There are amazing restaurants in Atlanta where you can find mouthwatering staples. In recent years, ATL has experienced a major boom in its food scene, although there is much more in the city than the Southern-fried stereotype. Due to the influx on both internationally inspired eateries and high-end fine dining. Whether you are visiting the city for the first time or you live in metro Atlanta, there are amazing places to eat mouthwatering dishes, ATL may be the new food capital of the south. You can find these restaurants in different parts of Atlanta neighborhoods
We have put together a small list of one of the finest restaurants in the city of Atlanta, you can check them out and you can be rest assured of having a swell time.
Best Restaurants in Atlanta
1. Staplehouse
Staplehouse is been proof that Atlanta is ready for the kind of cutting-edge restaurants that flourish in other cities. At this restaurant, there are purposeful and personality-driven dish served in white dining rooms instead of on white tablecloths. Staplehouse’s previous eight-to-ten course testing menu which shifted from night to night featured a course of king crab together with fennel, Cara Cara orange, sorrel and sunflower. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the restaurant has met the moment, closing its dining room as well as reconfiguring into a market that offers composed dishes, pastries, charcuterie, smoked meats and pantry items to go as well as meal kits for two which change weekly such as candied celery jus and potato and celeriac gratin with dry-aged ribeye from Tennessee’s Bear Creek Farm.
This is an amazing restaurant, and it is one of the best to order takeout, meals at the restaurant are affordable and you are guaranteed of having a swell time.
2. Fritti
This is located along popular North Highland; this place boasts of its authentic Neapolitan pizza that has been named among the best in the city of Atlanta. With the use of traditional artisanal methods, the pizzaiolos serves pies with toppings ranging from fried squid to spicy salami. At the Fritti, you can also enjoy a wide variety of other culinary options that the neighborhood has to offer.
You will find everything from Szechuan dumplings to hand-crafted ice cream pops. This list of things to get at this restaurant is enormous. This is a good place to eat, it is similar to some of the best eateries in Midtown
3. Masterpiece
At Masterpiece every tastebud will be stimulated with just two bites of food. At this restaurant, the dry-fried eggplant which is a combination of Eggplant with Chilli Powder and Pepper Ash Powder, sits at the pinnacle of every iteration encountered of the beloved Sichuan dish. It has crackly-crisp and salty exterior while the interior is creamy and sweet, the level of ma la (numbing spice) accurately calibrated with a liberal but not obnoxious dose of fragrant crunchy Sichuan peppercorns.
At this restaurant, the Dong Po Pork is a braised brick of pork belly lacquered in a mahogany-hued glaze, it tastes as though it were a syrup extracted from a mythical tree. At masterpiece, the food will blow your mind and you will be transported to another dimension. The master chef at this restaurant is Rui Liu, he came from northeastern China to America because of his extraordinary skills and achievement, and he has a menu of 125 dishes.
4. Venkman’s
You can take a walk to Venkman’s after exploring the modern attractions of Downtown Atlanta, like the World of Coca-Cola and CNN Center. At this restaurant is where contemporary comfort food is served in a chic warehouse space. You can get dishes such as a crisp Caesar salad or seared pork with seasonal veggies. You can have a bottle of crafted cocktail to wash it all down. Venkman’s restaurant is a quick drive from the Fabulous Fox Theatre where you catch a comedy show, concert or musical.
5. Spring
This restaurant is located on top of the railroad tracked in a remote corner of Marietta Square. It was open in 2016 and since then it’s one of the top restaurants in the city of Atlanta. At the restaurant, you will find an amazing fish dish, pan-roasted halibut with squash, asparagus, wax beans and beurre blanc. There is also pappardelle with green garlic cream, morels, fava beans and Parmesan. There is a place to be, and all thanks to Chef Brian So’s food.
6. Bar Mercado
This restaurant boasts the greatest hits of Spanish cuisine; it is less than a mile from Fritti inside the famous Krog Street Market. At Bar Mercado, there are cuisines with flavor-packed tapas that represent the multiple regions of Spain. You can order plates such as pork cheek empanadas, salmon crudo and patatas bravas inside the electric and colorful space. There are reasonably price wine list with glasses starting at $5.
At the Krog Street Market, there are also several restaurants, bars and food shops that you can explore.
7. Sushi Hayakawa
This is the most delightful character in Atlanta’s food scene; Hayakawa is a master of his craft that is skilled at handling rice and fish and also at charming his guests. You do not have to spend up to $185 to eat at this restaurant except you can. At the restaurant, you get two-and-a-half-hour honkaku omakase (a Japanese feast where the diner lets the chef steer), you also get a front row seat at Atsushi “Art” Hayakawa Sushi center.
8. Kimball House
This restaurant is one of the most beautiful diners, known with its vintage-inspired decor; the Kimball House is just east of the city limits in Decatur. The restaurant boasts of one of the best cocktail menus in the greater Atlanta area. Kimball House has also developed into one of the most acclaimed raw bars in the entire southeast over the last several years.
You can get oysters served with innovative mignonettes with perfectly balanced cocktail such as the Sazerac and Afternoon Delight. You can make a stop at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History set in a serene on your way to this restaurant. You are guaranteed of having a nice time at this restaurant.
9. Watchman’s Seafood and Spirits
Located in the southwest corner of Krog Street Market, this was open five years after they opened Kimball House. This is a place where you get all seafood from oysters to crudo to the whole fish entree. At Watchman’s Seafood and Spirits, the menu is constantly changing but if you are lucky enough to get tuna crudo or fish collar on offer, take it. You can try the Air Mail and add a nip of Chartreuse from the shot-dispensing chiller behind the bar as well.
10. BoccaLupo
You can locate the BoccaLupo with a brief walk through Inman Park. This restaurant is an Italian-American eatery that is focused on fresh ingredients and handmade pasta. However the seasonal menu is constantly changing but might feature dishes such as black spaghetti, grilled octopus, chicken liver ravioli and brisket with gnocchi. One of the things you’d love to finish your meal with is the New World takes on Old World desserts such as panna cotta and gelato. This is the perfect restaurant for a date-night dinner accompanied by a play or improv show at Dad’s Garage Theater nearby.
11. Bacchanalia
This restaurant started is one of the top restaurants in the city of Atlanta, Chef Anne Quatrano and her husband, Cliff Harrison is keeping the place afloat with their amazing culinary skills. Their elegant food simple food crafted with impeccable sourced ingredients (many of which are gotten from Quatrano’s own farm) has not changed much in 26 years, it is still as amazing as ever. This restaurant has redefined the way we eat and it’s no brainer why the chefs at the top two restaurants in the city work at this restaurant.
12. Noble Fin
Noble Fin is located in Peachtree Corners about 30 minutes northeast of Downtown. This is one of the finest and satisfying seafood restaurants in the entire metro Atlanta area. This suburban restaurant has an airy ambiance and subtle nautical touches together with a menu of raw, grilled and chilled finds from the ocean. Happy hour begins as early as 4PM; you can stick around for a dinner of the best crab cakes in the southern region. The route to get to this restaurant passes by the beautiful Atlanta Botanical Gardens. You can stop along the way to meander among the aromatic flowers and trees.
13. Aria
Aria is located uptown neighborhood of Buckhead, the restaurant delivers seasonal, New American Cuisine. You get a 7-course tasting menu and a show at the Art Deco Buckhead Theatre which less than a mile up the road
Aria has a sophisticated and romantic atmosphere of white-oak tables with leather banquettes. You can enjoy butter-braised lobster, crispy duck confit and decadent chocolate cheesecake.
14. Canoe
Northwest of Atlanta, in a small region of Vinings, this restaurant serves up rustic cuisine and World-class wine in a beautiful garden overlooking the Chattahoochee River. Canoe, once named to the Fine-Dining Hall of Fame, has a menu of rich flavorful plates ranging from grilled Atlantic salmon and wine-braised lamb. Canoe has also been very popular throughout Georgia for its brunch that features savory classics and freshly baked pastries. This restaurant is not far from attractions of Atlanta, if you are looking for a peaceful place to relax and chill make use of this incredible place.
15. B’s Cracklin’ BBQ
In 2015, his first location was gut down by fire but thanks to the amount of support he received which enabled him to reopen in four months. At B’s Cracklin’ BBQ, you get masterful, mouthwatering pecan wood-smoked ribs (cut from heritage-breed hogs raised in South Carolina and Georgia) and brisket. The barbecue is so nice that one bank offered to help the rebuilding of the Atlanta B’s Cracklin’ BBQ as soon as possible, The Atlanta Hawks also volunteered to temporarily hire Furman’s staff members until he rebuilds. A Riverside resident, through a GoFundMe campaign raised nearly $19,000 for B’s Cracklin’ BBQ.
16. KR Steakbar
This restaurant is an intimate Italian steakhouse located in south Buckhead. The restaurants boast of juicy cuts of ribeye, filet mignon, as well as seafoods and pasta. If you love red-meat this is a place to be. You can get up to 26-ounce porterhouse prepared for two. You can visit the Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza and take advantage of the high-end shopping that the neighborhood is known for before settling in for dinner.
17. LanZhou Ramen
Buford Highway strip-mall joint LanZhou Ramen is the noodle capital of metro Atlanta, you cannot find this Lanzhou style, hand-pulled noodle in every city. You get Lanzhou noodles in bowls of fragrant beef broth brimming with silted greens and tender meat, or stir-fried with your choice of three spice options such as spicy, regular or laced with cumin seeds. Your server will give you a pair of scissors alongside with the noodles because they are too long.
18. Lazy Betty
This is an amazing restaurant in Atlanta, It is located in the magnificently transformed Candler Park space that formerly Radial Cafe. You choose from the two tasting menus, seven courses for $125 or 10 for $165. You can also choose to sit on the patio and order from the a la carte “snacks” menu. This is one of the top restaurants in the city, although you will drop a lot of cash at this restaurant but it is understandable because it’s hard to find a more creative meal in town.
19. Banshee
This is the most sophisticated restaurant in East Atlanta village, The most impressive thing about Banshee’s menu is the amazing proportion of dishes unique to chef Nolan Wynn, this earned Wynn a Best New Chef award. AT the restaurant, you will be captivated by the moody vibe of the small dining room. At Banshee, you will get cocktails such as the Stately Hag, a tart and berbaceous mix of reposado tequila, strega, Cocchi Americano, thyme and lemon.
20. El Tesoro
This restaurant serves some of Atlanta’s finest tacos, tamales and burritos among other dishes such as breakfast etc. El Tesoro which means “The Treasure” is open only from 7am to 2:30pm. Chef Cristina Lugo Soto is a home cook from the Mexican coastal state of Guerrero; she runs the kitchen with her daughter, Mayra. At the restaurant, you will get three tamale flavors such as pork with green salsa, rajas with mushroom and squash and chicken with chipotle salsa. There is no better place in town to get this except at the El Tesoro. The tacos come as they are supposed to with flavorful meat that needs no embellishment as from a light shower of chopped cilantro, micro diced onion, a squeeze of lime.
Tacos at this restaurant cost $3.25 and burros (also known as Burritos) cost $5.75. A tamale or tacos and a burro is enough to feed a hungry person.
21. Tiny Lou’s
Since the closure of Joel on Northside Parkway in 2010, Atlanta dining scene has been bereft of Frence refinement, French cooking is staging a comeback across the country. In Atlanta, the restaurant is located inside the recently transformed Hotel Clermont and directly above the grungy Clermont Lounge. The chet at the restaurant, Jeb Aldrich food possesses an extraordinary taste, a mastery of sauces is part of what makes this restaurant so good. Their dessert is amazing, whatever you do do not skip it.
22. D92 Korean BBQ
This is one of the nicest places to be if you are looking for pork, beef or offial barbecue. It is located in metro Atlanta, at this restaurant, there is a quality selection of prime beef and pork and there are cocktails (including a Smoky Yuzu Margarita), and you don’t get this in other places. In addition to barbecue, there are also home-style dishes like beef japchae (stir-fried clear noodles), others include Korean fried chicken, served spicy or soy seasoned.
23. Root Baking Co.
Chris Wilins and Nicole Lewis-Wilkins relocated their artisanal bakery to Ponce CIty Market. At this spot, you will find daily breakfast, for lunch, delicious sandwiches(including roasted chicken with harissa carrots), Sunday brunch and more intricate salads ( such as one with soft and crispy grains, baby collards, mustered greens, green olives, pickled vegetables boild egg etc). Root Baking Co. recently also started serving dinner and the menu is filled with hits from the saffron brith with Moroccan chickpean to the za’atar roasted chicken thing with pickled turmeric and walnut salsa.
24. La Mixteca Tamale House
This is an amazing restaurant, their specialties include all kinds of tamales, some sweet ones and other filed with various meats and moles. Crispy, giant, blue-corn tlayudas (Mexican pizzas) adorned with fresh toppings and homemade sauces. At La Mixteca Tamale House, the mere sight of the steam table of tamales with flavors with cactus and cheese, Philly cheesesteak will definitely make you salivate.
25. The White Bull
This is a place to be with recipes that could be rooted in Italy, Germany, Japan, France or even here in America. At The White Bull, what you eat is most likely sourced from a regional or local farm. This gives Chef Pat Pascarella the opportunity to draft new and imaginative culinary tales. The meals are sumptuous and it’s a place you will like to revisit after you have had a taste of it.
These are some of the best restaurants in Atlanta, the article is updated regularly so you can easily locate the any of the top eateries in the city. Meals at these restaurants are not expensive and it generally affect how much it cost to live in Atlanta because food plays a huge role in terms of living in any city.
