6 Atlanta spots where you can learn something and maybe meet somebody
Atlanta’s social calendar has room for more than happy hour this fall.
Across the city, hands-on classes and creative gatherings are giving people a reason to show up, learn something fun and connect with others.
Here’s where to try something new this season.
3 Parks Wine
Location: 451 Bill Kennedy Way SE, Atlanta, 30316 (second location: Old Fourth Ward)
About: With two locations spanning Glenwood Park and Old Fourth Ward, 3 Parks has grown from a neighborhood wine shop into a place to learn wine while having fun.
Focus: On Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the Glenwood Park shop turns into a classroom. For $10 to $15, guests sample three to four bottles while learning about the grapes, regions and producers behind them.
Block & Drum
Location: 5105 Peachtree Boulevard, Building B, Chamblee, 30341
About: Part distillery, part live-music venue, Block & Drum sits on the Chamblee Rail Trail with an on-site hydroponic farm feeding its craft spirits.
Focus: Get ready to hit the dance floor. But first? Learn how. Cultura, the venue’s dance-and-DJ night, begins with a beginner-friendly lesson before the DJ set takes over. There’s no set schedule, so follow @blockanddrum to catch the next one.
Lot 23 Chandler Co.
Location: 691 W. Whitehall St. SW, Atlanta, 30310
About: Lot 23 Chandler Co. brings together its founder’s Guyanese roots, New York luxury-fashion background and Atlanta creative life in a Black woman-owned perfume and candle-making atelier.
Focus: Classes include candle-making and Eau de Parfum workshops. Each begins with an icebreaker and introduction to the shop before guests curate a scent of their own from feminine, neutral or masculine notes.
Topstitch Studio & Lounge
Location: 2969 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Suite 310, Decatur, 30030
About: Inspired by the sewing school where its owner learned to sew in London, Topstitch Studio & Lounge runs on a roster of instructors specializing in topics from pattern design to fabric history. Classes stay small, capped around six people, with machines, patterns and materials provided.
Focus: Classic skills like quilting and pillowcase-making sit alongside more fashion-forward territory: denim mending, a newly added jeansmaking series and sewing your own pajama pants, trousers or shirts.
Trade Root at The Whitley Hotel
Location: Trade Root, inside The Whitley Hotel, 3434 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, 30326
About: Take a cocktail class … in a cool cocktail bar. Once a month, lead mixologist Tsegaye Solomon walks beginners and regulars through the basics of shaking, stirring and building their own cocktails.
Focus: First Saturday Mixology Classes run $40 and include three cocktails. Past faves include Peachtree Sour, Buckhead Bramble and Sweet Tea Old Fashioneds.
The Word Salon
Location: Event-specific. Recent stops include A Small Place bookshop’s Edgewood and Avondale Estates locations.
About: The Word Salon turns Black Women Writers at Work — the 1983 anthology of interviews with Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni and other literary icons — into a moving writers’ circle for Black women and femme writers. Each pop-up unfolds in three parts: time to read and write, small-group feedback and a conversation with an author co-host.
Focus: Its Write Club installments gather people looking to deepen a reading or writing practice, sometimes alongside something fun like a matcha pop-up. Prompts are provided, so all you have to do is show up. Admission is free; registration is required.
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