We started this journey to find the best restaurants in Metro Atlanta in 2022. We are looking to obtain first hand knowledge of where to find the very best restaurants in Atlanta.
There are many, generic best restaurant posts on Atlanta. Many of them are written by people who never experienced the actual website and feature stock photos. That is not what the intent of this post is. This is a local’s guide to dining in Atlanta. You will only find real reviews based on first hand experience and it will include what we liked and what could have been improved.
Before I continue, let me ask something of you. Please make recommendations, and I will get to them. There are so many places around metro Atlanta. It is hard to know what is good. This is part of the reason I am doing this.
Contents
Reason For Finding the Best Restaurants in Atlanta
First, I love food, sometime too much. I love experiencing new ingredients I never tried or variations on classic dishes.
Second, I see a lot of restaurant recommendations without first hand knowledge of the experience. I am guilty of this too, but will fix overtime. Writing here is a process. The journey is part of the fun. This page will document the delicious journey.
Third, while exploring the Atlanta neighborhoods and writing for this blog, I get hungry. Please see my first point.
About My Ranking of Atlanta Food
- Many successful restaurant concepts in metro Atlanta get replicated throughout the city. I will typically only review one of the locations. The others will be put on a lower priority. For each post, I will highlight the neighborhood of where my review occurred, followed by the price category. This way you know exactly which location I tried.
- This page will be built out over time and will get better.
- My restaurant reviews are simply my opinion of the experience I had. With restaurants, experiences vary. If you had a very different experience, please share it in the comments.
- I will give my top 10 favorite restaurants in Atlanta, but will refrain from doing so only after I formally review at least 100 restaurants.
Price Categories for Each Atlanta Restaurant
This price referenced is the entrée cost, only. The prices can really go up if you are ordering extras like appetizers, drinks and desserts.
- $ – Under $10 per person
- $$ – $10 to $25 per person
- $$$ – $25 to $50 per person
- $$$$ – More than $50 to $100 per person
- $$$$$ – More than $100 per person
Categories of Atlanta Restaurants by Type
Some restaurants can apply to more than one category. If this occurs, we tried to pick the most appropriate category. Pizza, is technically Italian, but if it is primarily only a pizza spot, it is labeled as so. If it is a full service Italian restaurant, that happens to serve a pizza, it will be labeled as Italian.
For each of these categories, I will list the restaurants I enjoyed the most in order. Price definitely has a factor here. If a meal is $50 per entree, it must deliver an increased perceived value.
- American/Southern
- Barbecue
- Breakfasts/Brunch
- Brew Pubs/Taverns/Pubs
- Fine Dining (Steak and Seafood)
- Sandwiches
- International (Mexican, Italian, Indian etc)
- Pizza
- Specialty (Vegan/Vegetarian or other)
Atlanta Restaurants (With Reviews)
American/Southern
If you love elevated, classic southern or American dishes, Atlanta has many wonderful restaurants to enjoy. We particularly love the restaurants that take a classic dish and just make it something better than we could ever make at home.
- Table and Main | Roswell | $$-$$$ | Table and Main takes your usual southern inspired dishes and makes them utterly delicious. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Roswell.
- Roux on Canton | Roswell | $$ | While the menu has many pub favorites, the entree’s are all the southern comfort dishes like shrimp and grits, Jambalaya or just a shrimp basket.
- Hugo’s Oyster Bar | Roswell | $$$ | This southern style seafood restaurant and oyster bar has a coastal casual ambience, yet the seafood is amazing.
- Southbound | Chamblee | $$-$$$| This is a Southern restaurant with a modern twist. The twist is a few of the menu items have a fusion element to it. I really enjoyed the southern ramen dish
- Milton’s Cuisine | Milton | $$$-$$$$| This is a farm to table Southern style restaurant that is located in a historic farm house and features a large garden on the property.
Barbecue
A staple of the South, Atlanta is a melting pot of barbecue techniques. Lucky for us, we get to sample how BBQ influences from all of the US.
- Fox Bros. BBQ | Atlanta (Candler Park) | $$ | Fox Bros. BBQ offers fantastic Texas style barbecue. They are expanding with multiple locations available, even the major stadiums.
- Fox Bros. BBQ Westside | Upper Westside | $$ | They offer the same delicious BBQ from the location in the Works.
Brew Pubs, Taverns and Pubs in Metro Atlanta
This category is my bar food, or gastropub section. This might be my favorite category of them all. There is nothing better than great bar food paired with a pint of something delicious. I especially love finding the best burger in Atlanta, which many of these restaurants in this category feature great burgers.
- The Vortex | Atlanta (Little Five Points) | $$ | The is a landmark restaurant that serves some of the best burgers in Atlanta. This is a bar, you must be 21 and over to enter. They are some seriously big and flavorful burgers.
- Bold Monk Brewing Co. | Upper Westside Atlanta | $$ | This brewpub has amazing Belgian beers. It’s not all about the beer though, the food is excellent and service was amazing.
- Bocado | Alpharetta (Avalon) | $$-$$$ | While this restaurant offers more than just burgers, they have many burgers on the menu. They are delicious.
- Jekyll Brewing City Center | Alpharetta | $$ | This location is Jekyll’s full service brew pub featuring a diverse menu offering of something you might find at a beach bar in Jekyll Island.
- The Salt Factory Pub | Woodstock | $$ | With three locations in the suburbs around Atlanta, this excellent gastropub is a great place for a drink paired with pub fare and delicious entree’s in an English pub setting.
- Lucky’s Burger and Brew | Roswell | $$ | Lucky’s has three locations in metro Altanta and features great burgers and outdoor space the bring the pups along.
- Max Lager’s Wood Fired Grill and Brewery | Downtown Atlanta | $$ to $$$ | Max Lager’s featured American and Pub style cuisine. You can order seafood, steaks, burgers or pizza’s.
- STATS Brewpub | Downtown Atlanta | $$ | A brewpub and sports bar with pub food. The restaurant features an amazing rooftop bar just across from Centennial Olympic Park
International Restaurants in Atlanta
Indian
Atlanta is home to a large Indian population. As expected, there are many fantastic Indian restaurants, scattered all over the city of Atlanta. Here you can find 20 of the best Indian food restaurants in Atlanta as a summary. For more details, please see the individual reviews.
- Zyka, The Taste | Alpharetta | $ to $$ | – Zyka, The Taste is a delicious fast casual Indian concept where you order your dish from the counter, add rice and naan, and it will be ready in minutes.
- Madras Chettinaad | Alpharetta | $$ | – Madras Chettinaad offers a very large selection with their popular lunch buffet. For dinner, enjoy menu offering from their southern Indian cuisine.
Italian
Atlanta is not a typical destination for outstanding Italian food. However, if you know were to look, you can find some great Italian restaurants in the metro Atlanta area.
- Crust Pasta & Pizzeria | Alpharetta | $-$$$ | Crust is an Italian restaurant with excellent pizza and handmade pastas.
Japanese
Even though Atlanta is a land locked city, doesn’t mean residents here don’t love sushi. Below you will find some great options for sushi and Japanese restaurants.
- Sushi Nami | Alpharetta | $$ to $$$ | Sushi Nami has a large selection of Japanese dishes, small plates and a large selection expertly crafted sushi.
- Ichiban Steak and Sushi | $$-$$$ | A large Japanese restaurant with many hibachi tables, traditional dishes and sushi.
Mexican
There are many wonderful Mexican restaurants found in every neighborhood around Atlanta. For this category, I will include variations like Tex Mex, for instance.
- Pure Taqueria | Roswell | $ to $$ | – Pure Taqueria is a small Atlanta based franchise restaurant concept with incredible taco’s.
Fine Dining
Elevated dining experiences are one of my favorite types of restaurants. I love enjoying food that I could probably never cook my self. In fact, when I enjoy food at a fancy restaurant in Atlanta, I always think in the back of my mind, could I do it better myself.
Seafood and steak are my favorite dishes, and we expect a lot when we go out to these places. They aren’t cheap, but we love treating ourselves to a steak from the best steakhouses in Atlanta.
- Lapeer | Alpharetta | $$$ to $$$$ | – Lapeer is a fine dining restaurant with coastal vibes that features seafood dishes and an excellent selection of prime steak and sides.
- Pampas Steakhouse | Johns Creek | $$$ to $$$$$ | Pampas is a Argentinian style steakhouse with unique cuts of beef that are cooked over an Argentinian wood fire grill.
- Union Hill Grill | Canton | $$$ | Union Hill Grill is an upscale, yet casual fine dining restaurant nestled between horse farms in Canton.
- Rumi’s Kitchen | Avalon | $$$ to $$$$ | If I had a Persian cuisine category on this page, Rumi’s Kitchen would take the top spot. This restaurant is upscale and elegant with excellent cuisine. While not a typical choice for fine dining, this restaurant makes for a wonderful choice for a night out.
Sandwiches (and Other Quick Service)
Probably my favorite restaurant category, sandwiches come in all forms. From chicken salad, subs, burgers and even hot dogs. Most of the restaurants in this category will be quick service restaurants. We will limit national chains and focus on purely Atlanta based quick service sandwich spots
- Canyons Fresh Grill | Woodstock | $$ | Canyons Fresh Grill is a quick server burger restaurant. They have a large selection of burger options.
- NFA Burger | Dunwoody | $ | NFA burgers are some of the best value and best tasting burgers in the Atlanta metro area. Don’t let the gas station location fool you, these are delicious burgers.
- Farm Burger | Dunwoody | $$ | Farm Burger is a small restaurant chain with multiple restaurants in and around Atlanta. They offer grass fed beef burger options.