Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Stone-ground white grits cooked slow with butter and cheese, topped with butter-braised Gulf shrimp, andouille sausage, scallion and a squeeze of lemon. A Charleston dish made Southern across Atlanta.
Shrimp and grits originated in Lowcountry South Carolina as a fisherman's breakfast (then called 'breakfast shrimp'), but Bill Neal of Chapel Hill canonised the modern restaurant version in 1985 by adding mushrooms and bacon. Atlanta chefs imported the dish through the 1990s and 2000s; Watershed in Decatur (closed) was an early signature. Today South City Kitchen Buckhead, Mary Mac's Tea Room and Atlanta Breakfast Club plate the reference Atlanta versions.
4 editor picks for Shrimp and grits in Atlanta, ranked by editorial score. All Atlanta signature dishes · Shrimp and grits across every city.
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.
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.
OrderOysters and the wood-grilled fish of the day.
TipThe oyster bar takes walk-ins; the dining room reserves on Resy. The takeaway window does lobster rolls and chowder.
South City Kitchen's Buckhead room in Atlanta runs refined Southern cooking from the Fifth Group with shrimp and grits, buttermilk fried chicken and a she.
OrderShrimp and grits with andouille gravy, then the buttermilk fried chicken.
TipReservations on OpenTable. The brunch service runs the cult fried chicken and waffles; the bar takes walk-ins.
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.
Shrimp and grits makes more sense with someone from Atlanta explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
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