University of Georgia Guide: Where to Eat, Drink & Stay in Athens
Best restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks near campus – built for students, parents, alumni, and game day visitors.
Whether you’re a Georgia student still building your
rotation, an incoming freshman learning Athens, a parent in town for the
weekend, an alum back for a Saturday Between the Hedges, or a prospective
student getting a feel for campus, this guide pulls together the restaurants,
bars, hotels, and campus landmarks worth knowing near the University of
Georgia.
Athens gets busiest around move-in, parents weekend,
graduation, and Bulldogs football Saturdays, when hotels fill months out and
dinner reservations become part of the plan. The areas to know are campus, the
downtown grid just across Broad Street, and Five Points south of campus – and
everything below is organized so you can find what you need fast.
Best restaurants in Athens
Athens eating is easy to map: the downtown grid across
Broad Street from North Campus handles everything from diner burgers to a
proper date night, Five Points south of campus holds the neighborhood
favorites, and Milledge Avenue is where the special-occasion dinners live.
Everything below is on the map; the standouts are the ones locals still line up
at when the students go home for summer.
Featured restaurants to check out
Last Resort Grill
174-184 W Clayton St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
An Athens staple since 1992, set in a space that spent the late ’60s as a legendary music club. The Southern-with-a-Southwestern-lean menu and the dessert case make it one of the few places that works equally well for students, parents, and alumni.
The Place
229 E Broad St, Athens, GA 30608, USA
Refined Southern comfort food right on Broad Street facing campus – fried chicken, shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles. An easy call for group meals and one of the first tables to fill on game weekends.
Mama's Boy Restaurant
197 Oak St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
The Athens breakfast institution, famous for its biscuits and Georgia peach French toast. Expect a wait on weekend mornings, especially during parents weekend, and consider it worth it.
The National
232 W Hancock Ave, Athens, GA 30601, USA
Chef Peter Dale’s Mediterranean-leaning restaurant next to the Ciné art house, and a longtime date-night and parents-weekend favorite. Book ahead – it’s the reservation locals make first.
Clocked!Diner
259 W Washington St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
A retro downtown diner that’s been flipping creative burgers and hand-spinning milkshakes for more than 25 years. Students, musicians, and locals all treat it as a downtown default.
Five and Ten
1073 S Milledge Ave, Athens, GA 30605, USA
The classic Athens special-occasion restaurant, set in a historic home on Milledge Avenue. Elevated Southern cooking (the frogmore stew is the longtime signature) and the default booking for graduation dinners and celebrations.
Best bars in Athens
Athens has a reputation for packing more bars into its downtown grid than almost anywhere else and once you see how many fit within a few walkable blocks, it’s easy to understand why. You’ll find everything from rooftop cocktails and laid-back dives to live-music venues and full-on dance floors. This is a music town at heart, so the line between bar and venue often blurs in the best way. On football Saturdays, the entire grid turns red and black. Arrive early or embrace the line.
Featured bars to check out
Blue Sky Bar
247 E Broad St Ste B, Athens, GA 30601, USA
A rooftop bar directly across Broad Street from North Campus, with solid cocktails and a whiskey list that runs deep. One of the better places downtown to actually hear your conversation.
Paloma Park
235 W Washington St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
Margaritas, tacos, lawn games, and a big indoor-outdoor courtyard. Built for big groups, birthdays, and game days – and it takes reservations, so parents can join without a scramble.
Bourbon Street
333 E Broad St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
A New Orleans-themed party bar, plain and simple. Loud, crowded, heavy on drink specials and dancing – this is where the real nights out end up.
1785 Bar and Grill
420 E Clayton St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
Named for UGA’s founding year and one of the main student party spots downtown. Big, loud, and usually packed late – choose it when the plan is dancing and losing half your group.
Trappeze Pub
269 N Hull St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
Athens’ original craft beer bar, with a deep rotating draft list and proper pub food. Where grad students, alumni, and beer nerds settle in while the undergrads head down the block.
Cutters Pub
120 E Clayton St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
A long-running Clayton Street pub with sports on the TVs and zero pretension. The straightforward college-night-out stop for students and younger alumni.
Best hotels near Athens
The short version: the UGA Hotel at the Georgia Center is
the only true on-campus stay, downtown gives you the boutique options and
walkable dinners, and everything close to campus sells out the moment football
and graduation dates are announced. Book something refundable the day you know
your dates.
Featured hotels to check out
Hyatt Place Athens / Downtown
412 N Thomas St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
A dependable choice in the middle of downtown, directly connected to The Classic Center and within walking distance of much of central Athens.
Hotel Indigo Athens Downtown - Univ Area by IHG
500 College Ave, Athens, GA 30601, USA
Probably the most distinctive downtown option. It feels more local and boutique than the standard chains, while still being close to campus, restaurants and bars.
University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel
1197 S Lumpkin St, Athens, GA 30602, USA
The obvious recommendation for parents, alumni and anyone visiting specifically for UGA. It has 200 rooms and suites directly on campus, making it one of the most practically useful hotels in the collection.
Courtyard by Marriott Athens Downtown
390 E Washington St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
This property opened in summer 2025 and is a short walk from UGA and downtown.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Athens Downtown University Area
750 E Broad St, Athens, GA 30601, USA
The studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites have full kitchens, and the hotel sits between campus and The Classic Center. It is especially useful for families, groups and visitors staying more than a night or two.
SpringHill Suites by Marriott Athens Downtown/University Area
220 S Hull St, Athens, GA 30605, USA
Located immediately beside downtown and UGA, with larger suite-style rooms and an easy walk to restaurants, campus and nightlife.
Campus landmarks worth seeing
You don’t need a full campus
tour to hit the essentials. These anchor any first visit to the University of Georgia.
Featured landmarks
The Arch UGA
US-78 BUS, Athens, GA 30602, USA
The definitive UGA photo stop and the exact point where North Campus meets downtown Athens. Tradition says students shouldn’t walk under it until they graduate – standing in front for a picture is completely fair game.
Sanford Stadium
100 Sanford Dr, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Home of the Dawgs and the center of everything on football Saturdays, with the famous privet hedges ringing the field since 1929. Seeing it from the bridge is worth doing even on a quiet day; being inside with 93,000 people is something else entirely.
Tate Student Center
45 Baxter St, Athens, GA 30602, USA
The everyday center of student life – food, studying, meet-ups between classes. Stop in if you want to see what campus actually feels like on a normal day.
Trial Gardens
220 W Green St, Athens, GA 30602, USA
A colorful horticulture test garden hidden in the middle of campus, free and open to the public during daylight hours. Easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there, and especially pretty in the warmer months.
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Frequently asked questions
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