Located at the Sun Tan Plaza in Brookhaven, this restaurant serves traditional Peruvian ceviches, hearty plates of lomo saltado, and other dishes like tallarines a la huancaina con bistec (linguine and grilled steak tossed in huancaina sauce), arroz con pollo, and carapulcra (Peruvian pork and potato stew). Order mazamorra morada for dessert — a pudding made from Peruvian purple corn and a combination of pureed fruits, like apples, pineapples, and cherries. It’s served warm.

Since 1976, Havana Sandwich Shop has been a go-to for meaty Cuban sandwiches, generously stuffed empanadas, and arroz con pollo and picadillo platters for many an Atlantan. Be sure to also order a cafe con leche and a gauva and cheese pastry for dessert.

The honey lemon pepper wings at Buford Highway Southern-soul food restaurant Roc South Cuisine are not to be missed. But make sure to also try the jasmine rice seafood gumbo with chicken and beef sausage. Other standouts on the menu include the whole fried snapper, lamb chop, and fried, hot-honey-glazed chicken. Order a batch of cornbread and seafood egg rolls for the table. The bread pudding is top-notch, too.

Bismillah Cafe serves up pure comfort food with the Bangladeshi dishes it offers. The counter-service restaurant, located next to its adjoining market, follows halal guidelines. The menu includes samosas, biriyani plates, curries, and chatpati and fuchka soup. There’s even hot wings, gyros, and cheeseburgers and fries on the menu here. Do try the chicken shawarma and kebab wraps, too.

At a whopping 350,000-square-feet, Plaza Fiesta is filled with over 140 shops and a sprawling food court offering everything from tortas and tacos to spicy seafood dishes and Venezuelan fare. Plaza Fiesta also includes a large farmers market. Keep an eye out for the parking lot carnival that sets up here a couple of times a year.

This restaurant from chef Scotley Innis brings Afro-Caribbean cuisine infused with global ingredients and flavors to Buford Highway. Inspired by his travels and love for the diaspora of African cuisine, dishes at Continent range from starters like Yardman oysters (Think oysters Rockefeller) layered with the leafy Jamaican vegetable callaloo, duck bacon, garlic butter, and parmesan cheese to oxtail lo mein and fried whole snapper atop a creamy red coconut sauce served with Szechuan-style vegetables. Relax after dinner in the cigar lounge with cocktails or Macallan scotch flights and rare spirits, like the pricey Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac. Reservations highly encouraged. 

Located next to City Farmers Market, stroll up to the counter to order everything from shrimp and pork shumai and har gow (Cantonese shrimp dumplings) to sticky rice in lotus leaves, steamed chicken feet, turnip cakes, and other dim sum and specials here. There’s also a location in the food court at Great Wall Supermarket in Duluth.

Harmony Vegetarian features an entire menu filled with vegan and vegetarian Chinese dishes, including lo mein, hot pots, Kung Po “chicken”, and Moo Shu “pork”. The restaurant also lists several steamed and pan-fried dumplings on the menu, like vegetarian soup dumplings.

Located at Intown Plaza on Buford Highway, Dagu Rice Noodle is one of the few restaurants around Atlanta serving Guilin rice noodles, a dish dating back over 2,000 years in China. Try Dagu’s signature braised pork noodles with tender meat that falls right off the bone. Add mala sauce for extra spiciness and sour vegetables to punch up the already flavorful broth. With a group? Order the whole fried chicken which comes with a dry seasoning dip for eating the meat and crispy chicken skins.

Located next door to La Mei Zi, Ming’s BBQ is where to grab a roast duck or pork feast. This Asian Square Chinese restaurant offers all manner of Cantonese-style roast meats on its menu, including chicken, pork, and its popular crispy roast duck. Ming’s serves its roast ducks, which are displayed in the window each day, in whole, half, and quarter portions. Make sure to add some stir-fried yau choi (leafy green) or gai lan (Chinese broccoli) to the meal with a side of Ming’s barbecue pork fried rice. There’s also a location in Duluth.

This restaurant is one of the area’s oldest and most beloved marisquerias. El Veneno offers platters of mixed seafood to feed a family, soups filled with crab legs and shrimp, oysters, and plenty of micheladas to curb the kick from the hot sauce. Try the caldo de camaron (shrimp soup) or huachinango estilo Nayarit, a fried, whole red snapper topped with spicy salsa. Check out these other marisquerias, part of the thriving Mexican seafood scene in Atlanta.

While not sporting a Buford Highway address, the entrance for Batavia resides in back of Asian Square on Shallowford Road. This counter-serve Indonesian restaurant with its mini market includes dishes like bakmi ayam (chicken and wheat noodles), soto betawi beef soup, and lamb satay on the menu. Make sure to check out the combos here and special snacks on Saturday.

Located in the iconic Asian Square complex, head to Hong Kong Bakery for buns stuffed with pork floss, coconut, or taro, pandan Swiss rolls, perfectly chewy sesame balls, and egg custard tarts paired with Hong Kong-style milk tea. 

Since opening in 1982, Las Americas has served as both a market for purchasing provisions and a small restaurant for folks craving homestyle Colombian food. Open in the mornings and serving food throughout the day, head in for platters of eggs, beans, and braised beef at breakfast and arepas, empanadas, or a heaping bandeja paisa platter filled with ground beef, sausage, red beans, rice, chicharróns, an arepa, plantains, and sliced avocado topped with a fried egg.

Many Atlantans consider the bánh mì at Quoc Huong in the Asian Square complex to be the best in metro Atlanta. The fresh French bread definitely contributes to this reputation. The favorite order here is the barbecue pork. The shop is cash only, but sandwiches average around $4 each. Order five bánh mì, and that sixth one is free.

Mamak in Doraville might be the closest thing Atlanta has to true Malaysian cooking, which is often reflective of the country’s diverse population. This small, congenial cafe serves everything from roti (flat bread) with curry sauces and pork porridge to lemongrass chicken and curry braised beef brisket. Look for daily specials here, too.

A dumpling list in Atlanta couldn’t exist without this Buford Highway restaurant, and for good reason. The dumpling-heavy menu here features everything from baskets full of warm and savory soup dumplings to pork and fennel-filled fried dumplings. Try the pork and chive steamed dumplings or pork, shrimp, and chive fried dumplings, too. Don’t skip the Chinese crepes with crullers at breakfast or the cumin lamb, Mandarin pork belly and glass noodles, and chong ching spicy chicken. 

Located in the Pinetree Plaza shopping center, LanZhou Ramen serves heaping plates of hand-pulled noodles on its menu. Try the pork or oxtail noodles or order one of the soups like the duck or beef noodle soup, and watch the chef roll, twist, pull, and whip those noodles into shape through the window overlooking the kitchen. LanZhou also offers a variety of dumplings on its menu, including soup dumplings and fried potstickers.

Sinaloense Pollo Asados is known for its generous platters of pollo asado. This family-owned restaurant features food from the Sinaloa region of Mexico. Inside, the dining room is often filled with people eating platters of grilled chicken and steak while watching soccer matches on the TVs. Order a half or whole chicken platter here, which comes with white and dark meat and a side of rice and warm, flour tortillas. The restaurant also serves menudo on Saturdays and Sundays.

Just south of the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market, this Korean restaurant serves up traditional meaty grilled delights in its sprawling space, batches of banchan, and lunch specials. Night owls can often satisfy their Korean barbecue cravings here, too.

This restaurant underwent a major interior overhaul right before the pandemic, but it’s back and still serves both Korean and Sichuan classics on its menu. Kick off the meal with sizzling rice soup and boiled pork dumplings. For the main course, order the jjampong (Korean spicy noodle soup packed with mussels, shrimp, and squid) and char chang mien (wheat noodles in a fragrant soybean sauce) combo. Be sure to ask for the Sichuan menu if looking for a wider selection of those particular dishes.

After temporarily closing to retool the menu, Nur is back open on Buford Highway, and it’s now Atlanta Kashruth Commission certified. Centering on dishes from around the Mediterranean region, look for Moroccan bourekas, falafel, hummus plates with freshly baked pita, and eggplant carpaccio to start, followed by entrees of whole fish, kofta kababs, and even juicy burgers. The family meal at Nur comes with shawarma, chicken pargiyot, schnitzel, falafel, rice, and a variety of sides and feeds up to four people. Kosher.

Natarica Grill serves up traditional Venezuelan fare on its menu, including a variety of generously stuffed arepas and cachapas, cachitos (crescent-shaped rolls filled with ham), breakfast plates in the morning, and green plantain sandwiches with a choice of shredded beef or chicken.

Head to the bakery here for guava pastries, mojicones (sweet rolls), buñuelo (fried dough fritters), breads such as pan de leche, and sandwiches, including tortas and pan rellenos. On the cafe side, grab a Colombian-style hot dog, tamal plates, arepas, and generously portioned breakfast and lunch platters, like the bandeja paisa filled with steak, red beans, rice, chicharróns, an arepa, plantains, and sliced avocado topped with a fried egg.

Located in the Amigo Plaza, this Nicaraguan restaurant opens in the morning for hearty breakfast plates filled with eggs, rice, beans, and fried plantains with sausages or skirt steak and hot cups of cafe con leche. But later in the day, regulars here swear by the salpicon (beef minced meat salad), vigoron (yuca topped with pork rinds and cabbage salad), and vaho or baho (beef, yuca, and plantains wrapped in banana leaves). Order one of the frescos to drink and dessert, including the bunuelos de yuca y queso (fried yuca and cheese doughnuts).

This restaurant and food truck operation offers everything from fried chicken sandwiches, burgers, and wings to fried shrimp, blackened salmon sandwiches, and a Cajun shrimp po’boy. If it’s on the menu, order the poached lobster roll topped with lemon aioli on a soft hoagie roll. Try the bananas foster French toast or crab cake benny with sauteed spinach, poached eggs, and Cajun lump crab sauce on an English muffin during breakfast.