Atlanta’s Best New Restaurants 2017

Food Terminal

Best New Restaurants in Atlanta - Food Terminal
Food Terminal

Photograph by Iain Bagwell

Food Terminal signals a new chapter on Buford Highway, which is once again becoming the hub of Atlanta’s ethnic food scene after a mid-2000s slump. The restaurant—really more like an upscale food hall—was swarmed as soon as it opened in March, and the crowds haven’t waned since. Owners Howie Ewe and Amy Wong, who is also the chef, specialize in Malaysian cuisine, which blends Chinese, Indian, Singaporean, and Thai flavors. It’s a mash-up style of cooking that reflects the collage of cultures you’ll find in this part of town. The colossal freestanding space also places a greater emphasis on design than its BuHi brethren, with neon lights and citron-painted industrial metal stools. Still, you’re here to eat: The magazine-sized menu swings from traditional dishes (ginger-poached Hainanese chicken) to oddball ones (a Hawaiian-Korean-Southwestern mix of tomato-braised rice, cheddar cheese, corn, Spam, red onions, and bell peppers) and back again. Whatever you order, make sure it’s something with egg noodles, which are made fresh in-house by a machine of Ewe’s own design.

Best New Restaurants in Atlanta - Food Terminal
Thai chili pan mee

Illustration by Valero Doval

Must-order: Thai chili pan mee
Wong tops silky flat noodles with dried silver anchovies, ground pork, shiitake and wood ear mushrooms, spinach, and a fried egg. When mixed together, it’s spicy, funky, and distinctively chewy.

5000 Buford Highway, Chamblee, 678-353-6110