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Chitlins, grits and collard greens are available in Atlanta but they are not the norm. Atlanta dining ranges from haute cuisine to rustic roadside diners.

These small samples of restaurants are divided into five categories: Gourmet, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The categories serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.

The restaurants below have been grouped in four different price categories:
$$$$ (over US$50)
$$$ (US$35 to US$50)
$$ (US$20 to US$35)
$ (under US$20)
These prices are for a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine or equivalent. Not included is the sales tax of 7%. Sometimes a gratuity (usually 15%) is added to the bill. If not, a tip of 15-20% for service is customary.


Gourmet

Bacchanalia
Chef owners Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison are so obsessed with freshness, they grow many of the ingredients on their own farm. Menu offerings focus on seasonal fruits and vegetables change with the season. The funky dining room is a rehabbed factory complex with high ceilings and yellow brick framing the former factory windows. Risottos, cheeses and homemade ice creams are mouth-watering. Star Provisions, the adjoining shop, offers many unusual food items.

1198 Howell Mill Road
Tel: (404) 365 0410.
Website: http://starprovisions.com
Price: $$$$

Nikolai’s Roof
Grab your ermine tails and ascend to Nikolai’s Roof at the top of the Hilton Atlanta. The button-fronted red-jacketed wait staff will make you feel like a Russian tsar or tsarina. Mirrors and floor to ceiling windows complete the Old-World ambience. Dinner is not a meal, but an event. Start with an icy, flavored vodka and maybe caviar. Whatever your main course, it will be beautifully presented and luscious. Save room for the de rigueur soufflé as a finale.

Hilton Atlanta, 255 Courtland Street, Northeast
Tel: (404) 221 6362.
Website: www.nikolaisroof.com
Price: $$$ (Prix fixe eight-course tasting menu: $$$$)


Business

Bone’s
Bone’s, the place for a power-lunch or dinner, is the quintessential steakhouse. It has a clubby atmosphere (with photos of the rich and shameless adorning every square inch of wall space) and is tastefully adorned with rich fabrics and dark woods. Good beef, good wine, fried onion rings, lobster bisque and a pecan pie close to perfection are the stars on the cholesterol-laden menu. Reservations are essential.

3130 Piedmont Road
Tel: (404) 237 2663.
Website: www.bonesrestaurant.com
Price: $$$$

Seeger’s
Chef Guenter Seeger’s passion for using fresh local products is so great, it is not unusual to find Georgia shrimp or fallow deer on his ever-changing menu. The unassuming bungalow with simple decor, in which the restaurant is housed, is quite contrary from exquisitely presented small plate portion. The 42-page wine list has a selection for every course or the prix fixe menu. Reservations are mandatory.

111 West Paces Ferry Road, Northwest
Tel: (404) 846 9779.
Website: www.seegers.com
Price: $$$$

Atlanta Fish Market
The huge fish sculpture over the entrance leaves no doubt about the cuisine. The bistro-styled restaurant, with tables and chairs packed cheek by jowl, is the place for oysters, crab cakes, gumbo and Hong Kong-styled steam bass. Service is fast but the place is often crowded, especially on weekends. Diners can enjoy their fish baked, steamed, broiled or even with an eye staring right back at them.

265 Pharr Road
Tel: (404) 262 3165.
Website: www.buckheadrestaurants.com
Price: $$$


Trendy

Trois
A study of glass, stainless steel, wood and white with rounded walls and bar, Trois is on three levels, hence the name. Ultra chic and ultra trendy, it is where the ‘in’ crowd comes for power lunches and romantic dinners. Executive Chef Jeremy Lieb creates a nouvelle cuisine menu dependent on fresh ingredients. Favorites include braised beef oxtail and monkfish osso bucco. Elegant presentation makes the dishes that much more appetizing. Located close to Woodruff Arts Center and the future Atlanta Symphony site.
1180 Peachtree Street
Tel: (404) 815 3337.
Website: www.trois3.com/home.html
Price: $$$$

Buckhead Diner
Buckhead Diner’s sleek steel structure is reminiscent of the 1940s and 1950s. The retro atmosphere pervades the frequently changing menu, which runs the gamut from homemade potato chips and meat loaf to seared yellow fin tuna. A very popular eatery, this is a prime place for people-watching and absolutely the best place to have dinner solo. Brunch is particularly popular on Sundays.

3073 Piedmont Road
Tel: (404) 262 3336.
Website: www.buckheadrestaurants.com
Price: $$

Nickiemoto’s
Sushi and Asian fusion merge seamlessly in this sparkling modern establishment. Indoors, it is flashy and noisy with somewhat uncomfortable wooden booths but there is a nice outdoor patio. Diners rave about the top-grade sushi and steamed dumpling. Catfish with ginger and tuna rolled in a peppercorn crust are not to be missed. Those who would like some entertainment with their sushi should go on a Monday night for the geisha drag show. There is a branch in Buckhead, but this one has better service. Often crowded.

990 Piedmont Avenue
Tel: (404) 253 2010.
Website: www.nickiemotosmidtown.com
Price: $-$$

Vortex
Not exactly your average restaurant, this place has all sorts of things crawling up the walls and suspended from the ceiling - airplanes, skeletons on motorcycles and even the obligatory moose head. It is mostly a burger joint but salads, sandwiches, fish and chips baskets and bar appetizers are also on the changing menu. To wash down the food, the Vortex has a huge selection of beers and liquors. It appeals mostly to the funky set.

878 Peachtree Street
Tel: (404) 875 1667.
Website: www.thevortexbarandgrill.com
Price: $


Budget

Flying Biscuit
Fist-sized biscuits, black bean cakes, organic oatmeal pancakes and turkey meatloaf are staples at this eating place. Crowded and hectic, there is always a queue and no reservations are taken. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served Tuesdays to Sundays. Brunch is added to the menu on Saturday and Sunday.

Candler Park 1655 McLendon Avenue, Northeast
Tel: (404) 687 8888.
Website: www.flyingbiscuit.com
Price: $

Branch:
Midtown 1001 Piedmont Avenue
Tel: (404) 874 8887.

Mary Mac’s Tea Room
This ’tea room’ features authentic tastes of the Old South. First-time visitors get free cornbread and Pot Likker - turnip greens with broth and cornbread. Food is prepared the same way it was when this local favorite opened in 1945. Its many dining rooms are a rambling complex of adjoining buildings. Lunch and dinner.

224 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Northeast
Tel: (404) 876 1800.
Website: www.marymacs.com
Price: $-$$

Silver Skillet
Sleep as late as you want. Breakfast is served all day here and it seems to come straight from the 1950s. This is Southern cooking workman-style - collard greens with cornbread, chicken-fried steaks with green beans dredged in ham drippings, and, of course, grits. Grease and salt are free and served in copious amounts. For the occasional blow-out, the Silver Skillet is downright fun and tasty. No dinner.

200 14th Street
Tel: (404) 874 1388.
Website: www.thesilverskillet.com
Price: $

Oakwood Café
You wouldn’t think to go here unless you were shopping for produce at the Atlanta State Farmers Market. It is worth it to hop a cab from the airport (it is just behind it) to this very basic looking, family-owned restaurant, especially if you like southern cooking - fried pork and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Desserts are made from scratch and the peach cobbler should not be missed.

16 Forest Parkway, Forest Park (by the Atlanta State Farmers Market)
Tel: (404) 214 5660.
Price: $


Personal Recommendations

The Food Studio
This old plow factory is out of the way, but worth the trip. Bare brick walls, and machine wheels that hang from the high ceiling are the backdrop for tasty food and friendly service. The American-style menu is seasonal, but always present is some variety of lamb, beef and seafood. Lemon Basil Bombe is always available. Do not miss it.

887 West Marietta Street Northwest, Suite K-102 (King Plow Arts Center)
Tel: (404) 815 6677.
Website: www.fifthgroup.com or www.thefoodstudio.com
Price: $$$

Pricci
White tablecloths and art deco decor makes this kitschy place look more like a 1940s nightclub than an Italian ristorante. Friendly servers offer deliciously authentic cuisine, like wild mushroom risotto and veal scaloppini with prociutto and polenta. There are also some wonderfully creative pizzas. The tomato, prosciutto, mozzarella and arugula salad pizza is yummy. Open for lunch and dinner.

500 Pharr Road, Northeast
Tel: (404) 237 2941.
Website: www.buckheadrestaurants.com
Price: $$$

Eno
Casually elegant, Eno is about good food and good wine. A hidden gem, this friendly, comfortable restaurant, with both outdoor and indoor dining, offers over 80 different wines by the glass and 275 varieties by the bottle. Each menu selection is paired with wine. If duck is on the menu, order it. It will be uniquely prepared and delicious.

800 Peachtree Street Northeast (Midtown)
Tel: (404) 685 3191.
Website: www.enorestaurant.com
Price: $$-$$$



Nightlife:

Nightlife in Atlanta varies from intimate bars to live music venues and nightclubs. Dress up for intimate dinners, dress ostentatiously for the Buckhead scene and dress as way out as you dare for Little Five Points. Some bars stay open until 0400 but tend to close much earlier on Sundays. Although the legal drinking age is 21 years, many bars may admit those who are 18 and above. Drink prices start from around US$4 and vary enormously according to the establishment; draught beers are less expensive than bottled imports.

Little Five Points (west of Georgia State University) is the ’Greenwich Village’ of Atlanta. A small group of live music clubs and performance theaters hosts the city’s cutting-edge artists and the small plaza area is a hangout for street performers and a younger crowd. There are a few festivals throughout the year, most notably the massive Halloween festival.

Buckhead, where Peachtree and Roswell roads meet, is for the young, smart and unattached, who pack the bars, especially on Friday nights. There are several clubs, a few live music venues, and tons of bars and restaurants to suit every fancy.

Midtown stretches from Downtown to Buckhead, and Piedmont Park hosts everything from the Gay Pride Festival to the Montreux-Atlanta International Music Festival and the Dogwood Festival. Make sure to spend an evening at The New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree Street Northeast (tel: (404) 874 5299; website: www.shakespearetavern.com), where you can see a full-length Shakespeare play in a setting not unlike the original Globe Theater, accompanied by a hearty pub dinner. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Go early if you don’t want to watch from the rafters.

There is a website with weekly listings on it (website: www.accessatlanta.com) and events information is also published weekly in Creative Loafing (Thursdays). Check City Search (website: http://atlanta.citysearch.com) for recommendations and reviews.

Bars: For European chic, Bazzaar, located next to the Fox Theater at 654 Peachtree Street Northeast fits the bill. Beluga Martini Bar, 3115 Piedmont Road, which is said to have the best Martinis in the city, has live jazz and a sophisticated clientele. Halo, 817 West Peachtree Street Northwest, a basement-level lounge is the place to socialize. If casual and boisterous is more your style, try American Pie, 5840 Rosewell Road, Sandy Springs. For a taste of Britain, sample the brews and the fare at the Prince of Wales Pub, 1144 Piedmont Avenue. Neighbor’s Pub, 752C North Highland Avenue, is altogether a classier joint in the posh suburb of Virginia Highlands.

Clubs: Atlanta has hotspots for every taste. Compound, 1008 Brady Avenue (website: www.compoundatl.com), combines casual lounges, a full service bar, a large dance floor, DJ music and an open air courtyard. Free salsa lessons are given every Thursday night. Indoor waterfalls and interactive plasma, plus disco, funk and dance music make the chic Mark, 79 Poplar Street (website: www.themarkatlanta.com), the place where well-known entertainers hold their post-concert parties while the Sanctuary, 3209 Paces Ferry Place Northwest (website: www.sanctuarynightclub.com), appeals to both young and old Latin dance fans.

Live Music: Recommended in Buckhead are CJ’s Landing, 270 Buckhead Avenue Northeast (website: www.cjslanding.com), for reggae on a deck, and Cafe 290, 290 Hildebrand Drive Northeast, for jazz. For blues, Fuzzy’s Place, 2015 North Druid Hills Road (website: www.fuzzys.com), is a little venue with a reputation for producing the real thing. Churchill Grounds (website: www.churchillgrounds.com) is a swanky little club cuddled up next door to the Fox Theater at 660 Peachtree Street, which has become the place to hear traditional jazz from solid local ensembles. Major concerts are held at the Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive (tel: (404) 878 3000; website: www.philipsarena.com), or the HiFi Buys Amphitheater, just out of town at 2002 Lakewood Way (tel: (404) 443 5090). Up-and-coming bands play at The Coca-Cola Roxy Theater, 3110 Roswell Boulevard, Buckhead (tel: (404) 233 7699), The Cotton Club, which is actually in the basement of the Tabernacle, 152 Luckie Street (tel: (404) 659 9022), Eddie’s Attic, 515 North McDonough Street, Decatur, (tel: (404) 377 4976; website: www.eddiesattic.com), the Rialto Center For the Performing Arts, 80 Forsyth Street, Downtown (tel: (404) 651 4727; website: www.rialtocenter.org) and Center Stage Theater, 1374 West Peachtree Street, Midtown (tel: (404) 885 1163).

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