Warm Up this Weekend with Fireplaces and Fire Pits at Atlanta Restaurants

Usually when we talk about Atlanta's fired-up cuisine scene, we're referring to open-hearth cooking, coal-fired pizza ovens and smoking-hot Big Green Eggs. The advent of colder weather draws us closer to another kind of flame, that radiating from interior dining room fireplaces and heat-packing fire pits on restaurant patios and rooftops. Dine out and get it to glow.

At Buckhead's Seven Lamps, a courtyard fire pit warms hands as they tip a glass of Low Winter Sun or another handcrafted cocktail dispersing liquid sunshine. At nearby King + Duke, newly installed fire pits entice guests outside for a hot toddy or fiery spirits at the winter bar. 

Midtowners can heat up as they eat up at HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern. Outdoor dining is a go for breakfast, lunch or dinner as the fire pit evicts cold while welcoming friends to gather.

Sunsets come early in winter months, providing more time to soak in the twinkling cityscape from a rooftop perch at STATS located in downtown Atlanta's Luckie Marietta District. Cozy up near the blazing fire pit and stoke winter cravings with a hearty salad, sandwich, salmon or steak or a powerful libation from the fully stocked bar. Those fired up about a wedding, corporate party or private event will light into Ventanas where 360-degree views of the city below and stars above ignite a huge wow factor for guests seated fireside on the rooftop patio.

Traditionalists will love the two large fireplaces at Old Vinings Inn: one casts a welcoming warmth into the lobby as the other invites guests to settle into the Bear Room for comfort food or a feel-good cup of hot caramel apple cider. A towering stacked-stone fireplace anchors the patio at The Mill Kitchen & Bar in Roswell. Craft cocktails, warm desserts and regionally inspired favorites lift winter's gray cloud. In historic Crabapple, Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails' indoor fireplace casts a cheerful glow over the dining room.

Savor the contrast of windows on winter and dining by a crackling fire at Ray's on the Creek. The Alpharetta restaurant keeps Big Green Egg ribs and pulled pork on the menu as well as offering Ray's Restaurants' seafood favorites year round.