Photograph courtesy of The Chai Box Cafe | Photographer Kate Blohm
Photograph courtesy of The Chai Box Cafe | Photographer Kate Blohm
The Chai Box Cafe
Upper Westside
@thechaibox
It’s been 10 years since Monica Sunny launched her popular online company, The Chai Box, delivering loose-leaf blends, concentrates, and spice sets to customers worldwide. Now she’s put down roots on Howell Mill Road with The Chai Box Cafe, Atlanta’s first-ever chai-focused cafe. A classic masala chai (chai means “tea” in Hindi) comes hot or iced, infused with warm flavors of cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. Variations include the floral Hill Station chai or the ginger Punjaban Party. Base chais are a steal at $5, with creamy cardamom malai (spiced cream scooped cold onto the hot chai so it melts, floating, on the top) options available for an extra $1.
The pastry showstopper is the Rose Pista Tart (a buttery tart with pistachio filling, topped with cardamom and rose cream and sprinkled with dried rose and pistachio bits, $8), with rich layers that melt in your mouth. For something savory, consider the Samosa Croissant, a light pastry with a spicy samosa filling (potatoes, peas, and onion seasoned with cumin, coriander, ginger, and chili, $7). —Makenna Carlton
Photograph by Martha Williams
Eats
West End
@eatsatwildheaven
When Eats, the beloved meat-and-three fixture on Ponce de Leon Avenue, announced its closing last year, the line was out the door for days as regulars waited for one last cafeteria-style supper. Soon enough, though, word came that the culinary team—headed by kitchen manager Levi Nichols—had found a new home within Wild Heaven Beer at the Lee + White complex, steps from the Beltline’s Westside Trail.
A crosstown move is risky, but the Eats crew seems to have faith in the allure of the cafeteria’s bohemian vibe and straightforward menu staples: turkey meatloaf, jerk chicken, barbecue chicken, and lasagna, to name a few. The dining room at the back of the cavernous space resembles a movie-set replica of its former self, with the same red wooden booths, musician portraits, indie artworks, and a multicolor collage of car license plates—even the same retro melamine trays. And the familiar Eats neon sign is there, too. It’s a comfort. Bonus: Parking is free with validation. —Vené Franco
This article appears in our September 2026 issue.
