Photograph by Martha Williams
With restaurants restricted to takeout, curbside pick-up, or delivery due to the spread of COVID-19, we decided to include in this month’s Dining Guide all the restaurants that we originally had planned to highlight in our upcoming print issue—as long as they’re offering the above-mentioned options. Please don’t wait for these restaurants to fully reopen before trying them out. The more you’re able to bring their food home now, the more likely they’ll be around to serve you in their dining rooms later.
Newly Opened
NFA Burger
For a few weeks there, the burger widely touted as one of Atlanta’s best wasn’t available; this newly opened to-go counter inside a gas station had been temporarily shuttered as a result of a permitting snafu. NFA Burger reopened as quickly as it could in early March—only to face the daunting threat of COVID-19 days later. But owner Billy Kramer still is churning out his deliciously sloppy double-stack (the triple is on hiatus), previously available only at his popular pop-up. You can keep a six-foot distance between other customers and order your burger at the sanitized counter, after which it will be delivered to your car. Eat it at home—or, if you must, in your car. Inside the Chevron, 5465 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody, 404-666-2874
Lyla Lila
Chef-partner Craig Richards, formerly of St. Cecilia and, until recently, the culinary director for Ford Fry’s Atlanta empire, is a formidable technician and a pasta perfectionist. At Lyla Lila, his joint venture with restaurateur Billy Streck of Nina & Rafi and Hampton & Hudson, you can fully explore Richards’s extraordinary range. The restaurant’s to-go options include a starter (salad, soup, or crudité), pasta, garlic bread, and dessert for $45 (for two people), $85 (for four), or $125 (for six). You can also order a bottle of wine to-go from Lyla Lila’s excellent list. 693 Peachtree Street, Midtown, 404-963-2637
Wonderkid
The gloriously hip new diner from the Bon Ton and King of Pops crews offers a takeout menu of all-day breakfast, sandwiches such as a meatloaf melt with pimiento cheese and bacon jam, a supper of the day with sides ($20 for two people, $36 for four), some of the city’s best cupcakes and hand pies, and full-proof cocktail kits with how-to instructions. There’s delivery via Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, too. The restaurant also is doubling as a small grocer, offering staples such as milk, bread, eggs, and—best of all—rolls of currently elusive toilet paper. 777 Memorial Drive, Grant Park, 404-331-0909
Little Bear
Chef Jarrett Stieber, who gained acclaim at his long-running and culture-trotting pop-up Eat Me Speak Me, spent more than a year building out this much-anticipated Summerhill restaurant. It was open for just two weeks before COVID-19 forced it to become a takeout operation. Little Bear’s underpriced prix fixe menu changes weekly and, at least in its early weeks, offers a creative tour of cuisines from countries hit hardest by the virus. Order a bottle of wine to-go, too. 71 Georgia Avenue, Summerhill, 404-500-5396
Grana
Rather than wait for the eventual all-clear that will allow restaurants to be restaurants again, chef Pasquale Pascarella of the White Bull opened his new Italian restaurant on March 19 as a (temporarily) takeout-only joint. Choose from eight Neapolitan pies, as well as appetizers, sandwiches, entrees, composed pasta dishes, and a $15 make-your-own-pasta kit that serves four. 1835 Piedmont Road, Piedmont Heights, 404-231-9000
Gio’s Sicilian
The Antico pizza empire continues to grow with the March addition of Giovanni di Palma’s Sicilian-style pizza shop to his Little Italia compound. Situated in the back of Gio’s Chicken Amalfitano, Gio’s Sicilian slings the airy, rectangular, thick-crust pizza that’s among the Italian island’s best culinary exports. Get this fine specimen to-go or via DoorDash. 1099 Hemphill Avenue, Home Park, 470-419-5005
Ruby Chow’s
Chef Guy Wong has amassed a swarm of fans, thanks to his stylish Vietnamese spot Le Fat and his former Japanese haunt Miso Izakaya—and those followers have been clamoring for a seat at his new venture, the glamorous Asian, small-plates restaurant Ruby Chow’s, situated in a mixed-use development alongside Ponce City Market. They’ll have to wait a little longer but can tide themselves over with a takeout menu that includes modernized classics such as General Tso’s Chicken and Pow Pow Shrimp. 620 Glen Iris Drive, Old Fourth Ward, 404-585-7829
Pizza Jeans (at Root Baking Co.)
As with Root Baking Co., Pizza Jeans does just a few things (three pizzas, a salad, a sandwich, breadsticks, a couple of sweets)—and does them exceedingly well. Formerly a Friday night pop-up inside Root’s second-floor Ponce City Market space, Pizza Jeans was about to permanently take over more of the space (with Root retaining a counter for selling its glorious breads, sandwiches, and salads) when COVID-19 hit. Made with Root’s naturally leavened dough, Pizza Jeans’ lightly charred, generously sized pies are some of the best in town. Order online for curbside pick-up and be sure to enter the Ponce City Market lot on North Avenue and park in front of Mountain High Outfitters; an employee will bring your order to your car. Bonus: You can order a loaf of Root’s sourdough, too. 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Old Fourth Ward, 470-639-8046
Recently Reviewed
Photograph by Ben Rollins
Supremo Taco
Restaurateur Nhan Le of 8Arm, Octopus Bar, and Soba has teamed up with former Octopus Bar chef Duane Kulers to open this minuscule in size and gigantic in flavor taco shop. “Shop” might be an overstatement: It’s a shipping container–sized structure with a walk-up counter. Go ahead and order all of the menu’s eight tacos. (One is technically a tostada, a fabulous and fiery jumble of shrimp, cucumbers, and onion.) Served on fragrant, housemade tortillas, the tacos range from a decadently spicy lamb barbacoa to a rich and mellow mole poblano with chicken, pepitas, and crema to an astounding al pastor with sizzling meat shaved straight off the trompo. (Reviewed in our January issue) | 701 Memorial Drive, Grant Park, 404-965-1446
MTH Pizza
Unwilling to commit to calling its pizza New York–style or Neapolitan-style, the founders of MTH Pizza—from the Muss & Turner’s team—settled on the less-than-appetizing phrase “pizza a la Smyrna.” But one bite of the margherita convinced me that maybe I shouldn’t rush to conclusions about this pie. One bite of the clam pizza—the chewy bivalves mingling with near-buttery mozzarella and brightened with gremolata and a squeeze of charred lemon—had me considering relocating to Smyrna. You can find both pies on MTH’s limited takeout menu. (Reviewed in our December issue) | 1675 Cumberland Parkway, Smyrna, 678-424-1333
This article appears in our May 2020 issue.
Correction: This post has been updated to correct the pricing of Wonderkid’s takeout suppers.
