From Paper Plane’s Facebook page…

Aloha, Gang. We have an announcement to make over this airplane intercom thing. As many of you know, Paper Plane has stopped food service this month. And at the end of August, after two-and-a-half years, we will stop all service. Paper Plane is taking its last flight, soaring off into the Decatur sunset. Which is to say, you should come by and enjoy our award-winning drinks and lovely staff while you can. You only have until the end of the month! Many of you have asked what’s going to replace Paper Plane. We’re happy to report that Wal-Mart will set up a small store in that space. Perfect for the Decatur-ite looking for guns, bullets, lawn chairs, half-off Christmas gear—really, anything. Of course, we are kidding. Put down your protest signs. We’ve got something even more (coco)nuts than that. See you soon, and until then, Mahalo, Y’all!

Photo courtesy of Paper Plane’s Facebook page

Hee hee.  File this under, “ummm…..OK”.  From TMZ…

Norman Reedus‘ rep tells TMZ, the actor’s relationship with former co-star Emily Kinney is strictly platonic.

We got these pics of Norman and Emily at Paper Plane, a dive bar in Decatur, GA. It looks real chummy, but the two have been good pals for a while and that’s it.

She had a concert in the area earlier in the evening and they hung out afterward.

Photo courtesy of YouTube

UPDATE: OK, so apparently this issue is a couple months old.  Still sorta interesting though!

Kimball House, Brick Store Pub, Paper Plane and Leon’s all placed among the Top 10 bars in Atlanta, according to Atlanta Magazine.

Here’s their full Top 10 list, with the Decatur spots bolded.

1. Wrecking Bar
2. Kimball House
3. Brick Store Pub
4. Paper Plane
5. Porter Beer Bar
6. Manuel’s
7. The Sound Table
8. Blind Willie’s
9. Mary’s
10. Leon’s Full Service

Decatur’s Mac Magee (#18) and Pinewood (#27) also delivered a strong showing.

As to how they determined the rank, here’s the lowdown…

Each bar could score a maximum of 100 points—up to ten each for setting, food, activities, the mix of people, and service. Up to thirty points for quality and depth of drinks (this is a bars package after all). And finally, up to twenty points for the “X factor”—that ineffable quality that may defy easy description but nevertheless makes the place special. (Clermont, we’re looking at you.)

What do we think?  Seem about right or do you feel an inebriated rant coming on?

Paper Plane adds a couple more “Top” awards to its list.  The first is from Esquire, which named the Decatur spot among their “Best Bars in America”.

Also of late, Kimball House and Paper Plane have found themselves on the same “Top” lists.  FM Fats points out another.  Bill Addison has placed both Kimball House and Paper Plane on Eater’s latest 38 Best Cocktail Lounges Across America list.

Here are their respective blurbs…

Kimball House

“Some of the richest bartender talent in the Atlanta metro area” is stationed here, according to Eater critic Bill Addision. In addition to an extensive list of traditionally served absinthes and refined cocktails, Addison says, “sitting at the bar, drinking cocktails and slurping oysters, is the power move” at this French-inflected restaurant and bar housed in a former railway depot built in the late 1800s.

Paper Plane

Eater critic Bill Addison thinks this Southern bar is “the hottest place to drink in the Atlanta area,” though their tight menu also gets noticed for excellence. Addison finds that head bartender Paul Calvert is a “virtuoso at blending potent flavors compatibly.” Cocktails like the In Bloom with Mezcal, Italian vermouth, Campari, St. Germain and rose water (there’s that expert blending at work) are interesting to say the least, and the atmosphere is intimate. Let it be known they welcome “Members and Non-Members Only” into the place.

Photo courtesy of Paper Plane’s Facebook page

FM Fats points to this article from The Guardian “Top 10 bars and clubs in Atlanta“.  Here’s the Paper Plane blurb…

As with Prohibition, finding Decatur hideaway Paper Plane can require ingenuity. Locals may direct you to Victory Sandwich Bar + Emporium but the actual entrance is an easily overlooked door in a far-from-obvious back hallway. In aviation terms, the nostalgic interior is hardly bigger than a puddle jumper, with a handful of padded-leather booths and a snug bar just like the one in Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. The retro-inspired cocktails, however, qualify as jet fuel. For a quick liftoff, try the Tart Breaker: rye whiskey, campari, and pecan.
• 340 Church Street, Decatur, the-paper-plane.com. Open Mon-Thu 5pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 5pm-1am

Two Decatur bars have a place on Southern Living’s recent “100 Best Bars in the South” list.  Both Kimball House and Paper Plane found a spot.  Of course there are a few ATL bars on the list as well!

The site suggests the following beverages at the two spots:

• Kimball House: Pecan Old Fashioned with Medley Brothers Heritage bourbon and Elliott pecans
• Paper Plane: The Permanent Collection—Fernet-Branca, cognac, Bénédictine herbal liqueur, and bitters

h/t: Eater Atlanta 

Photo courtesy of Kimball House

Hey, you all remember that announcement about Decatur’s first bar within a bar/sandwich shop with an alley entrance, Paper Plane?  Well, according to an in-depth interview on Creative Loafing with barkeep Paul Calvert, it opens this Friday!

What?  You’d rather just look at photos of the interior?  OK, here are some from Eater Atlanta.  (Thanks Michael!)