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I ALMOST ALWAYS prefer dining at the bar — especially if it's at a fancy restaurant with an accomplished bartender.

For me, the bar is the restaurant's province of conviviality, spectacle and supreme enjoyment, with its own special, almost sub rosa kind of ritual and romance. Certainly, if you're someone who thinks that an expertly made cocktail or a thoughtfully chosen glass of wine (or a perfectly poured beer, for that matter) is the first step on the journey to a great meal, the bar is where the action is.

LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC Staff (ENLARGE)
Restaurant Eugene's mixologist Greg Best displays drinks Yuletide Punch, Poinsettia and Sinful Cider.
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Oddly, my infatuation with eating at the bar probably began as a child at a place called Bugler's Inn. It was a sturdy little rural pub at the end of our road, where working men and farmers would congregate to eat and drink and swap hunting and fishing stories. On Saturdays — when I would often ride along with my dad on trips to the feed store or the hardware store — the last stop on the way home was usually Bugler's.

As a country boy, used to open spaces and fresh air, the dank atmosphere was absolutely exotic: an ambrosial mix of malt and tobacco aromas, wafting blue smoke, buzzing neon beer signs and jars filled with pickled eggs and bright red sausages. But the best thing about Bugler's was that my dad would always let me perch on a bar stool beside him. And I would get to have a bag of potato chips or a hot dog and a 7-Up, while peering over the wooden bar, watching the bartender conjure his magic with clinking bottles and glasses.

That scene is still lodged in my sense memory, even if nowadays my tastes are a little more sophisticated. While recently sitting at the splendorous bar at Bacchanalia, sipping a Muscadine Sparkler, I couldn't help but chuckle thinking of Bugler's. The effervescent, floral, slightly musky concoction was dreamed up by Bacchanalia resident mixologist Jeff Hagley. Like many of the men and women working behind the bar at fine-dining restaurants around Atlanta right now, Hagley is an heir to Jerry Thomas — the 18th-century American drinks master, who virtually invented the modern cocktail and authored the classic volume known in various editions as "The Bartenders Guide" or "The Bon-Vivant's Companion." Thomas, who worked at such swanky places as the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, would no doubt have been impressed by the bountiful bar at Bacchanalia. Like the rest of the restaurant, it's elegant but understated, with architectural accents retained from the building's origins as a warehouse. And Hagley has a huge array of top-shelf spirits and fresh culinary ingredients at his disposal, from fresh fruits, berries and juices to herbs and spices.

The connection between eating and drinking is underscored by the wall behind the bar, where plate glass windows offer views directly into the stainless-bright kitchen on the other side. The dim lighting in the bar area creates a theatrical illusion, as if you're watching the bustling chefs cooking on a stage or a movie screen.

Bacchanalia is one of the most celebrated restaurants in Atlanta — and one of the most exclusive and pricey — with table reservations taken up to three months in advance and an all-organic, $72 prix fixe menu that is the pinnacle of special occasion and expense-account dining. Less known is the fact that any part of the entire four-course menu, including the wine pairings, is available a la carte at the bar.

While my companion and I had cocktails there, we considered the food selections and settled on sharing a couple of starters, a main course and a dessert. That included a lovely bowl of Georgia white shrimp pilau with a fragrant blend of Carolina Gold rice, bacon, turnips and greens; an amazingly buttery roasted lamb loin with roasted beets and spaghetti squash; and a hot-sweet chipotle pumpkin flan. All told, our food bill added up to $87.

Granted, we doubled that total by splurging on wine pairings for each of us. But we ate and drank exactly what we wanted. And to our surprise, we were treated to all the customary prix fixe amuse, intermezzo and after-dinner nibbles enjoyed by those dining at tables. Plus, the service was every bit as knowledgeable and professional as it is in the dining room — with the added bonus of getting to chat with Hagley while he mixed our cocktails and offered tastings of several different wines.

Bacchanalia may take its name from the mystic festivals that celebrated the Roman god of wine, but having a meal at the bar here is more like being transported up to Valhalla, the glorious hall where Norse warriors could eat and drink forever after they'd died and gone to heaven, or maybe even back to Bugler's Inn.

Bacchanalia: 1198 Howell Mill Road N.W. 404-365-0410. www.starprovisions.com.

WHERE THE MIXOLOGIST IS YOUR SERVER

Two of my favorite places to eat at the bar — Restaurant Eugene in Buckhead and Shaun's in Inman Park — couldn't have more different atmospheres. But each features a stellar young mixologist, creating sophisticated drinks that give these chef-run restaurants an extra shot of personality.

Restaurant Eugene

At Restaurant Eugene, the feel is intimate and the look is old money clubby with a modern twist. The tiny bar, shoehorned into a corner at the end of the stately entry hall, only seats five, making it almost seem like an afterthought. But as much as Eugene chef/owner Linton Hopkins has made this little jewel of a restaurant into a destination for local and seasonal ingredients and updated Southern-inspired cooking, bartender Greg Best has brought new energy to the old-fashioned cocktail.

Watching Best mix up one of his cleverly named culinary-style creations — such as The Undeniable Truth, made with Sarticious gin, Noilly Prat vermouth and DOP Carte Noir extra-virgin olive oil — is always an entertaining start to the evening. But dining at Best's bar can be even more fun.

The small seasonal bar menu features the likes of oysters on the half shell with vodka pickled ginger granita, crispy fried bread and butter pickles with spicy rémoulade and pimento cheese dip with freshly baked breadsticks. And if you want to venture further into Hopkins' cooking there are delicacies like roasted Tanglewood Farms pheasant with potato rösti and hen of the woods mushrooms or pan-roasted gulf black grouper with wild ramp and tasso grits, and Louisiana crawfish butter.

• Cocktail to try: Sergio Leone, made with Michter's small batch rye, Disaranno amaretto and Angostura bitters.

• Word from the mixologist: "When dining at the bar, always take the bartenders' suggestions. We have nowhere to go if we steer you wrong, so we're not going to use any Jedi mind tricks to up-charge you or sneak you into something you don't want."

2277 Peachtree Road N.E., 404-355-0321, www.restauranteugene.com.

Shaun's

At Shaun's in Inman Park, the scene is bistro cozy but very hip, attracting a younger, stylish crowd. The area around the eight-seat bar can get hectic, especially later on, when there's often a DJ and there are more drinkers than eaters. But the happening ambiance, chef/owner Shaun Doty's solid, simply prepared contemporary American fare and the flair bartender Lara Creasy brings to the cocktail menu are a combination unlike any other in Atlanta.

Creasy is a somewhat reserved, steady presence behind the bar. When it comes to her cocktails, though, she lets her imagination run wild, sometimes using unorthodox beverages such as beer or cider in her concoctions. The Sauce is an apple-flavored riot made with Calvados, Berentzen Apfelkorn, WoodChuck Cider and cinnamon.

Many of Doty's dishes wouldn't be out of place at a gastro pub, so Creasy won't blink if you order the Wagyu beef cheeseburger or the pub-style fish and chips with a Brooklyn Lager — in fact she's created a cocktail with that brew. But don't miss the creamy shrimp and grits, with poached egg and pork belly, or heritage pork schnitzel with vidalia onion salad.

• Cocktail to try: La Griotte, made with Brooklyn Lager, Cherry Heering liqueur, brandied cherries and lemon.

• Word from the mixologist: "Remember that even if the bar isn't busy, we're still making drinks for the whole restaurant, so be patient."

1029 Edgewood Ave., 404-577-4358, www.shaunsrestaurant.com

— Bob Townsend