The team behind 26 Thai, the fast-growing Thai restaurant chain founded by Niki Pattharakositkul, is adding a new concept to its portfolio with an Asian tapas and cocktail bar in Midtown.
Blackjack Bar Tapas opens Wednesday at 1080 Peachtree Street NE near the 1010 Midtown residential building. The concept has been in the works since early 2024, Pattharakositkul said in an email. With Blackjack, she’s excited to step beyond the 26 Thai brand she created in 2016.
She founded the restaurant at the age of 26 and has since expanded to nine locations around metro Atlanta. Blackjack offers an opportunity for Pattharakositkul to branch out into a late-night concept that’s “a little edgier and more experimental,” she said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The menu is a fusion of street food across Thailand, Japan and Korea, reimagined in a tapas bar setting, she wrote. Diners can expect small plates like tom yum squid ink soup, tuna hand rolls, salmon crudo and banana meringue, as well as large dishes like paneer teriyaki and spicy shrimp and squid ink spaghetti.
“Since we’re so comfortable with the Thai concept, it’s been exciting to step outside that zone and explore a broader mix of Asian flavors — creating new dishes that still feel personal but offer something totally different,” she said.
Credit: Courtesy of Niki Pattharakositkul
Credit: Courtesy of Niki Pattharakositkul
Cocktails will play a central roll in the concept. The beverage menu was developed by Sean Gleason, formerly of Kimball House and Biltong Bar.
“The goal is for each cocktail to feel personal, balanced and a little unexpected,” Pattharakositkul said.
Guests can expect cocktails like the boba tea made with cognac, hojicha (Japanese green tea), brown sugar, cacao, lemon, clarified milk and topped with a brown sugar foam — it’s smooth, layered and unexpected, Pattharakositkul said in an email.
The mango sticky rice is a dessert cocktail with house-infused coconut rice milk, house made mango syrup, pared lemon and rum. There will also be a highball machine.
“I wanted to make sure there is an identifiable base for anyone who’s looking at (the cocktail). There’s a line that can be drawn to a more familiar drink to kind of ease people into it,” Gleason said.
Credit: Courtesy of Niki Pattharakositkul
Credit: Courtesy of Niki Pattharakositkul
The bar offers a selection of beers from Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, and the wine list is compiled of “easy drinking, fun varietals,” he said.
Blackjack’s 2,836-square-foot space offers indoor seating for around 60 guests along with an outdoor patio that seats 24. For the restaurant’s design, Pattharakositkul combined “a little bit of everything I love” to create something “moody, layered and a little over the top in the best way,” she said, including Thai lanterns, red dragons from Chinese design and dark wood details for a vintage lounge look.
Blackjack Bar Tapas will be open 5 p.m.-midnight Mondays-Thursdays, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays and noon-10 p.m. Sundays.
1080 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-748 - 9675, blackjackbartapas.com
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