Atlanta’s changing restaurant scene: A look back at 30 years of dining in the city

Atlanta’s changing restaurant scene: A look back at 30 years of dining in the city


Cured marinated shellfish from Nàdair. (Photo by Angie Mosier)

The average lifespan of a restaurant is between eight and ten years. In fact, margins are so thin in this industry that the pandemic caused the permanent closure of nearly 73,000 restaurants nationwide during the first year of the global health crisis. So, it’s an incredible achievement when a restaurant makes it to 20, 50, or even an astonishing 100 years in business. 

Since 1994, hundreds of new restaurants have opened in Atlanta representing countries and cultures from around the globe. The city’s thriving pop-up dining scene is now one of the best in the country, with some pop-ups transforming into award-winning restaurants. Then, in 2023, Atlanta hit worldwide dining status with the arrival of the prestigious Michelin dining guide to the city.

As Atlanta Intown — one of Rough Draft’s monthly community newspapers, available in print and online — celebrates 30 years of covering the city and its communities, we’re looking back at the changing landscape of dining through four restaurants that opened in 1994 still around today and their 2024 counterparts.

Related Story: 12 new restaurants join the 2024 Atlanta Michelin Guide

An Expanding Palate

1994
Nicks Food To-Go
240 M.L.K. Jr Drive, Atlanta. 

Nick’s Food-to-Go on the corner of Hill Street and MLK. (Photo by Google)

Nick and Eleni Poulos opened this Greek restaurant at the corner of M.L.K. Jr. Drive and Hill Street in 1994. But the couple didn’t serve Greek dishes when Nick’s first opened, opting instead for wings, hot dogs, and burgers. Eventually, Eleni convinced Nick to add gyro meat and gyros to the menu. She knew people would embrace the Greek pita cradling slivers of tender spiced lamb meat or fried chicken dressed with her family’s tzatziki sauce. The tiny takeout restaurant, which still includes a burger on the menu, has become a cherished institution in Atlanta, feeding everyone from locals and tourists to journalists and people working nearby at The Gold Dome (Georgia Capitol). Now run by the couple’s daughter and younger family members, Nick’s appears locked in to serve another generation, having weathered a property sale, the pandemic, and major redevelopment projects in the neighborhood over its 30 years in business.

Related Story: Gene’s brings barbecue, frozen Bushwackers, to East Lake

2024
Gene’s
2371 Hosea L Williams Drive, East Lake.

Gene’s in East Lake. (Courtesy of Gene’s)

Atlanta’s ever-expanding population has led to the city’s expansive palate and the rise of hyper-regionality on the menu at restaurants. What started as a popular pop-up serving Viet-Cajun takes on barbecue, egg rolls, and sides of marinated crab claws exploded onto the dining scene in 2024 as one of the city’s hottest new restaurants. Owner Avery Cottrell describes Gene’s menu as Viet-Cajun food meets the Flora-Bama at your favorite barbecue joint. At Gene’s, Cottrell combines his love for smoking meats with classic dishes from the seafood shacks and Vietnamese restaurants he grew up around in southern Louisiana. Think trays of smoked meats like boudin, pulled sticky ribs caramelized in fish sauce, and brisket with sides of Vietnamese-style smashed cucumbers, beef tallow refried beans made with brisket scraps, and Serrano pepper coleslaw. Cottrell isn’t afraid to flex his flavor muscles. A cartoon likeness of Cottrell’s chubby orange and white cat serves as the restaurant’s namesake and brand inspiration. 

Exploring Culinary Roots

1994
Anis Cafe & Bistro
2974 Grandview Avenue, Buckhead.

Anis Cafe & Bistro in the heart of Buckhead. (Courtesy of Anis Cafe & Bistro)

When Anis Cafe & Bistro opened in 1994, the Buckhead French restaurant was hardly the first in Atlanta. But rather than offering French cuisine in a buttoned-up atmosphere, owner Arnaud Michel channeled the more rustic food and casual sophistication of his hometown of Montpelier on the southern coast of France and his memories growing up at his family’s winery. This Provencal-style bistro housed in a former bungalow features an utterly charming garden patio meant to transport you from bustling Buckhead to a quaint sidewalk cafe in the French countryside. Here regulars rave about the tartare de tomate with buffalo mozzarella, mussels in white wine sauce, croque madame, and entrees such as braised lamb shank with stewed lentils. Sip on French wines by the bottle with friends or an anise-laced pastis cocktail such as the Mauresque with orgeat before your meal. 

Related Story: Check out the menu for Alpine-inspired restaurant Avize

2024
Avize
956 Brady Avenue, Westside Atlanta.

Venison tartare at Alpine-inspired restaurant Avize. (Courtesy of Avize)

At Avize, Chef Karl Gorline pays homage to his Bavarian roots by exploring the dishes and culinary traditions of countries bordering the Alps like Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Gorline’s grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Bavarian region of Germany and some dishes at Avize are based on family recipes. Using herbs, produce, and grains grown on the restaurant’s farm in Bremen, Georgia, Avize reflects the seasonality of the South seen through the dishes of the Alpine region. Expect a dry-aged duck for two smoked in hay from the Bremen farm or flammkuchen (tarte flambée from the Alsace region of France) topped with onions, smoked crème fraiche, and house-cured bacon. Minced blueberries, buckwheat, and walnuts create bittersweet notes in the venison tartare. Even the bar features Alpine twists on cocktails like a swizzle made with Navy-proof rum, allspice dram pineapple, and green chartreuse served in a vintage beer stein.

1994
Little Bangkok
2225 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta. 

Thai restaurant Little Bangkok on Cheshire Bridge Road. (Courtesy of Little Bangkok)

Little Bangkok has been a staple on Cheshire Bridge since 1994. It’s the type of restaurant you find yourself returning to again and again. The homey atmosphere and quick service make this little Thai establishment feel more like your favorite neighborhood diner. If you’re a regular here – and there are many – the staff may already know your order. That might include a generous portion of the popular pad thai or green curry, house specialties like the Bangkok Thai duck, or metal tureens for the table filled with creamy tom kha gai (a $13 hotpot of Thai chicken coconut soup laced with Thai chilis). Meals often begin with skewers of chicken satay and Thai dumplings bursting their tops with minced chicken and shrimp. While half the menu is dedicated to Chinese dishes, the comforting Thai fare served at Little Bangkok has kept its tables full for the last 30 years. 

Related Story: Peek inside Caribbean restaurant Miss Conduck

2024
Miss Conduck
357 Edgewood Avenue, Sweet Auburn.

Caribbean restaurant Miss Conduck on Edgewood Avenue. (Courtesy of Miss Conduck)

Emily James and her daughter, LaToya Franklyn, transformed the former Noni’s Italian restaurant and bar into a festive spot celebrating their Trinidadian roots and the Caribbean diaspora. The mother-daughter duo sees Miss Conduck as a fusion of Caribbean cultures best experienced through food while immersed in a colorful, music-driven space. Trinidadian dishes like doubles, roti, and pholourie live alongside Jamaican curry goat, oxtail rasta pasta, and tres leches cake for dessert. Several dishes are based on family recipes. The rum punch here is a must. After years of hosting family and friends at home for the holidays, James and Franklyn brought their Caribbean feasts to Edgewood in 2024. Only now, everyone’s invited. 

Atlanta-Style Fine Dining 

1994
The Lobster Bar beneath Chops
70 West Paces Ferry Road, Buckhead

The more intimate Lobster Bar resides beneath Chops Steakhouse in Buckhead. (Courtesy of Chops Lobster Bar)

The Lobster Bar wasn’t always part of Chops. Buckhead Life Restaurant Group opened the swanky steakhouse in 1989, following up on its success five years later by opening the raw bar and restaurant downstairs. Rich mahogany, marble, half-moon leather booths, and coffered ceilings upstairs give way to an intimate, more low-key space at The Lobster Bar, set off by the striking barrel-vaulted, herringbone tiled ceiling spanning the dining room. Don’t let the white tablecloths fool you. The Lobster Bar offers a refined yet relaxed dining experience. It can even get a little boisterous. Chops and The Lobster Bar serve the same menu of prime steak cuts and seafood, but it’s hard to resist ordering the namesake crustacean downstairs, which can come fried, poached, chilled, steamed, and thermidored.

Related Story: Chef Kevin Gillespie to open new restaurant Nàdair

2024
Nàdair (2024 Michelin recommended restaurant)
1123 Zonolite Road, #15, Woodland Hills.

Roasted lamb loin and fire-roasted carrots from Nàdair. (Photo by Angie Mosier)

Chef Kevin Gillespie opened Nàdair in 2024 to return to the cooking he became known for at Woodfire Grill. Nodding to his Scottish roots and love for live-fire cooking, Gillespie describes Nàdair as having a sort of “rustic elegance.” Rather than referring to it as a Scottish restaurant, however, Gillespie sees Nàdair as a culmination of his 20-year career as a chef. Offering both a three-course and six-course tasting menu, Gillespie brings his Scottish and Southern heritages together in dishes like wood-roasted mushrooms with a fried farm egg, vegetarian haggis comprised of smoked butternut squash and malted pumpkin puree, and cider-braised pork shoulder with heirloom wheat porridge. Like Lobster Bar, the vibe at Nàdair leans into casual sophistication. You’ll likely see a few people decked out in their family plaid, too, including Gillespie who pops out of the kitchen in his kilt throughout the night to greet guests in the dining room. 





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *