Where to eat in Atlanta

Restaurants, cafés and street food in Atlanta, United States that locals actually go to — plus the local names for the chains you already know.

• Paschal's — Soul food, Castleberry Hill (2). Order the Fried chicken. The civil-rights movement's meeting table; fried chicken that is history you can eat.
• Fat Matt's Rib Shack — BBQ / blues, Piedmont Heights (1). Order the Rib slab + rum baked beans. Ribs and live blues, no frills, since 1990.
• Home Grown — Southern brunch, Reynoldstown (1). Order the Comfy Chicken Biscuit. Comfort food on comfy couches; the Comfy Chicken Biscuit is the town's hangover cure.
• Desta Ethiopian Kitchen — Ethiopian, Briarcliff (2). Order the Kitfo + veggie combo. The city's beloved Ethiopian table; injera built for sharing.
• Busy Bee Cafe — Soul food, Vine City (2). Order the Fried chicken + collard greens. Fried chicken with civil-rights-era history — Dr. King ate here.
• Antico Pizza Napoletana — Pizza, Home Park / West Midtown (2). Order the San Gennaro pie. The Neapolitan ovens that reset Atlanta's pizza standard in 2009.
• The Varsity — Drive-in / fast food, Midtown (1). Order the Chili slaw dog + Frosted Orange. "What'll ya have?" — the world's largest drive-in, slinging chili dogs since 1928.
• El Rey del Taco — Mexican, Buford Highway, Doraville (1). Order the Tacos al pastor. A Buford Highway taqueria anchor that barely sleeps.
• Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q — BBQ (Texas-style), Candler Park (2). Order the Brisket + Fox-a-Roni. Texas expat brothers who became Atlanta's barbecue benchmark.
• The Colonnade — Southern, Cheshire Bridge (2). Order the Turkey and dressing. Since 1927: the church crowd meets the cocktail crowd over turkey and dressing.
• Mary Mac's Tea Room — Southern, Midtown (2). Order the Fried chicken + pot likker with cracklin' bread. Atlanta's dining room since 1945; order the pot likker like you mean it.

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