I planned a girls’ night out last weekend…sorta. I wanted to get together and do something, but couldn’t think of what. Luckily, one of us had tried and liked TWO Urban Licks, and the other 2 were interested in checking it out. There’s no pic of the facade because the outside of TWO is basically a warehouse. Inside, however, is a huge, busy space surrounding an impressive rotisserie. On our visit, we tried tons of tapas:

The three dishes shown above are the lamb flat bread (TWO rotisserie, spicy cucumbers, lemon cream, feta cheese), shaved calamari (Sweet & spicy, basil, cilantro), and oysters & onion straws (Flash fried, tomato jam, creole tartar sauce, TWO fire sauce). Girlfriend 1 (I’m not sure if they’re ok with shoutouts )loved the lamb flat bread. I was initially debating between that and the oysters/onions for my app but decided on the latter. Girlfriend 2, who LOVES calamari anytime, anywhere, only thought hers were so-so, but mostly because she’s not a sauce person and didn’t like the mayo-based sauce topping the crispy rings. My oysters and onion straws were fab, but I wished I could have traded out some onions for more oysters. I had 3 dipping sauces to chose from, my least favorite being the tomato jam. The Creole tartar sauce was, of course, good on the oysters. I loooved the TWO fire sauce, which was a sweetish gel-like substance, but it just didn’t go well with oysters, so I stuck with dipping the onions in that.

Next, our “entrees” (really just more tapas):

These plates are pulled pork & peaches (TWO rotisserie, goat cheese ravioli, Georgia peaches, spinach), the big ass burger (that’s actually the name: cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, onion rings) and fried chicken (grilled corn slaw, chipotle honey mustard). I had the pulled pork and peaches, and once I saw it on the menu I was so intrigued I knew I had to try it. The dish was savory, and not quite what I was expecting–the peaches were really firm and not so sweet, the ravioli was really just one long piece of ravioli underneath all the pork, and the pork itself wasn’t all that well seasoned. I was expecting more sweetness all around–sweeter peaches and maybe some sort of peach juice reduction on top. Girlfriend 1 followed her flat bread with the big ass burger (which she’s had before) and enjoyed it. Girlfriend 2, who didn’t much like her calamari, felt the same way about the chicken, and for the same reason. Just really not a sauce person I guess!

As I mentioned before, TWO is hidden in some warehouse space off Ralph McGill Blvd. The location and exterior make it seem uber-hip and exclusive once you’re ushered into the impressive space looking out onto downtown Atlanta. We got to enjoy live music on our Saturday night visit, and the patio doors were open since the weather was nice. This was doubly good, because the large rotisserie in the middle of the floor released an abundance of smoke into the dining room, which probably would have been unbearable without fresh air.

Though our food was hit and miss, I’m willing to cut some slack since we only tried tapas and not actual entrees. TWO Urban Licks has a great bar, great atmosphere, and great space–including banquet space for private events. However, trendy, mediocre food is something I can find anywhere in Atlanta, so I’m not sure I’ll be making a return visit.

www.twourbanlicks.com