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Atlanta
Restaurants

About Atlanta Restaurants

Mere mention of Southern food brings to mind church picnics, dinner at Grandma's, and overflowing breakfast feasts. It's fried chicken, barbecue, hushpuppies, shrimp and grits, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, banana pudding, and peach cobbler. In short, it's comfort food par excellence. And thanks to places like Dreamland BBQ and Fat Matt's Rib Shack, you can still get a taste of the good life. More often than not, though, Atlanta's chefs have taken these venerable culinary traditions and updated them, adding a Continental touch that enlivens the basics. Canoe, for example, offers mountain trout and local rabbit, dressed with fresh herbs and light sauces. The bounty only continues from there, and modern cuisine runs rampant in this food-loving city. Elegant Bacchanalia's international reach, Joël's French dishes, and Floataway Café's eclectic ambience all hint at Atlanta's fabulous options. Great steaks and seafood are welcome standards too, and although high-end establishments are abundant, so too are low-brow eateries. The Varsity, a local landmark, showcases this end of the culinary spectrum with easy grace – burgers, fries, and onion rings served car-side have a tendency to level all playing fields, as lawyers, high-school juniors, and blue-collar folks similarly attest. -- Kelly Sigmon, Senior Editor