If you're looking for a simpler meal at breakfast or lunch. I highly recommend Ria's Bluebird on Memorial Drive.

It's a small but popular place with 4-5 booths and 6 counter stools. The kitchen focuses on a relatively small menu of breakfast and lunch items. My favorite is a huge bowl of oven braised "barbeque" pork with two poached eggs served over it. In addition, Ria's serves really great pancakes with mascerated fresh strawberries and lemon cream, as well as really inventive Benedicts.


Ria's Eggs and Brisket Breakfast

Ria's Bluebird
421 Memorial Drive Southeast
Atlanta, GA 30312
(404) 521-3737
http://www.riasbluebird.com

For dining near downtown Atlanta, I'm going to have to recommend [url="http://www.fatmattsribshack.com/"]Fat Matt's Rib Shack[/url]. It's what I miss most of all from my days living in ATL. I raved about the place all the time, and my wife didn't get it -- until I took her as we passed through town on the way to a wedding in Hilton Head a couple summers ago. Now she's a believer, too.

In addition to the great BBQ, there's also live blues every night.


Fat Matt's Rib Shack
1811 Piedmont Rd NE
Atlanta, GA

Hours:
Mon - Thurs
11:30 - 11:30
Fri & Sat
11:30 - 12:30am
Sunday
1:00 - 11:30

I had dinner tonight at Hector Santiago's Pura Vida in Virginia Highlands. He has a nice menu of Caribbean-Spanish style tapas and small plates and a very nice wine list.

I was joined by my cousin who has just relocated back to Atlanta from DC. Neither of us was famished, so we opted for two seafood coctels and 2 tapas/small plates to share.

I really enjoyed the Diablo Shrimp Coctel, served with small cured ceviche style creek shrimp over what was described as a butternut squash gelee. The gelee, were finely cubed squares of butternut squash cooked almost to the point that one could mash them. The plate had a dash of tasty, smoky and hot chipotle base coctel sauce served next to a bit of mexican style crema to cool your palate.

The Georgia Trout Ceviche was a simple dish that really tasted of the essence of freshwater brook trout. It was "cooked" in a lemon lime marinade, served with a bit of garlic jelly, some simply sauteed local corn and dash of milk.

I'm a potato fan, so I found it hard to pass on restaurant's version of Papitas Criollas. A wonderful blend of creamy yeasted gold potatoes topped with a perfectly poached farm fresh egg and flavorful garlic chips. Perhaps the simplest dish of the night. But, one of the richest.

The star of the show was what was called "BBQ Beef" on the menu. It consisted of a slow braised, melt in your mouth adobo rubbed beef rib finished with an orange chipotle barbeque sauce. Its one of those dishes that will bring me back to this place over and over again.

Overall, dinner for two with a couple of mojitos and a couple of glasses of excellent house made Sangria was a very reasonable $63.

I'll be back here sooner rather than later.

FWIW, Miller Union has been nominated for the Beard Foundation's best new restaurant award for 2010.

Scott Peacock of Watershed in Decatur has been nominated for best chef.

Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire has been nominated for best up and coming chef.

Atlanta has really surprised me as a very good restaurant town since I arrived here about a year ago.

YourPalWill wrote:FWIW, Miller Union has been nominated for the Beard Foundation's best new restaurant award for 2010.

Not on the Beard Foundation's radar:

Chef Liu Buford Hwy. Tianjin style dumpling house, exc Taiwan chef (off wed) formerly of Frank Ma's.

Tasty China, Sichuan, Marietta. Lot's written elsewhere.

Sushi House Hayakawa Doraville. Near superb, exc small plates. Artisanl sake and sochu. A Must not miss.

Steve Drucker wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:FWIW, Miller Union has been nominated for the Beard Foundation's best new restaurant award for 2010.

Not on the Beard Foundation's radar:

Chef Liu Buford Hwy. Tianjin style dumpling house, exc Taiwan chef (off wed) formerly of Frank Ma's.

Tasty China, Sichuan, Marietta. Lot's written elsewhere.

Sushi House Hayakawa Doraville. Near superb, exc small plates. Artisanl sake and sochu. A Must not miss.

I love Chef Liu's! Great dumplings [er, fried not-sweet donut like thingies] and beef noodle soup. Although they're supposedly in a nicer building; they used to be a tiny building offset from a Buford Hwy strip mall. There was/is a Vietnamse-French bakery right there that I always wanted to try, but I never did.

Is that sushi place a big restaurant with a few small rooms that's hard to find just past the perimeter [sorry I don't have a better description]? If so, I love that place.

I went to Tasty China twice when Peter Chang was there, absolutely phenomenal, one of which ranks up there as among the best meals of my life. I went there once just after he left, it was good, not as great but still good. But that was a couple years ago nnow.

I have to agree that Tasty China has seen its better days.

YourPalWill wrote:I have to agree that Tasty China has seen its better days.

Yes, the cooks come and go through a steadily revolving door. The head fellow now is very reliable and good humored--a rarity in the soap opera world of Chinese restaurant chefs. The one who just left, a young culinary professor from Harbin who first learned his restaurant chops at Tasty China, was extraordinary. So the lesson is, keep coming back because the cast is ever changing.

After reading the raves from a few posters here on Holeman & Finch, I made it a point to get there on a recent trip to Atlanta. Here are some highlights:



Started it simply with some pimento cheese.



Charcuterie plate was ridiculous. Starting in upper right: Bresaola, Lamb Mortadella, Finocchiona, Lonzino and Duck Pastrami. All good, but the duck pastrami was on a whole other level. The fat just melted on the tongue and the peppery duck packed a ton of flavor into some very small bites.



Now the fun begins. Rooster testicles, lightly fried and served with preserved lemons atop an amazing arugula honey puree.



Beef heart from a cow that lived a good grass-eating life. Served with Desiree potatoes soaking in green coriander brown butter; a lot of brown butter.



Meat break with deviled eggs. The three varieties from left to right are chow-chow, cayenne and coppa.



Most traditional meat of the meal was glazed pork belly.



That was followed by the most adventurous bites, veal brains. This was the only course I didn't love. It was my first brain and while the flavor was good, especially when eaten along with the toast and herb salad, the soft texture was not for me.



The drinks were every bit as good as the food. Relative to other restaurants, they might have actually been better. Mixologist Greg Best is a magician. Pictured is the La Huevadora, made with Cazadores Blanco Tequila, Frangelico, grapefruit, lemon and egg white.

Thanks to those who recommended the place. I was in Atlanta without a car and probably wouldn't have bothered if not for the enthusiasm for the place. It's easy to get to on the bus that goes straight up Peachtree Road from downtown.

MC'H,

Looks like a terrific meal. I was back in Atlanta a couple of months ago for 3 nights, and despite my intention to try a couple of other places, I could not pull myself away from the Trifecta of 3 nights in a row at H&F. It's a special place.

KZ

Kennyz wrote:MC'H,

Looks like a terrific meal. I was back in Atlanta a couple of months ago for 3 nights, and despite my intention to try a couple of other places, I could not pull myself away from the Trifecta of 3 nights in a row at H&F. It's a special place.

KZ

Timely. I'm sitting at the bar right now sipping a King Street Derby. I just logged on to see if I should stay for dinner or branch out and try someplace new. The bartender obligingly suggested a place called JCT Kitchen, but I may bow to the wisdom of Kennyz and stay here to eeat.

If ur still there: lonzino. And mention kenny from chicago. If it is greg he will remember me.

I am still here, Greg does remember you, and they're out of the lonzino. Twitter was made for conversations like this.

The okra is wonderful, and the shrimp with fried shrimp heads is quite good also.

My entire immediate family lives in Atlanta and I was there this past weekend for my nephew's stage debut as the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz (he got the biggest laugh in the 2nd grade play). But during the course of the trip, we had a lovely lunch at Miller Union and I thought i would report back. It's a very nice space -- airy, a bit wood and concrete but very casual and pleasant to sit in. I started with a really great bourbon cocktail -- a Maple Bourbon Sour -- and it was bourbon, lemon and maple syrup -- all very tasty and potent. Made me want about 3 or 4 of them, actually -- but I settled for one. I also had a nice bowl of fresh lettuces with a nice buttermilk herb dressing. I wish the lettuce had been in smaller pieces, and I'd been offered some pepper -- but it was nice and cool and crunchy. My meal, however, may have been the best shrimp sandwich I have ever had. It was sort of a po boy approach -- but the shrimp was only very lightly fried, perhaps coated in rice flour -- it was seasoned beautifully and was juicy and delicious. And plentiful -- there was a huge mouthful of shrimp in each bite. It was served on some very easy to eat french bread with shredded iceberg, caper mayo and several juicy slices of beefsteak tomato. It really was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. It was served with a good portion of their hand cut fries -- very nicely done -- crispy but soft inside -- and they were just yummy.

They serve ice cream sandwiches for dessert -- I had a strawberry cream cheese swirl -- the cookie portion could have used a bit more heft to it -- but the ice cream was spot on.

When I go to Atlanta, I seldom get to dine in nice places because we have several children under the age of 8 to accommodate and they just can't deal with the nicer places. But this was really one of the better lunches I've had in awhile. I urge you all to check it out if you're downtown in Atlanta.

I was wondering if anyone has an update on the foods in downtown Atlanta. I am looking for suggestions for breaking, lunch and dinner.

I was wondering if anyone has an update on the foods in downtown Atlanta. I am looking for suggestions for breaking, lunch and dinner.

I know this is a late reply, but I am sorry to report that there is nothing, and I mean nothing, good in downtown Atlanta. You are going to have to leave the area if you want to eat well. If you don't want to go far, on the West Side you'll have many decent options, including:

- Star Provisions, a lunch counter in an overpriced grocery with great sandwiches and pastries
- West Egg, which I'd compare to Bakin' & Eggs in Lakeview
- Bocado, which is known for their burger but is good overall, with pricier entrees and starters
- The Optimist, a passable, massively overpriced seafood place that serves lunch and dinner
- Raku, pretty good ramen (the service here is insanely bad)

If you're willing to go further afield:

- General Muir in an an awful strip mall and serves modern deli -- not cheap, but excellent
- Ria's Bluebird, mentioned earlier in the thread, still well worth it
- Octane, a coffee shop, shares a space with a great bakery called the Little Tart across the street from Ria's; this is a good breakfast or lunch option
- Kimball House, in the suburb of Decatur, is worth the journey, especially for an outstanding oyster program; half-price between 5 and 7 p.m.
- BoccaLupo is Italian-fusion with an emphasis on pasta, very neighborhoody and worth a trip
- Java Jive is an adorable diner serving breakfast, with a great vibe and an awesome husband-wife team running the place; food is solid but it's more about the whole package

I would do anything I could to get out of downtown Atlanta. It is a total culinary dead zone.

nrs wrote:I would do anything I could to get out of downtown Atlanta. It is a total culinary dead zone.

Please tell me that this has changed in the past couple years. A conference is taking me there in May and although I haven't been in a long, long time, my memories are not particularly good and the posts on the various Atlanta threads are all pretty depressing. Anyone have good news? Or, failing that, recent updates? Thanks.

Spent the better ( ) part of a week in downtown ATL in June. I can't say I found much change. It's just not a well-planned urban landscape. When LA is a better walking town, you've got problems. There's plenty to like a short ride from what I think of as downtown and midtown ATL, but if you are stuck among the overpasses, bland office towers and hotels of the Peachtrees, you might have a hard time. On the other hand, you might be delighted with the architecture, especially if you're a fan of cast-concrete brutalism. Corner after corner, the town just nails a certain kind of austere, forboding '70s and '80s vibe that makes the era seem a lot less hopeful than I remember. The Civic Center and the MARTA stations are prime examples. Can't hardly tell where the I-75/85 footings end and the civic buildings begin. I've maybe said too much. Despite all of that, I do have some affection for the town.

Uber and I'm sure Lyft are both available in Atlanta--I'd strongly recommend loading the app before you go! Will enable you to do a lot more (and better!)

JeffB--

After spending nearly a week at Peachtree in the Hyatt, my experience was the same as your: bafflement at how a downtown could be so completely lifeless, with nothing at street level except bare concrete. All activities seemed to be confined behind walls, in private-sector commercial space. When I got back to KC, I happened to mention my view to an urban geographer in our university, and he said "You were surprised? downtown Atlanta was *designed* to be inhospitable to people on the street. If you'll notice, every single bit of green public space has ominous signs warning against loitering, camping, vagrancy, etc. Atlanta feared so much having a problem with homeless, that it designed downtown to keep commerce hidden within private spaces, confining tourist dollars for the most part to the major players." I hated it, and I basically don't go back to downtown Atlanta except under extreme duress.
And don't get me going on the totally synthetic 'Atlanta Underground', which doesn't even come close to rising to the low level of Disney-style 'attractions.'

Geo