A big city like Atlanta, Georgia, has all kinds of cuisine available, but its traditional southern food is second to none. Whether you're hankering for fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, or collard greens and cornbread, Atlanta is the place to go. Although there are countless country restaurants within Atlanta city limits, here are some of the most popular and well-regarded.
Husband-and-wife team Sharon and Robert Carver keep Atlanta residents fed with down-home recipes like meatloaf, ham, collards and hash browns. If fried chicken is your thing, there's also the "Dolly Parton" fried chicken breast. Desserts include southern favorites like chocolate Coca-Cola cake and banana pudding.
Mary Mac's Tea Room has been making traditional Southern food from scratch since 1945. Located in midtown Atlanta, this is one of the city's most famous country cooking restaurants. All-you-can-eat platters are available to feed large parties, and the menu features hard-to-find southern classics like collard greens and cracklin' liver and onions, which can be washed down with cold glasses of sweet tea or buttermilk. It's called Mary Mac's "Tea Room" because back when it opened its doors, it was not considered "proper" for a woman to own and operate a restaurant.
With prices for a full meal ranging from $5.00 to $5.50 as of 2011, Donnie's Country Cooking is an option for a cheap but tasty lunch or dinner. Reviewers on Yelp, a nationwide customer review site, consistently rave about their rotisserie chicken.
Famous for their "grits bar," Dogwood Restaurant puts more of an upscale spin on traditional country cooking. They offer more sophisticated versions of traditional Southern country classics like pecan-encrusted catfish, braised short ribs and buttermilk fried chicken.
Owned and operated by chef Jason Hill, Wisteria serves contemporary versions of old southern classics, with a menu that focuses on local ingredients and that changes from season to season. While some of the food is too adventurous to qualify as "country" cooking, traditional southern classics like shrimp and grits are also represented on the menu.
