Since I'm hardly an expert on sports, I'll have to concentrate on the bar part of what makes Stats, one of Concentrics Hospitality's newly christened concepts, a sports bar.

Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
The southern hummus and pimento cheese is one of the recommended dishes.
Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
Cheese fondue is one of the pretty 'pre-game' appetizers at Stats.
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For starters, it has a bar — more than one actually — and on multi-levels. But the main level's bar is engulfed in television screens bordered by neon stock ticker readouts. The lighting is dim, but not in that candle lit, romantic sort of way — more in an everyone-looks-better-with-the-lights-low sort of way. A shoulder of space near the kitchen is bedecked with more screens that stretch from two stories to the floor.

Beside the bar are tables where guys (or gals) can tap their own beer while peering through the glass of the sound booth for the broadcast of 790 the Zone (which was never broadcasting on any of my visits, and whose tagline, in bold print on the Stats menu is "we know what guys want." Right.).

Those Who Know Sports seem to want these elements in the places they seek out to catch a game and drink with buddies: unadulterated access to large televisions screens, flowing amounts of beer and obnoxious boy radio when deemed necessary.

Stats has these, plus an open-air rooftop bar with a retractable roof and two firepits, ten private rooms (all with point-of-sale-systems for the free flow of draught), and enough bathrooms downstairs to ensure that no matter how crowded the place gets, Those Who Know Sports will never have to wait in line when going to see a man about a dog, so to speak.

The bathrooms, incidentally, as well as the menu, which is printed on broadsheet and touted as a stats sheet, are two of the cleverest things about this megaplex of beer and boys (though there are plenty of girls, too). Both are lined with statistics that make for a fun read, whether you're powdering your nose or deciding whether to get a beer or a cocktail.

It's nice to know, for instance, that the Little League World Series is held in Williamsport, Penn. and that the Green Bay Packers were the first NFL team to travel by plane. The cocktail list sports names like "gold glove" and "knock out," but the drinks (though not pink) are clearly designed for Those Who Don't Know Sports.

The food is an ambitious reach. It has been my experience with Those Who Know Sports that they are often satisfied with whatever crunches and is covered with cheese when it comes to eating. But Stats offers a taste far beyond the typical carb-and-cheese load — butter bean hummus, cheese fondue and tuna tataki are awfully pretty as part of a "pre-game" appetizer list. Pan-roasted rainbow trout, "sassy" sliders and caramelized apple crepe cake are downright fussy.

A nacho platter is, as the menu states, enough for four – a mound of corn chips piled with refried black beans and pulled chicken (which was far too dry) and crowned with two hot wings is a meal, and certainly nothing complicated enough to distract from a 13-inning tie breaker. The chunky butterbean hummus served with more chips (housemade corn crackers never materialized), plus a plucky, cheesy pimento cheese are much better, even if both sound like bridge club offerings compared to the other heavy hitters on the menu.

"Mexican butter" is nothing more than guacamole — very good guacamole — served with a light, fresh roasted tomato salsa. An all-beef dog dressed up with fancy pickles and hot Chinese mustard and sliders of sweet-but-sassy barbecued beef and a cheese burger are the best things on the menu. Figures. Fancier fare just goes beyond what this kitchen can produce.

Barbecued bacon-wrapped shrimp with grits is a too-sweet, goopy mess; the shrimp overcooked and dull, the bacon AWOL and the grits without flavor. The gruyere-laced cheese dip for the fondue is grainy, though sliced Granny Smith apples and chunks of kielbasa make the dish redeemable. Buttermilk drop biscuits are more like – pardon the analogy – hockey pucks and blackened grouper tacos are weighed down with black beans that overpower the fish and make the hard corn shells soggy.

All the servers, some of whom are very attentive, will brag about the chocolate pudding cake for dessert, but it is a fake out designed to lure Those Who Know Sports into ordering anything chocolate. In reality, it is a mediocre mass, less fudgy than it needs to be with no depth of flavor. The big housemade chocolate chip cookies with ice cream are much more appealing.

Owners Bob Amick and Todd Rushing have clearly tried hard to make Stats an all-things-to-all-Those-Who-Know-Sports kind of place. And Amick should be commended for continuing to foster burgeoning downtown with this, the second of two restaurants he's opened in the area in less than a year's time (the other is Room at Twelve).

But Stats kitchen has bitten off more than it can chew with so many items offered, many of which are far more involved than the standard sports bar fare of a burger with fries. Okay, so maybe I don't know sports, but it seems to me that most players are rarely all things to all people. With a few noted exceptions, don't most specialize in one or two things and concentrate on doing them very well? The best things on this menu — sliders, hot dogs, pimento cheese — are also the simplest.

There's no shame in just offering a great burger with fries.

Food: Sportsbar

Service: Spotty; some servers are top notch, others seem a little out to lunch
Address, telephone: 300 Marietta St. NW, 404-885-1472
Price range: $$
Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express
Hours of operation: Open for lunch and dinner Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. (bar is open Fri/Sat until 2 a.m.)
Best dishes: "Mexican butter" with salsa, southern hummus and pimento cheese, sassy sliders, all-beef hot dog, housemade cookies with ice cream
Vegetarian selections: Fried green tomato salad, hummus and pimento cheese, diner chips with blue cheese
Children: Early dinner hours and lunch; there is a menu for kids 10 and under
Parking: Validated parking for up to three hours in the deck across the street or on street
Reservations: Accepted
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: Rooftop only
Noise level: High
Patio: Rooftop
Takeout: Yes
Web site: www.statsatl.com

KEY TO RATINGS
Outstanding: Sets the standard for fine dining in the region.
Excellent: One of the best in the Atlanta area.
Very good: Merits a drive if you're looking for this kind of dining.
Good: A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit or miss.
Fair: The food is more miss than hit.
Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Poor.

Pricing code: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 and less; $$$ means $50 and less; $$ means $25 and less; $ means $15 and less. (The price code represents a meal for one that includes appetizer, entree and dessert without including tax, tip and cocktails.)