Lemon pepper wings
Bone-in fried chicken wings dusted in lemon pepper seasoning, often glossed with butter or hot sauce. Atlanta's signature snack, a hip-hop fixture for two decades.
Where: American Deli, J.R. Crickets
Atlanta eats with the depth of a Southern capital and the breadth of a globalised one. The city anchors its identity on Black-owned dining rooms like Paschal's, Busy Bee Cafe and Mary Mac's Tea Room, where the meat-and-three plate and fried chicken have run since the civil rights era. Smoke and pit barbecue live on through Fox Bros, Heirloom Market and Community Q. The Michelin Guide arrived in 2023, awarding stars to Lazy Betty in Candler Park, Atlas at the St. Regis Buckhead and the omakase counter Mujo in West Midtown. Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market rewired how the city snacks; Sweet Auburn Curb Market still anchors downtown. Buford Highway runs the South's deepest international corridor: Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Salvadoran and Chinese counters cluster across DeKalb County strip malls without a single English sign. The constant is range, from the $9 Busy Bee plate to the $185 Atlas tasting.
Eat your way through Atlanta
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Map of Atlanta
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Atlanta, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
Must-try dishes in Atlanta
The plates that define eating in Atlanta.
Atlanta fried chicken
Bone-in fried chicken, brined and breaded, served with sides at a Southern Black-owned dining room. Paschal's set the standard in the civil rights era.
Where: Paschal's, Busy Bee Cafe, Mary Mac's Tea Room
Georgia peach cobbler
A Southern baked dessert of Georgia peaches under a biscuit or pie-dough crust, sometimes served with vanilla ice cream. Peak season is July to August.
Where: Mary Mac's Tea Room, Paschal's, Busy Bee Cafe
Brunswick stew
A Georgia barbecue stew of pulled pork, chicken, tomatoes, corn and lima beans, slow-simmered. Served alongside barbecue plates as the canonical side.
Where: Fox Bros Bar-B-Q, Heirloom Market BBQ, Community Q BBQ
Soul food meat-and-three plate
A protein plus three Southern vegetable sides with cornbread or rolls. The canonical Black-owned restaurant lunch format across Atlanta.
Where: Busy Bee Cafe, Paschal's, Mary Mac's Tea Room
Coca-Cola float
An Atlanta-invented soft drink poured over vanilla ice cream. The Varsity downtown serves Frosted Orange floats since 1928; the Coca-Cola museum the canonical version.
Where: The Varsity, Paschal's, Mary Mac's Tea Room
Restaurants to know in Atlanta
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Atlanta.
Lazy Betty
Chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips' Candler Park tasting room in Atlanta opened 2019, earned a Michelin Star in 2023 and runs an inventive prix-fixe menu nightly.
Signature: Tasting menu, Caviar-topped course
Atlas
Chef Christopher Grossman's St Regis Buckhead room in Atlanta opened 2015 and holds a Michelin Star since 2023 with a tasting menu and a wall of Impressionist art.
Signature: Tasting menu, Foie gras course
Mujo
Chef Edward Lee Schubert's West Midtown sushi counter in Atlanta opened 2021 and earned a Michelin Star in 2023 for the city's most refined omakase service.
Signature: Sushi omakase, Edomae nigiri
Bacchanalia
Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison's Bacchanalia in Atlanta opened 1993 and remains the city's longest-running fine-dining benchmark, with farm-driven New American cooking.
Signature: Crab fritter, Tasting menu
Miller Union
Chef Steven Satterfield's modern Southern room in Atlanta's West Midtown opened 2009 and won a James Beard Best Chef Southeast in 2017 for produce-driven cooking.
Signature: Farm egg with grits, Sea island red peas
The Optimist
Ford Fry's Howell Mill Road seafood room in Atlanta opened 2012 in an old smokehouse, with a raw bar and wood-grill anchoring West Midtown dining.
Signature: Wood-fired fish, Oysters, Lobster roll
Where to eat by neighborhood
Old Fourth Ward and Ponce City Market (old-fourth-ward/o4w/ponce-city-market)
Ponce City Market is the food anchor. Around it sit the Beltline, Krog Street tunnel and a dense block of new bars, brewpubs and restaurants.
Best for: Food halls, Brunch, Pizza, Cocktail bars
Also: ponce-city-market
Inman Park (inman-park/krog-street)
Krog Street Market and Beltline-adjacent rooms run the eastside dining circuit. Bocado, Bartaco and Fred's Meat and Bread within five minutes of each other.
Best for: Casual dining, Burgers, Beltline brunch, Markets
West Midtown and the Westside (west-midtown/westside/westside-provisions)
Adaptive industrial reuse turned restaurant row. The Optimist, Miller Union and Mujo run the Howell Mill axis; Bacchanalia anchors the western edge.
Best for: Fine dining, Seafood, Tasting menus, Modern Southern
Buford Highway (buford-highway/bufu)
Five miles of strip-mall global food spanning Brookhaven and Doraville. The South's deepest Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Chinese and Salvadoran corridor.
Best for: Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Chinese, Dumplings
Downtown and Sweet Auburn (downtown/sweet-auburn)
Sweet Auburn Curb Market still anchors the historic Black business district. Pittypat's Porch, Mary Mac's nearby and downtown hotel kitchens fill the rest.
Best for: Soul food, Hotel dining, Markets
Midtown (midtown)
Peachtree Street's high-rise corridor between downtown and Buckhead. Empire State South, Cooks and Soldiers and Atlanta Symphony adjacent rooms anchor dinner.
Best for: Fine dining, Hotel restaurants, Pre-theatre
When to come hungry in Atlanta
Peak food season: March to May for Georgia strawberries, then peaches late May to early August and Vidalia onions through June. October to December for greens, pecans and farmers market peaks. Atlanta Food and Wine Festival runs in May; Taste of Atlanta in October.
Local dining hours: Lunch 11:30 to 14:30, meat-and-three counters typically last seating by 14:00. Dinner 17:30 to 22:30 most nights, last seating 21:30 weekdays and 22:00 weekends. Many neighbourhood rooms close Monday or Tuesday; Buford Highway runs latest.
Tipping: Tip 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax total at sit-down restaurants. Bars and counters get $1 to $2 per drink or 15 to 20 percent. Some hotel restaurants and groups of six or more add an automatic service charge; check the bill before adding more.
Atlanta food, FAQ
When is the best time to eat in Atlanta?
Peak food season in Atlanta is March to May for Georgia strawberries, then peaches late May to early August and Vidalia onions through June. October to December for greens, pecans and farmers market peaks. Atlanta Food and Wine Festival runs in May; Taste of Atlanta in October.
What time do people eat in Atlanta?
Local dining hours: Lunch 11:30 to 14:30, meat-and-three counters typically last seating by 14:00. Dinner 17:30 to 22:30 most nights, last seating 21:30 weekdays and 22:00 weekends. Many neighbourhood rooms close Monday or Tuesday; Buford Highway runs latest.
How does tipping work in Atlanta?
Tip 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax total at sit-down restaurants. Bars and counters get $1 to $2 per drink or 15 to 20 percent. Some hotel restaurants and groups of six or more add an automatic service charge; check the bill before adding more.
What is the one dish to try in Atlanta?
If you only have one meal, eat Lemon pepper wings. It is the dish most associated with Atlanta.