My husband and I are headed down to Atlanta for the Easter weekend. We’re planning to visit the aquarium, the Botanical Gardens, maybe a stop at the High Museum. But one of our favorite things to do is eat. Any Hotlanta Dopers want to weigh in with restaurant suggestions? What are some of your favorites? We’ve both got pretty catholic tastes, and dig anything from Vietnamese to soul food, greasy spoon to five-star.
Thanks!
Buckhead Diner
I don’t know how to get around Atlanta and don’t know where it is in relation to anything you listed. When i was heading off to a trade show in Atlanta my uncle, who travels a lot for business told me to go there if I had a chance, that I’d love the chips with blue cheese. He was right. It’s been a few years since I went to that show, but I liked it then.
It’s traditional for a big group to meet at Pitty Pat’s Porch one night during the trade show. It’s okay, but feels touristy to me. It is very convenient to the Ocnvention Center and hotels, which is how I think it got chosen in the first place.
The awesome Labdad turned me onto Watershed in Decatur, which is technically not Atlanta, but within the beltway. Very good take on traditonal southern food. It’s just down the street from the Brick Store Pub, which also has good food, and very good beer.
Thanks, y’all. These look great. Anybody else want to chime in?
I will second the nomination for Brick Store. Good food, great selection of alcohol, and good service. There is usually a wait though of 20 minutes or so as it is very close to Emory University.
I will also recommend Mary Mac’s Tea Room. Really tasty traditional Southern food. It is a bit pricey, but well worth it for the experience. I highly endorse the blackened catfish.
I’ll also throw in Havana Restaurant for really great authentic Cuban food. The location is a bit dingy, but the food is superb!
Hope you enjoy your weekend here!
Is The Abbey still around? We ate there when I was about 13 on a business trip to Atlanta. Very nice restaurant, with a harpist playing.
There’s a Ruth’s Chris in Atlanta, which is pretty darn nice (natch). If you like German food, there’s Gordon Biersch, and if you’ve never been to The Cheesecake Factory, you owe it to yourself to go.
If you’re looking for something not in a chain, however, I’d recommend Lawrence’s on Buford Highway. They serve very, very good Lebanese and Israeli cuisine, never mind the dingy exterior.
Gimza (gimzapolishrestaurant.com) looks like a whole lot of nothing over in Norcross, but as far as Polish food goes you’ll be hard pressed to beat it. I’m actually attempting to copy their pierogies tonight in my own kitchen, and I’ll be very happy if I get them half as good.
Chow Baby is a very unique Mongolian/American stir fry bar that I’ve never been to, but have heard extremely good things about. Check out their website at http://www.therealchowbaby.com/
Of course, if you can’t find anything to your liking, come on over to Athens and LadySoul and I will find you something delicious!
So many years ago I was in Atlanta for a 2 week seminar. As we where stuck in the hotel together many of us went out to dinner and such each night. One night we decided to do BBQ.
A local in the class recommended the Rib Shack link on Piedmont. Since I was driving when I got back to my room before dinner, I went to look up the address. I did not find a listing in the phone book under either Rib Shack, or The Rib Shack, (because it is listed under Fat Matt’s I guess, but I didn’t know that) but I did find a listing for The Chicken Shack on Piedmont. I figured that my classmate got the name wrong. So I write down just the address (No name). I head down to the lobby. When I get there, I go to see the concierge to get directions. The concierge is an elderly African American gentleman who looks like he probably opened this hotel when it was new.
I show him the piece of paper with just an address on it, and ask him for directions. Here is exactly what he said “No, no, that’s the Chicken Shack. You want the Rib Shack, it’s next door.”
:eek: 
I was impressed to say the least.
Speaking as someone that runs his own pit and makes some serious BBQ myself, the food was every bit as good as I was lead to believe,and better than I expected. This was one of the best BBQ meals I have ever had.
I suggest you check out the rib shack.
And for grease at it’s finest, you can’t go to Atlanta without a stop at The Varsity. I reccommend the #4 - a chili burger, a chili dog, onion rings or fries, and a large FO.
(If you can’t decide between the fries and rings, take both. As a matter of fact, get both anyway.)
MJoving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
Most everything I had hopped in to comment on has been said by others, but I’ll add Antica Posta up in Buckhead. We just ate there the other week and thought it was quite good.
I’ll also warn you that when you are going into downtown you may want to give yourself some extra time. Several streets are still closed where they are cleaning up the debris from the tornado last weekend. It’s still a bit strange for me to drive through town and see the broken and boarded-up windows in the high-rise towers downtown. Everything you mention is open, but you may run into a detour or two.
Yen Jing on Buford Highway is really good Chinese/Korean. I recommend the dumplings highly. Actually, just cruising Buford Highway will give you choices that reflect the ethnic population: Vietnamese, Korean, Mexican, Central American.
On Roswell Road, The Golden Buddha/Momo Ya is a single restaurant that’s Chinese on one side and Japanese on the other; both very good.
There’s a Moroccan restaurant called Imperial Fez on Peachtree Road. Supposed to be great; somehow I haven’t made it there yet.
I just moved from Decatur, the Brick Store was my ‘local’ - lived so close I didn’t need to drive. Can’t recommend a better place - many amazing beers (they specialize in Belgian beers on tap), they have cider on tap, and no smoking at all in Decatur.
If you want a nice evening with more than one location but no more than one drive, Decatur is good.
Eurasia Bistro, right on the main drag (Ponce) is a very nice Fancy restaurant. Cafe Alsace is next door, and is a great Bistro. Their Spaetzle Alsacienne is something I dream about.
Feast is more modern and happening, and very fun.
And if you’re looking to just hang, I’d totally recommend the Raging Burrito for dinner and then Brick Store or prowling around Decatur to see what looks good after. Decatur is good that way. Fun without driving.
Nikolai’s Roof at the Hilton is locally famous. It’s where Scarlett and Rhett would have dined if they’d been in the mood for Imperial Russian atmosphere and cuisine.
As for local places, the Flying Biscuit on Piedmont is famous for breakfast cuisine (great turkey sausage, turkey bacon, and turkey everything else) though the wait time can be excessive.
Of course I always have to go to the Ikea for Swedish meatballs and Ligonberry sauce.