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Magnolia Room Cafeteria

These Are the Southern ‘Meat and Three’ Restaurants to Try in Atlanta

Southern proteins like fried chicken or country fried steak and three starchy vegetables on one heaping plate

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Comfort food comes best in a formula: mix a protein with some sides, and make sure it’s served via a tray, styrofoam container, or a really big plate. Structure is key, and counter service or cafeteria-style is the best service. Such are the laws of the meat-and-three, one of the greatest dining treasures to emerge from the American South.

For those unaware, or who haven’t spent enough time in the South, the “meat and three” is a restaurant, buffet, or diner with a menu listing a choice of Southern proteins like fried chicken, country fried steak, meatloaf, or beef tips and two to three starchy vegetable sides, such as bacon-soaked collards, lima beans, or mac and cheese. Yes, in the South, mac and cheese is considered a vegetable. Atlanta has plenty of such establishments offering the ultimate Southern feast to check out, too.

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This Is It! BBQ & Seafood (Camp Creek full-service)

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With multiple locations that reach as far out as Fayetteville and Lithonia, This Is It doesn’t sacrifice flavor in its offerings, which explains why there aren’t any salt and pepper shakers on the tables. The extra seasoning is simply unnecessary here.

The Beautiful Restaurant

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Established in 1979, the Beautiful Restaurant on Cascade Road delivers exactly what’s promised: crispy fried chicken against a metal backdrop and vibrantly colored vegetables. Here, the portions are huge and all the recipes are classic. Oh, and it’s also really good.

Q's Restaurant

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Q’s Restaurant is absolutely worth the travel and traffic down to East Point. Favorites at this cafeteria include daily specials like rip tips, oxtails, fried pork chops, and cube steak with sides of mac and cheese and green beans washed down with a blend of tea and lemonade.

This Southern food cafeteria in West End serves up soul-soothing comfort dishes. Order the baked chicken and gravy with collard greens and mac and cheese or Salisbury steak with green beans and rice and peach cobbler for dessert. Q Time is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

K & K Soul Food

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Those in search of meats like neck bones, chicken gizzards, and pigs feet should definitely hit up Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway landmark K&K Soul Food. The turkey wings are a hit here, as are the pork chops, country-fried steak, and fried whiting paired with daily sides like black eyed peas, collards, and candied yams.

Busy Bee Cafe

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Busy Bee Cafe is small and usually super busy, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from grabbing food from this historic restaurant institution on the edge of Vine City. In business since the 1940s, Busy Bee serves some of Atlanta’s best fried chicken alongside an assortment of other meat-and-three staples. Save room for a slice of key lime pie.

Annie Laura's Kitchen

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Order Southern meat-and-three fare via the drive-thru window at this Riverdale staple. Pair fried chicken, oxtails, fried catfish, roast turkey, and pigs feet with traditional sides like collards, limas, field peas, yams, and cornbread.

Peach Cobbler Café

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Open daily for Southern comfort food, Peach Cobbler Cafe features oxtail, turkey wing, fried chicken, and pork chop dinners paired with vegetable sides, including collards, black eyed peas, limas, and broccoli cheese casserole. The vegetable plate here allows for a choice of three options, too.

Kenley's Catering And Restaurant

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Only open on weekdays, Kenley Waller’s eponymous restaurant is a local favorite for downtown residents and Georgia State students seeking meals filled with comfort foods. Lunch here offers plenty to choose from, including a variety of meat-and-three platters.

Mary Mac's Tea Room

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Mary Mac’s Tea Room is known for its meat-and-three fare, including fried chicken, cube steak, and roast turkey paired with sides like fried green tomatoes, the popular yeast rolls, cornbread dressing, and fried okra. Mary MacKenzie first opened Mary Mac’s Tea Room in 1945. At the time, it was one of 16 tearooms in Atlanta.

Few places like Eats exist anymore on Ponce. And, for locals and regulars, it’s hard to pass up this Atlanta landmark restaurant which offers classic meat and three (or four) options on its menu starting at around $10 a plate. The jerk chicken here is the mainstay.

Sonya's Southern Cuisine

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Located on Main Street in Forest Park, owner Sonya Jewsome offers hearty meat-and-three options on the menu at her eponymous restaurant. Expect smothered pork chops, oxtails, fried chicken, and catfish paired with vegetables choices like rutabagas, collards, green beans, and mac and cheese. Meals come with a cornbread muffin, too.

The Colonnade

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This is an Atlanta classic, where the food is pure Southern comfort and the people-watching is some of the best in town. Opened in 1927, the Colonnade has a loyal following among the over-60 crowd but continually attracts a new generation of regulars seeking down home, Southern comfort food (and strong martinis.) Diners come for the turkey and dressing, chicken fried steak, and fried chicken and numerous vegetable side offerings, but restaurant regulars swear by its brunch and the bloody marys, too.

Matthews Cafeteria

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Matthew’s Cafeteria in Tucker has been slinging Southern favorites since 1955: that’s how folks know it’s good. The restaurant’s ownership still remains in the family, and the fried chicken tastes like grandma made it. Diners travel from around Atlanta to eat at this old school cafeteria. Matthews never disappoints with its array of Southern comfort foods.

Magnolia Room Cafeteria

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Tucker’s Magnolia Room has a good hold on Southern classics, but expands its reach with seasonal offerings like shrimp creole and sweet potato balls. They’ve got enough pies to fill a bakeshop — coconut custard, lemon meringue, sweet potato — so go ahead and grab a slice.  

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This Is It! BBQ & Seafood (Camp Creek full-service)

With multiple locations that reach as far out as Fayetteville and Lithonia, This Is It doesn’t sacrifice flavor in its offerings, which explains why there aren’t any salt and pepper shakers on the tables. The extra seasoning is simply unnecessary here.

The Beautiful Restaurant

Established in 1979, the Beautiful Restaurant on Cascade Road delivers exactly what’s promised: crispy fried chicken against a metal backdrop and vibrantly colored vegetables. Here, the portions are huge and all the recipes are classic. Oh, and it’s also really good.

Q's Restaurant

Q’s Restaurant is absolutely worth the travel and traffic down to East Point. Favorites at this cafeteria include daily specials like rip tips, oxtails, fried pork chops, and cube steak with sides of mac and cheese and green beans washed down with a blend of tea and lemonade.

Q Time

This Southern food cafeteria in West End serves up soul-soothing comfort dishes. Order the baked chicken and gravy with collard greens and mac and cheese or Salisbury steak with green beans and rice and peach cobbler for dessert. Q Time is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

K & K Soul Food

Those in search of meats like neck bones, chicken gizzards, and pigs feet should definitely hit up Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway landmark K&K Soul Food. The turkey wings are a hit here, as are the pork chops, country-fried steak, and fried whiting paired with daily sides like black eyed peas, collards, and candied yams.

Busy Bee Cafe

Busy Bee Cafe is small and usually super busy, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from grabbing food from this historic restaurant institution on the edge of Vine City. In business since the 1940s, Busy Bee serves some of Atlanta’s best fried chicken alongside an assortment of other meat-and-three staples. Save room for a slice of key lime pie.

Annie Laura's Kitchen

Order Southern meat-and-three fare via the drive-thru window at this Riverdale staple. Pair fried chicken, oxtails, fried catfish, roast turkey, and pigs feet with traditional sides like collards, limas, field peas, yams, and cornbread.

Peach Cobbler Café

Open daily for Southern comfort food, Peach Cobbler Cafe features oxtail, turkey wing, fried chicken, and pork chop dinners paired with vegetable sides, including collards, black eyed peas, limas, and broccoli cheese casserole. The vegetable plate here allows for a choice of three options, too.

Kenley's Catering And Restaurant

Only open on weekdays, Kenley Waller’s eponymous restaurant is a local favorite for downtown residents and Georgia State students seeking meals filled with comfort foods. Lunch here offers plenty to choose from, including a variety of meat-and-three platters.

Mary Mac's Tea Room

Mary Mac’s Tea Room is known for its meat-and-three fare, including fried chicken, cube steak, and roast turkey paired with sides like fried green tomatoes, the popular yeast rolls, cornbread dressing, and fried okra. Mary MacKenzie first opened Mary Mac’s Tea Room in 1945. At the time, it was one of 16 tearooms in Atlanta.

Eats

Few places like Eats exist anymore on Ponce. And, for locals and regulars, it’s hard to pass up this Atlanta landmark restaurant which offers classic meat and three (or four) options on its menu starting at around $10 a plate. The jerk chicken here is the mainstay.

Sonya's Southern Cuisine

Located on Main Street in Forest Park, owner Sonya Jewsome offers hearty meat-and-three options on the menu at her eponymous restaurant. Expect smothered pork chops, oxtails, fried chicken, and catfish paired with vegetables choices like rutabagas, collards, green beans, and mac and cheese. Meals come with a cornbread muffin, too.

The Colonnade

This is an Atlanta classic, where the food is pure Southern comfort and the people-watching is some of the best in town. Opened in 1927, the Colonnade has a loyal following among the over-60 crowd but continually attracts a new generation of regulars seeking down home, Southern comfort food (and strong martinis.) Diners come for the turkey and dressing, chicken fried steak, and fried chicken and numerous vegetable side offerings, but restaurant regulars swear by its brunch and the bloody marys, too.

Matthews Cafeteria

Matthew’s Cafeteria in Tucker has been slinging Southern favorites since 1955: that’s how folks know it’s good. The restaurant’s ownership still remains in the family, and the fried chicken tastes like grandma made it. Diners travel from around Atlanta to eat at this old school cafeteria. Matthews never disappoints with its array of Southern comfort foods.

Magnolia Room Cafeteria

Tucker’s Magnolia Room has a good hold on Southern classics, but expands its reach with seasonal offerings like shrimp creole and sweet potato balls. They’ve got enough pies to fill a bakeshop — coconut custard, lemon meringue, sweet potato — so go ahead and grab a slice.  

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