Photo courtesy of Kimball House

How to Spend a Perfect 72 Hours Eating Your Way Through Atlanta

Updated: May 20, 2026

No matter where you are in the world, you’ve likely heard of Atlanta. You might possibly have touched down in the city, albeit briefly, in your travels in and outside the U.S. Many millions of people have connected through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and lots of them have even ventured north into the actual city limits to find out what all the hype is about. Well, we hope you’re hungry and can make time to find out why there’s no place in the world like ATL, especially when it comes to eating well and good.

This big Southern town is quite sprawling, so you’ll want to prepare yourself for commutes that mandate at least some time in a vehicle, but there are also new and exceptional places to experience the best food and drink Atlanta has to offer within a walkable radius, which is exactly how we’ll get started with your Thursday arrival in the capital of Georgia. Check out the itinerary below, as well as our Hit List for Atlanta, and take to Resy to put yourself in position for a positively amazing visit that’ll take you up, down and all around Peachtree Street.

Resy Presents
An Appetite For Adventure

Thursday: A Poncey Highlands Pre-Weekend Crawl

Photo courtesy of Madeira Park

Madeira Park Poncey-Highland

A Wine-Filled Happy Hour

Because Madeira Park opens at 3 p.m., and since Thursday is essentially Atlanta’s unofficial Friday, the casual neighborhood restaurant and wine bar is a great place to start your weekend early. Arrive as they’re opening and you’ll (maybe) beat ATL’s terrible traffic and should be able to snag a patio stool facing Highland Avenue — the perfect perch for premium afternoon pedestrian-watching. The giant pommes frites, shaped like squared potato logs and almost creamy in texture beyond the crispy exterior, are a great starter, but so is the exceptional hummus, with snappy veggies and habit-forming flatbread slices brushed with high-quality olive oil. The poulet rouge and bistro steak are terrific, but since we’re just getting started consider choosing one to share with company, and having your server or bartender select your accompanying glass of vino from the constantly evolving selection of sparkling, whites, oranges and reds by the glass. In either event, they generally have an exceptional, lightly chilled Gamay that should work quite well. Welcome to Atlanta!

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Tio Lucho’s Poncey-Highland

Tio Lucho's dish — Photo courtesy of Tio Lucho’s

Coastal Peru, Just Steps Away

Less than a block north on Highland Avenue, just before Ponce de Leon Avenue, you’ll cross the street and dive into chef Arnaldo Castillo’s coastal Peruvian cuisine. Whether you’re inside the beachhouse-inspired dining room or the tropical-flora-lined patio, there’s a no-worries sensibility all around, aided by a fresh Pisco sour or pineapple mezcalita. The menu’s crudo section offers two snapper ceviches: one has fried calamari and red miso rocoto “tiger’s milk,” while the second features Georgia shrimp and leche de tigre made with aji limo pepper. From there, an entree such as seafood rice, whole snapper or branzino or two preparations of grouper will do better than fine, but it’s the pollo a la brasa — one of the best roast chicken dishes in town — that’ll make you feel as though you’ve earned a new passport stamp without having to pass through TSA.

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Bar ANA Atlanta

Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee, courtesy of Bar ANA

A Nightcap of Sweets and Sips

It’s now time to take a literal late-night turn west at the corner of Ponce to experience one of the hottest bars in town, where the evening ends with fantastically balanced pairings of tropical beverages and high-level pastries. Claudia Martínez, a James Beard Foundation Award finalist for outstanding pastry chef, leads a team of talented dream-weavers inside the former space of a legendary Atlanta dance club transformed in 2025 to a sexy den of sophisticated decadence, where guava glazed doughnuts are matched with guava-infused gin and tonics and other island-inspired cocktails. Nothing’s too sweet, and there’s no need for a companion if you’re dropping in solo; the energy, music and people at the bar are lively enough that you’ll surely find your groove, but with limited space and lots of buzz you’ll absolutely want to reserve a spot at the bar if you planning a visit (and Thursday is far easier than Friday). You’ll also want to consider coming back the next morning for a café de olla, horchata chai, or other liquid day-starters at Recuerdos, the Mexican coffee residency that runs from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and offers a selection of Bar ANA breakfast pastries.

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Mike Jordan is an Atlanta-based food and culture journalist with bylines in The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Bon Appetit, National Geographic, Southern Living, and others. He is Resy’s former Southeast editor and served as founding editor of Thrillist Atlanta, digital program director at Atlanta radio station WVEE-FM, and senior editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is chairman of the Atlanta Press Club. the U.S. South academy chair for 50 Best Restaurants, and winner of the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award, for which he was a finalist in 2023. Follow him on Instagram. Follow Resy, too.

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Resy Presents An Appetite For Adventure

Tio Lucho’s Poncey-Highland

Coastal Peru, Just Steps Away

Bar ANA Atlanta

A Nightcap of Sweets and Sips

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Resy Presents
An Appetite For Adventure