Just more than a year after popular tiki bar Tiki Tango closed in Midtown, it’s set to make its return — in a sense — on the Eastside Beltline.
Next month, Scott McCray and Scott Kerns of LEAD Hospitality will open the Baxter on the ground level at 670 DeKalb Ave. NE, formerly home to Kevin Gillespie concepts Cold Beer and Slabtown Public House. The top floor will become a rooftop tiki bar known as Duke’s Hideaway, with a cocktail menu that will be familiar to fans of Tiki Tango.
The Baxter will be a “casual tavern,” McCray told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with sandwiches including a Cuban, grinder and steak and cheese, as well as burgers, salads and sharable items like wings, as well a cocktail program, 12 beers on tap and televisions throughout the space showing sports events.
Credit: Courtesy of LEAD Hospitality
Credit: Courtesy of LEAD Hospitality
“It’ll be an easy place for people to jump in from the Beltline,” McCray said. “We’re not going to take ourselves too seriously.” The Baxter will also get a touch of tiki by way of a small room decked out “to make you feel like you’re in a jungle,” McCray said. The downstairs cocktail list will also offer a few tiki drinks.
Upstairs, Duke’s Hideaway (the two spaces are named for McCray’s and Kerns’ dogs), will feature remnants of Tiki Tango, including glassware and decor from the old spot. Tiki Tango closed last summer on Crescent Street, along with LEAD concept Foxtrot Liquor Bar.
Credit: Courtesy of LEAD Hospitality
Credit: Courtesy of LEAD Hospitality
McCray said LEAD got access to the building in January and painted, and updated the tables and booths.
“We’ve been wanting to get on the Beltline for a while,” he said. “Atlanta doesn’t have a beach, but the Beltline is kind of our beach area. There’s so much energy there.”
The Baxter’s opening hours will be 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays, with plans to open earlier for brunch in the near future. Duke’s Hideaway will be open 5 p.m.-midnight Wednesdays-Sundays.
In addition to the Baxter and Duke’s Hideaway, LEAD Hospitality also has four metro locations of McCray’s Tavern; Hamp & Harry’s in Marietta; and Perry Street Chophouse in Lawrenceville. McCray also co-owns The Mill Kitchen and Bar in Roswell with his brother, Randy, and Kerns owns Carolyn’s Gourmet Cafe in Midtown.
Gillespie closed Cold Beer in 2022 after three years to make way for his new restaurant Slabtown Public House, which shuttered in late 2022 after about six months.
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