Atlanta understands something other cities sometimes don't: going out doesn't always mean going to the club. Sometimes you want the music without fighting for space on a dance floor. You want somewhere you can order a real cocktail, sit down, hear some R&B, smoke a cigar or hookah, eat something, look good and actually enjoy the people you came with. And sometimes you still want the room to turn up a little later. That's the Atlanta lounge.

Our picks move from Black-owned spaces built around grown Atlanta culture to sophisticated cocktail rooms, cigar lounges, live-music spots, restaurant-lounge hybrids and places where the line between dinner and nightlife gets beautifully blurry. This is also where Atlanta's range really shows itself. Bougie doesn't have to mean culturally disconnected. Black doesn't have to mean casual. Grown doesn't have to mean boring. And expensive definitely doesn't automatically mean good.

BlkTravel ranks the places where the room, crowd, music, drinks and energy actually come together. Whether you're planning a date, celebrating something, entertaining after a business meeting, getting dressed with your people or just looking for somewhere that feels like grown Black Atlanta, start here.