FOOD & MIXOLOGY Every day is a new day for bartender Epiphany Louis

By PATRICK SAUNDERS

When Atlanta residents want an eclectic intown option to satisfy their Mexican food fix, or just a spot to grab a drink, the answer in recent years has often been Across The Street in Old Fourth Ward. Lesbian couple Ali Wild and Lana Banks opened the eclectic neighborhood patio bar and bistro in 2006, and later added neighborhood grocery store The Market, that’s, well, across the street from Across The Street.

One of the reasons ATS, as regulars call it, has proven popular is bartender Epiphany Louis. You can usually find the Atlanta native there on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when she’s not freelance writing, running marathons or traveling with her girlfriend.

We bellied up to the bar and got the scoop from Louis on ATS, her favorite and least favorite parts of the job and more.

How long have you been bartending?

relationships with people and make them feel like the most special person out there, or actually the only table out there really.

A few bartenders came and went and they had a bartending opening one day and they asked if I had bartended yet and I said yeah. They said, ‘Well, if you want to do it, it’s your time.’ So I got behind the bar and was nervous as shit because it had been so long and I was fairly new at the restaurant. I didn’t know where anything was behind the bar, I didn’t know anything [laughs]. But I just kind of made stuff up as I went and it stuck.

What do you like about bartending?

Epiphany Louis waited tables before taking her place behind the bar at Across The Street. (Photo by Patrick Saunders)

What’s something that customers should know about your job that would surprise them?