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Three thick slice of tender roast beef topped with horseradish sauce sandwiched between a slice roasted onion brioche bun from Whoopsie’s cocktail lounge in Atlanta.
The roast beef sandwich topped with horsey sauce on a roasted onion brioche bun at Whoopsie’s
Matt Wong

The 14 Hottest New Restaurants Around Atlanta, March 2023

From seriously legit sandwiches and pitch-perfect sushi to creative takes on pizza and oysters, fresh crudos, and seafood pastas

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The roast beef sandwich topped with horsey sauce on a roasted onion brioche bun at Whoopsie’s
| Matt Wong

New restaurants debut on the dining scene every month, both inside and outside the perimeter, but some establishments hit the ground running right out of the gate and stand out above the rest. These are the new restaurants generating serious buzz at the moment among avid Atlanta diners. While the Eater 38 highlights Atlanta restaurant institutions, old standbys, and neighborhood essentials, this map spotlights the new places people are flocking to right now. Here are the new restaurants and pop-ups to check out this month around Atlanta.

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Hayakawa

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After 13 years on Buford Highway, chef Atsushi “Art” Hayakawa relocated his beloved eponymous sushi restaurant in January to Star Metals on Howell Mill Road. And its new location isn’t the only change for the popular sushi restaurant. Unlike the space on Buford Highway, the Star Metals restaurant is intimate and serene, featuring just eight seats at the sushi bar, which focuses on the omakase experience and personalized attention. Now simply called Hayakawa, people can still expect to see the charming Chef Art behind the counter preparing extravagant courses of sushi throughout the meal with interludes of other Japanese small bites and cooked dishes. In its new location, Hayakawa continues to be an essential Atlanta restaurant and a must for sushi lovers. Reservations required.

Hayakawa

Humble Pie

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Backed by Lazy Betty chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, Humble Pie joins a collection of new restaurants now open at the Interlock on Howell Mill Road. An open and airy restaurant filled with natural light and multiple seating areas, including an upstairs mezzanine and patios with indoor/outdoor bars, expect wood-fired pizzas like a classic margherita, a clam pie, or broccoli and cheddar on wheat and sourdough crusts made using grains from Athens-based farm DaySpring Farms. Pizzas also come with the option to add caviar and black truffles. Beyond pizza, look for other dishes, too, like a French onion hand pie, a potato croquette topped with trout roe, grated eggs, and crème fraiche, and shrimp casarecce pasta from chef Evelyn Ling (Pancake Social, Bacchanalia.) Open for lunch and dinner. A weekday happy hour and late-night food begin soon. Reservations encouraged.

The Greek pizza from Humble Pie in Atlanta. Matt Wong

Roshambo "The Diner's Diner"

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The team behind Muss and Turner’s, MTH Pizza, and Local Three just opened another Atlanta restaurant together, this time an Atlanta version of a “21st-century diner” called Roshambo. Another name for the game “rock, paper, scissors,” Roshambo replaces those trio of choices with a hodgepodge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods served throughout the day, including buckwheat pancakes, shrimp and grits, a fried bologna sandwich, spaghetti cacio e pepe, and daily specials. Chef Kevin Leveille pays homage to the late Jim White and his longtime Peachtree Battle restaurant Jim White’s Half Shell, offering oysters Rockefeller and blackened redfish Pontchartrain with cheddar grit cakes. In addition to wine and beer, order classic cocktails like the Aviation, Manhattan, and Hemingway daiquiri and pitchers of martinis served wet, dirty, or dry.

Layla Ritchey

Holeman and Finch

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Holeman and Finch is finally back, and some say the food might be better than ever. Now open at Colony Square, and at double the size of its original location on Peachtree, this renewed version of Holeman and Finch now combines the comfortable environs and casualness of the Buckhead location, with the quiet elegance of owners Linton and Gina Hopkins’ former fine dining restaurant Restaurant Eugene. The double-stack cheeseburger, crunchy gentleman (a take on the croque monsieur), and roasted bone marrow are all back, along with new additions like a raw bar, Sunday roast, forthcoming breakfast service, and many more seafood dishes. Look for the roasted truffle wrapped in bacon sitting atop sunchoke puree once served at Restaurant Eugene making an appearance, too. And cocktails continue to shine here. Reservations highly encouraged.  

Roasted carrots with house-made lime pickle and vadouvan. Andrew Thomas Lee

Alici Oyster Bar

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With a design and menu influenced by the Amalfi Coast, Alici brings to Midtown Promenade a lively Italian seafood restaurant and oyster bar built for lingering with friends. Backed by Pat Pascarella (the White Bull, Bastone, Grana), Alici takes over the former Frogs Cantina space at the complex, serving a selection of fresh oysters, crudos (try the red snapper dentice rosso with apple, chili, mint, and walnut crumble,) and appetizers like tender polpo (octopus) served with caper-tarragon aioli, red onions, and burnt olives. Whole fish entrees come with a choice of sauces, and Pascarella’s pastas are on full display here, including a campannelle neri tossed with rock shrimp, tomatoes, and garlic crumbs. Order sparkling wines and light-bodied reds, along with cocktails, such as the Fumo, Fumo with smokey mezcal and elote liquor, from the bar. Reservations encouraged.

Bomb Biscuit Atlanta

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Celebrated baker Erika Council relocated her popular biscuit stall to the former Field Day space on Highland this past fall. Now open as a full-fledged restaurant, Bomb Biscuit Co. continues to offer Council’s fluffy buttermilk biscuit sandwiches, including her signature Glori-Fried chicken biscuit and breakfast standards like the BEC topped with American cheese. Not into biscuits? Order one of the scrumptious cinnamon rolls or trio of B’Onuts (deep-fried biscuit dough balls coated in cinnamon sugar). Council eventually plans to expand the menu, offering catfish and grits and pancakes made from biscuit dough. She’s also considering launching Sunday brunch in the future, with dishes styled after those found on menus at restaurants frequented by parishioners after church. Order takeout at the counter or asked to be seated in the sunny dining room beyond the kitchen or on the back patio.

Fried chicken biscuit topped with egg and cheese from Bomb Biscuit in Atlanta Andrew Thomas Lee

Yalda Persian & Middle Eastern Restaurant

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Persian restaurant Yalda opened recently in Sandy Springs at Aria Village. People are already charmed by the food and the warm and welcoming vibe of the restaurant, calling Yalda a great addition to the Sandy Springs dining scene. Named for the Iranian winter solstice festival celebrated on the “longest and darkest night of the year,” Yalda serves a variety of Persian and Mediterranean mezze plates, spreads like za’atar labneh and mirza ghasemi served with flatbread, kebabs, wraps, and grilled meat and seafood entrees. Dessert includes baklava with a choice of coffee or Persian ice cream, faloodeh, and a Persian ice cream sandwich made with ice cream infused with saffron, rose water, and pistachios.

Persian restaurant Yalda is opening locations in Sandy Springs and Howell Mill Road in Atlanta. Yalda

La Semilla

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La Semilla flexes the flavors of Cuban and Mexican dishes on a menu rooted in veganism and family recipes. And for owners Sophia Marchese and Reid Trapani, La Semilla (or the seed) is just the beginning of a new chapter in their restaurant careers. Forged from a pop-up launched just before the pandemic, La Semilla is a flavor-packed triumph of vegan dishes, like meatless versions of vegan chicken tamals steamed in banana leaves served with a punchy ancho sauce, croquetas de jamon stuffed with seitan ham Tranpani makes himself, and bistec de palomilla made with Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Start off with sikil pak (spicy pumpkin seed and tomato dip) served with fresh tortilla chips. And don’t skip the chochoyotes (masa dumplings filled with corn puree) served atop a thin layer of coconut-corn broth topped with a poblano-corn sofrito and matcha oil and fried tortillas for scooping. A zero food waste policy means unused ingredients are incorporated back into sauces and salsas for dishes at La Semilla or made into tinctures or syrups for riffs on classic cocktails. Reservations highly encouraged.

Bistec de palomilla made with Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Ashley Wilson

Whoopsie's

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This unpretentious cocktail lounge from barman Tim Faulkner (Octopus Bar) and chef Hudson Rouse is worth the trip to Reynoldstown alone for its tight list of exceptional cocktails and fun and funky wines. And for folks who’ve eaten at Rouse’s Avondale Estates restaurant Rising Son, it should come as no surprise that the food served at Whoopsie’s punches far above its weight for a cocktail bar. This includes a delectable roast beef sandwich with horsey sauce and a refreshing satsuma salad dressed with champagne vinaigrette. Make sure to start off with a snack tray of deviled eggs, house-made chow chow and pimento cheese, and toasted sourdough points. Daily dinner specials at Whoopsie’s include porchetta on Thursdays, poached sea bass on Sundays, and perfectly cooked prime rib on Saturday nights. The daily dessert might feature mint ice cream with crushed Oreo’s, fashioned after the classic grasshopper cocktail, or the Tarzan’s Delight, based on Rouse’s grandmother’s take on a chocolate mousse ice box pie. Low lit and at just 40 seats, Whoopsie’s is intimate and unfussy, and built for an evening of convivial conversation while indulging in amaretto sours and top-notch food you can’t seem to stop eating. Open Thursday through Monday, 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Three thick slice of tender roast beef topped with horseradish sauce sandwiched between a slice roasted onion brioche bun from Whoopsie’s cocktail lounge in Atlanta. Matt Wong

So So Fed Laotian pop-up @ OK YAKI

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Laotian pop-up So So Fed (2022 Eater award winner for best new pop-up) is now in residency on Sunday and Monday evenings at OK Yaki in East Atlanta. With a name inspired by the storied Atlanta record label, this pop-up is a culinary love letter dedicated to family recipes and foods often cooked by Molli Voraotsady’s late grandmother. Comforting bowls of red pork curry served with sticky rice are laden with vegetables like Thai eggplant, zucchini, and bamboo shoots beside tender chunks of pork shoulder swimming in aromatic chili broth. Subtle spice radiates from the crispy skin of the Hat Yai fried chicken, enhanced by sides of fragrant jasmine rice. Heat from chilis in the Lao papaya salad are balanced by warm fermented flavors that build with each bite. Look for cocktails created by former 8ARM general manager and bartender Joshua Fryer during the pop-up, too. Follow on Instagram for updates.

TKO Korean food stall @ Southern Feed Store

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Chef Lino Yi opened his pop-up as a Korean-American street food stall at the end of 2022 inside Southern Feedstore in East Atlanta Village. And Yi hasn’t skipped a beat at TKO (the Korean One), offering a menu of dishes melding Korean and American street foods together in cheesy Korean corn dogs, kimchi fried rice, Korean fried chicken nuggets, Korean beef egg roll taquitos, and hot and spicy tteokbokki (rice cakes). While the food here is worth a visit any time of day, late-night diners in EAV are especially happy to have an affordable spot to eat into the wee hours on the weekends that doesn’t skimp on portions or on flavor. TKO joins Brazilian restaurant and coffee bar ButecoWoody’s CheeseSteaksGyro Gyro, and Waffle Bar at the mini food hall. Open until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

A person pulls the gooey cheese from a Korean corn dog at TKO inside Southern Feed Store in East Atlanta. Colette Collins

Bona Fide Deluxe

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Owned by the team behind Banshee, Bona Fide Deluxe is serving up seriously legit sandwiches. Some say these sandwiches might be the best in Atlanta right now. The name of this restaurant certainly isn’t hyperbole, especially when it comes to the chopped chicken stuffed with muhammara potatoes, feta cheese, olives, and arugula dressed in zhoug mayo encased in a soft hoagie roll or the vegan banh mi with sweet and sour shiitake mushrooms, jalapenos, and julienned carrots and cucumbers. The roast beef sandwich sees thinly shaved top round roast smoked and cooked medium rare and dressed with pickles, fried onions, steak sauce, and horseradish creme fraiche. Looking for a total indulgence? Order the bread bomb, which sees a toasted hoagie roll split down the middle, then slathered in garlic butter and topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, and scallions. Cocktails, beer, and wine will be available soon.

The chopped chicken sandwich stuffed with potatoes, black olives, lettuce, marinated grilled chicken, and feta cheese at Bona Fide Deluxe in Edgewood. Beth McKibben

Gigi's Italian Kitchen & Restaurant

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Chefs Eric Brooks and Jacob Armando transformed their weekly pop-up in Candler Park into a permanent restaurant in August 2022, transforming the former Gato space into a cozy Italian bistro with tables draped in red checkered linens set off by candlelight and flowers. It’s now an award-winning restaurant serving a menu of traditional red sauce classics made with in-season produce and fresh-made pastas, expect dishes like rigatoni fazool with cowpeas replacing cannellini beans and chicken marsala served with fresh focaccia. Dessert features Gigi’s popular tiramisu. A tight list of cocktails, wine, beer, and amaro round out the beverage list, which includes the Dirty Gigi martini and a rye Old Fashioned punched up with espresso and coffee bitters.

Rigatoni fazool with cowpeas from Gigi’s Italian Kitchen in Atlanta Beth McKibben

Foundation Social Eatery

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When chef Mel Toledo announced the closure of his beloved Roswell restaurant in 2020, regulars mourned the loss of the good food, cocktails, and vibe they always experienced there. But he promised to bring the restaurant back bigger and better than ever. And it appears he’s done just that in Alpharetta. Now open in the North Fulton city’s burgeoning downtown dining district, Foundation Social Eatery offers a sense of familiarity for regulars to the Roswell restaurant, but with a fresh take on both the food and decor. Expect to find a few of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, including the crispy Spanish octopus, pate, PEI mussels, and chicken bolognese, along with new dishes like salt and sugar cured scallop crudo served with warm brown butter vinaigrette, turnip and ricotta tortelli filled with duck confit and pickled mushrooms, and a confit lamb neck for two. Look for drinks like the Ghosted made with bourbon, lemon and a float of cabernet sauvignon (a spin on a whiskey sour using a technique to create clarified milk punches.) The London dry gin-based Little R&R is a play on the Clover Club, featuring raspberry syrup mixed with rosemary, dry vermouth, and lemon loomy (dried limes). Parisian-style market and daytime cafe Petite FSE opens inside the restaurant soon. Reservations highly encouraged.

A classic dish of French escargot swimming in garlic herb butter served with a demi baguette from Foundation Social Eatery in Alpharetta, GA. Heidi Harris

Hayakawa

After 13 years on Buford Highway, chef Atsushi “Art” Hayakawa relocated his beloved eponymous sushi restaurant in January to Star Metals on Howell Mill Road. And its new location isn’t the only change for the popular sushi restaurant. Unlike the space on Buford Highway, the Star Metals restaurant is intimate and serene, featuring just eight seats at the sushi bar, which focuses on the omakase experience and personalized attention. Now simply called Hayakawa, people can still expect to see the charming Chef Art behind the counter preparing extravagant courses of sushi throughout the meal with interludes of other Japanese small bites and cooked dishes. In its new location, Hayakawa continues to be an essential Atlanta restaurant and a must for sushi lovers. Reservations required.

Hayakawa

Humble Pie

Backed by Lazy Betty chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, Humble Pie joins a collection of new restaurants now open at the Interlock on Howell Mill Road. An open and airy restaurant filled with natural light and multiple seating areas, including an upstairs mezzanine and patios with indoor/outdoor bars, expect wood-fired pizzas like a classic margherita, a clam pie, or broccoli and cheddar on wheat and sourdough crusts made using grains from Athens-based farm DaySpring Farms. Pizzas also come with the option to add caviar and black truffles. Beyond pizza, look for other dishes, too, like a French onion hand pie, a potato croquette topped with trout roe, grated eggs, and crème fraiche, and shrimp casarecce pasta from chef Evelyn Ling (Pancake Social, Bacchanalia.) Open for lunch and dinner. A weekday happy hour and late-night food begin soon. Reservations encouraged.

The Greek pizza from Humble Pie in Atlanta. Matt Wong

Roshambo "The Diner's Diner"

The team behind Muss and Turner’s, MTH Pizza, and Local Three just opened another Atlanta restaurant together, this time an Atlanta version of a “21st-century diner” called Roshambo. Another name for the game “rock, paper, scissors,” Roshambo replaces those trio of choices with a hodgepodge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods served throughout the day, including buckwheat pancakes, shrimp and grits, a fried bologna sandwich, spaghetti cacio e pepe, and daily specials. Chef Kevin Leveille pays homage to the late Jim White and his longtime Peachtree Battle restaurant Jim White’s Half Shell, offering oysters Rockefeller and blackened redfish Pontchartrain with cheddar grit cakes. In addition to wine and beer, order classic cocktails like the Aviation, Manhattan, and Hemingway daiquiri and pitchers of martinis served wet, dirty, or dry.

Layla Ritchey

Holeman and Finch

Holeman and Finch is finally back, and some say the food might be better than ever. Now open at Colony Square, and at double the size of its original location on Peachtree, this renewed version of Holeman and Finch now combines the comfortable environs and casualness of the Buckhead location, with the quiet elegance of owners Linton and Gina Hopkins’ former fine dining restaurant Restaurant Eugene. The double-stack cheeseburger, crunchy gentleman (a take on the croque monsieur), and roasted bone marrow are all back, along with new additions like a raw bar, Sunday roast, forthcoming breakfast service, and many more seafood dishes. Look for the roasted truffle wrapped in bacon sitting atop sunchoke puree once served at Restaurant Eugene making an appearance, too. And cocktails continue to shine here. Reservations highly encouraged.  

Roasted carrots with house-made lime pickle and vadouvan. Andrew Thomas Lee

Alici Oyster Bar

With a design and menu influenced by the Amalfi Coast, Alici brings to Midtown Promenade a lively Italian seafood restaurant and oyster bar built for lingering with friends. Backed by Pat Pascarella (the White Bull, Bastone, Grana), Alici takes over the former Frogs Cantina space at the complex, serving a selection of fresh oysters, crudos (try the red snapper dentice rosso with apple, chili, mint, and walnut crumble,) and appetizers like tender polpo (octopus) served with caper-tarragon aioli, red onions, and burnt olives. Whole fish entrees come with a choice of sauces, and Pascarella’s pastas are on full display here, including a campannelle neri tossed with rock shrimp, tomatoes, and garlic crumbs. Order sparkling wines and light-bodied reds, along with cocktails, such as the Fumo, Fumo with smokey mezcal and elote liquor, from the bar. Reservations encouraged.

Bomb Biscuit Atlanta

Celebrated baker Erika Council relocated her popular biscuit stall to the former Field Day space on Highland this past fall. Now open as a full-fledged restaurant, Bomb Biscuit Co. continues to offer Council’s fluffy buttermilk biscuit sandwiches, including her signature Glori-Fried chicken biscuit and breakfast standards like the BEC topped with American cheese. Not into biscuits? Order one of the scrumptious cinnamon rolls or trio of B’Onuts (deep-fried biscuit dough balls coated in cinnamon sugar). Council eventually plans to expand the menu, offering catfish and grits and pancakes made from biscuit dough. She’s also considering launching Sunday brunch in the future, with dishes styled after those found on menus at restaurants frequented by parishioners after church. Order takeout at the counter or asked to be seated in the sunny dining room beyond the kitchen or on the back patio.

Fried chicken biscuit topped with egg and cheese from Bomb Biscuit in Atlanta Andrew Thomas Lee

Yalda Persian & Middle Eastern Restaurant

Persian restaurant Yalda opened recently in Sandy Springs at Aria Village. People are already charmed by the food and the warm and welcoming vibe of the restaurant, calling Yalda a great addition to the Sandy Springs dining scene. Named for the Iranian winter solstice festival celebrated on the “longest and darkest night of the year,” Yalda serves a variety of Persian and Mediterranean mezze plates, spreads like za’atar labneh and mirza ghasemi served with flatbread, kebabs, wraps, and grilled meat and seafood entrees. Dessert includes baklava with a choice of coffee or Persian ice cream, faloodeh, and a Persian ice cream sandwich made with ice cream infused with saffron, rose water, and pistachios.

Persian restaurant Yalda is opening locations in Sandy Springs and Howell Mill Road in Atlanta. Yalda

La Semilla

La Semilla flexes the flavors of Cuban and Mexican dishes on a menu rooted in veganism and family recipes. And for owners Sophia Marchese and Reid Trapani, La Semilla (or the seed) is just the beginning of a new chapter in their restaurant careers. Forged from a pop-up launched just before the pandemic, La Semilla is a flavor-packed triumph of vegan dishes, like meatless versions of vegan chicken tamals steamed in banana leaves served with a punchy ancho sauce, croquetas de jamon stuffed with seitan ham Tranpani makes himself, and bistec de palomilla made with Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Start off with sikil pak (spicy pumpkin seed and tomato dip) served with fresh tortilla chips. And don’t skip the chochoyotes (masa dumplings filled with corn puree) served atop a thin layer of coconut-corn broth topped with a poblano-corn sofrito and matcha oil and fried tortillas for scooping. A zero food waste policy means unused ingredients are incorporated back into sauces and salsas for dishes at La Semilla or made into tinctures or syrups for riffs on classic cocktails. Reservations highly encouraged.

Bistec de palomilla made with Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Ashley Wilson

Whoopsie's

This unpretentious cocktail lounge from barman Tim Faulkner (Octopus Bar) and chef Hudson Rouse is worth the trip to Reynoldstown alone for its tight list of exceptional cocktails and fun and funky wines. And for folks who’ve eaten at Rouse’s Avondale Estates restaurant Rising Son, it should come as no surprise that the food served at Whoopsie’s punches far above its weight for a cocktail bar. This includes a delectable roast beef sandwich with horsey sauce and a refreshing satsuma salad dressed with champagne vinaigrette. Make sure to start off with a snack tray of deviled eggs, house-made chow chow and pimento cheese, and toasted sourdough points. Daily dinner specials at Whoopsie’s include porchetta on Thursdays, poached sea bass on Sundays, and perfectly cooked prime rib on Saturday nights. The daily dessert might feature mint ice cream with crushed Oreo’s, fashioned after the classic grasshopper cocktail, or the Tarzan’s Delight, based on Rouse’s grandmother’s take on a chocolate mousse ice box pie. Low lit and at just 40 seats, Whoopsie’s is intimate and unfussy, and built for an evening of convivial conversation while indulging in amaretto sours and top-notch food you can’t seem to stop eating. Open Thursday through Monday, 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Three thick slice of tender roast beef topped with horseradish sauce sandwiched between a slice roasted onion brioche bun from Whoopsie’s cocktail lounge in Atlanta. Matt Wong

So So Fed Laotian pop-up @ OK YAKI

Laotian pop-up So So Fed (2022 Eater award winner for best new pop-up) is now in residency on Sunday and Monday evenings at OK Yaki in East Atlanta. With a name inspired by the storied Atlanta record label, this pop-up is a culinary love letter dedicated to family recipes and foods often cooked by Molli Voraotsady’s late grandmother. Comforting bowls of red pork curry served with sticky rice are laden with vegetables like Thai eggplant, zucchini, and bamboo shoots beside tender chunks of pork shoulder swimming in aromatic chili broth. Subtle spice radiates from the crispy skin of the Hat Yai fried chicken, enhanced by sides of fragrant jasmine rice. Heat from chilis in the Lao papaya salad are balanced by warm fermented flavors that build with each bite. Look for cocktails created by former 8ARM general manager and bartender Joshua Fryer during the pop-up, too. Follow on Instagram for updates.

TKO Korean food stall @ Southern Feed Store

Chef Lino Yi opened his pop-up as a Korean-American street food stall at the end of 2022 inside Southern Feedstore in East Atlanta Village. And Yi hasn’t skipped a beat at TKO (the Korean One), offering a menu of dishes melding Korean and American street foods together in cheesy Korean corn dogs, kimchi fried rice, Korean fried chicken nuggets, Korean beef egg roll taquitos, and hot and spicy tteokbokki (rice cakes). While the food here is worth a visit any time of day, late-night diners in EAV are especially happy to have an affordable spot to eat into the wee hours on the weekends that doesn’t skimp on portions or on flavor. TKO joins Brazilian restaurant and coffee bar ButecoWoody’s CheeseSteaksGyro Gyro, and Waffle Bar at the mini food hall. Open until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

A person pulls the gooey cheese from a Korean corn dog at TKO inside Southern Feed Store in East Atlanta. Colette Collins

Bona Fide Deluxe

Owned by the team behind Banshee, Bona Fide Deluxe is serving up seriously legit sandwiches. Some say these sandwiches might be the best in Atlanta right now. The name of this restaurant certainly isn’t hyperbole, especially when it comes to the chopped chicken stuffed with muhammara potatoes, feta cheese, olives, and arugula dressed in zhoug mayo encased in a soft hoagie roll or the vegan banh mi with sweet and sour shiitake mushrooms, jalapenos, and julienned carrots and cucumbers. The roast beef sandwich sees thinly shaved top round roast smoked and cooked medium rare and dressed with pickles, fried onions, steak sauce, and horseradish creme fraiche. Looking for a total indulgence? Order the bread bomb, which sees a toasted hoagie roll split down the middle, then slathered in garlic butter and topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, and scallions. Cocktails, beer, and wine will be available soon.

The chopped chicken sandwich stuffed with potatoes, black olives, lettuce, marinated grilled chicken, and feta cheese at Bona Fide Deluxe in Edgewood. Beth McKibben

Gigi's Italian Kitchen & Restaurant

Chefs Eric Brooks and Jacob Armando transformed their weekly pop-up in Candler Park into a permanent restaurant in August 2022, transforming the former Gato space into a cozy Italian bistro with tables draped in red checkered linens set off by candlelight and flowers. It’s now an award-winning restaurant serving a menu of traditional red sauce classics made with in-season produce and fresh-made pastas, expect dishes like rigatoni fazool with cowpeas replacing cannellini beans and chicken marsala served with fresh focaccia. Dessert features Gigi’s popular tiramisu. A tight list of cocktails, wine, beer, and amaro round out the beverage list, which includes the Dirty Gigi martini and a rye Old Fashioned punched up with espresso and coffee bitters.

Rigatoni fazool with cowpeas from Gigi’s Italian Kitchen in Atlanta Beth McKibben

Foundation Social Eatery

When chef Mel Toledo announced the closure of his beloved Roswell restaurant in 2020, regulars mourned the loss of the good food, cocktails, and vibe they always experienced there. But he promised to bring the restaurant back bigger and better than ever. And it appears he’s done just that in Alpharetta. Now open in the North Fulton city’s burgeoning downtown dining district, Foundation Social Eatery offers a sense of familiarity for regulars to the Roswell restaurant, but with a fresh take on both the food and decor. Expect to find a few of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, including the crispy Spanish octopus, pate, PEI mussels, and chicken bolognese, along with new dishes like salt and sugar cured scallop crudo served with warm brown butter vinaigrette, turnip and ricotta tortelli filled with duck confit and pickled mushrooms, and a confit lamb neck for two. Look for drinks like the Ghosted made with bourbon, lemon and a float of cabernet sauvignon (a spin on a whiskey sour using a technique to create clarified milk punches.) The London dry gin-based Little R&R is a play on the Clover Club, featuring raspberry syrup mixed with rosemary, dry vermouth, and lemon loomy (dried limes). Parisian-style market and daytime cafe Petite FSE opens inside the restaurant soon. Reservations highly encouraged.

A classic dish of French escargot swimming in garlic herb butter served with a demi baguette from Foundation Social Eatery in Alpharetta, GA. Heidi Harris

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