4th Avenue Lounge

The lounge has the physical address of the long-ago diner the Lamar Restaurant — 209 S. Lamar St. — but the slate has been scrubbed clean in the service of a sleek, upscale after-hours gathering spot.

Conversation is paramount in this plush pocket of comfort, and even the name reads like the sort of easy direction you’d get from a pal. Lamar is the fourth street down from State Street; the lounge sits right at the corner of Lamar at Pearl.

The hybrid cocktail lounge mixes fine dining, lounge, and bar, all together in one spot. That ambiance is the primary draw in a city where people are more accustomed to white tablecloth fine dining or a full-out club/bar.

Top Shelf Food & Drink
Carefully crafted small plates can do shared or solo service, and alongside carefully crafted cocktails (including flaming drinks), they amp up happy hour and beyond. Seafood dip hits all the right rich, creamy, cheesy notes with fried wontons on the side. Juicy tiger shrimp nestle atop linguine matchsticks bathed in a tasty Alfredo sauce. Sweet potato fries enjoy a friendly drizzle of homemade caramel sauce and a trio of sliders (turkey burgers this time, but beef and pulled chicken are options) hits the spot with delicious intrigue.

Stay a While
TVs in the bar and lounge are turned off at 8 p.m. (unless a headliner game or other enticement warrants otherwise) — all to foster the communicating/networking focus. Several screens are coolly camouflaged amid black mirrors above the bar; patrons try to guess how many TVs are there. The music, a good-mood mix of hits from every genre, stays at a level that works for conversation.

A whimsical bubble chair hangs in one corner. One wall reflects a hexagon mosaic in shades of silver and gray, and another corner boast sliding glass panels that can open to the sidewalk and street sounds for an indoor/outdoor vibe.

Sections in the lounge — from 8- to 10-tops to as intimate as three or four-tops can be reserved on Friday or Saturday nights, or even during the week for happy hour. And, while clientele can range from corporate to social, the draw is the same, a "celebration destination.”