The wife and I are going to Atlanta this weekend. I have a conference there, and she’s tagging along.
We’re going to be staying at the Marriott Marquis hotel downtown, and are looking for a couple of places to go and eat. We are not renting a car, so we need something that is either walking distance from the hotel or reasonably close (say a ten minute walk) freom a MARTA rail stop. I’d kind of prefer the latter because: (1) the meeting I’m going to is pretty sizeable, so the downtown restaurants will likely be quite full; and (2) my experience is that the real dining gems in any city are rarely found downtown.
jeevwoman does not eat red meat, and isn’t necessarily thrilled by fish either. Other than that, we’re reasonably open-minded.
Well, I made this page for (fellow) members of the Madonna fan club for her Atlanta show this July, but if you click the “Eats” link, it might help you out:
I’ve been away from Atlanta for almost two years - and I didn’t get to eat out that much when I was there. I did, however, work across the street from the Marriott Marquis. Wave at the short six story building on Harris if you think of it!
That said,
The Dunwoody Station is close to Perimeter Mall. Before I left there was a Maggiano’s (Italian) and a Cheesecake factory in the mall - I’m not sure what may be there now.
There’s a Max & Erma’s close to the Sandy Springs Station.
There’s The Varsity - North Avenue station, then walk west on North Ave until the Varsity is on your right. But you go there for chili dogs, onion rings and peach fried pie. Not exactly the best for someone who doesn’t eat red meat (but they do have other things on the menu, and their menu is on their website).
Umm…I pretty much stayed within my same circle of restaurants, but I know there are more out there - someone will be here soon with more help, I’m sure!
Why would you send the man all the hell way out to Dunwoody to visit three chain restaurants? He’s looking at a half-hour MARTA\car trip… for that?
See my webpage. All of the restaurants I’ve listed are less than ten minutes away from your hotel and are locally owned (except for Ruth’s Chris and Krispy Kreme). I’d much rather send the man to Agnes & Muriel’s than to some chain.
Don’t get my wrong Lsura, I love Dunwoody - I lived there for five years. I just wouldn’t drive there from downtown to eat at a chain place. Also, FWIW there’s a Maggiano’s and a Cheesecake Factory in Buckhead if he wants to go that route. Hell, the Maggiano’s is next door to the Buckhead MARTA station if he wants to take public transport.
I definitely think we want to try the local joints. We’ve got a Maggiano’s and a Cheesecke Factory in Chicago, and though they are good, I wouldn’t associate them with Atlanta. Rex, your list looks great! I think Agnes & Muriel’s is a good choice for us!
I stayed at the nearby Westin a year or so ago for a conference.
Along with some very unmemorable meals, 2 were worth remembering:
Hsu’s Gourmet Chinese
192 Peachtree Center Avenue (corner of Peachtree Center Ave and
Andrew Young International Blvd)
I had a daily special - a fish filet in a very very yummy sauce.
My dining companions also really enjoyed their meals.
And for dessert - Bananas Foster (believe it or not) made tableside with great flair! Pitty Pat’s Porch
25 International Blvd
I didn’t make it to this restaurant, because when the night companions went I stayed in my hotel room recovering from food poisoning (acquired, I think, at lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe). But, they said it was great food and a great time. It’s described by Citysearch.com as “More Hollywood recreation than authentic Southern, this downtown mainstay caters to a mostly un-Southern convention crowd” but even the southerners in our group enjoyed it. Best meal of the trip. Since we mainly stuck near the hotel, take that review with a grain of salt.
There was also a great Italian restaurant in Buckhead that we went to, but I can’t remember the name & it was a long cab ride in rush-hour traffic (poor planning on the part of the person who decided what time we should make our reservations for).
Yeah. I was a “sincere” member about ten years ago but re-joined a month or two ago just to get in on the ticket sales. Madonna’s following a trend in the concert scene where members of fan clubs can get in on ticket presales - David Bowie and Prince have also done this on their current tours as well. It’s a really good deal for the artist - they can sell tickets for much more than TicketBastard does - up to $700 each for the Madonna show - and get the good seats filled up with actual hardcore fans - as opposed to mediocre fans that happen to have enough money to pay a ticket broker. Hell, there was no other way I could get 20th row seats for the show so why not? If I was employed, I woulda paid the $700 for 1st or 2nd row, but alas, it was not to be.
Anyway, her fan club also has a forum I was checking out before the tickets went on sale and so many people were asking where to stay and where to eat I put up that page - and it just kind of snowballed since then.
First of all, I was simply typing what I knew. I know there’s a Maggiano’s and Cheesecake Factory in Buckhead - but since I never went to those, I wasn’t sure where they were in relation to the MARTA station. Rather than say “oh, there’s one somewhere in Buckhead”, I thought it might be simpler if I put in the ones that I knew.
And, if you read my post, you’d note that I haven’t lived there in 2 years and that I was going from memory. After checking out the Eats page on your site, I did remember going to a lot of those places - but they just didn’t come to mind when I was typing up my post. There’s no need to get snippy.
Fondue, Pirate Ships, and live alligators, but inexplicably not a gay bar. I’m kidding! Seriously, though, it’s not. And you can get Cheese Fondue for your vegetarian SO. Or not. :smack:
I wasn’t being snippy. If the man said he was staying in Manhattan, I wouldn’t send him to Newark to eat at Olive Garden. Nor would I send him to Worcester to eat at Friday’s if he was staying in Boston either.
Come on, you had to know that anything in Buckhead would be closer than Dunwoody, even if you haven’t lived in Atlanta for two years!
We wound up going to Mary Mac’s Tea Room. Best food ever! Service sucked but the sweet potato souffle more than made up for it. Wow! Thanks for the recommendation!!
