Atlanta’s culinary identity is deeply rooted in the South. It’s a place where fried chicken is sacred, collard greens are slow-simmered with love, and cornbread is more of a cultural symbol than a side dish. But Atlanta’s food scene is far from static. While it draws strength from generations-old Southern traditions, it also pulses with innovation, global influence, and new voices that are reshaping what Southern food can be.
Here’s a closer look at how the South continues to influence and inspire Atlanta cuisine, and the best places in the city to try it out.
The foundation: classic southern staples
At its core, Atlanta cuisine celebrates the hallmarks of Southern comfort food: fried chicken, mac and cheese, biscuits, grits, and more. These are dishes passed down through families, rooted in African American culinary traditions and rural Southern techniques.
- Busy Bee Cafe, a landmark since 1947, exemplifies old-school soul food. Their fried chicken, smothered pork chops, and candied yams are love letters to generations of Black Southern cooking.
- Mary Mac’s Tea Room, one of the last remaining “tea rooms” from Atlanta’s mid-century past, keeps traditions alive with its menu of fried green tomatoes, pot likker, and banana pudding.
The “meat-and-three” legacy
A key Southern culinary tradition that thrives in Atlanta is the “meat-and-three” model: one meat, three sides. It’s a format that allows for endless variation and personalization.
Restaurants like The Colonnade and Paschal’s carry on this tradition with hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meals that recall Sunday dinners and family reunions. Fried catfish with mashed potatoes, collards, and cornbread is not just a meal – it’s a memory on a plate.
Southern soul meets modern flair
While tradition holds strong, Atlanta chefs are busy reimagining what Southern cuisine can be: think updated classics, local sourcing, and elevated techniques.
- Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours, led by Chef Deborah VanTrece, serves dishes like oxtail ravioli and bourbon peach-glazed ribs: soul food with global twists.
- Miller Union by Chef Steven Satterfield offers refined Southern cooking with a farm-to-table ethos. His signature farm egg baked in celery cream is a prime example of humble ingredients reimagined.
These chefs don’t abandon the past – they build on it, honouring their roots while expanding the Southern palate.
The influence of black culinary traditions
Atlanta’s food scene cannot be separated from the profound influence of African American cooks, chefs, and restaurateurs. Southern cuisine, as we know it, is deeply shaped by the Black experience; by enslaved cooks, by sharecroppers, by grandmothers and church potlucks.
Modern chefs like Todd Richards (author of the bestseller Soul) are reclaiming and celebrating this legacy, bringing attention to the creativity, resilience, and depth of Black Southern cooking. His dishes, like fried green tomatoes with pimento goat cheese, elevate the familiar with a large helping of storytelling and soul.
Southern produce, and the power of the seasons
Southern cuisine is inherently seasonal. From sweet summer peaches to fall’s collard greens and winter’s hearty root vegetables, Atlanta chefs rely heavily on the rhythms of the land.
Farmers markets like Freedom Farmers Market and Peachtree Road Market supply local chefs with heirloom tomatoes, okra, corn, and other Southern staples, helping preserve the region’s agricultural heritage. Menus shift with the seasons, and the best bites often highlight simplicity: a perfectly grilled Georgia peach or buttermilk biscuits made from scratch.
Global influences on a Southern canvas
Atlanta’s Southern food is increasingly shaped by the city’s international communities: Korean, Mexican, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, and more.
Restaurants like Heirloom Market BBQ combine Southern smoking traditions with Korean spices, while spots like Pijiu Belly offer Southern-Asian fusion dishes like pork belly bao with Southern slaw. This blending of cultures speaks to a new South; one that’s inclusive, evolving, and deliciously diverse.
Atlanta’s food is deeply Southern, in the way it embraces history, comfort, and hospitality. But it’s also bold, fresh, and willing to push boundaries. Whether it’s savouring a bowl of creamy stone-ground grits or digging into a Korean-fusion brisket sandwich, you’re tasting the South; not as it was, but as it is and as it’s becoming. In Atlanta, Southern cuisine isn’t just preserved… it’s alive. And it’s never tasted better.
