The Move is your monthly guide to the top food finds from Senior Editor Beth McKibben, who oversees restaurant and dining coverage at Rough Draft. Subscribe to our dining newsletter Side Dish for the latest restaurant intel and scoops and to be the first to know where she’s been eating around Atlanta. Side Dish drops every Thursday at noon, just in time for lunch.
Petit Chou
662 Memorial Drive, Cabbagetown
One of my favorite spots for a low-key, seasonal dinner in Atlanta is Petit Chou in Cabbagetown. While Petit Chou is popular for breakfast, this French-leaning neighborhood restaurant with a Southern accent courts just as many regulars at dinner. I like to sit at the counter or outside on the patio, part of which is covered.
Start with a charcuterie and cheese spread complete with local and French cheeses, meats, jams, and pickles, or maybe a salad comprised of local greens. Sometimes I indulge in escargot in white wine sauce topped with a bubbling layer of gruyere cheese or mussels, if the mollusk is in season. It’s served with a baguette for sopping up sauce. The white bean tapenade comes with baguette slices for spreading the zesty dip.
For your entrée in the wintertime, try Petit Chou’s beef bourguignon cooked in a rich red wine sauce, tender duck à l’orange with hints of tart sweetness, or the hearty cassoulet. I caught the tail end of cassoulet season at Petit Chou earlier this spring. It was entirely vegan and filled with root vegetables, lentils, and white beans. Fish is the way to go during the spring and summer, whether it’s grouper à la meunière with garlic haricot verts and toasted almonds, or delicately seared salmon garnished with a creamy dill sauce.
Wine, cocktails, and beer are also available. Try the Gold Fashioned with bourbon and turmeric citrus syrup or the classic French 75.
Petit Chou is open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner starting at 5 p.m.
Skip’s Chicago Dogs
48 North Avondale Road, Avondale Estates
I’m not here to debate the merits of eating a hot dog or to weigh in on whether the hot dog is a sandwich. But I am here to tell you that Skip’s in Avondale Estates has been my go-to spot for Chicago dogs since I moved to Atlanta in 1995. It’s not that I haven’t had good ones at pop-ups or other hot dog joints like Brandi’s or The Original Hot Dog Factory. Skip’s just gets this style right–and consistency matters.
For those unfamiliar with the Windy City’s take on the hot dog, the style sees a Vienna beef wiener topped with mustard, tomatoes, onions, blindingly bright green relish, a pickle spear, and pickled sport peppers sprinkled with celery salt cradled in a poppy seed bun. Never top a Chicago dog with ketchup. That’s the rule.
Opened in 1979, Skip’s keeps the Chicago dog tried and true, including only using a Vienna beef link as the vehicle for its seven toppings and serving the hot dog in a poppy seed bun. I always get curly fries or beer-battered onion rings as sides, but sometimes I opt for both.
JD’s Variety Deli
559 Martin Street, Summerhill
From the outside, JD’s Variety looks like many neighborhood convenience stores. Signs for playing the lottery, Coca-Cola and Community Coffee ads, and other notices are displayed on the windows and front door. Red bricks peek out from underneath the fading white-washed exterior of the humble building. But there’s more than meets the eye here, including a righteous takeout and delivery operation serving jerk chicken plates with piles of rice and peas, beef patties and coco bread, lemon pepper wings, and fried catfish dinners. I come here for the jerk chicken and jerk chicken egg rolls and the friendly conversation with owner Rosco Cummings.
Chicken slow-cooks on the grill out back starting in the morning. Smoke permeates the meat just enough to resemble the nostalgic taste of a backyard barbecue. There’s good char on the skin, too, which allows the warming spices and aromatics used in the seasoning to come through and the heat to build steadily on the palate. That hot spice mixture in the rub is essential for jerk. JD’s doesn’t shy away from bringing the heat.
Fluffy rice tossed with red peas is infused with coconut, giving it a mellow sweetness. Crispy egg rolls stuffed with shredded jerk chicken, onions, and hot peppers come served with a tangy dipping sauce.
Order food through JD’s website rather than a third-party delivery service – that way the shop can retain 100% of the sale. Services like GrubHub and UberEats get a pretty hefty commission from each order placed, sometimes as much as 30%.
