Hot lanta

Ecco in Midtown. SueSue and I try to eat there every time we're in town. We like ordering several small plates. They also have a good wine list with reasonable markups. There are also a lot of good restaurants that allow BYOB. Ate at Empire South last year and wasn't impressed, but Hugh's restaurant in Athens (Five and Ten) was spectacular when we last lived there (about 7 years ago). Sotto Sotto is a great Italian restaurant, and it's sister restaurant, Fritti, next door has great pizzas.
 
Any updates on this? Going to ATL for the first time next month, and have no firsthand knowledge, relying solely on the interwebs for this one!
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Any updates on this? Going to ATL for the first time next month, and have no firsthand knowledge, relying solely on the interwebs for this one!
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i struck out in Atlanta last Fall. i can tell you where not to go.
 
I live here, so I can help. Where in Atlanta will you be staying (the metro area is huge and traffic can be a nightmare), will you have a car, and are you looking for any specific kinds of places?
 
We're staying in downtown Atlanta on Peachtree Street NE near the Olympic Park. I'm sure it's not the most personality-filled of the neighborhoods, but it seemed like a fairly convenient and practical choice.

Yes we will have a car, and I'll be there with my wife and 6-year-old son. So we don't want anything too rarefied or challenging (i.e. no 20-course tasting menus). But we're looking for a mix of high-end deliciousness and more casual deliciousness, as always an emphasis on deliciousness! And all the better if it somehow speaks of Atlanta (I've seen a few rave reviews elsewhere for generic French/Italian chains, which did not jump to the top of my list).
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
We're staying in downtown Atlanta on Peachtree Street NE near the Olympic Park. I'm sure it's not the most personality-filled of the neighborhoods, but it seemed like a fairly convenient and practical choice.

Yes we will have a car, and I'll be there with my wife and 6-year-old son. So we don't want anything too rarefied or challenging (i.e. no 20-course tasting menus). But we're looking for a mix of high-end deliciousness and more casual deliciousness, as always an emphasis on deliciousness! And all the better if it somehow speaks of Atlanta (I've seen a few rave reviews elsewhere for generic French/Italian chains, which did not jump to the top of my list).
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And I take it that the family is, as you were, pescavegetarian?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
We're staying in downtown Atlanta on Peachtree Street NE near the Olympic Park. I'm sure it's not the most personality-filled of the neighborhoods, but it seemed like a fairly convenient and practical choice.

Yes we will have a car, and I'll be there with my wife and 6-year-old son. So we don't want anything too rarefied or challenging (i.e. no 20-course tasting menus). But we're looking for a mix of high-end deliciousness and more casual deliciousness, as always an emphasis on deliciousness! And all the better if it somehow speaks of Atlanta (I've seen a few rave reviews elsewhere for generic French/Italian chains, which did not jump to the top of my list).
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And I take it that the family is, as you were, pescavegetarian?

Mark Lipton
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I think Bones is right out.
 
Here's a starting point of places that are reasonably close to where you will be staying that usually deliver on the deliciousness factor:

Cooks and Soldiers - Tasty tapas and small plates with plenty of vegetarian and pescetarian dishes.

The Optimist - A seafood restaurant from Ford Fry, a prolific Atlanta restaurateur who usually hits the mark. The Optimist can be a little erratic, but I've generally had very good experiences.

Antico Pizza Napoletana was the pioneer of Neopolitan pizza and Acunto ovens in Atlanta.

Taqueria del Sol is a good, inexpensive choice. The turnip greens are fantastic.

Empire State South is good, but I don't think it is as good as it used to be.

For Italian, my first choice would be BoccaLupo, which is inventive and consistently excellent.

There are two food halls that are fairly close by. Each has a combination of food stalls and restaurants, most of which are affiliated with excellent local chefs or restaurants, so these aren't your typical mall food courts.

Krog Street Market is the more interesting of the two to me. A mix of restaurants and food stalls, it offers a lot of choices and quality. Ticonderoga Club is very good restaurant, with a wine list that includes a number of choices that will be familiar to Disorderlies and a terrific cocktail program. Other restaurants include the Luminary and Craft Izakaya, which I haven't been to. The Cockentrice (same owners as the Frankly and Spotted Trotter stands) is a good restaurant, but is very meat-centric so it may not be what you're looking for.

I haven't hit many of the food stalls, but Todd Ginsburg, the chef behind Fred's Meat and Bread and Yalla! (and The General Muir in Decatur), is fantastic. I've had consistently disappointing reports about Gu's Dumplings, which is a shame because the owners showed they could deliver excellent Sichuan food at Gu's Bistro, which they shut down shortly after opening the dumpling stand.

Ponce City Market doesn't excite me as much as KSM, but that may be in part because I've only been there once so I haven't tried most of the choices. I had a tasty dinner at Minero, a taco joint from Sean Brock of Husk fame. Linton Hopkins, the talented chef of Restaurant Eugene and Holman & Finch Public House, has a chicken outlet and an outlet for Holman & Finch burger that received widespread media attention (it is a tasty burger, but no burger can live up to the hype he got). El Super Pan should be good, as Hector Santiago knows how to deliver excellent Latin American food, but I haven't tried it.

This is just a starting point, and I'll probably add some more ideas later.
 
Rahsaan, my daughter and her family live in Decatur, and I can vouch for Tacqueria del Sol, and it's very kid and family friendly. Food I've had there was mighty tasty
 
originally posted by Mike Evans:
Here's a starting point of places that are reasonably close to where you will be staying that usually deliver on the deliciousness factor:

Cooks and Soldiers - Tasty tapas and small plates with plenty of vegetarian and pescetarian dishes.

The Optimist - A seafood restaurant from Ford Fry, a prolific Atlanta restaurateur who usually hits the mark. The Optimist can be a little erratic, but I've generally had very good experiences.

Antico Pizza Napoletana was the pioneer of Neopolitan pizza and Acunto ovens in Atlanta.

Taqueria del Sol is a good, inexpensive choice. The turnip greens are fantastic.

Empire State South is good, but I don't think it is as good as it used to be.

For Italian, my first choice would be BoccaLupo, which is inventive and consistently excellent.

There are two food halls that are fairly close by. Each has a combination of food stalls and restaurants, most of which are affiliated with excellent local chefs or restaurants, so these aren't your typical mall food courts.

Krog Street Market is the more interesting of the two to me. A mix of restaurants and food stalls, it offers a lot of choices and quality. Ticonderoga Club is very good restaurant, with a wine list that includes a number of choices that will be familiar to Disorderlies and a terrific cocktail program. Other restaurants include the Luminary and Craft Izakaya, which I haven't been to. The Cockentrice (same owners as the Frankly and Spotted Trotter stands) is a good restaurant, but is very meat-centric so it may not be what you're looking for.

I haven't hit many of the food stalls, but Todd Ginsburg, the chef behind Fred's Meat and Bread and Yalla! (and The General Muir in Decatur), is fantastic. I've had consistently disappointing reports about Gu's Dumplings, which is a shame because the owners showed they could deliver excellent Sichuan food at Gu's Bistro, which they shut down shortly after opening the dumpling stand.

Ponce City Market doesn't excite me as much as KSM, but that may be in part because I've only been there once so I haven't tried most of the choices. I had a tasty dinner at Minero, a taco joint from Sean Brock of Husk fame. Linton Hopkins, the talented chef of Restaurant Eugene and Holman & Finch Public House, has a chicken outlet and an outlet for Holman & Finch burger that received widespread media attention (it is a tasty burger, but no burger can live up to the hype he got). El Super Pan should be good, as Hector Santiago knows how to deliver excellent Latin American food, but I haven't tried it.

This is just a starting point, and I'll probably add some more ideas later.
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Thanks again for all of these recommendations. We have had a lovely and delicious stay in Atlanta. We drive back 'north' to Chapel Hill tomorrow, but will have fond memories of our time in ATL.

Our best meal was probably at Bocca Lupo. We loved the casual hip vibe but even more importantly we loved the food! My favorite was one of their famous dishes, the 20 yolk tagliatelle, but everything from start to finish was great.

We also found ourselves at Krog St Market pretty much every day. A short drive from our hotel and again, the vibe suited us. Dinner at Craft Izakaya was fun enough and ok (although not something I would recommend) but the real attraction was Jeni's Ice Cream.

I know Jeni's is a franchise and not local to Atlanta (or even to the southeast), but quality is quality and they have always delivered for me. Plus the original but intelligent flavors are all very well done. My mind was especially blown by ylang ylang fennel: floral, creamy, sweet, slightly verdant, fresh. This was also a hit with my 6 year old son who doesn't usually go for flavors that involves vegetables (but to be fair the fennel element was mild, and yes, I had to google ylang ylang later)

Taqueria del Sol was ok for us, although I understand it's not trying to be great or extra special.

Ponce City Market was interesting, quite the contrast to Krog St. Market in scale and intensity. But it was fun. We went to the ramen restaurant and had very nice food, carrying in a table full of draft beers from the extensive selection at the Tap. I like that setup!

We also took a break from the hipster circuit to eat at Mary Mac's Tea Room, which was a fine change of pace (although clearly still in the tourist orbit). And of course any place that serves marshmallows with sweet potatoes was going to appeal to my son.

Thanks again!
 
For better or worse, didn't really get into it. I'm sure Mike knows much more!

For a short trip where every meal was with my wife and son, and where my wife doesn't drink much wine, AND where I had to drive everywhere, we weren't going to order bottles of wine. And in those situations I almost never order BTG, finding more value and deliciousness with beer or cocktails.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
For better or worse, didn't really get into it. I'm sure Mike knows much more!

For a short trip where every meal was with my wife and son, and where my wife doesn't drink much wine, AND where I had to drive everywhere, we weren't going to order bottles of wine. And in those situations I almost never order BTG, finding more value and deliciousness with beer or cocktails.
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Uber solves the driving problem
 
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