This Thai-food stall and Lawrenceville-based catering business, owned by Tana Bhamaraniyama, serves home-style Thai comfort foods and dishes like plah talay (seafood salad), saku wraps, stuffed chicken wings, and curry puffs on its menu. It was a winner this year for Mike Jordan, editor of Butter ATL. “That slow-cooked Panang curry beef is just hypnotically good, and so are the chicken curry puffs, the spiced Thai fried rice and pretty much everything else,” he says.

Billed as an Asian street food stall, Mushi Ni serves a variety of baos and dumplings, including crab and pork dumplings and eggplant wontons, along with bites like coconut shrimp, Tokyo fries, and bulgogi octopus skewers on its menu. There’s even tempura-fried Oreos for dessert. More than a few Eater readers surveyed named Mushi Ni as their go-to restaurant this year. People can find Mushi Ni slinging its street eats at Little Trouble at Westside Provisions District and at S.O.S Tiki Bar in Decatur. 

What started out years ago as a Neapolitan pizza restaurant for owner Giovanni Di’Palma has since grown into his version of Little Italy on Hemphill Road in Home Park. Jennifer Zyman, host of podcast The Food That Binds, says it’s all about “everything Antico” for her. She suggests trying the Roman-style sandwiches at Antico Roma, the Sorrento lemon chicken at Gio’s, and the Sicilian pizza at Gio’s Sicilian. “Don’t sleep on the spicy pepperoni, which has a layer of honey mixed with Calabrian chilies under the charred pepperoni cups,” Zyman says.

For Jennifer Zyman, host of podcast The Food That Binds, Sandy Springs Sichuan restaurant Sho Spicy became a go-to spot in 2021. Sho Spicy serves up Sichuan standards on the menu, including braised fish in chile oil, fiery three-pepper beef, Hunan lamb, dan dan noodles, and wontons swimming in chile oil. Try the hot and numbing quail or Sichuan bamboo fish, too. 

As in 2020, Rumi’s Kitchen continued to be a favorite restaurant for Jennifer Zyman, host of podcast The Food That Binds, this year. Chef Ali Mesghali and his team offer diners an elegant experience paired with tight service, good wine, and Persian flavors which simply transport. Zyman suggests ordering the stewed eggplant, cornish hen, and any of Rumi’s rice dishes. A third location opens at Colony Square in Midtown in 2022. 

Those who’ve been attending baker Erika Council’s biscuit pop-ups for years know what’s up. Since launching her biscuit delivery business in May 2020, Bomb Biscuits outgrew its space and operations capacity at commercial kitchen facility Prep Atlanta. For now, folks can find Council and her biscuits and cinnamon rolls at Irwin Street Market in the Old Fourth Ward. Council’s buttermilk biscuit menu includes more flavors, including bacon cheddar chive and gluten free and vegan options. She also ships her biscuits and cinnamon rolls nationwide and continues to make local deliveries to customers throughout the cities of Atlanta and Decatur. Mike Jordan, editor of Butter ATL, admits Bomb Biscuits made him “chubbier from repeat visits late in the year, but we all got a little quarantine thick anyway. It’s fine.”

Glide Pizza owner Rob Birdsong slings giant Brooklyn-style pies for takeout or local delivery via electric bicycle served through a takeout window at Irwin Street Market. Birdsong keeps the pizzas at Glide simple and classic, using fresh meats and other ingredients to top his pies procured from several local food purveyors in town. Soon, residents and visitors of Decatur will be able to grab slices and pizzas from Glide when a second takeout window opens inside brewery Inner Voice Brewing. A third location lands on West Marietta Street in 2022. “My go-to order from Glide is a pizza topped with spicy sausage and red onions with a side of pickled jalapenos. This pizza just hits the spot every single time and pairs wonderfully with whatever wine is chilling in the fridge or breathing on the counter,” says Beth McKibben, editor of Eater Atlanta

8ARM shifted menu gears again in 2021, this time to Japanese-focused dishes from chefs Hiro Endo and Allen Suh, including sushi, ramen, and traditional izakaya fare. But people can still expect the wine list here to be loaded with by-the-glass and bottle options of mostly natural and small producer sparkling, white, skin contact, rose, and red wines. For these reasons, 8ARM was a frequent dining spot for Eater Atlanta contributor Kris Martins this year.

Several Eater readers surveyed named this friendly neighborhood restaurant and bar as a popular haunt for dining on spicy peanut cold noodles, grilled cheese on sourdough with tomato jam, and marinated mussels served with a side of focaccia. The menu changes often, but if the sesame wings are available, order a basket of drums and flats immediately. Pair dinner with an ice cold tallboy, a cocktail, or a glass of wine.

Even when Buena Gente was a mobile food business, it was consistently serving some of the best Cuban street eats in metro ATL. Owners Manny Rodriguez and Stacie Antich took Buena Gente permanent in 2020 and continue offering their flaky and buttery empanadas on the menu, along with ham croquetas and beef pastelitos. Order a meaty Cubano sandwich on fresh-baked bread, and make sure to throw in a side of plantain chips. Buena Gente was named numerous times by Eater readers surveyed as one of their favorite spots to dine in Atlanta this year.

After revamping the menu and the interiors two weeks prior to the pandemic in March 2020, owner Meherwan Irani has once again retooled the menu for his popular Indian street food restaurant in Decatur. This time Irani is bringing it back to the food roots of his childhood growing up in the Deccan Plateau in India. “I was pretty excited when Chai Pani reopened, and have been a couple times to explore the new menu; the tomato cheese uttapam—a savory pancake made out of lentils and rice—combines two of my favorites foods (tomatoes, cheese), so obviously there’s a lot to like here,” Atlanta magazine deputy editor Sam Worley says.

Located in the iconic Asian Square complex on Buford Highway, home to Mamak, Ming’s BBQ, and La Mei Zi, Hong Kong Bakery might get lost in the sea of food options found here, and behind its much bigger neighbor Sweet Hut Bakery. But, this is where to come 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. Eater Atlanta contributor Kris Martins found herself indulging in the treats at Hong Kong Bakery quite a bit in 2021.

Located in the Pinetree Plaza shopping center, LanZhou Ramen serves heaping plates of hand-pulled noodles and noodle soups on the menu. It’s fun to 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 and dim sum on its menu, including soup dumplings, Chinese hamburger, and fried potstickers. For Eater Atlanta editor Beth McKibben, a comforting meal here or ordering takeout frequently consists of pork hand-pulled noodle soup, soup dumplings, and fried chive pancakes.

This congenial sushi restaurant also includes a selection of traditional izakaya dishes and bento boxes as well as shochu and cocktails on its menu. Make sure to check out the chef’s specials here, too. This is a regular spot for chef Thip Athakhanh, owner of Snackboxe Bistro, to dine in between shifts at her restaurant each week.

Both Nam Phuong on Buford Highway and on Jimmy Carter are longtime popular spots for Atlantans to indulge in big bowls of pho or plates of shaking beef. Make sure to try the wings here. These crispy wings carry a zippy, funky flavor embedded in the meat with a bit of heat from the sweet chile sauce glaze. Folks might spy Snackboxe Bistro owner chef Thip Athakhanh dining at the Norcross location, too.