In the past decade, the Atlanta dining scene has been transformed by a moving by an outdoor party whose popularity continues to grow, inviting folks who swarm to it daily—strolling, jogging, dancing, and wheeling—to embrace the city’s natural beauty and charm.
Known simply as the Atlanta Beltline, this 22-mile concrete loop that connects 45 city neighborhoods has brought with it a new echelon of dining and drinking options. Built on a reclaimed railroad corridor, few developments in modern Atlantan history have been as consequential in changing the city’s landscape.
Conceived in 1999 as an urban planner master’s thesis, the Beltline became real with the opening of the West End Trail in 2008. While some areas await their paved section, the Beltline’s prioritization of pedestrians is now a bridge from Atlanta’s past to its future. It’s a city best experienced through sharing, whether that’s easy access to green space, shopping districts, and public art, or small and large plates of food representative of this international Southern metropolis’s mix of people.
Whether strolling, date-nighting, or walking-it-out with the squad, dining options abound on and around the Beltline, from pizza shops to brewpubs to food halls to top-tier steakhouses tucked inside repurposed factories. Whatever your flavor, it’s worth stepping out.
Ladybird/Ranger Station
Ladybird went from a friendly camp-inspired “Grove & Mess Hall” to one of the Eastside Trail’s most popular hangouts. Inside the window-wrapped dining room you can tuck into leather seating and reclaimed wood picnic tables, or sit outside at charred barrels turned into two-tops on sandy gravel near a vintage camper patio bar.
Lunch and dinner begin with snacky starters like chili-garlic peanuts boiled in Old Bay. Larger shareable “base camp” dinners for four include fried catfish with lump crab hushpuppies.
To wash down all that richness, try one of four “patio punch” cocktails, or score a reservation upstairs at Ranger Station, a ’70s-themed cocktail bar where the lights are low but spirits are high.
Kevin Rathbun Steak
One of Atlanta’s most respected chefs, Kevin Rathbun has a beefy reputation as a steak-master. The dining room of his moody Inman Park steakhouse features black-painted brick and stained-wood walls, with a sprawling tree-branch chandelier hanging above white-clothed tables.
It’s a great place to devour horseradish-crusted bone marrow before diving fork-first into dry-aged USDA prime cowboy rib eyes and porterhouses for two, or Wagyu strip and skirt steaks for those seeking smaller cuts between 10 and 16 ounces.
If the temptation to indulge in an old-fashioned and the coffee-toffee bonbons proves too powerful, an after-dinner walk is always an option.
Breaker Breaker
Gulf Coast beach diners of decades past inspired this fun-loving indoor-outdoor seafood dive where the whole idea is to step back and pretend you’re on a relaxed shoreline. Chef Maximilian Hines oversees a people-pleasing menu that leans into the classics: fried gulf fish and shrimp platters with coleslaw and hushpuppies, a rich and dark-copper-roux seafood gumbo, even fish melt sandwiches with Swiss cheese and pickled chiles.
For outdoor diners, your order is placed at a counter window on the building’s exterior, then you’ll take a number display to your preferred seat. Inside, pecan brown wall paneling mixes with a crème de menthe color scheme, all of which ramps up the retro inside. Stop by on Sunday afternoons for “Mel’s Chicken Coop” as sous-chef Melanie Forehand runs her weekly fried chicken special, and arrive early to grab a seat at their lively rooftop bar Floridaman—it fills up quickly.
Krog Street Market
Just past where the Beltline crosses Irwin Street in Inman Park, Krog has continued to be Atlanta’s gold standard for food halls, from one of the best burgers in town at Fred’s Meat & Bread to polished Neapolitan pizzas at Varuni Napoli to Ticonderoga Club, where hospitality and cocktail brilliance meet a range of cheffy eats with veal sweetbreads on one side and country-fried steak on the other. Make a day of it with Gu’s Dumplings, lamb biryani at Jai Ho Indian Kitchen, fried turkey wings and whiting at Soul: Food & Culture, and a well-curated selection of tapped craft beers and wines by the glass at Hop City, which sells what it pours inside its retail shop.
Bovino After Dark
A farming co-op and butcher shop offering quality meats from local producers to consumers is great on its own, but during the weekend the space at HERO BoVino becomes Bovino After Dark, a five-course tasting menu residency that’s as delicious as it is random. The 14-seat setup feels like a supper club thanks to the intimacy between cooks and diners.
Led by chef Chris McCord, whose fearless creativity results in constantly shifting offerings, your first course could be beef cheek pastrami with green garlic one week, then scallop beignets with strawberries and rose water a few days later. Entrées are just as innovative and might swing from lamb belly to halibut with sausage made of Royal Red shrimp, and inventive desserts like movie-popcorn-butter ice cream.
La Semilla
You’ll know you’re going plant-based (and in for a good time) just by the floral surroundings, both living and painted, at this spirited Reynoldstown stop for standout Cuban and Mexican dinner. Georgia farms contribute to the mostly vegan menu, where you’ll find seasonal specials like masa-fried lion’s mane mushrooms and strawberry tres leches in pepita-pistachio-pecan milk in spring. Their always-on favorites include seitan asada tacos and Cubanos substituting jackfruit lechón for pork, alongside a playful cocktail menu that boasts rum, mezcal, cachaça, and tequila drinks like the pineapple–guava–passion fruit Beach Bunny, and NA sippers like the Flora 75.
One Flew South
The first and only location of Atlanta’s heralded fine dining airport restaurant that doesn’t require a TSA pat down, One Flew South opened in Inman Park in 2022, with an expansive patio directly facing the Eastside Trail. The cuisine is led by culinary director Todd Richards and inspired by the city’s identity as a Southern and global gathering spot. You may not find Concourse E’s famous mini poké tacos, but you’ll do just fine with the tandoori chicken skewers and watermelon salad, lobster omelet, and the smash burger with black truffle ketchup along the Beltline.