Any “not to be missed”? - one night only in both places.
What kind of dining experience do you seek? I can name “don’t miss” Atlanta dining experiences in many categories, from bistro to haut cuisine to Korean BBQ to hole-in-the-wall Sichuan to fried chicken to…
Maybe something fantastic, or something that is quirky and great, or something that is special to the City.
A friend recommended Bistro Niko?
Bistro Niko is part of a local mini-conglomerate, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group. http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/ All of their restaurants are good, often very good, but none is “fantastic” or “quirky” (in the positive way you must mean it) or “special to the City.”
Bistro Niko, specifically, is a classic brasserie, well appointed, bustling, noisy, with a number of outstanding (and a number of not-so-outstanding) brasserie-style dishes on the menu. It is not what you seem to be looking for.
Here some food for thought, by category:
“fantastic” Fine Dining:
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Bacchanalia is, consistently, Atlanta’s highest rated restaurant (example: the only 5-star rating in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “50 Top Restaurants, 2013”). It deserves the high rating. Five course, prix fixe, modern American cuisine. http://www.starprovisions.com/bacchanalia.php
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Restaurant Eugene is, to me, on the same level as Bacchanalia. Difference? Chef/owner Linton Hopkins is dedicated to preserving traditional Southern cuisine, albeit updated and adapted to a fine dining milieu. http://www.restauranteugene.com/
Quirky
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Gio’s Chicken Amalfitano and Antico Pizza. Same ownership, side-by-side. Go to Gio’s, place your order for a top-quality half roast chicken, sauced one of seven ways (my favorite: Amalfi, with castelvetrano olives, cippoline, olio di oliva, garlic, italian bread crumbs). Then go next door to Antico, order an excellent Napoletano-style pizza (my favorite: Diavola, spicy sopressata, Calabrian peppers, bufala). Return to Gio’s (Antico will deliver your pizza) and take a seat in the Spartan dining room with a full view of the chicken-roasting operation. Relax and enjoy some extremely flavorful food. Take your own adult beverage. http://gioschicken.com/ http://www.anticoatl.com/
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Octopus Bar. If you look up “quirky” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of this place. This sample menu (actual menu changes daily) says it all: Octopus Bar: Menu Downside: Doesn’t open until 10:30 pm. But if you’re a night owl, this is the place for you.
“special to the City”
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Busy Bee Cafe, “An Atlanta Tradition Since 1947.” Down home Southern cooking. Best fried chicken in town, in my not-so-humble opinion. Fried green tomatoes, collards, ox tails, liver & onions, black-eyed peas, pickled beets, sweet potatoes, okra… Downside: closes early (7:00 pm). Hey, maybe chicken at the Busy Bee followed by oysters and cocktails at Octopus Bar? http://www.thebusybeecafe.com/en/
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The Varsity, an Atlanta tradition since 1928 and “The World’s Largest Drive-In Restaurant.” Still offering curb service - though I recommend inside seating. Get the chili-cheese-slaw dog, onion rings, a fried apple pie, and an FO (don’t ask, just look at the menu). Has to be experienced to be believed. http://thevarsity.com/
This is great, Thanks
At your service, good Sir.
Mr. Fleming has given you some very good recommendations, and I agree with his assessment of Bistro Niko, I enjoy it, but it isn’t that special.
Bacchanalia revolutionized Atlanta dining, and its impact on the Atlanta food scene is almost impossible to overstate. Eugene is also on my very short list of best restaurants in town. My only reservation with Eugene is that I’ve found a couple of times at the end of the meal that I wish either the portion sizes were a little more generous or that I had ordered an extra appetizer. I have never ordered the tasting menu, though, and I suspect that may be part of the issue). Other fine dining options include Aria, 4th & Swift, and Empire State South, but I agree that Bacchanalia and Eugene would top my list.
I love the Varsity, but I’m a native of Atlanta and have eaten there my entire life. I’ve found, on the other hand, that some visitors and transplants have trouble appreciating its charms. It is fast food, greasy, unpretentious, and delicious. My only quibbles with the previous recommendation are matters of personal taste, as I prefer the hot dog with just chili and mustard. I’m also a fan of the chili cheese burger (in Varsity lingo, a chili cheese steak) with pimento cheese (you have to tell them when you order that you want pimento cheese instead of American). The burger patty itself is nothing special, but the combination is much greater than the sum of its parts. Definitely get onion rings instead of fries, which are inconsistent, sometimes crispy and delicious, but sometimes the oil temp seems to get too low and they can be undercooked, soggy little noodles of grease. Lunch at the original North Avenue location is a unique people watching experience, as you can see a cross section of Atlanta, rich and poor, young and old, white and black, rubbing shoulders at a true Atlanta institution.
Finally, let me add that, after years of being a BBQ wasteland, Atlanta now offers some excellent choices. My personal favorite is Sam’s BBQ1 in east Cobb, but Community Q and Fox Brothers are other good choices for traditional pulled pork (I’m also a big fan of BBQ1’s pork back ribs and the beef rib,on the bone, is a tender chunk of smoked beefy goodness), and Heirloom offers an exciting mix of traditional BBQ with a Korean twist.
LOL, Andrian, vis-a-vis Orlando, that is a big “ask”! We are in culinary hell. Wine hell, too.
For starters, where will you be staying? Orlando sprawls like Atlanta, but we have no MARTA public transportation, so you could easily be an hour away from any place I recommend.
The food and wine scene here is tough. Most places cater to the convention crowd (Morton’s, Roy’s, Capital Grille, etc.) and the Cabernet/Chardonnay crowd. Tough to find interesting wine selections, so I normally BYOB.
If you are near Winter Park, you have the best chance of success. My favorite restaurant in town is Ravenous Pig. Funky bistro cuisine with some decent wine selections from time to time, like Huet, Baudry, Lapierre. Luma is my second favorite, with a swanky atmosphere and lots of pretty, “be seen” type people. I like their wine list concept. It’s broken into the $20, $30, $40 and $50 groups, and within each group will be 8 reds, 8 whites, a champagne and a dessert selection. I like to have the wood grilled pizza at an outside table to watch the fancy people, sucking down a simple $20 NZ Sav Blanc. They have Baudry Chinon from time to time. The Reserve List is decent, but very very expensive. For example, Merry Edwards Sav Blanc for $110 when a local sushi place has it for $55. Pratta down the street from Luma is the cool new joint owned by the Luma people. Decent cuisine, but better for people watching. The wine list is average, but a few gems like Muga Reserve. The food at Luma is better than at Pratta. Luma’s appetizers, salads and desserts are far better than the entrees.
Winter Park also has a new, tiny little restaurant called Fresh. Everything is sourced within 50 miles. An eclectic, creative menu. I’ve only eaten there once, so tough to recommend too highly right now, but I will be back. They are cool with BYOB as well. Wine list is basic.
If you are near College Park, go to K. MarcF and I eat there regularly with our wives. Fun bistro cuisine as well. Very decent food but sometimes over salted. Wine list is average but they are very cool about BYOB. Very reasonably priced. This is one of my regular haunts. A very comfortable place.
The downtown core restaurants are not worth seeking out. The convention center restaurants are not worth seeking out, either.
Andrian -
I need to “second” Bob’s recommendation of Busy Bee Cafe. I went to law school in Atlanta, so ended up there many times. That’s a piece of old Southern Americana. I’d go there for sure. Not haut cuisine, but it’s an American original.
Agree with FO?
We are staying at the Grand Hyatt Cypress…
one night only before a long road trip
I forgot about Primo, which will be near you. I have not eaten there, but some foodies I know seem to love it.
http://www.grandelakes.com/files/Primo%20Menu%2003%2016%2013%20.pdf
BTW, you are only about an hour away from the (in)famous Bern’s Steak House.
I ate at both Empire Street South and White Oak Kitchen and Cocktails last week in Atlanta. I’d recommend both and neither will break the bank. Empire Street South (Midtown) is part of Hugh Acheson’s group. The “jars” - appetizer - is a great way to start although the charcuterie also looked great. Atmosphere is casual southern rustic - most of staff and patrons were in jeans. My favorites included the pimento cheese spread with bacon marmelade, lamb belly, poached egg with fried rice (desription doesn’t do it justice), and the dessert flan with celery sorbet. Ask the server for recs – fun experience.
White Oak Kitchen and Cocktails is downtown and a convenient walk from most of the larger hotels. The pork belly was out of sight as well as the pimento cheese with fried green tomatoes. On my last visit, the fried chicken was very good as well.
Absolutely. It is an iconic (and tasty) part of the Varsity experience that any first time visitor should try.
Empire State South: http://empirestatesouth.com/
White Oak Kitchen: http://whiteoakkitchen.com/
Both good spots; I would give Empire the edge. But neither is what I think you’re looking for (though your fantastic/quirky/of-the-City formulation requires some reading between the lines).
going there on the way back on the 6th June!
heard lots of great things about it
Empire State South is fabulous. As is Aria. Both are wonderful experiences and great food in ATL. Fine dining at Park 75 at the Four Seasons is first rate. For something less formal, Holeman and Finch Public House next to Eugenes.
Overlooked that one. Right up there with Bacchanalia and Restaurant Eugene.
Hmmm…
I’m a bit reluctant to send a Brit to our imitation of a pub - though the food is first rate.
I am partial to Aria Very close to where you are staying
Anything new and exciting in Atlanta? Will be down again end of July for an annual conference.
In terms of preference, anything from lower-end bbq (Daddy D’z/Fox Bros) to nice, but not over the top (Bacchanalia). Past favorites included Abattoir, Empire State South, Sotto Sotto, Woodfire Grill and Wisteria. Will note that I thought Woodfire Grill has slipped off a bit over the last couple of years, but that might be due to the fact that I’ve been locked in the private room in back. Had several great dinners at Repast, but that hit the fan a couple of years back.
Hotel location is still TBD, but I’ll most likely taxi, regardless. Rumor is I’m getting stuck in Buckhead this year, which means I will seriously lose my mind. Still holding out for the Omni…
Any thoughts or recs are greatly appreciated!