Where to Eat in Atlanta This Month: Park 82, Monday Night Garage, and More

A restaurant dedicated to the memory of owner Jeff Safari’s son Tyler, Park 82 is intended for celebration of life through executive chef Aaron James’ menu, which is full of fresh takes on familiar American diner fare. On one side you’ll find bourbon turkey meatballs and coconut rum mussels; the other giving peach-and-pecan-buttered rainbow trout, “Georgia”-fried bone-in chicken with hot honey drizzle. In the middle there are also 12-inch, thin-crust Italian pizzas, including the red-sauced “Pizza AF,” which sports chicken sausage, turkey pepperoni, roasted red pepper, and bufala mozzarella.

Does that ruin the palate before you can give side dishes like Cheerwine collard greens a try? There’s only one way to find out.

“Daring flavor” is how we all want to hear a restaurant describe its food, especially when it’s by word of mouth, as the Spanish phrase “de boca en boca” is translated. The modern Mexican-meets-Mesoamerican cuisine of Helio Bernal, who gained local fame with his Mexican street food truck The Real Mexican Vittles, doesn’t shy away from adventurous epicurean endeavors, or the inspirations he gained from the recipes he learned from his Veracruzana family.

Between the exposed brick walls you can start by refreshing via zero-proof cocktails, micheladas in glass skulls, and inventive mixed drinks like the Besitos (“little kisses” in Spanish), made with velvet falernum, Brazilian gin, basil oil, and pineapple serrano agua chile, in a glass rinsed with anise liqueur. From there you can choose a seasonal rotating salad made with Mexican produce (there’s even a weekly special that’s always made with ingredients directly sourced from Mexico), a grass-fed rib eye, chorizo, or mushroom barbacoa Mexico-City-style taco with handmade heirloom corn tortillas, or Bernal’s whole grilled citrus red snapper. You’ll be sure to tell a friend.

Call 770-655-9467 for reservations.

Your next Buford Highway adventure awaits at Wok, where pioneering diners are fast becoming fans of dumplings, wontons, baos, and more Chinese cuisine since the cosmopolitan space, with its high angled ceilings, wood-paneled flooring, and cozy pink plush seats opened just three months ago. Start with small plates like chile oil chicken, switch over to all-day specials like braised duck or pan-fried mackerel with steamed rice, butter-seared halibut, or start pre-gaming fall with a bowl of hot noodle soup, particularly the savory delight of diced beef with bok choy and broth with numbing spice. 

Order carryout from Wok Provisions here.

Certain Atlanta steakhouses will never not be named as one of the best in town, and Kevin Rathbun’s namesake restaurant is always in that roster. Dining here is like visiting an old friend who’s always welcoming you with the finest food you’ve had since your last check-in. The lobster fritters are perpetually the best decision you’ve made that day, as will be the pineapple-glazed Japanese wagyu short rib. Be careful or you won’t make it past the appetizers, and it simply defies logic to leave without slicing into a dry-aged USDA Prime cowboy rib eye (bring a friend), or a 16-ounce Australian wagyu shell steak, whose beef marbling score always ranges between 8-9, if not higher (12 is the BMS maximum).

Along with seasonal vegetables, definitely go for the jalapeño and aged cheddar grits au gratin, and take comfort in knowing the wine list is explained in ways that don’t take sommelier-level understanding to help guide your decision. The 2012 Bodegas Roda “Roda 1” rioja, for example, is made from tempranillo and garnacha grapes, and is described on the menu as “The Little Black Dress of wines.”

This yellow residential East Paces Ferry building, sitting unbothered among tall condos and various nearby retail shops, has been an Italian dining institution for 23 years, thanks to the Betti brothers, Marco and Alessandro. Their Tuscan roots meet classic Buckhead in Antica Posta, where they excel at their extra-sauced house pastas, ranging from spinach and ricotta ravioli to bowtie pasta with jumbo lump crab in white wine and EVOO, all made using the freshest meats, seafood, and other imported ingredients. That includes summer specials, which you still have time to enjoy, including tagliolini with either chicken, salmon, or seared scallops with fresh shaved black truffle, and a Tuscan-style lamb stew from “chef ‘Sandro.” Get in there before fall and take advantage of the still-summer flavors. 

Recently Resy sat down with brilliant Atlanta chef Zeb Stevenson, who has been continuously showing up and showing out at Redbird, the West Midtown restaurant he and partner Ross Jones started after leaving Watershed. Inspired by the symbolic enthusiasm of the cardinal, there’s a free-flowing energy inside the open and well-sunlit space, and the ingredient-driven food puts simplicity over extravagance, resulting in a place where you can have lunch (do the smoked turkey sandwich with garlic jam and lemon vinaigrette), dinner (everything’s great but the blackened redfish and pan-roasted rainbow trout are exemplary), and even early weekend breakfast via his Birdy Biscuits carryout window, where you can get his fluffy, flaky, and heavenly bread bombs by the box and dressed up individually as biscuit sandwiches, such as the fried chicken, chile maple syrup, and cheddar “Little Birdy.”

Atlanta Food Truck Park had to make way for new developments headed to its first location at Howell Mill Drive, but the westside’s loss is the southside’s gain, now that AFTP has changed its name to Veganish ATL, and became the city’s first food truck dedicated to vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian eats. Apparently keeping community safety a top priority, the park’s Instagram channel is the best way to keep up with the schedule and who’s there, as they’ve been known to suspend operations in inclement weather and when COVID cases have spiked.

Aside from those occurrences, keep an eye out for special events like the recent “Brunch in Blanc,” where all-white attire was suggested and attendees received a free mimosa. Or you can always just take the chance and drive over to see who pulled up; on any given day Veganish ATL is open you might find Fresh Corn n Evrythang (yes, they really do put fresh corn in just about everything on the menu), limeade and other flavors of vegan sorbet at 2 Scoops, and more mobile kitchens making street food a little friendlier.

Visit Veganish ATL on Instagram.

This Cajun/Creole bar and grill has an ever-growing fan base and has quickly become one of Atlanta’s fastest growing chains, with locations in East Point, Decatur, Buckhead, and the Perimeter area, thanks to a formula based on quality New Orleanian comfort bites and the passage of good times. Get going with seafood and andouille sausage gumbo and a starter order of fried crawfish tails, a.k.a. “Cajun popcorn,” then take it straight to the shrimp étouffée, crawfish ravioli with sauteéd shrimp, mozzarella, tomatoes, and Orleans butter over spinach, or the grouper, which comes crusted with Zapp’s Crawtator potato chips, served atop jalapeño gouda grits in cream sauce. And whether you’re having your Hurricane, Sazerac, or daiquiri before, during, or after dinner, don’t you dare leave without an order of soft and warm beignets. Just don’t let those Saints fans catch you on camera — they’ll never let you live it down at the tailgate (unless of course you bribe them with a carryout order of fried alligator tail strips).

If it’s been too long since your last trip down those old and deep stairs in front of Highland Tap’s wood-paneled entrance, it’s time for you to get back to the subterranean steak tavern and party in the dim-lit, stone-walled basement. For 33 years, the Tap’s been faithfully plating some of the city’s best burgers, prime rib, and of course martinis, according to local press and hyper-local VaHi neighbors. And even if you’ve stopped down through the underground den for a drink or two, have you tried the “Grateful Bread” pretzels, with their IPA-infused cheese sauce?

Brought a friend or two to help you chew through the 32-ounce bone-in tomahawk rib eye (and brought the rib bone back to your favorite canine, as the menu suggests)? Been too addicted to the 14-ounce certified Angus blackened prime rib that you’ve never considered the stout-marinated prime ranch steak, or the steak burger topped with garlic-chive-butter-poached lobster? Wow… you’ve got some catching up to do. 

One of Atlanta’s best local craft breweries has turned part of The Garage, its expansive warehouse taproom and facility for barrel-aging and funked-up beer experimentation on the Atlanta Beltline’s Westside Trail, into a pizzeria of sorts. Ingeniously making three-day fermented dough from the yeast culture they already use to brew their beers, MNB also copped an Italian-made wood-fired oven and is importing buffalo mozzarella to create classic Neapolitan pies like margherita and Calabrian. They’re also getting goods like spicy honey from local beekeeper Bow & Bend and produce from southwest Atlanta farm Aluma to make unique specialties like the hot honey pie, which also includes tomato sauce, pecorino, pickled onions, and pepperoni.

See the menu and get more details on Monday Night Brewing at their website.