The S.O.S. opened on November 5, 2015, in a space that had previously held Paper Plane. Like its predecessor, it is a sister to the neighboring Victory restaurant. The look of the small space is upscale tropical, with dim lights providing the bulk of the mood, and an assist from a few small hula girl lamps and strategically placed orchids. The emphasis here is on the drinks: a full menu of classics and originals, crafted under the stewardship of bar lead Shanna Mayo. Many drinks on the menu are offered in scaled-up versions for sharing. There is a small menu of tiki-appropriate food available, like spare ribs and coconut shrimp.
SOS has definitely become my go-to Atlanta tiki bar. I love Trader Vics, and it is so special, however the drink quality has been mixed the past few years, and the food is good, but pricey.
Anyways, I've been going to SOS since the beginning and it's been interesting to see how they've evolved over the years. I'm glad that the Eat Me Speak Me food left. It was good, unique, with funny descriptions, but it didn't pair well with the drinks. The Caribbean Sweet E's is a better fit.
Drink quality is the best!!! And I love their Holiday menu around Christmas and I'm curious if they'll ever do the "Spring Broke" month again.
While the decor may not be the most "tiki" the drinks and tiki good company make up for it.
doctorsarsh is a regular at The S.O.S., and is usually there Weds/Thurs .
September 5, 2019, 3:30 PM
My favorite bar (tiki or not) in Atlanta. Personally, I like going here on Weds/Thurs nights when it's more chill. Unless you come to S.O.S. when they open on Friday or Saturday night, you will have to wait for seats inside or out. I come here for the happy hour punch cuz it's tasty, and different every time I come, plus it's 5 bucks and pretty strong. S.O.S. has legit tiki classics that rotate every few weeks to months, plus nice little twists of their own. Their drinks are strong and a bit pricey, but sooooo good. My other favorite SOS drink besides their happy hour punch is their frozen pain killa. S.O.S. also has an extensive rum collection for y'all rum connoisseurs. I think their decor and dim lighting is pretty nice mid-century tiki. Staff and bartenders wear Hawaiian shirts and tropical gear. Some of the patrons who come here even dress in Hawaiian shirts as well. The theme is tasteful and not overdoing it or cheezy here. The food here is great! Sweet E's Vittles is legit caribbean and tropical bbq and grub. SOS used to offer food from Eat Me Speak Me was overpriced, small and not worth the hype in my opinion. SOS also offers nice holiday-themed tropical drinks in December, but this place gets even more packed than usual during this time.
VERY small indoor space. You will be waiting for an hour to get a seat if its the weekend. Not much tiki aesthetics going on inside apart from the wall of mugs behind the bar. Drinks were fine and appropriately strong. But i have to say their promotional goodies almost make up for everything else lacking. They have amazing matchbooks, postcards and swizzle sticks that i have rarely seen other modern tiki bars bother to provide. Amazing! Love little details like that.
SOS has definitely become my go-to Atlanta tiki bar. I love Trader Vics, and it is so special, however the drink quality has been mixed the past few years, and the food is good, but pricey.
Anyways, I've been going to SOS since the beginning and it's been interesting to see how they've evolved over the years. I'm glad that the Eat Me Speak Me food left. It was good, unique, with funny descriptions, but it didn't pair well with the drinks. The Caribbean Sweet E's is a better fit.
Drink quality is the best!!! And I love their Holiday menu around Christmas and I'm curious if they'll ever do the "Spring Broke" month again.
While the decor may not be the most "tiki" the drinks and tiki good company make up for it.
doctorsarsh is a regular at The S.O.S., and is usually there Weds/Thurs .
September 5, 2019, 3:30 PM
My favorite bar (tiki or not) in Atlanta. Personally, I like going here on Weds/Thurs nights when it's more chill. Unless you come to S.O.S. when they open on Friday or Saturday night, you will have to wait for seats inside or out. I come here for the happy hour punch cuz it's tasty, and different every time I come, plus it's 5 bucks and pretty strong. S.O.S. has legit tiki classics that rotate every few weeks to months, plus nice little twists of their own. Their drinks are strong and a bit pricey, but sooooo good. My other favorite SOS drink besides their happy hour punch is their frozen pain killa. S.O.S. also has an extensive rum collection for y'all rum connoisseurs. I think their decor and dim lighting is pretty nice mid-century tiki. Staff and bartenders wear Hawaiian shirts and tropical gear. Some of the patrons who come here even dress in Hawaiian shirts as well. The theme is tasteful and not overdoing it or cheezy here. The food here is great! Sweet E's Vittles is legit caribbean and tropical bbq and grub. SOS used to offer food from Eat Me Speak Me was overpriced, small and not worth the hype in my opinion. SOS also offers nice holiday-themed tropical drinks in December, but this place gets even more packed than usual during this time.
VERY small indoor space. You will be waiting for an hour to get a seat if its the weekend. Not much tiki aesthetics going on inside apart from the wall of mugs behind the bar. Drinks were fine and appropriately strong. But i have to say their promotional goodies almost make up for everything else lacking. They have amazing matchbooks, postcards and swizzle sticks that i have rarely seen other modern tiki bars bother to provide. Amazing! Love little details like that.
This place is great! I was glad we arrived when it opened, as it filled up quickly. The vibe here is very welcoming and friendly. The music was perfect. The food selection was wacky, but I liked it. Drinks were strong! I wish they had their own mug for sale, but all our drinks were served in tiki-appropriate mugs. Staff was friendly and properly bedecked in Hawaiian shirts. If I lived in the area, I would come often and bring friends.
Bonus: kids are allowed before 9pm, and the staff made my tiki-babes feel welcome.
This bar is more of a neo-Tiki Bar. The decor shouts, “Hey! Don’t you know? I’m a Tiki Bar damnit! Can’t you tell by my neon lights and Hawaiian print?” The menu definitely let’s you know you’re here for drinks and not food. My friend and I were heavily confused by the food fare selections and decided to go straight for the drinks which were pretty straight up with us. They are typically heavy-on-the-alcohol Tiki bar drinks and had a few original twists of their own. We had the Kilauea. Mai-Tai. Koi-Koi. And Chaka-Cha. The Koi-Koi was the only one we weren’t quite sure if we liked or not. I think this tiny bar has great potential for a little pop-up speakeasy type of vibe but they are lacking on service. If you don’t grab seats at 6pm right when they open or aren’t directly at the bar, you’re gonna wait a while. So make sure to get your drinks and food order in at the same time. I know it’s a small bar, but they were packed and busy and could’ve used another server or at least a busser or hostess to help the overworked servers who seemed to keep forgetting we were sitting there. Overall I think this is a cute little bar. I did enjoy the little touches like the logo’d match books and coasters and postcards that you can take. And they did have glassware you could purchase. But because of its location and neo-Tiki Bar feel it did seem like a bar targeted to grad students that need a dimly lit escape rather than for experienced Tiki-philes that need more than drinks and a few neon signs to impress them.
I really liked this bar. While it may be light on tiki decor, make no mistake—the drinks are legit.
The punch, which is different each day, was lovely, and the Zombie was great, my fiancé loved her Mai Tai. What more could you want?
We didn’t have any food from the bar, but that’s only because we ate at Victory (which owns S.O.S) but it LOOKED great, so we’ll definitely try it next time!
Make no mistake: S.O.S. is not a bad bar. However it is not a Tiki bar. There have been a few significant improvements of late worth mentioning, however. A local pop-up restaurant, Eat Me Speak Me, has found a home in the kitchen at S.O.S. Eat Me Speak Me alone is worth a regular trip to S.O.S. for my partner and me. And this place is close to the MARTA rail entrance in Decatur, so, if you're hitting Trader Vic's, you can get there from the nearby Peachtree Center MARTA rail station.
A big group of friends and I hit this place for a few hours before we headed over to Trader Vic's. And this was a decent opening act. A nice, niche place. It is in a bustling section of Decatur, Ga, nestled in a little cluster of restaurants, condos, public transportation, and shops. It's got a great patio running between the buildings with benches and tables and little silhouettes of palm trees painted along the outside wall. Inside is nicely dark with a few comfy-looking booths, sparse tiki accents, and a well-stocked bar full of rum. Nice pick of drinks, which really seem to be the focus. Cheerful staff. They have the foundation down now--they just need a little more hula to make it a hut.
TikiKeith is a regular at The S.O.S., and is usually there Wednesdays.
December 6, 2016, 2:20 PM
Reviewed last year. Been a regular since, so here's the update: drinks are still highly creative, but very tiki. Drink quality has improved from a starting high point - they really do make the best mai tai I've ever had. Menu rotates every few months. Mai Tai and Zombie are always there, and there's always a local twist on at least two other tiki classics, plus 4 or 5 more house recipes.
Food menu has changed a bit. Sadly, the ceviche is no longer there, but they've added some quality empanadas. Ribs and wings are still great.
Bar staff is excellent. Good service (if you want to get in and out quickly, sit at the bar - booths are for hanging out a while, and there's normally just one barback doubling duty as a waiter.) and excellent drink knowledge. Good people, too.
Decor hasn't changed much. Still minimalistic, not enough tikis, and the place isn't brown. Traditionalists have Vic's downtown for that. SOS is a newer style place, but it's still dark, mysterious, and friendly.
Heard such great things about this bar. It's sad, but the service totally can ruin my experience. I spent more time worrying about if the server forgot about my order or if she forgot about me totally than experiencing the bar and it's atmosphere. Had to wait far past when I was done to get my tab to pay as well. Such a bummer. I'll still give it one more try when I'm back in ATL. Hopefully they can woo me on the second try.
Heard such great things about this bar. It's sad, but the service totally can ruin my experience. I spent more time worrying about if the server forgot about my order or if she forgot about me totally than experiencing the bar and it's atmosphere. Had to wait far past when I was done to get my tab to pay as well. Such a bummer. I'll still give it one more try when I'm back in ATL. Hopefully they can woo me on the second try.
Great little place...little. It opens at 6 so if you want a booth you better get there early. The bar only has about 6 seats. It's small but cool. It is located in a very cool area. Be prepared to pay for parking. Decatur has a lock on all parking spaces. Hammer lock. The drinks are great. They have souvenir glasses and mugs for sale. Their mugs aren't particularly tiki...they look more like pottery but they have some other standards for sale. I suggest you start your trip here by going next door to Raging Burrito for food. That place has a great tiki vibe (tiki mascot, tribal masks, torches) and a much more extensive menu and then head to SOS for drinks. Overall a good place.
We visited the first week they were open (Nov. 2015) and it is an interesting little place, with emphasis on the "little". The bar and booths might seat a total of 30 - 40 people at one time but it also gives the place a very intimate and cozy feel. Tiki decor was minimal, but what was there was pretty cool (hula girl lamps rocked!). The food was good, hot and served quickly. Nothing stood out for me except the pineapple dipping sauce which should be bottled it was so good. The flaming lime half in the mai tai is a great touch and although it differed in taste from the Trader Vic's version, it was good. Our group tried about five different drinks and sampled the different food choices and pronounced the S.O.S. to have definite tiki bar potential. There may be some plans afoot to enlarge the bar seating area and add more decor, so future visits are definitely in order.
TikiKeith is a regular at The S.O.S., and is usually there Wednesdays.
December 6, 2015, 8:17 AM
We've been several times at this point. Decor's a bit minimalistic. Not enough tikis, in my opinion. It is, however, appropriately dark, difficult to find (no sign on the street, down an alley which is lit by tiki torches), with a very good playlist of exotica and surf music.
Food is quite nice. They have the best ceviche I've ever had (spicy a bit, served with taro chips), and the other nosh bits are all well themed and high quality.
Drinks, also, are pretty good. They're coming at this from the experimental side - quite a few drinks are all over the place, but they taste good. The Nut Allergy, in particular, is bizarre with two whiskies, gin, mezcal, but it works and fits in with the traditional tiki drinks on the menu.
Traditional tiki drinks are straight out of Jeff Berry's books. Zombie's poured full strength, mai tai is original TV style, with modern rums of course.
Overall, good bar that wants really badly to be tiki. It's *almost* there.
It kind of felt like they had the space so they threw a coat of paint on it, put out a couple hula girl lights, copied several drink recipes out of book (and did so poorly IMO), put Hawaiian shirts on the staff and said this shall hence forth be called a Tiki Bar.
We went on a Friday night. Amazing live exotica performed by Kinky Waikiki. We sat on the patio among the torches and managed to stay toasty. The food is amazing. We recommend the Tikiyaki sliders. The place is still a little sparce in terms of Tiki decor, but there is plenty of room to improve. Nice and dark inside and a patio exclusively lit by torches. They have a great staff who seem to be new to the Tiki scene, but weren't we all once. When the band wasn't playing the music was appropriate. Some mid mod stylings mixed with exotica. Now, the drinks. After five of the nine drinks on the menu we feel they aren't up to the standards of Trader Vic's or The Maikai but they aren't bad either. Everything was served in tiki appropriate mugs even if most of them were dynasty mugs. Some of the drinks were a little whiskey bar'ish and missing the sweet notes. The mai tai was in the Vic's style minus the simple syrup and mint. All in all its off to a good start and just needs time to find its Tiki identity. I have high hopes for this place. Tune in next year, same bat time, same bat channel and we will re-review and see how they grow. Cheers!
Anyways, I've been going to SOS since the beginning and it's been interesting to see how they've evolved over the years. I'm glad that the Eat Me Speak Me food left. It was good, unique, with funny descriptions, but it didn't pair well with the drinks. The Caribbean Sweet E's is a better fit.
Drink quality is the best!!! And I love their Holiday menu around Christmas and I'm curious if they'll ever do the "Spring Broke" month again.
While the decor may not be the most "tiki" the drinks and tiki good company make up for it.