Ladybird Grove and Mess Hall - Old Fourth Ward - Beltline - Atlanta

You can find the Ladybird Grove and Mess Hall at 684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30312 in Old Forth Ward near Inman Park right along the Beltline. I'm not too sure about parking as I walked to this location from Krog Street Market.

This was the second of several stops for me and my friend Arvin R in a mini-crawl to the Dogwood Arts Festival. We started at Superica for a nice brunch at Krog Street Market before walking here for a bit of refreshment. This was my first visit to the Ladybird.

The Ladybird Grove and Mess Hall is a small restaurant with an industrial feel and extensive bar - in my mind this is more of a dive bar and less of a restaurant, but that may have been due to all the people that were in attendance on this very busy day. I really can't say much about the food as we didn't sample any, focusing instead on the drinks and great patio. For me the attraction is the patio, complete with ping-pong tables for when you really get your buzz on and plenty of adirondack chairs to recline on. The patio is a really wonderful space that overlooks the Beltline.

The negative is that this appears to be a rather douchey destination for local college students complete with mating-dance formalities you find when you get a bunch of horny 20-year-olds in a defined space. I can't imagine that many on this day were locals, instead exemplifying all the stereotypes you think of for people of this age, dare I say Millennials with nary a care in the world other than the whether their moms washed their favorite jeans? But I digress. The bartenders here seem more patient than I would have expected, even with the elephant-like progress of masses of people through the bar areas. Luckily you can purchase your favorite (in my case Creature Comforts wonder Tropicalia) outside at some handy brewsky locations.

In all I thought the bar thoughtful if crowded, and not my crowd to boot. The servers/bartenders accommodating and the patio special. As indicated no comment on the quality of the food.

-- John

(also posted to Yelp)

Lips - Druid Hills at Buford Highway Atlanta Georgia

You can find Lips at 3011 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30329 - this is an area of Buford Hwy just north of North Druid Hills and south of a Wells Fargo Bank branch. The exterior is pretty hard to miss, looking like it may have once been a jewelry store but now featuring an extended awning with suspended purple lighting. There's a lit sign out front featuring lips in white with "The Ultimate in Drag Dining" below. Parking is to each side - I'm not sure if there's a valet option (seems like there should be) - on the Thursday I visited I parked in the lot out front.

When my friend John F. announced Lips as the next destination for our weekly BufHy Restaurant Crawl, I thought to myself that it had been a while since I'd been to a drag show - actually many, many years and coinciding with my working downtown and ending up at Backstreet with friends. I was a bit surprised as we tend to skip over businesses that seem more bar than restaurant, but John explained that they had a menu so I said "Sure!"

When you walk into Lips you'll see a posh interior with kitschy features and a bar to the right. At the end of the large ballroom is a stage where the main acts occur. The ceilings are festooned with crystal chandeliers and mirror balls - the walls are covered in patterned paper and there are some rather amazing legs suspended up high protruding from frilly gowns. The bar is back-lit glass and there's a very nice South Asian Buddha as a center piece and focal point. We bellied up to the bar while we waited for our party and ordered from the drink menu - selections like: Drag-O-Rita, Charlie Girl's Fruity Lips and Yvonne Lame' Frozen Cosmo.

Once seated we were provide the food menu and "Cher" came out and started the show, which this evening was "Dinner with the Divas." I turns out the various table servers also provided the entertainment, transforming into the fabulous ladies preforming various acts. We ordered various appetizers and entrees, including an appetizer platter, a salad with grilled chicken and chicken fingers with fries. The first up was Brittany Spears and shortly after she started the food came to the table.

 The food here, as you might expect is fairly marginal - not that it's bad, it's just not anything special, more like the prepared food from Costco. I wouldn't be surprised if that is where much of this food is sourced, perhaps the frozen food fried up or microwaved and served with various bottled sauces and fresh produce. In fact I think I've seen everything we at at Costco or Sam's. But then again, you don't come to Lips Atlanta Showpalace for the food - that's just a convenience as to really take things in you're here for several hours. No, the focus is on the drag, lubricated with much alcohol.

After "Cher" did a quick introduction, "Wynonna" came out and did a number, followed by more cocktails and "Adele", followed by more cocktails... you get the drift. We were entertained by "Madonna," "Whitney," and finally a very energetic "Tina." I thought "Adele" very convincing but actually everyone on stage was fabulous as to be expected. If you squint your eyes a bit, after a couple of cocktails it was easy to fall into the illusion and of course everyone had a great time. Interspersed between sets "Cher" would come to the stage and bring up birthday or other special occasion visitors and have fun with shots or short competitions (mostly involved with drinking).

At the end you settle up and you're charged the cover for the show so expect that - also, if you drink like we did your bill can be fairly substantial, but it's almost all alcohol so no crybabies please. Overall the experience was lots of fun and the show worth seeing. How does it compare to those I saw years ago at Backstreet? The energy is definitely different - the drag show there was much more spontaneous and very fresh every time I went - different times, different place. I do think Lips is more polished but with the good there's also the bad. At times I felt like the entertainers were a bit bored, but it's a tough life doing this night after night.

-- John

(also published to Yelp)