BANK BAR CASHES IN ON HOMESTYLE ITALIAN IN BUCKHEAD’S TERMINUS PLAZA!
The building used to hold money, not marinara. The Bank Bar occupies the former retail branch of Atlantic Capital Bank on the ground floor of the Terminus building, its regional offices still in the tower above. Next door to sister restaurant Industry Tavern and inconspicuous from the outside, the room hums with energy. It’s buzzy, a little loud and clearly made for a night out.
The space is small but doesn’t feel it. Large, curved leather banquettes are built for leaning in close. Framed modern mirrors overhead keep things polished. A middle table gets broken into two- and four-tops by a clever screen of plants, giving the whole room a sense of privacy without walls. The bar spans the linear length of the space, the extensive spirit collection beautifully backlit to a golden hue. But it’s the back wall that does the real seducing: A sprawling, collage-style mural by Atlanta artist Heather Tazza is equal parts Studio 54 glamour and New York nostalgia.
This is date night architecture. Order a couple of small plates, split a pasta and opt for a cocktail. Before food, the bar makes its case, and a strong one. An excellent selection of Scotch, amaros and more than 55 expressions of whiskey prove why the cocktail list rewards curiosity. Bennie & The Jets, built on six-year Whistle Pig rye, Benedictine, Chartreuse and lemon, reads boozy on paper and drinks with real restraint instead. The Salt and Vinegar martini is reason enough to pull up a chair. Murrell’s Row Mignonette gin, white vermouth and white onion get shaken ice cold and served on a brass tray with a setup of chips and creme fraiche for dipping. It’s tangy, savory and so unexpectedly perfect.
Chef Daniel Arturo seems to cook from ancestral memory, not invention. The menu is filled with the greatest hits of Italian comfort, the kind eaten a hundred times at a family table and now plated professionally. The lasagna is clear proof, with thick, cheesy layers stacked upon a homey sauce with the slightest hint of nutmeg, the mozzarella and bechamel doing their essential work along with a finely minced, meaty ragu. It’s finished tableside with a generous rasping of Parmesan. It sells out, and it should.
include daily oysters and the
bar’s Salt & Vinegar Martini, an
instant Atlanta classic.
The lineup of appetizers spans classic Italian-American comfort and refined raw bar staples. It includes simple starters like warm, sesame crusted house bread with garlic rosemary butter and meatballs atop a lightly dressed tricolor salad, balancing light, fresh options with hearty, comforting bites. The eggplant rustica is an earthy, softened eggplant stuffed with mozzarella and blanketed in ripe tomato sauce. It’s substantial enough to headline the menu instead of opening it.
Pastas are all made in house. Gnocchi Sorrentina is a generous serving with dense dumplings swimming in a pomodoro sauce loaded with chunks of eggplant and a bright hit of basil with a hunk of imported burrata melting into the whole thing. Rigatoni vodka is a clear guest favorite, and it’s easy to see why. The blush-colored vodka sauce clings to every ridge, studded with crisp guanciale and finished with basil and Parmesan. It’s rich without ever going heavy. Linguine and clams arrive genuinely overloaded, briny and garlicky. For the table that wants something simpler, the roasted half chicken with rosemary fingerling potatoes is a confident dish, less showy than the pastas but no less considered. Veal parmesan and tagliatelle Bolognese, both menu mainstays, showcase the kitchen’s ability to do the classics well.
Not everything lands with total precision. The halibut, served with a gorgeous beurre blanc, tender asparagus and bright cherry tomatoes under a rosemary-forward finish, arrived having been cooked 30 seconds past where it needed to be. It’s a small miss, easily forgiven, as the fish came out hot, flaky and beautifully seared. It showed off Arturo’s real talent, the genuine knack for acid, showing up in nearly every dish that reached the table.
The kitchen doesn’t shout about where things come from, but it’s there if you look: Murrell’s Row spirits anchor several cocktails, Horti-Culture mushrooms turn up folded into pasta, Mission Bakery sesame seed bread arrives warm with two house butters, one a garlicky rosemary. Even dessert leans local with a Voga gelato trio—stracciatella, chocolate and hazelnut—drizzled with Nutella, brightened with strawberries and complemented with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.
Conclude a visit with coffee that arrives with a chocolate gold coin on the saucer, a winking nod to the building’s former life as a bank.
The Bank Bar
470.823.3445
bankbaratl.com
@bankbaratl
Prices: appetizers: $7-$21; salads: $16-$17; pastas: $24-$28, entrees: $26-$60; sides: $6-$8; desserts: $15; lunch sandwiches: $15-$16; soups: $9-$10; cocktails: $17-$25; mocktails: $7-$10.
Recommended: Salt and vinegar martini, Bennie & The Jets cocktail, lasagna, halibut beurre blanc, eggplant rustica, gelato trio.
Bottom Line: Familiar food in a room polished enough for a first date with bar staff that make you feel like a regular on your first visit. Come for the pasta. Stay for the martini. Leave in your getaway car.
PHOTOS: Madelynne Grace
