“The Move” is your guide to the top food finds from Senior Editor Beth McKibben, who oversees restaurant and dining coverage at Rough Draft. The guide appears first in our weekly Side Dish dining newsletter. Subscribe for free to Side Dish to get the latest restaurant intel and scoops and to be the first to know where she’s been eating around Atlanta each week. Side Dish drops every Thursday at noon, just in time for lunch. 

Lil Tamale Boi
Pop-up at farmers markets, other venues

I’m a regular at the Piedmont Park Green Market on Saturday mornings and frequently grab breakfast from the food stalls here. But one particular food stall recently caught my eye: Lil Tamale Boi. 

Owned and operated by Chef Aldo Garcia, these tamales see handmade masa mixed with local and seasonal ingredients like chicken mole, meats from Spotted Trotter, squash blossoms, and earthy mushrooms steamed in banana leaves. Garcia then garnishes the tamales with fresh herbs, edible flowers, and pickled vegetables as well as from-scratch tangy and savory sauces and salsas. A sizable tamale costs just under $14. 

Garcia prides himself on using local ingredients from farmers and food producers to showcase the bounty of the seasons in the South and his Guatemalan heritage. 

Born and raised in North Carolina, working in butcher shops and restaurants throughout the South and in Los Angeles, Garcia now calls Atlanta home. And while his current tamale operation is small, given the lines on Saturday mornings at the Green Market, I have a feeling you’ll be seeing this chef pop up more around town. 

Nakato
1776 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta

Much like Korean barbecue, the Japanese steak house can be a very interactive dining experience. While the former is more DIY dining, teppanyaki at a Japanese steak house requires people to participate in a sort of culinary showcase.

I’m talking about what Americans refer to as “hibachi,” where diners sit around a communal, U-shaped table with a flat grill manned by a chef who feverishly slices and dices and occasionally tosses the odd shrimp tail into their hat. However, you’re not enjoying hibachi, but rather teppanyaki. There are similarities between the two Japanese cooking styles, but the grilling surfaces differ. 

Hibachi translates to “fire bowl,” while teppanyaki loosely translates to “grilling on a metal plate.” Traditional hibachi-style cooking sees a grill covered by a grate burning wood or charcoal as fuel, which produces more smoke. Teppanyaki grilling features food cooked on a hot metal-plated surface often built into the table. The grill uses propane or gas, producing less smoke during cooking. Teppanyaki also affords the chef room to show off their cooking skills and sense of humor with stunts like transforming rings of onions into a fiery, smoking volcano, shrimp-catching contests, or charming snaking flames tempted by a trail of oil along the grill. The sky’s the limit for showmanship. 

I enjoy the low-key vibes of teppanyaki dining at Nakato. This half-century-old Japanese restaurant on Cheshire Bridge features a room dedicated to teppanyaki and gets pretty packed on the weekends as people celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or the fact it’s Saturday night. Don’t expect a big show at these tables. You’ll get one or two party tricks before the chef gets down to the business of quick-fire cooking your meal. 

My move: chicken and shrimp with fried rice, which comes with grilled vegetables, sesame-ginger salad, and miso soup. 

Teppanyaki for two people plus two drinks costs just under $100. Portions are huge and you will have leftovers. Nakato offers valet parking. 

Senpai Noodle Supply
Pop-up at venues around Atlanta

If you, like me, pulled all-nighters to finish a paper or cram for a final exam in college, taking breaks to eat meant slices of cold pizza or pouring boiling water from your contraband electric kettle into a carton of Cup o’ Noodles (or Cup Noodles) instant ramen. The latter was warm, packed with carby noodles and an alarmingly salty broth with a slightly metallic aftertaste. It satiated my hunger but didn’t nourish it. It was oddly comforting, quick, and got the job done.

I wanted to relish the utterly delightful take on Cup o’ Noodles from Senpai’s Noodle Supply during its recent pop-up at Green Beans ATL coffee shop in Boulevard Heights. 

Founded by Nehemyah Price, Senpai’s Noodle Supply merges the Stone Mountain native’s love for ramen with the interplay of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors that define Atlanta wings. Think lemon pepper broth laden with squiggly ramen noodles and panko-breaded fried chicken garnished with green onions, celery, and a ramen egg. 

While Price offers whole bowls of ramen overflowing with noodles and proteins of tender pork and fried chicken, the more petite Cup o’ Noodles portion (sans meat) and two-wing combo for $15 was my move during the pop-up.

I ordered the Dirty Bird Cup o’ Noodles. The chicken and pork broth comes mixed with cilantro, green and white onions, shiitake mushrooms, and yellow peppers. Unlike instant ramen, Price’s Cup o’ Noodles features a halved ramen egg. A whole bowl includes grilled chicken.

The broth was salty, savory, and tangy, with a silky texture perfect for slurping noodles, thanks to the chicken and pork fats used in the stock. The combo meal also features two whole chicken wings. I opted for the Zuko Fire Thai chili wings — a little sweet and spicy sauce combination.