Doraville, Forest Park, and Milton, the Week Kicks Off With OTP Restaurant News

The second location of Lagarde American Eatery, owned by chef Jamie Adams and Leonardo Moura, is now open at Crabapple Market in Milton. Lagarde American Eatery blends Southern, Cajun, and classic New Orleans dishes together.

As in Chamblee, the Milton restaurant features a similar menu with dishes like shrimp etouffee, red beans and rice, grilled and fresh oysters, po’ boys, and jambalaya and specials such as Cajun pork belly hash. Bread pudding, fried doughnut holes, and pecan pie are offered for dessert, with cocktails, frozen drinks, and beer and wine from the indoor/outdoor bar. Weekend brunch begins Saturday, January 14.

The restaurant joins Olde Blind Dog Irish pub, Knuckies Hoagies, seafood market and cafe Kathleen’s Catch, the Nest Cafe, Buzzed Bull Creamery, and Peace Love and Pizza at Crabapple Market. Dua Vietnamese, Spiced Right Ribhouse, and Johns Creek brewery Six Bridges Brewing are all slated to open this year.

Taiwanese hot chicken restaurant Java Saga is relocating to Buford Highway

Java Saga, owned by Alvin Sun, is relocating from Presidential Parkway to the former Master Bakery space on Buford Highway in Doraville this spring, the same complex as Vietnamese restaurant I Luv Pho. The owners of the Chinese bakery retired last year after serving the Buford Highway community for nearly 20 years. Sun first launched Java Saga as a mobile coffee shop in 2016, eventually relocating to Prep Commercial Kitchens on Presidential Parkway in 2020 and adding hot chicken to the menu. The tiny restaurant with its walk-up window continues to serve its popular coffee and coffee drinks, along with sizable Taiwanese-style hot chicken sandwiches in four levels of heat: lifeline (mild), crypto (hot and numbing), octane (very hot), and predator. Sun tells Eater, however, the menu for Java Saga in Doraville will likely be different and offer new dishes, while gradually phasing out dishes on the current menu.

Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks is opening in Forest Park

Derrick Hayes is opening a third location of his popular cheesesteak restaurant in Forest Park later this spring. Located on Jonesboro Road, the Forest Park restaurant will carry a similar menu as the downtown Atlanta and Doraville locations, including serving its beef, chicken and salmon cheesesteaks and selection of cheesesteak egg rolls. Hayes first opened Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks in 2018 on Winters Chapel Road inside a Shell gas station in Dunwoody. The restaurant quickly became a success, prompting its relocation to a larger space on Forsyth Street in downtown Atlanta a year later. In addition to Big Dave’s, Hayes also co-owns vegan restaurant stall Dinkie’s with Slutty Vegan founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole inside Bar Vegan at Ponce City Market.

Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks