There are something like 4.7 bazillion establishments in metro Atlanta that serve booze. If you think picking the top fifty and then ranking them seems like a fool's errand, you would not be alone. And indeed, we never intended to rank them—just list our favorite fifty bars alphabetically. But then someone (okay, it may have been the editor) said, "Shouldn't we say who's best?" Then someone else said, "Rank them all!" So this is how we did it: Each bar could score a maximum of 100 points—up to ten each for setting, food, activities, the mix of people, and service. Up to thirty points for quality and depth of drinks (this is a bars package after all). And finally, up to twenty points for the "X factor"—that ineffable quality that may defy easy description but nevertheless makes the place special. (Clermont Lounge, we're looking at you.)