Atlanta has a diverse array of cuisine in its many restaurants
from creative upscale venues to some of the best soul food
in the nation.
Paschal’s
Restaurant at Castleberry Hill
Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders met
at Paschal’s Restaurant to plan key marches during
the 60s. Famous for its fried chicken, Paschal’s
was founded by brothers James and Robert Paschal, who provided
free fried chicken to students arrested for protesting.
Originally in the West End district, Paschal’s moved
to Atlanta’s historic Castleberry Hill in 2002. Today,
Paschal's Restaurant at Castleberry Hill still hosts Atlanta's
leaders for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week.
Thelma’s Kitchen, 404.688.5855
This hometown favorite relocated from Centennial Park to
Sweet Auburn. A Coke cooler, a black-and-white portable,
and large plate glass windows are the chief features of
this humbly decorated restaurant. Be forewarned as you
will have to make some tough decisions between dark meat
special or pork chops, rice and gravy or macaroni and cheese,
collard greens or lima beans, and most importantly, sweet
potato pie or pineapple upside-down cake.
Other places
to find savory soul food and down-home Southern cooking
include The Beautiful
Restaurant, a
cafeteria in the Cascade area; Son’s Place Restaurant,
an Inman Park family
restaurant that dishes out meat loaf, collard greens and
banana pudding; Chanterelle’s Café &
Catering, a Caribbean-style eatery on Evans Street; Busy
Bee Café downtown,
on Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, which dates back to 1947 and offers
fried chicken and red velvet cake;
and Louise’s World’s Best Soul Food in
Lawrenceville.
On the west side of town, Atlanta entrepreneur
Lorenzo Wyche, founder of hot nightspot Harlem Bar recently
opened breakfast and lunch eatery The
Social House,
serving creative takes on Southern standards such as fried
tomato crepes and New Orleans Savory Bread Pudding with eggs,
all set to a jazz soundtrack.
Hairston’s Dinner Club in
Stone Mountain features Cajun and Creole delicacies and live
jazz and comedy shows.
Husband and wife entrepreneurs Ron Frieson and Belinda Stubblefield
have brought the wine-tasting and fine dining to south Atlanta
with WineStyles and Landon’s
Restaurant, both on Cascade Road.
Also on the south side in Hapeville is Michon’s Smoked
Meats & Seafood Restaurant, which specializes
in seasoned meats cooked the old-fashioned way and also features
live jazz.
Eateries operated by celebrities also
are on the rise.
- For upscale soul and Caribbean food
and perhaps a cognac, sample Justin’s Restaurant & Bar in Buckhead, owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs
and L.A. Reid
- Gladys Knight
and Ron Winan’s Chicken & Waffles on Peachtree Street, continuing a tradition dating back
to Wells Restaurant in Harlem in the 1930s, when late-night
celebrity diners couldn’t
decide between breakfast and dinner
- Jermaine Dupri’s
Cafe Dupri in Buckhead, serving
healthy American and Southern cooking until well after
midnight.
Atlantic
Station is a hot dining
destination with a variety of restaurants including:
- FOX Sports
Grill, with multiple state-of-the-art screens
- Strip Steaks & Sushi,
owned by Atlanta restaurateur Tom Catherall
- Lobby at boutique
hotel TWELVE
- The Grape wine bar
- Dolce Enoteca and Geisha House, local
imports of the Hollywood celebrity hangouts
- Or for more
casual dining, try Rosa Mexicano, Copeland Cheesecake
Bistro, Tahitian Noni Café and more.
Downtown, sip cocktails and savor
soul food and a cool soundtrack at Harlem
Bar, where the
menu declares itself as “sexy, stylish, soulful.”
More downtown havens where the see-and-be-seen crowd go
for live music, DJs and dancing include:
More trendy nightspots include:
- Blue Room, next to Justin’s in Buckhead
- Verve, which
with different music on all three floors appeals to multiple
ages
- Midtown’s Opera in a renovated
theater
Thirtysomethings also flock to two hot clubs south of the
city — Crowe’s Nest MegaPlex in College Park
and Club Ritz in Riverdale.
Latin lovers heat up the dance floors at Loca
Luna on Amsterdam
Avenue. In Virginia-Highland, Blind
Willie’s prides
itself on booking some of the oldest and greatest working
blues musicians. Upscale supper club Sambuca features
live jazz, as does Churchill
Grounds,
next to The Fox Theatre, and Café 290 in
Sandy Springs. |
