91. Tierra
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 874-5051
Address: 1425 Piedmont Ave. NE
Description: This pan-Latino restaurant’s fusion cuisine covers the Central and South American culinary world with trout coated in Colombian spices, seared scallops in Peruvian Huancaina sauce, roasted chicken breast in Ecuadorean peanut sauce, Salvadorean cheese pupusas (turnovers), shrimp in Brazilian Bahian sauce, Cuban coffee flan, and mango tart, complemented by Argentine, Chilean, and other regional wines. It’s in Midtown, near Piedmont Park and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Valet parking is available. Dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday.
92. Nicola’s
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 325-2524
Address: 1602 Lavista Rd. NE
Description: This comfy Lebanese restaurant in northeast Atlanta serves some of the area’s best Middle Eastern food at amazingly low prices. Mezza (appetizer) plates with hummus, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghanoush, artichoke hearts, tabbouleh, olives, and other tasty bites are under $10. Entrees, including the signature lamb shank, are $8 to $13. On the second and fourth Sundays of the month, Aya of Istanbul does her jiggling belly dancing routine right at patrons’ tables. Service at this long-established restaurant couldn’t be more helpful or more congenial. Dinner is served nightly.
93. Top Spice
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 685-9333
Description: Exceptionally attractive restaurants with subdued lighting, spices in tall glass canisters, flowers, flowing water, a long, full bar, and gracious service are the setting for exceptional Malaysian and Thai cuisine. Specialties such as mango chicken in sliced mango halves, deep-fried soft-shell crab, catfish basil, chicken Panang in creamy coconut and curry sauce, and roti cani, an appetizer of sautéed tofu with a curry sauce dip, keep the crowds coming back to the Midtown Emory University area and Cobb County near Cumberland Mall locations. All locations serve lunch and dinner daily. Free shopping center parking is available.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 2285 Peachtree Rd. NE
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 265 Pharr Rd. NE
96. McKinnon’s Louisiane Restaurant and Seafood Grill
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 237-1313
Address: 3209 Maple Dr. NE
Description: For more than 30 years, McKinnon’s has provided superior Cajun seafood to appreciative diners in two settings: the upscale main dining room and the more casual Grill Room. There’s nothing ordinary about the offerings, such as crawfish tails salad. Blackened amberjack, crunchy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside, is a favorite. Crab cakes, oysters, and crawfish étouffée are others. Guests can sing along at the piano on Friday and Saturday. At the intersection of Maple Drive and Peachtree Road, the restaurant accepts reservations for dinner every night except Sunday.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 6700 Powers Ferry Rd.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 415 Memorial Dr. SE
99. Ann’s Snack Bar
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 687-9207
Address: 1615 Memorial Dr. SE
Description: In 2007, the Wall Street Journal declared that this hole-in-the-wall near Grant Park serves the best burger in the whole USA. With only eight stools facing the grill, it was difficult getting in before—now chowing down on Miss Ann’s double cheeseburger or plate-filling Ghetto Burger, topped with chili, cheese, onions, and bacon, requires a lengthy wait outside. Patrons wait patiently for Miss Ann to give them the high sign that a stool is vacant. Those who venture inside uninvited are sternly ordered to the back of the line or are banished altogether, a la Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi.” Lunch is served Monday through Saturday. No credit cards or checks are accepted.
100. Barbecue Kitchen
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 766-9906
Address: 1437 Virginia Ave.
Description: If you love Southern food and lots of it, you’ll flip at the Barbecue Kitchen. The main dishes include country ham, fried chicken, and the restaurant’s own pork barbecue, which is smoked right out back. Your dinner comes with three vegetables, such as mashed potatoes, collards, and fried okra, and you can get a free reorder of each—but since you can order the same vegetables or three different ones, you’re really getting a meat and six. All this place lacks is someone to help happy diners waddle back to their cars. This totally nonsmoking restaurant is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. No alcohol is served, and no credit cards are accepted.
101. The Beautiful Restaurant
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 752-5931
Address: 2260 Cascade Rd. SW
Description: Fresh vegetables, baked chicken, beef ribs, banana pudding, and corn bread are all popular with diners at The Beautiful soul food restaurant. It is open 7 a.m. until noon Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. the rest of the week. No alcohol is served, and credit cards are not accepted.
102. The Colonnade
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 874-5642
Address: 1879 Cheshire Bridge Rd. NE
Description: This large Southern restaurant has been an Atlanta tradition since 1927 and is a favorite with the older set as well as young people and families. Turkey and dressing, fried chicken, and more than 30 vegetables top the list of offerings. After church on Sunday, things really get crowded here. The Colonnade is open daily for lunch and dinner and has a full bar. Credit cards are not accepted.
103. Fat Matt’s Rib Shack
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 607-1622
Address: 1811 Piedmont Ave. NE
Description: It really does look like a shack. Fat Matt’s exterior was created by Atlanta airbrush sign-painter legend “J.J. of L.A.,” whose murals of food embellish numerous stores and restaurants in the city. Matt’s fixes ribs (which we simply drool over), chopped pork barbecue, and barbecued chicken, plus side dishes such as rum-baked beans. It’s open every day for lunch and dinner, and there’s live blues every night. You can pig out until 11:30 p.m. weeknights and until 12:30 a.m. on weekends. Beer is sold here, but no credit cards are accepted.
104. maddy’s Barbecue
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 377-0301
Address: 1479 Scott Blvd.
Description: As if the fall-off-the-bone ribs weren’t reason enough to come to Maddy’s, this rustic and welcoming barbecue shack also features live music nightly. The menu isn’t extensive, just basic and good barbecue offerings of chopped pork, brisket, ribs, or chicken. Maddy’s is open 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Sunday hours are noon until 10 p.m.
105. Mary Mac’s Tea Room
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (404) 876-1800
Address: 224 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE
Description: The absolute “grande dame” of Atlanta restaurants, Mary Mac’s has been in business for 50-plus years at this location, and the restaurant remains a famous landmark of traditional Southern food. It also maintains a few Southern traditions, such as writing out your own order with pads and pencils on each table. Favorites at the Tea Room include baked chicken and dressing, fried chicken, sweet-potato soufflé, fresh-baked yeast rolls, and the rich “pot liquor” broth. Mary Mac’s serves lunch and dinner daily and breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. There’s a full bar, but smoking is not allowed, and credit cards are not accepted. Open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.