manager.
As with Gunshow, Cold Beer emphasizes an ever-evolving lineup of 15 seasonal, sharable, modern plates with no delineation between appetizers, entrées and desserts. “Like Gunshow, we’re not limiting it to Southern or traditional American,” explains Baxter. “It’s about what we feel like cooking and what we feel like eating. It’s about inspiring people to say, ‘That’s the best taste of something I’ve ever had.’ Shared plates that bring them back again and again.”
O’Brien created an all-new 15 drink seasonal craft cocktail menu exclusively for the space. There will be a dozen different brews available on tap and in cans (“from Belgium to Kennesaw,” promises Gillespie) that will rotate with the seasons and the whims of Cold Beer’s beverage director.
Entering from a matte black exterior through what resembles a whimsical kid’s drawing of a grey and yellow house, Cold Beer celebrants will encounter a light and airy atmosphere inside highlighted by a 13-foot polar bear painting by artist O.M. Norling, personally commissioned for the space by Gillespie.
The casual dining destination initially is open for dinner only. Weekend brunch will start in the near future.
“With a lively, airy bar, picnic tables and European café-vibed seating, every day at Cold Beer should feel like a party,” says Gillespie. “We want to capitalize on the energy and the vibrancy of the BeltLine to create a unique culinary communal gathering place, a new favorite hangout for you and your friends.”
