Buena Vida Tapas Opens Friday for Spanish Gin and Tonics and Wrinkly Potatoes

Buena Vida Tapas and Sol finally opens Friday, December 6, at the new North and Line complex across from Historic Fourth Ward Park. The Eastside Beltline restaurant and wine bar, owned by Adam Berlin and Juan Calle of Big Sky Buckhead, opens at 5 p.m. for weekday dinner and drinks. Lunch is served on the weekends beginning at 11 a.m.

Berlin and Calle hope Buena Vida brings the breezy resort vibes of southern Spain to the bustling Eastside trail. This includes incorporating live plants into the design against pastel blues and pinks and taking advantage of the restaurant’s two-story windows to highlight custom murals created by Spanish artists Boa Mistura.

Milk and Butter Social

Milk and Butter Social

Executive chef Landon Thompson’s menu offers tapas like a twice-cooked pork belly over sweet potato puree with sunchokes, croquetas fried in panko breadcrumbs, and roasted piquillo peppers. A Canary Island potato dish called “wrinkly potatoes” is also among the offerings on the menu. The tri-colored potatoes are boiled in salt water until creamy and tender and come served with mojo picon (flavored with garlic and chiles) and mojo verde (cilantro, parsley, and sherry vinegar) sauces.

Entrees such as torticas de camarones (Andalusian baby shrimp pancakes,) a whole crispy fish, and a 32-ounce chuleton ribeye all serve up to four people.

Milk and Butter

Milk and Butter Social

Milk and Butter Social

Top left: croquetas de jamon; top right: fried cauliflower; bottom: piquillo peppers

Expect Spanish, biodynamic, and natural wines mixed with French and Italian classics on the bottle list. Cocktails also lean decidedly Spanish, like the citrus-laden gin and tonic served in a balloon glass.

Open Monday - Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Friday, 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Milk and Butter Social

385 North Angiers Avenue, Atlanta. buenavidatapas.com.

• Peek at the Menu for Spanish Tapas Restaurant Buena Vida on the Beltline [EATL]
• Buena Vida Tapas Brings Breezy Spanish Vibes to the Beltline Next Month [EATL]
• Get Swept Away to Southern Spain When Buena Vida Tapas Opens [EATL]