Biscuits and sausage gravy
Photo: jeffreyw · CC BY 2.0

Southern flaky buttermilk biscuits split and smothered in pork-sausage cream gravy black with pepper. The defining Atlanta diner breakfast and Sunday-morning brunch staple.

Biscuits and gravy is the foundational Southern breakfast, with documented origins in 19th-century Appalachian and Piedmont kitchens. The dish became canonical at Atlanta's Waffle House (founded 1955 in Avondale Estates) and the city's diner counters. Atlanta Breakfast Club, Thumbs Up Diner and Mary Mac's Tea Room serve the modern Atlanta benchmark; the dish remains the cheap-and-filling Atlanta breakfast classic.

4 editor picks for Biscuits and sausage gravy in Atlanta, ranked by editorial score. All Atlanta signature dishes · Biscuits and sausage gravy across every city.

Mary Mac's Tea Room ★ 4.6

$$SouthernMidtown

Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta opened 1945 and runs Southern Sunday dinner classics in a four-dining-room compound on Ponce de Leon, with the same recipes.

OrderPot likker with a side of cornbread, then fried chicken with three sides.

TipOrder the pot likker as a starter; it comes free with cornbread. No reservations Monday through Thursday lunch; OpenTable for dinner and weekends.

DirectionsView

Atlanta Breakfast Club ★ 4.3

$Street foodDowntown

Atlanta Breakfast Club on Ivan Allen Jr Boulevard in downtown Atlanta runs all-day Southern breakfast: crispy chicken biscuits, chicken and waffles.

OrderCrispy chicken biscuits and chicken and waffles

TipNo reservations; the line builds before 09:00 weekends but moves fast. The crispy chicken biscuits with grape jelly are the canonical first order.

DirectionsView

Thumbs Up Diner ★ 4.1

$Street foodOld Fourth Ward

Thumbs Up Diner on Edgewood Avenue in Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta runs all-day breakfast and burritos since 2002. Open daily 07:00-15:00. At 573 Edgewood Ave SE.

OrderBurrito and pancakes

TipCash and card. No reservations; line builds by 09:30 weekends. The Heap with chorizo runs the heaviest breakfast in town.

DirectionsView

Waffle House (Howell Mill) ★ 4.0

$$American dinerWest Midtown

Waffle House on Howell Mill in Atlanta runs 24/7 like the rest of the 90-plus metro locations: scattered-smothered hash browns, pecan waffles.

OrderHash browns scattered smothered covered, pecan waffles, all-day breakfast

TipOrder the hash browns scattered, smothered, covered; it's the local language. Tip your waitress in cash.

DirectionsView

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