Atlanta’s food scene? Honey, it’s hotter than a cast-iron skillet in July. Whether you’re dressed to the nines and looking for white-tablecloth service, or just need a quick bite that’ll bless your soul, the city’s newest restaurants are bringing serious flavor to the table. From hush-hush omakase bars in old tour buses to show-stopping Parisian-style brasseries (all with Southern hospitality), this list of 7 new Atlanta restaurants has a little something for every mood—and every wallet.
Here are seven of our favorite new Atlanta spots that prove you can do “high” and “low” with equal amounts of taste and Southern hospitality.
1. Brasserie Margot — Fancy Without the Fuss (High)
Midtown
If Belle Watling from “Gone With the Wind” opened a brasserie in Paris and sprinkled it with a little Southern sparkle, it might look like Brasserie Margot. Tucked inside the Four Seasons Atlanta, this new French-inspired gem is dressed to impress. Expect deep jewel tones, gold accents, and banquettes you could melt into after one too many crêpes Suzette.
Designed by local darling Smith Hanes Studio and helmed by the fiercely sharp Chef Jon Novak, Margot knows how to host a proper dinner party. But they also just launched a luxe brunch that gives dinner a run for its money. My fave? Foie gras on French toast with black truffle or the seafood tray. Come Sunday it’ll be alright thanks to a Harry’s Bloody Mary. That, and duck confit with waffles—a play on the Southern staple of fried chicken and waffles—have had me in more than once this spring.
2. Pure Quill Superette — Where Fried is a Food Group (Low)
Edgewood
This is one of the best new Atlanta restaurants and its got country soul written all over it. Pure Quill Superette is what happens when your childhood general store meets your grown-up snack cravings. From a collard, egg and cheese hoe cake to crispy chicken done right, it’s all comfort, no complications. No frills, no fussy menus—simply good food that tastes like home. 
However, Pure Quill takes its name from a song by Pinto Bennett and the Famous Motel Cowboys, but the phrase has deeper roots. It was coined by cowboys and ranchers to mean “authentic” and “the real deal.” And that’s exactly what this place is aiming for. Rouse and his team are also butchering primal cuts in-house. Meats are sourced from folks who care just as much about quality as you do about flavor. We’re talking bacon from Pine Street Market and beef from Stone Mountain and Painted Hills Cattle companies.
Menu-wise? Come hungry and come casual. There’s a shrimp po’boy and a bologna club that hits like nostalgia. The egg salad sandwich will convert even the skeptics.
3. Boqueria — Tapas with a Side of Drama (High)
Midtown
Now if you’re feelin’ spicy—literally and metaphorically—Boqueria might be your match. The Colony Square location is giving major Madrid energy with moody reds, curved archways, and a menu full of shareables made for passing around like Sunday supper.
I went on a Friday after work with friends. We sipped on Shisito margaritas and loaded up on shareables. The five of us chatted over albondigas (pork and beef meatballs), mini hamburgers with sobrasada-bacon jam and manchego cheese, Za-atar spiced chicken wings and finished with classic churros. Heaven!
While this is a popular chain of restaurants out of NYC, DC and Chicago, there’s nothing better than a chain resto that doesn’t feel like it.
4. Small Fry — Big Flavor, Little Fuss (Low)
Reynoldstown
Over in Reynoldstown, Small Fry is doing the Lord’s work—frying up shrimp, chicken, and fishcake sandwiches that are so good they’ll have you leaning over your tray and thanking the culinary heavens. While the owner pulls on his Jersey upbringing, the baskets with red-and-white checked paper filled with fried shrimp and scallops was giving off pure Southern vibes for me. It’s small and quaint and friendly as hell.
The vodka Parmesan sandwich is made with fried chicken y’all, and that bird’s a local legend already. If you leave without trying the lemony olive oil cake, we may have to stage an intervention.
5. C&S Oyster Bar — Southern Seafood, Dressed Up (High)
Vinings, Cumberland
If oysters in a pearl-draped, art deco dining room sound like your kind of evening, pull up a fancy schmance chair here. Above all, C&S Oyster Bar‘s got vintage charm and Southern class all wrapped up in one swanky package. And it’s right near Truist Park and the Cobb Energy Center—so perfect for pre- or post-special event.
Undoubtedly, I’ve been a fan of this restaurant since Rich Clark opened the first one in Smyrna back in the oughts. Rich has history at some of the best restaurants in Atlanta including Blue Ridge Grille and Atlanta Fish Market. C&S leans heavily on New Orleans-inspired fare with locally grown and organic ingredients. The chargrilled oysters, bone marrow, escargot, Alaskan King crab, California white sturgeon caviar, etc. all feel elegant and upper crust. But it’s the smoked salmon deviled eggs and cornmeal fried oysters that let me know these high-end boys still have some down home in them.
6. Tiger Sun — Cocktails on a Tour Bus (Low)
Reynoldstown
Only in Atlanta could a vintage tour bus double as the city’s coolest new cocktail bar. Tiger Sun is part omakase, part fever dream—and we’re here for it. It’s out behind Muchacho and tight quarters. At $75 per person you get four of everything. Four funky cocktails (think: Japanese whiskey topped with cotton candy) paired with four small bites of food (e.g. birria potsticker). This experience is literally like nothing else I’ve seen anywhere. The well-heeled will find themselves passing their Manolos through orange shag carpet to sit at a banquet. 
With only 18 seats, it’s intimate in the best way. And the rotating themes (starting with Karate Kid, y’all) make every visit feel like a little secret you’re lucky to know about. Wax On, Wax Off. Sip. Repeat.
7. Delbar Buckhead — The Middle Ground with Major Vibes
Buckhead Plaza
Now here’s one that defies easy categories—Delbar’s third location lands right in Buckhead Plaza. From cozy private rooms to that sun-soaked glass atrium, this fave Persian spot is known for its labneh. Or, at least it is to me. I could eat it with a spoon, it’s so fantastic. They’re big on kabobs and grilled veggies here, which just feels like something daddy would serve at a backyard summer grill out. But all the Middle Eastern touches give it that sophisticated wordliness that Atlanta’s fine dining restaurant scene now attracts. (Thank God!)
The sunroom is our top pick for places to sit and stay—city views, warm lighting, and the kind of ambiance that makes you want to linger.
Got a new ATL spot you’re loving? Let us know—we’re always chasing the best bites on both sides of Southern. Because around here, you don’t have to choose between fancy and fried. We’ll take both, thank you kindly.
