Best of Atlanta 2017: Food & Drink
Neighborhood gem: Battle & Brew
With six different gaming systems, this bar is the stuff of teenage dreams.
Barbecue: B’s Cracklin’
This Atlanta location of pitmaster Bryan Furman’s barbecue joint—the original is in Savannah—couldn’t have been more warmly embraced by Riverside, a neighborhood in need of choice dining options.
Caretaker: Steve Palmer
There are many heroes in our local food community, but this shout-out goes to the Indigo Road Restaurant Group’s Steve Palmer, who brought a chapter of his organization Ben’s Friends here in April.
Korean fried chicken: Thank U Chicken
Enter Thank U Chicken and you feel as if you’ve been teleported to Seoul, where frying chicken is almost a sport.
Health food: Upbeet
Erik Maier’s simultaneously sleek and bubbly fast-casual restaurant relies on organic ingredients and a crew of high-spirited bowl-builders.
Pop-up: Talat Market
Parnass Savang serves Thai-inspired dinners three nights a week at Gato in Candler Park, quietly revolutionizing what Atlanta thought of this nation’s cuisine.
Tastemaker: Anne Quatrano
Anne Quatrano boldly moved Bacchanalia to a relatively unknown industrial area on the Westside in 1999. Now, she’s done it again, designing a stand-alone building to house her flagship and its adjoining cafe, Star Provisions, just one mile away, in another offbeat location.
Bright idea: Black Restaurant Week
Black Restaurant Week—launched in Houston, Texas, in 2016—came here for the first time this August.
New chef: Brian So
Brian So took one of eight spots on Atlanta’s best new restaurants list this year for his French technique-driven cooking at Spring in Marietta.
Do-good disposal system: Compostwheels
The idea: Conserve your food scraps, and Compostwheels will pick them up and turn them into nutrient-rich soil that they then deliver to nearby farms. That means less food waste going to local landfills and more local food production.
Empire builder: Revelator Coffee Company
The fast-expanding Birmingham, Alabama–based roaster hasn’t put its name above any of the Octane coffee shops it acquired in April, but its products are on the shelves.
New Sichuan game: Yummy Spicy
Masterpiece still holds the title as Atlanta’s best Sichuan restaurant, but Yummy Spicy’s arrival on Buford Highway means you don’t have to drive OTP to get your fix.
Gluten-free eats: Mediterranea
Those who are more interested in good food than restrictive diets typically have no idea that this charming Mediterranean bistro in Grant Park is a gluten-free haven. From its wine list to its hospitality, Mediterranea raises the bar for this neighborhood.
Americanized Chinese: Double Dragon
Michael Lo and George Yu of Taiyo in Decatur are reinterpreting old-school Americanized Chinese dishes such as hot and sour soup, General Tso’s chicken, and Mongolian beef with organic ingredients. Their place in downtown Oakhurst is family-friendly, yet grown-up.
24-hour doughnuts: Sublime
Just like the original location near Georgia Tech, the new Briarcliff Road outpost of local doughnut brand Sublime is open 24/7. Somehow, though, the bright lights and ice cream parlor vibe feel more conducive to satisfying late-night cravings.
The Mercedes-Benz of stadium food
Despite the $1.5 billion construction price tag, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is all about “fan-first pricing.” If you love fried chicken, go to Molly B’s Cookhouse. Can’t decide between a snack or a meal? Go to one of four Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q locations.
Menu design: Food Terminal
Those of you who like to take home menus from restaurants will have no luck at Food Terminal. This is not a one-sheet; it’s a 50-page glossy magazine featuring full-bleed photos and faux cover lines.
Cuisine to try: Burmese at Royal Myanmar
Travel to Clarkston to taste salads perfumed with tea leaves, plates of silky “tofu” made with chickpea flour instead of soybeans, and rich coconut curries.
Big, bad salad: Petit Chou
Petit Chou is great for a number of reasons. But perhaps the number one reason to return to this Cabbagetown cafe again and again is for chef Diana Presson Eller’s “the Whole Chou” salad.
Pizza (Plus): O4W Pizza
Doughy, crispy, semi-deep-dish Grandma Pie reigns supreme at Anthony Spina’s O4W Pizza, which he moved to Duluth from Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward last summer. But that Grandma Pie! Sizzled in a cast-iron pan and finished with whole fresh basil leaves, it’s a must-order.
Worth the drive: Jerry’s Gourmet Burgers
Granted, Villa Rica is a good 45 minutes from downtown Atlanta, and granted, Jerry’s Gourmet Burgers only sells a few lowbrow food items. But “burger” is in the name for a reason, and it’s a burger you should travel for.
Legislation: Senate Bill 85
Victory! As of last spring, local breweries can sell beer directly to customers.
Tapas: Bar Mercado
Castellucci Hospitality Group’s new tapas restaurant in Krog Street Market exhibits a knack for conviviality and passion for all things Spanish.
New all-day eats: The Canteen
The concepts that make up the Canteen, which the General Muir’s Todd Ginsberg and his partners opened near Georgia Tech in June, aren’t necessarily new, but packed into what they’re calling a “micro food hall," they feel fresh.
New food court: Jusgo Supermarket
The best part of Jusgo Supermarket in Duluth is the food court, a quick study of regional Chinese cuisines. Craft your own Sichuan-style dry hot pots at Uncle Zhu, and try Cantonese barbecue at BBQ Corner.
Homecoming: Shaun Doty
Chef Doty is back in the kitchen again at the Federal, a bistro-cum-steakhouse that he and partner Lance Gummere opened in Midtown late last year.
Vegetarian: VeGreen Vegetarian Fusion Restaurant
VeGreen puts an international spin on its eclectic menu of vegetarian fare. The dishes lean Asian, with some Chinese and some Japanese influences, but here and there, you’ll find a wild card such as pumpkin “cream” soup. Vegans are welcome here, and carnivores, too.
Noodles: LanZhou Ramen
Walk into LanZhou and you see a showcase window framed in neon. It overlooks a kitchen where chefs stretch, bang, and twirl dough for the house specialty of this new central China–style noodle shop in Doraville.
Venezuelan: Arepa Mia
Venezuela-born Lis Hernandez has been feeding Atlantans arepas at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market since 2012. This summer, she moved the second location of Arepa Mia (first opened in 2014) from Decatur to Avondale Estates, where she has a patio, more parking, and new menu items.
Overdue recognition: Miller Union
This year, after five nominations, Miller Union chef Steven Satterfield brought home a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast.
Action dining: Kula Revolving Sushi Bar
Conveyor-belt dining has arrived in Doraville. The idea is to serve a large number of customers quickly and cheaply, sending inexpensive sushi ($2.25 each) and small plates through the dining room on a mechanized runway.
Late-night drinking: Bon Ton
This Vietnamese-Cajun boil house with a consciously gaudy New Orleans vibe is a sultry Midtown spot to drink—and drink late.
Lowbrow Shakespeare: Shakespeare on Draught
With only one rehearsal before each production of their five-show season, the classically trained actors have just as much fun as the audience, who are encouraged to participate. If anyone forgets a line, everyone drinks.
Al fresco bar: 8Arm
A Technicolor pink-and-green-lined shipping container, a few communal tables, and Joshua Fryer’s commitment to classic cocktails have turned the tiny space next to 8Arm into Poncey-Highland’s buzziest outdoor bar.
Neighborhood gem: Brine Seafood Shack
Marc Taft is wooing fans with oysters and crab cakes at this modern two-story structure—definitely not a shack—plunked in the middle of the ritzy new Avalon extension last April.
Hot trend: Rage rooms
If you’re feeling angry and looking for a healthy way to express your emotions, try a rage room, including Sandy Springs' the Break Room.
3 new restaurants with classic luxuries
Atlanta isn’t turning its back on experimentation, but established chefs have been exalting more classic luxuries, too.
Neighborhood gem: Poor Hendrix
Restaurant Eugene alum Aaron Russell operates with a strict set of rules at this low-key spot in East Lake.
Neighborhood gem: Greens and Gravy
Cookbook author and emerging restaurateur Darius Williams celebrates black culture in his new “soul bistro” in the quickly gentrifying neighborhood of Westview.