Cuisine of Atlanta

The city's first restaurant was a tiny establishment manned by a Frenchman named Toney Maquino and he served ham, eggs, and oysters when the city was still known as Marthasville. After the Civil War, R.G. Thompson opened the city's first fine dining restaurant, named Thompson's, which served high-end fare, including steaks and oysters. Henry Durand became the most prominent restaurateur in the Reconstruction time period.[1]

By the 1920s, the restaurant business in Atlanta was thriving with notable locations starting in the city including the Varsity, Mary Mac's Tea Room, Waffle House, Chik-fil-A, and many others which have influenced the nation's cuisine.

Since the turn of the 21st century, Atlanta has emerged as a sophisticated restaurant town.[2] Many restaurants opened in the city's gentrifying neighborhoods have received praise at the national level, including Bocado, Bacchanalia, Flip Burger Boutique, and Miller Union in West Midtown, Empire State South in Midtown, and Two Urban Licks, Parish, and Rathbun's on the east side.[3][4][5][6] The New York Times in 2011 characterized Empire State South and Miller Union as reflecting "a new kind of sophisticated Southern sensibility centered on the farm but experienced in the city".[7]

Buford Highway, stretching from near Buckhead to Gwinnett County, is the area's international food destination. There, the million-plus immigrants that make Atlanta home have established various authentic ethnic restaurants, ranging from Vietnamese, Indian, Cuban, Korean, Salvadoran, Mexican, Colombian, Dominican, Japanese and Chinese, to Ethiopian.[8][9][10][11]

Local landmarks include The Varsity, opened in 1928 and the world's largest drive-in restaurant,[12] and Mary Mac's Tea Room, opened in 1945, a traditional destination for Southern food. Paschal's and the Busy Bee Cafe have been soul food favorites since the 1940s.

Restaurant districts include Buckhead, Virginia-Highland,[13] and the Luckie-Marietta District downtown.[14]

Current avant-garde culinary districts are the Old Fourth Ward, particularly Edgewood Avenue,[15] and West Midtown, home to Atlanta's two top Zagat-rated restaurants, Bacchanalia and the Quinones Room,[16]