Buckhead Village Will Soon Include a Cocktail Bar With a Rooftop Lounge

Buckhead Village will soon include a cocktail bar with a rooftop lounge, when a second location of Beltline-based the James Room opens later this summer. The bar takes over the former Regent Cocktail Club space, which closed in February, along with steakhouse American Cut, at the Buckhead retail and dining complex.

Located on the third floor of the building across from Shake Shack, this latest location of the James Room features more seating in which to enjoy what owner Harold Brinkley and his partner in the Buckhead bar Aaron Mattison (Bar Vegan, Excuse My French) call “vibe dining.” That includes just outside on the rooftop lounge overlooking Peachtree.

Look for the design to lean toward dark woods, leather, and moody ambient lighting with a playlist to match, which is meant to set the stage for the cocktails served at the James Room in Buckhead. Expect drinks ranging from cocktail classics like the martini, sidecar, and Manhattan to original concoctions, such as Like A Jungle, made with Bacardi cuatro rum, martini and rossi fiero, and chinola passion fruit liqueur. Small plates and shareable snacks will also be served in Buckhead, including charcuterie boards, vegan meatballs, and shrimp crudite platters.

Missy and Kristin Koefod of 18.21 Bitters first opened the James Room as a cocktail lounge and coffee cafe in March 2019 at SPX Alley along the Eastside Beltline trail. The Koefods sold the bar and lounge to Brinkley and Justin Miller a little over a year later during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Madelynne Ross

Madelynne Ross

Joining the James Room at Buckhead Village later this year is Italian restaurant Yeppa and Co. from the owners of Storico Fresco and Forza Storico, taking over the Biltong Bar space on Buckhead Avenue. Tal Baum and Oliva Restaurant Group also plan to open coastal cuisine restaurant and bar Carmel this year at Buckhead Village across from Nars Cosmetics at the development.