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.
Atlanta's fried chicken tradition runs through Paschal's, founded in 1947 by brothers Robert and James Paschal on West Hunter Street and a key civil rights organising room where Martin Luther King Jr planned with the SCLC. Busy Bee Cafe opened in 1947 on Hunter Street and won a James Beard America's Classics Award in 2022. Mary Mac's Tea Room since 1945 still serves the cracker-crusted version with sides. The dish is the city's continuous thread from Reconstruction-era cooking to today.
3 editor picks for Atlanta fried chicken in Atlanta, ranked by editorial score. All Atlanta signature dishes · Atlanta fried chicken across every city.
Paschal's ★ 4.7
downtown · 180 Northside Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30313
Paschal's in Atlanta has served soul food since 1947, when brothers Robert and James Paschal opened on Hunter Street. The civil rights movement met here; SCLC was anchored at the bar.
Busy Bee Cafe ★ 4.7
downtown · 810 Martin Luther King Jr Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30314
Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta opened 1947 on MLK Drive and won the James Beard America's Classics Award in 2022 for its decades of soul food service near the AUC campuses.
Mary Mac's Tea Room ★ 4.6
midtown · 224 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
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 through three ownership changes.