46. Hsu’s at Peachtree Center
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 659-2788
Address: 192 Peachtree Center Ave.
Description: For fine dining in downtown Atlanta, visit this charming and picturesque restaurant. The food is new Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong style and has won many fans among residents and visitors. Try the shrimp with fresh mango, grilled stuffed scallops, or Peking duck served in two courses: crispy skin in a Chinese pancake and grilled duck meat with honey ginger sauce, and the spicy noodle soup. Hsu’s offers a full-service bar as well as wines by the glass or bottle.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 3861 Roswell Rd.
48. Little Szechuan
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (770) 451-0192
Description: Another of the good Asian restaurants clustered in strip centers on Buford Highway, Little Szechuan concentrates on food, not atmosphere. Mandarin Chinese cuisine with Szechuan spices dominates the menu. Creative and well-seasoned, the dishes here include stir-fried Szechuan string beans, shredded pork with garlic sauce, chicken in sherry with garlic sauce, steamed fish with black beans, and spicy garlic shrimp. Look for sizable portions and fast service. You can buy beer and wine, and there’s lots of free parking outside. Little Szechuan serves lunch and dinner every day except Tuesday. The restaurant accepts reservations for parties of six or more and has a big party room for groups of up to 50.
49. The Orient express at Vinings
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (770) 438-8866
Address: 2921 Paces Ferry Rd.
Description: This restaurant features sushi, Chinese, and Hibachi in a relaxed contemporary setting that includes a refurbished railroad car next to the still busy tracks. Specialties include firecracker pork, rainbow shrimp, and Szechuan cuttlefish. Ask about the weekly lunch special. Friendly service is a mainstay of this popular restaurant. The Orient Express is open for dinner every night and for lunch Monday through Friday, as well as brunch on Sunday. Reservations are suggested.
50. Hong Kong Harbor
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 325-7630
Address: 2185 Cheshire Bridge Rd.
Description: Simple, authentic, and inexpensive. It’s not unusual to walk in and think you have somehow been transported to China because you are the only non-Asian in the place. In business for more than two decades, Hong Kong Harbor is very much a family business and sometimes the matriarch is there to make sure you feel at home. Portions are more than ample and, oh, so flavorful. Spicy noodles, Mongolia beef, and fresh seafood dishes. . . there is a long list of foods to enjoy here. Open for lunch at 11:30 a.m.; dinner is served until 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday for all you late-night eaters.
51. Aria
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 233-7683
Address: 490 E. Paces Ferry Rd. NW
Description: In the heart of Buckhead, Aria is often considered one of Atlanta’s best. Chef Gary Klaskala prides himself on his “slow food”—dishes that have been braised, roasted, or stewed so that all the delicious herbs and spices can marry as they cook. Signature dishes include the Zinfandel braised beef short rib, which falls off the bone, or the Niman Ranch slow cooked pork. Save room for dessert and the warm chocolate cheesecake. The avant-garde surroundings are used to display up-and-coming artists in the community.
52. Babette’s Cafe
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 523-9121
Address: 573 North Highland Ave.
Description: On the outskirts of Little Five Points, Babette’s presents European provincial fare that includes a fried oyster appetizer on dill biscuits with cucumber sauce, artichoke and olive ravioli, mussels with strawberries and serrano peppers, and the seasonal French stew cassoulet. There’s a full bar; dinner is served nightly Tuesday through Sunday; brunch is served on Sunday. There’s usually a wait at this intimate spot, enormously popular with locals.
53. Eno
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 685-3191
Address: 800 Peachtree St.
Description: With its glass doors opening to Peachtree Street and a pretty sidewalk of tables and chairs, this corner restaurant and wine bar reminds guests of a French cafe. The menu sports heavy European and Mediterranean influences, with entrees such as cumin and mint lamb sausage or Provençal seafood stew. But the real stars at Eno (“wine”) are the vintages. More than 150 bottles are offered by the glass, along with small sample plates of food. There’s also a private dining room and an ongoing series of wine tastings and dinners. Lunch is served during the week; dinner begins at 5 p.m. every day except Sunday.
54. Joël Brasserie
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 233-3500
Address: 3290 Northside Pkwy.
Description: Joël Antunes is no longer at the helm; but fear not, his namesake remains and has flourished. Chef Cyrille Holata now guides the kitchen of this gorgeous northside dining room that features simple, yet elegant French cuisine. Diners may begin with tuna tartare or seared foie gras, with a main course of Pork Osso Buco with roasted apple or maple leaf duck leg confit. Conclude your meal with Grand Marnier crème brûlée or other picture-perfect dessert creations. Dine inside or the outdoor patio. The wine list is one of Atlanta’s best. Joël is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Valet parking is available.
55. Nikolai’s Roof
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 221-6362
Address: 255 Courtland St. NE
Description: When nothing less then total extravagance will do, there’s Nikolai’s Roof. (Don’t be fooled by the Russian connection: The czar was a devotee of French food not unlike the lavish assortment on the prix fixe menu.) The service is as close to royalty as a dinner can get, particularly when the waiters present silver-domed plates with a flourish. Advance reservations are nearly always necessary at this famous fine-dining restaurant atop the Atlanta Hilton. The menu changes with the availability of game and other specialty items. There’s an impressive wine list and a number of flavored Russian vodkas. Coat and tie are requested for the gentlemen. Nikolai’s, which provides stupendous views of Atlanta north of Downtown, has been dazzling diners since 1976.
56. The Pecan
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 762-8444
Address: 3725 Main St.
Description: Your flight from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has been cancelled until tomorrow. You could sit in your hotel-room with a room-service dinner, or you could take a 10-minute cab ride to The Pecan on College Park’s Main Street. The intimate fine-dining restaurant serves Southern cuisine with a Cajun flair. Chef/owner Tony Morrow’s menu favorites include lump meat crab cakes, leek and asparagus soup, pecan-crusted pork chops and chicken breast, prime beef, grilled fish, and shrimp and grits. There’s a full bar and free parking. Lunch is offered Monday through Friday, and dinner is offered daily except Sunday. On Sunday, Pecan is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for brunch.
57. Park 75
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 253-3840
Description: The plush second-floor dining room of the Four Seasons is under the capable hands of executive chef Robert Gertsenecker, who turns out exceptional seasonal American cuisine. Two four-course tasting menus are offered at dinner (one is vegetarian). There’s also a full bar, a strong wine list, and a waitstaff that’s one of the city’s best. Park 75 serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner Monday through Saturday as well as daily afternoon tea and Sunday brunch.
58. Restaurant Eugene
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 355-0321
Address: 2277 Peachtree Rd. NE
Description: The seasonal menu at owner/chef Linton Hopkins’ sumptuous Buckhead restaurant may include crawfish and toasted almond meuniere with creamy grits, roasted lamb and veal sweetbreads, Chesapeake Bay striped bass, beef rib eye, grilled and roasted lamb, American red snapper, and Nova Scotia halibut with polenta and seasonal vegetables, as well as matching wines. Whatever the season, it’s hard to go wrong with anything in one of affluent Buckhead’s favorite dining venues. Valet parking is available. Restaurant Eugene is open for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner nightly.
59. Dante’s Down the Hatch
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 266-1600
Address: 3380 Peachtree Rd. NE
Description: How about a place that looks like a big ship tied to a wharf where you can hear live jazz, watch alligators swim past the bar, and eat all your courses from a fondue pot? That’s Dante’s. The original Dante’s was one of the best-known spots in the first Underground Atlanta. It closed Downtown for a while and opened uptown in Buckhead. The design of both restaurants was similar to a sailing ship at dock, and there’s live jazz on the ship seven nights a week. The fare is fondue from meat to fruits, and your server will be happy to instruct you in the basics. The full bar boasts more than 300 wines. Dante’s serves dinner nightly; reservations are recommended.
60. Fado Irish Pub
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 841-0066
Address: 273 Buckhead Ave. NE
Description: They decorated this multiroom Irish pub with newspapers, signs, and advertisements just like you’d see across the pond. But in the heart of Buckhead’s nightlife district, it offers a bit of the old sod, with taps of Guinness, entrees of cottage pie, and weekend breakfasts loaded with black pudding, toasted soda bread, and grilled tomatoes. The original Fado closed in 2007 to make way for a new Buckhead development, but the present locale quickly filled the void. Weekend mornings start off with soccer games on the satellite TV. There’s also a gift shop with an assortment of Irish items. Fado opens for lunch daily, and service continues throughout the day into the wee hours. (NOTE: Since half of Fado is a bar, children are allowed in before 8 p.m. on weekdays only.)