ATLGuide
The ATL Hit List: The Best New Restaurants In Atlanta
The Upper Westside adds another eatertainment venue while Cascade Heights finally gets a taste of Italian. These are ATL’s best new restaurants.
The Hit List is where you’ll find our favorite new food and drink experiences in ATL. We track new openings across the city, and then visit as many as we can. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of every good new spot, one thing you can always rely on is that we’ll only include places that we have genuinely checked out.
Our goal is for this list to be as diverse as the city itself—inclusive of a wide range of cuisines, price points, neighborhoods, chefs and owners of all backgrounds, and the multifaceted communities within the industry. If you think we missed a great new place, we want to hear about it. Shoot us an email at atl@theinfatuation.com.
Whether you’re looking for in-person dining, takeout, or delivery, The Hit List is here to help you find a great new spot to support. Read on to find your new favorites.
New to The Hit List (as of 05/30):
THE SPOTS
La Panarda, a new taste of Italy on Cascade, has three wing spots within shouting distance of its front door. It’s a confident person who thinks there’s a place for osso buco lamb shank in a land filled with so many lemon pepper wets…but visionaries are bold. This attempt feels more cohesive than the space’s previous occupant, a short-lived Latin soul spot from the same owner. Yes, the seat cushions and wall sconces remain, but the bar is livelier and the cuisine is more consistent. And once expertly seared chicken spiedini and short rib ragu-topped pappardelle that tastes like a wonderful lasagna arrives at your table, you’ll actually feel kinda bad for the folks across the street eating the 10-piece.
Flight Club is an enormous two-level space in West Midtown that feels like a steampunked hunting lodge you and your date get to by falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. We’re talking vintage clocks, floral wallpaper, and leather banquettes. Pre-reserved oches (basically dart alleys) surround a long, attractive bar. Equally appealing is the dart hall’s friendly service and menu of shareable plates. Honey hot chicken sliders are spicy mayo- and sweet pickle-topped bites of fun. The papas bravas hit the mark once they’re dipped in the lemon garlic aioli. The cronuts taste more like funnel cake nuggets and make great snack leftovers when you’re chuckling at videos Flight Club emails you the next day of your best throws.
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It’s not a wild leap to say we’ve found our favorite spot to pre-game for an event at Mercedez-Benz, and that’s in part thanks to the convenient new pedestrian bridge that better connects these downtown attractions. Wild Leap bills itself mainly as a brewery but they’re also a distillery and winery (in Falcon's speak, that’s a Deion Sanders-style triple threat). We like fun beer options like the Blueberry Lmn Ade sour ale and the Mai Tai Double IPA. And when we’re in a heated QB debate, we’ll cool off with the spiked slushie flight. Yes, alcohol is the focus here, but rotating food trucks help out when hunger hits. Plus, the place is enormous, clocking in at 15,000 square feet with multiple levels, a speakeasy room, and two patio areas.
Walk into Yeppa and Co. on any given night and you’ll likely mix into a crowd of people who look like they have Bravo spin-offs. They'll be knocking back glasses of wine or the flavorful frose sgroppino, and with alcohol-loosened tongues they'll help soundtrack the consistent roar of background chatter. While the drinks are good, what we really say “yeppa” to is the pasta—specifically the tasty cacio e pepe and the creamy ricotta- and pork-filled tortellini. Apps like the tender beef skewers (with a salsa verde that we would happily just drink) work well, too. Take a seat at the gigantic oval bar, which takes over most of the dining room, and soak up the Buckhead spirit.
Being handed our food in takeout containers tends to signal that we should GTFO of a restaurant as quickly as possible. But the casually chic interior of Tyde Tate’s downtown location has such good vibes we can’t just grab and go. Crisp white walls, homey wooden tables, and large wicker lighting fixtures combine with splashes of calming dark teal mosaics on the bar. It all adds up to the preferable backdrop to slurp down their perfectly peanuty Pad Thai. Their dishes are reliably tasty—we're fans of the fried rice and panang curry beef with a nice kick. And portions are decent-sized so the takeout container thing really works out in our favor. If more places like Tyde Tate start showing out, downtown Atlanta is primed to rise up.
Sub sandwiches paired with sophisticated cocktails in a retro bistro setting is the dining situation we never knew we needed. From the team behind Banshee, this Edgewood-Candler Park spot has mastered the art of the sandwich. The usual deli meats like porchetta, roast beef, and turkey get a tasty upgrade with fun sauces like their chorizo mayo and horseradish crème fraiche. Their obvious love for subs stuffed to the brim with meats can only be matched by their love of lighting fixtures. The true triumph is in the center of the dining room—a hodge-podge of old home lighting fixtures that had to have been snatched from some forgotten antique warehouse. We can confidently say sips and subs underneath a patchwork chandelier is a total vibe.
If you came for the prime rib expecting white-glove service, this ain't it. This casual cocktail bar is a roll-with-the-punches spot, where people clutching cocktails will hover over your table as you devour deviled eggs and pimento cheese served on a cafeteria-style tray (oooh, the nostalgia). Despite this laid-back environment, the old-school Reynoldstown bar will impress on date nights with upscale Southern bites and classy cocktails like The Tuxedo that features heavy pours of gin and absinthe. Head here on Fridays and Saturdays for prime rib nights with hunks of beef so thick we thought there were two slabs on top of each other.
Snap Thai Fish House, a fresh Buckhead concept from the minds behind Bangkok Thai, is a design marvel. The crisp, bright space is filled with big windows, gold rod benches, and dangling shapes that look like a school of fish. But it’s also 4,600 square feet. So, even with patrons sprinkled about the room at lunch and dinner, the area can still feel massive. The menu isn’t quite as imposing, but that won’t stop the tempting roster of soups, starters, and sustainable catches from flooding your or your indecisive friend’s brain. When that happens, help them find their way by suggesting the shrimp and scallop pasta bursting with basil and bell peppers or a Chilean sea bass that pairs tremendously with Massaman curry.
It’s a tad dramatic to say Holeman & Finch is what the Colony Square rebrand’s been missing. But it’d also be foolish to ignore how the reopened restaurant (the Buckhead location closed in 2020) serving elevated comfort food perfectly completes the Midtown mixed-use complex. A memento-filled, dark-wooded space that feels homey, H & F is the kind of place where you can dress up or play down in nice sweats and enjoy your meal either way. The chilled shellfish salad maison is an opener so fresh you half expect to hear crashing waves in the background. The lightly-fried Carolina flounder pairs brilliantly with roasted potatoes. And as ATL diners have come to expect from the brand, the double-patty cheeseburger is still a gooey revelation on a toasted bun.
If you enjoyed Bomb Biscuit back when it was a pop-up or delivery service, you’re probably ecstatic it found a full-time home on Highland Ave. A butter-colored space with tables at the front and a covered patio in the back, Bomb Biscuit works for breakfast, lunch, or that awkward stretch between appointments. (Just remember that they’re closed Mon-Wed.) Whatever the time, the buttermilk biscuits will be light and flaky, and meats (especially the lemon pepper-sprinkled chicken) will be amazing. The waffles reside in that happy place between firm and fluffy while golden potatoes, mixed with diced peppers and onions, complement every dish. If you don’t have time to sit and see for yourself, order from the bustling to-go setup next door.
La Semilla began as Happy Seed (a small pop-up) that kept growing in popularity until it blossomed into a full brick-and-mortar location with a new name. With a menu that features only plant-based ingredients and a dining area stuffed with actual plants, this Reynoldstown spot creates a much-welcomed oasis for vegetarians. The legendary Crunchwrap from their pop-up days is still on the menu and easily upstages its Taco Bell inspiration. But the expanded menu makes room for other new favorites like the chochoyotes with dense fried masa balls doused in a fresh coconut-corn broth. Even if you aren’t vegan/vegetarian, there’s plenty to love about this lively, bright space and plenty of dishes that didn’t make us miss meat at all.
Expectations are super high when you hear the Lazy Betty team is behind the West Midtown’s newest pizza joint. And expectations are met when you discover you can add options like caviar and shaved truffle to your fire-cooked pizza. Although, unless you’re trying to impress a date with that $25 truffle add-on, we’d say skip it, and go straight for the incredible clam pizza, which comes with an addictive dipping sauce that reminds us of the herb-rich wine broth at the bottom of the steamed mussel bowl. And their french onion hand pies, which are stuffed with sweet caramelized onions, win the appetizer category. Open until midnight on weekends, the posh pizzeria is our new favorite friend group hangout in the thriving eat-and-play Interlock complex since they have an indoor/outdoor bar setup, vacation-sweet cocktails, and a menu that agrees with everyone.
Since it’s inspired by the Amalfi Coast, Alici is more seafood-focused than their sister restaurant Bastone, but we honestly like the pasta way better here. Made daily, the squid ink campanelle in a simple tomato sauce with tender shrimp is something we’d start a fight over since all the popular dishes sell out quickly. So after you go beast mode for a spot in Monroe’s Trader Joe’s lot, place your order as soon as you’re seated or knuckle up for another round. If you make it to the fifth course seafood entrees, the red fish in a sweet lemon vinaigrette is a nice subtle end. With a spacious outdoor patio and a counter overlooking the indoor oyster bar, this seafood spot with delicious pasta is your best bet to turn any old evening into an Amalfi summer night.
Fans of Delbar will want to hit its fast-casual sister restaurant, Bibi Eatery, in Ponce City Market. The Persian restaurant serves up quick eats like an extra juicy, tomato-based sosis bandari on soft barbari bread and a spicy joojeh kabob and rice plate. As one of the chicest stalls in the food hall, the pink- and green-trimmed interior provides an escape from screaming kids and a lycra brigade who clog the walkways of PCM’s food hall on the daily. The counter service is speedy and relaxed, so you can grab your takeout container and go people-watch outside on the BeltLine.
Remember that hometown diner that your grandparents always dragged you to because they couldn’t fathom paying for a meal elsewhere? Roshambo is like that, but it’s a diner we actually love and that doesn’t smell like generations of collected grease and line cooks’ tears. For starters they serve ribeye, crudo, and raw and Rockfeller oysters all day. The upscale diner also has big, cushy U-shaped leather booths, and a long cocktail menu, so in the dimly-lit evenings, the place feels like a fancy steakhouse. But when you eye the table next to you enjoying an order of three-inch thick french toast and a retro-looking mug filled to the brim with coffee, the diner vibes rush back in.
Even for Buckhead, everything about Zakia is excessive. It reminds us of an old MTV Cribs episode–sure, we’d never decorate our house that way, but for Zakia, everything feels appropriately grand. There are four dramatic chandeliers and giant pillars lining the dining area that have us Googling the breadth of ancient Rome imperialism (yes to Tyre, but et tu, Buckhead?). Zakia’s classy interior mirrors Buckhead's many bougie spots, but their food stands out from the pack, thanks to excellent takes on Lebanese staples like fried kibbeh, impossibly fresh baba ganoush with pomegranate seeds, and crispy batata harra.
