World City Guide

Restaurants

Chitlins, grits and collard greens are available in Atlanta but they are not the norm. Atlanta dining ranges from haute cuisine to rustic roadside diners.

These small samples of restaurants are divided into five categories: Gastronomic, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. These categories serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.

Dollar symbols can be interpreted as follows:
$$$$ (over US$50)
$$$ (US$35 to US$50)
$$ (US$20 to US$35)
$ (under US$20)

These prices include starter, main course and dessert for one. The least expensive bottle of wine is also noted. Not included is the sales tax of 7%. Sometimes a gratuity (usually 15%) is added to the bill. If not, a tip of 15-20% for service is customary.

Gastronomic

The Abbey
Beams of light dance off the stained glass windows. A harpist strums celestial music from the choir loft while the monk-garbed wait staff reverently attends to guests. The menu changes but the lamb that the Abbey serves is always heavenly in this former church. This softly candlelit restaurant is a special occasion favourite with locals and businesspeople alike. Many think it is divine.

163 Ponce de Leon at Piedmont
Tel: (404) 876 8532.
Website: www.theabbeyrestaurant.com
Price: $$$

Bacchanalia
Chef owners Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison are so obsessed with freshness, they grow many of the ingredients on their own farm. The funky dining room is a rehabbed factory complex with high ceilings and yellow brick framing the former factory windows. Risottos, cheeses and homemade ice creams are mouth-watering. Star Provisions, the adjoining shop, offer many unusual food items.

1198 Howell Mill Road
Tel: (404) 365 0410.
Website: http://starprovisions.com/bacc
Price: $$$$

Nikolai’s Roof
Grab your ermine tails and ascend to Nikolai’s Roof at the top of the Hilton Atlanta. The button-fronted red-jacketed wait staff will make you feel like a Russian tsar or tsarina. Mirrors and floor to ceiling windows complete the Old-World ambience. Dinner is not a meal, but an event. Start with an icy, flavoured vodka and maybe caviar. Whatever your main course, it will be beautifully presented and luscious. Save room for the de rigueur soufflé as a finale.

Hilton Atlanta, 255 Courtland Street NE
Tel: (404) 221 6362.
Website: www.atlanta.hilton.com
Price: $$$ (Prix fixe eight-course tasting menu $$$$)

Business

Atlanta Fish Market
The huge fish sculpture over the entrance leaves no doubt about the cuisine. The bistro-styled restaurant, with tables and chairs packed cheek by jowl, is the place for oysters, crab cakes, gumbo and Hong Kong-styled steam bass. Service is fast but the place is often crowded, especially on weekends. Diners can enjoy baked, steamed, broiled or even with an eye staring right back at them.

265 Pharr Road
Tel: (404) 262 3165.
Website: www.buckheadrestaurants.com
Price: $$$

Bone's
Bone’s, the place for a power-lunch or dinner, is the quintessential steakhouse. It has a clubby atmosphere (with photos of the rich and shameless adorning every square inch of wall space) and is tastefully adorned with rich fabrics and dark woods. Good beef, good wine, fried onions rings, lobster bisque and a pecan pie close to perfection are the stars on the cholesterol-laden menu. Reservations are essential.

3130 Piedmont Road
Tel: (404) 237 2663.
Price: $$$

Seegers
Chef Guenter Seeger’s passion for using fresh local products is so great, it is not unusual to find Georgia shrimp or fallow deer on his ever-changing menu. The unassuming bungalow with simple décor, in which the restaurant is housed, is quite contrary from exquisitely presented small plate portion. The 42-page wine list has a selection for every course or the prix fixe menu. Reservations are mandatory.

111 West Paces Ferry Road NW
Tel: (404) 846 9779.
Website: www.seegers.com
Price: $$$$

Trendy

Buckhead Diner
Buckhead Diner’s sleek steel structure is reminiscent of the 40s and 50s. The retro atmosphere pervades the frequently changing menu, which runs the gamut from homemade potato chips and meat loaf to seared yellow fin tuna. A very popular eatery, this is a prime place for people-watching and absolutely the best place to have dinner solo. Brunch is particularly popular on Sundays.

3073 Piedmont Road
Tel: (404) 262 3336.
Website: www.buckheadrestaurants.com
Price: $$

Nickiemoto’s
Sushi and Asian fusion merge seamlessly in this sparkling modern establishment. Indoors, it is flashy and noisy with somewhat uncomfortable wooden booths but there is a nice outdoor patio. Diners rave about the top-grade sushi and steamed dumpling. Catfish with ginger and tuna rolled in a peppercorn crust are not to be missed. Those who would like some entertainment with their sushi should go on a Monday night for the geisha drag show. There is a branch in Buckhead, but this one has better service. Often crowded.

990 Piedmont Avenue
Tel: (404) 253 2010.
Price: $-$$

Vortex
Not exactly your average restaurant, this place has all sorts of things crawling up the walls and suspended from the ceiling – aeroplanes, skeletons on motorcycles and even the obligatory moose head. It is mostly a burger joint but salads, sandwiches, fish and chips baskets and bar appetisers are also on the changing menu. To wash down the food, the Vortex has a huge selection of beers and liquors.

878 Peachtree Street
Tel: (404) 875 1667.
Website: www.thevortexbarandgrill.com
Price: $

Budget

Flying Biscuit
Fist-sized biscuits, black bean cakes, organic oatmeal pancakes and turkey meatloaf are staples at this eating place. Crowded and hectic, there is always a queue and no reservations are taken. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served Tuesdays to Sundays. Brunch is added to the menu on Saturday and Sunday.

Candler Park 1655 McLendon Avenue NE
Tel: (404) 687 8888.

Branch:
Midtown 1001 Piedmont Avenue
Tel: (404) 874 8887.

Website: www.flyingbiscuit.com
Price: $

Mary Mac’s Tea Room
This ‘tea room’ features authentic tastes of the Old South. First-time visitors get free cornbread and Pot Likker – turnip greens with broth and cornbread. Food is prepared the same way it was when this local favourite opened in 1945. Its many dining rooms are a rambling complex of adjoining buildings. Lunch and dinner.

224 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE
Tel: (404) 876 1800.
Website: www.marymacs.com
Price: $-$$

Silver Skillet
Sleep as late as you want. Breakfast is served all day here and it seems to come straight from the 1950s. This is Southern cooking workman-style – collard greens with cornbread, chicken-fried steaks with green beans dredged in ham drippings, and, of course, grits. Grease and salt are free and served in copious amounts. For the occasional blow-out, the Silver Skillet is downright fun and tasty. No dinner.

200 14th Street
Tel: (404) 874 1388.
Price: $. Unlicensed.

Personal Recommendations

Eno
Casually elegant, Eno is about good food and good wine. A hidden gem, this friendly, comfortable restaurant, with both outdoor and indoor dining, offers over 80 different wines by the glass and 275 varieties by the bottle. Each menu selection is paired with wine. The crispy duck with morels and gnocchi is mouth-watering. Lunch and dinner.

800 Peachtree Street NE (Midtown)
Tel: 404 685 3191.
Website: www.eno-atlanta.com
Price: $$-$$$

The Food Studio
This old plow factory is out of the way, but worth the trip. Bare brick walls, and machine wheels that hang from the high ceiling are the backdrop for tasty food and friendly service. The American-style menu is seasonal, but always present are lamb, risotto, beef and seafood. Lemon Basil Bombe is always available. Do not miss it.

887 West Marietta Street NW, Suite K-102 (King Plow Arts Center)
Tel: (404) 815 6677.
Website: www.fifthgroup.com or www.thefoodstudio.com
Price: $$$

Pricci
White tablecloths and art deco décor makes this kitschy place look more like a 40s nightclub than an Italian ristorante. Friendly servers offer deliciously authentic cuisine, like fettuccine Alfredo, wild mushroom risotto and veal scaloppini. Maybe you’d prefer creative pizzas. The roasted mushroom, goat cheese and arugula salad pizza is yummy. Open for lunch and dinner.

500 Pharr Road NE
Tel: 404 237 2941.
Website: www.buckheadrestaurants.com
Price: $$